Focus For The Master Pattern

Focus  For  The  Master  Pattern

David Barnes   May 1994   Kamloops, B.C.

For the possibility of a living psychology of sacred wisdom to emerge through the consciousness of human beings, here and now, it is imperative to listen, observe and perceive all familiar things in new ways. This requires the courage to open the heart and embrace the power inherent and available in the Silence, and allow re-attunement with the original harmony of the Great Way. The mystery of the Creator and the mystery of the Creation remain an enigma for those who fear to enter the Silence, those who fear the intensity of light which cleanses the gates of perception and unveils the Way of the Master. Opening to mystery is opening to ceaseless wonder! The vast and intricate design of Spirit which enlivens the phenomenal world becomes discernible and increasingly comprehensible in momentary living. The matrix of connection between the historical and the immediate emerges out of the mists of the collective unconscious, revealing the wonder of what before had not been heard, seen or understood.

The prolific influx of wisdom which found expression in some of the classical Greek philosophers, the sages and mystics of the east, and the Hebrew prophets appeared as a specific response to conditions on earth and within the Solar whole, preparing human consciousness for the initiation point of a new Universal Cycle, which began around 400 BC, opening the way for the incarnation of a conscious focus of the Master Pattern, capable of leading responsive human beings out of the chaotic state which had governed world conditions for several thousand years and into realignment with Cosmic Order and purpose. In his book The Dimensions of Paradise, John Michell tells us that “the geometric order of the universe” is represented by the design of “twelve equal spheres...placed around a thirteenth, so that each touches the nucleus and four of its neighbors, producing the geometers image of twelve disciples grouped around a master. Christ, Osiris and Mohammed are among those who are represented as a central sphere with twelve retainers” (Michell, 1988, p. 73).

The Master Jesus—LORD of the Sacred Seven—was born on earth just 400 years after the initiation of a new, overlighting 310,000 year Universal Age, a new 25,850 year Solar Age, and a new 2,150 year Age. A perusal of developments during the centuries prior to His appearance leave the distinct impression that everything was set up, that the flow of events was inextricably linked, and that the timing was now-or-never for the achievement of specific Cosmic purposes as they relate to this Earth, and the transformation of human consciousness in particular. The social, cultural, and spiritual atmosphere of the global whole was as receptive as it was ever going to be, to welcome the sublime message of this One who provides a Focus for the Master Pattern—which is the foundation of this whole world. His arrival on the world stage was precisely orchestrated by the Great Cosmic Timekeeper.

Jesus, the Christ, is perhaps the most misunderstood man in human history. In my copy of the Holy Bible there are 132 pages recording the details of His personal life and public ministry. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke offer but little insight into the affairs of His life prior to the age of twelve. No accurate documentation of His movements between the ages of thirteen and thirty are extant, though speculation abounds in metaphysical literature. The four Gospels of the New Testament (and certain of the Gnostic Gospels) are what remain, and they record events pertaining to the last three years of His life. However, John, the beloved disciple, emphasizes in his writings the abundant expression of his Master: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.” Given the remarkable, albeit limited, account of His life and the enduring impact of His message, it is evident that most of His associates and followers failed utterly to understand His mission. Just prior to the crucifixion He asked His disciples: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?” From the beginning, He has been largely misunderstood.

The record in the King James version of the Bible suggests that the earthly heredity of Jesus extends back to King Solomon and King David, about 1000 B.C., and back another 1200 years (2200 B.C.) to the great patriarch Abraham—father of the children of Islam and the children of Israel. Following out one line here, Abraham's grandson Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel after his awakening and illumination) had twelve sons whose legacy, drawn together initially by his son Joseph and culminating in the leadership of Moses, became known as the development of the Thirteen Tribes of the House of Israel—which included as the Thirteenth Tribe, the Levite priesthood. A relatively unbroken (though frequently corrupted) lineage of spiritual leadership can be traced up until 971 B.C., when King Solomon ascended the throne of a united Kingdom of Israel, bequeathed to him by the incomparable work of his father King David. A nation of immense wealth, power and spiritual focus, all the known world paid tribute to Solomon, servant of the LORD God of Israel: “So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.” Approaching this apex point in the development of the spiritual and temporal nation of the Israelite people, something went terribly wrong: “Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.” Whatever the cause, the result was an Israel left corrupted, vulnerable and weakened from within. The nation crumbled by 931 B.C. Spiritual leadership was assumed by a series of prophets, notably Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel—and a debased Judaiac royalty and Levite priesthood.

It is noteworthy that recorded history in Greece didn't begin until around 1100 B.C., and in China until about 800 B.C. Within the then-known world virtually nothing was known of the Americas. Outside of Egypt, whose culture was of the most ancient vintage, Africa remained an enigma. However, the Hebrew people had by this time enjoyed a lengthy, unbroken history of language, culture and leadership, fueled by a powerful sense of destiny as the children of the One God. Respected for their strong spiritual focus, and their capacity as a nation of spiritual warriors to maintain that focus, something unique had been established in this “peculiar people.” With the decline of the Kingdom of Israel during Solomon's reign, chaos enveloped the known world for several centuries.

Gradually the focused light of wisdom began to rise once again in a few individuals. In Greece, the philosopher Thales was born in 624 B.C., followed by Anaximander in 611, each one searching for physis, the essence of life. The legacy of Lao Tsu, born in China in 604 B.C., is the Tao Te Ching: Classic of the Natural Way. In 582 B.C., Pythagoras was born in Greece, teaching the art and science of sacred music and number, and reminding his students of the immortal Soul. While in captivity, the Hebrew prophets Daniel and Ezekiel refocused the Word of the One God of Israel, around 570 B.C.

In India, Gautama Buddha was born in 560 B.C. He brought to remembrance the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path. His mission was to “beat the drum of the Immortal in the darkness of the world” (Humphreys, 1951, p. 34). Confucius was born in China in 551 B.C.  Empedocles and Heraclitus were both born in Greece in 540 B.C. Contemporaries all, it was a significant influx of genius, an incarnation of wisdom flooding the human psyche in one massive and well-synchronized wave.

This same wave washed to ruin the remnants of Hebrew culture, now rotting at the core. Assyria and Babylon invaded from the north, destroying Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon. In 586 B.C., the Hebrew people were led captive into Babylon. The prophet Daniel was the man of the hour during this desolate period. His wisdom compelling, his counsel invited, he served four kings, exercising a secular authority and a spiritual influence which moved Persia from polytheistic to monotheistic worship. He had prophetic awareness of the future incarnation of Jesus, the LORD of the Sacred Seven, and Daniel’s influential groundwork served as a guide for a future generation of Hebrew prophets in their determination to prepare a setting for the coming of the Master Jesus. It is no mere coincidence that Lao Tsu and Confucius in China, Gautama Buddha in India, Daniel and Ezekiel in the Middle East, and many of the classical Greek philosophers were all incarnate during the closing phase of a 310,000-year Universal Age.

In 538 B.C., a remnant of the Tribe of Judah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the great Temple, begin a restoration of the greatness that was Israel, and prepare the way for the coming of a Messiah. In fact, a global regeneration of the human mind was underway in the Mediterranean, and throughout the eastern world with the spread of Buddhism and Taoism. In 458 B.C., the Hebrew prophet Ezra began the work of compiling the Torah, the basis for the Old Testament of the Holy Bible as we know it. Socrates was born in Greece in 470 B.C., followed by Hippocrates in 460, Plato in 437, and Aristotle in 384. The Hebrew prophets, Malachi and Nehemiah were active in Israel, preparing a receptive spiritual nucleus for the coming of the Master Jesus. In China, the Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine was compiled around 400 B.C.

This brings the historical overview to 400 BC—that date which has been identified as the completion point for one great Universal Age (310,000 years) and the initiation point of another. Preparation had been deliberately made, through the overlighting guidance of the Master Pattern, for the incarnation of a specific focus point of Mastery at this most auspicious time. The commission was to provide an embodiment of Divine wisdom and power capable of drawing humanity into re-attunement with Cosmic Order and design, in harmony with the Spirit of the new Universal Age, and within the context of the conditioning atmosphere of the correlated, lesser Ages and cycles which were also in ascendancy.

The rebuilding of the Hebrew homeland, midst war with both Syria and Greece, and complete domination by Rome when Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 B.C., left a weary Jewish people ready for the appearance of a Messiah who would restore freedom and fulfill the prophetic destiny of Israel. Hunger for wisdom in the daily affairs of a perilous age—with the decline of Greece and the ascendance of the Roman Empire—aroused apocalyptic memories. Approximately 400 years after the initiation of a new Universal Age, Jesus of Nazareth was born.

How do you recognize a Messiah when you meet one? Jesus identified Himself: “I that speak with thee am he.” This forthrightness didn't go over too well with Jewish authorities, as word of His presence spread. His conduct didn't fit the paradigm of Messiah as political liberator who would lead the fight against Roman oppression and restore the glory of Israel. Both the Jewish establishment and His own gathered disciples failed to grasp the Cosmic significance of the presence of the Master. He was of the Universal Whole, and was thus present for the blessing of the whole world of humanity, and all living things. Jesus continually emphasized that He had other designs, spiritual purposes in mind, and this vexed a generation of Jews who had been nourished on the letter and precious little of the living Word. The prophets of Israel had long since gone mute—this Voice was unfamiliar and challenging.

He didn't fit their preconceived image. He was not of their conventional paradigm. The term I abounded in His discourses. “I know whence I came." “I came from above.” “I am the light of the world.” “I and my Father are one.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” When He spoke the words, “Before Abraham was, I am”, it was too much, too threatening for Jewish authorities, and they plotted to stone Him, and thereafter worked to eliminate Him. His authority was perceived as arrogance and blasphemy. All the world loves a philosopher, but few can receive such expressions of absolute and eternal identity and authority. Plato and Aristotle had postulated a realm of Pure Ideas, First Principles, the Abstract, but they never had the audacity to absolutely identify with that realm, saying I Am That. Jesus did! Moreover, He challenged others to assume the same eternal identity and character, reminding them, “Ye are the light of the world.”

His greatest message was simply expressed: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is not far away. It is not in the realm of abstract ideas. It is not only in the invisible realms of this world. It is not only to be experienced after you die. It is right here now. Such an expression is powerfully disturbing of the status quo. Its implications are apocalyptic. In Nazareth, in the synagogue of His home city, Jesus delivered the first message of His public ministry, drawing to remembrance the words of Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” He concluded by proclaiming, “This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Astonishment at this bold pronouncement—as He berated Israel for its treatment over the ages of those who come in the name of the Lord—gave way to fear and anger, and: “All they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust Him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him headlong down.”

With Jewish authorities He brooked no compromise, His lamentations taunting them, prophesying: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Ye fools and blind. Ye are full of hypocrisy and inequity. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Yet His message was such that “the people were astonished at His doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Jesus seemed to have paranormal abilities. He turned water into wine, multiplied two loaves and five fishes to feed five thousand people, and walked on water. He could see into the past and knew the future, healed the sick, forgave sins and had the audacity to do it on the Sabbath! He identified with God, then said: “With God all things are possible.” “All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth.” “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Yet He came, “eating and drinking ... a friend of publicans and sinners.” and that too was unacceptable. Jesus was an altogether unconventional character. He didn't fit the paradigm of Messiah, holy man, prophet, or king. He emphasized Heaven and embraced the earth, at home in the union of both domains.

He was a living embodiment of Taoist wisdom at its apex of refined understanding, and His life was an exemplification of the injunction uttered by Lao Tsu, six centuries before Him: “Let your honour serve the world and you may be an emissary to the world. Love the world as yourself and you may be entrusted with the world.” (Stubbs, 1990, p.13). His primary work was to re-introduce of the Spirit of Truth, and make immediately available the Spirit of His Love, forgiveness, inclusiveness, peace, and His consciousness of Oneness: the unity of God in both man and woman, the oneness of Heaven and earth, the Invisible and visible. It was not an unfamiliar message—but none before Him had ever lived it completely. “He came unto his own and his own received him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” Few received Him. Few received the available power.

Conscious of the power immanent in the Cosmic Pattern of Twelve, Jesus gathered around Him a core of Twelve disciples—the Melchizedek Priesthood—with Himself, as the Thirteenth, at the Center, and attempted to draw them into a unity of spiritual perception and expression; even as Moses had worked to draw the Twelve Tribes of Israel—with the Levite priesthood as the Thirteenth—into a unified body of God's people on earth. However, the failure of this inner core of associates to understand His purposes led to a rapid disintegration of the collective embodiment of the Master Pattern which He was capable of developing, had there been adequate communion with Him, in Spirit and in Truth. After a mere three years of high public profile and ministry, he was rejected and crucified at Golgatha, the place of the skull, an apt symbol of the unwholesome, destructive and separated state of human consciousness. His compassionate words on that sad and painful occasion, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”, were consistent with the attitude He displayed throughout His life. The resurrection and the ascension reveal His characteristic mastery over external circumstance.

The ministry of Jesus, which could have expanded beyond Him alone, to include the whole world in a new, collective manifestation of the Master Pattern, disintegrated, even as the nation of Israel dissolved in chaos after the failures in Solomon's time. Peter (who denied Him) and Paul (who never met Him) each carried their own brand of Christianity to the world. The Christian religion, with its manifold denominations of belief, is certainly not the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ. John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, was the only one of His original circle of male friends who remained physically and spiritually close with Him during the whole ordeal of His trial and crucifixion. A few of the women who had remained true to their established love and understanding of the Master Jesus throughout His life and ministry, were with Him, providing essential physical and spiritual care and support to the end. In his elder years, John wrote the prophetic and much misunderstood book of Revelation while imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos. The wisdom inherent within his writings, awakened through the few years of spiritual intimacy with his Master, was largely ignored by the rest of the Christian apostles, disciples, zealots and martyrs, in their rush to spread their own limited perceptions of the Gospel of Jesus. While John was eventually exiled on Patmos, his life and writings formed the basis for a new, though cryptic, revelation of the Master Pattern.

The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the world entered another dark and chaotic round. The rhythmic movement of Universal cycles causes history to repeat itself, unless the incarnate light of the Master Pattern is received, expanded and differentiated clearly through at least a few individuals. Both Catholics and Protestants tend to define a lineage that originates in Peter and Paul rather than the Master Jesus. Scarcely anyone in fact has a clear understanding of Jesus, the Christ—LORD of the Sacred Seven—and what He established through the vibrational quality of His living. After the crucifixion and His departure, the world was left with skepticism, stoicism, and the zeal of Christian martyrs and crusaders—a reaction against the Spirit of the times. What amounts to a significant corruption of the clear and simple message of the Master Jesus was later synthesized into the confounded doctrines of neo-platonism and Pauline Christianity. When Moslem and Christian scholars resurrected the works of Aristotle, a blend of Christianity with neo-classicism resulted in the suffocating, anthropocentric dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. In the East, the original power of Buddhist and Taoist wisdom was likewise manipulated to serve the degenerate purposes of a corrupt priesthood. A few precious men and women in every land kept available the Sacred Thread of Wisdom and Love, allowing the ongoing delicate weave of the Master Pattern to work its invisible magic. Under a yoke darkness and decay humanity has labored throughout this past 2,150 year cycle, initiated around 400 B.C., and concluding in the mid-18th century, at the dawn of a new era.

The presence of the incarnate wisdom of previous ages has been briefly outlined. Points of success and failure have been evident throughout the story. Perhaps the greatest success can be sensed in what has been termed the mystery of the resurrection and ascension of the One who functions as a Focus point for the Master Pattern of love and beauty for this world. Such mastery has enormous implications in our time. We have moved 250 years into a new 2,150 year Cycle—a new Age. In this current light, it is possible to listen and perceive all old and familiar things in entirely new ways. This is the Spirit of the new Heaven and the new Earth. Look around. Incarnate wisdom is present in our midst. You and I are not here by accident. Our own presence, along with many others who are awakening but who yet may be unknown to us, has been precisely orchestrated by that Great Cosmic Timekeeper who has governed the Cycles of incarnation down through the ages. Such Mastery has enormous implications for our time—in your life and in mine.

And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately,

Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:

For I tell you,

that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see,

and have not seen them;

and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Luke 10: 23-24

Spirit and Antispirit

Spirit  and  Antispirit

Martin Cecil and Hugh Malafry   May 11, 1986

Hugh Malafry — “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—the Word in essence spoken to the city of man, with all its convoluted ways, its twisted patterns, its obscure, entangled motivations and its abominable purposelessness. It occurs to me how, when the Word has found a place at one point in the consciousness of mankind, in essence at that point it is done in heaven. Now there may be various cycles working out to let that be the fact in the earth, but the consciousness of mankind is no longer as it was—by reason of the presence of one point. That point, we know, is now being magnified, that the whole earth might become a city of habitation. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Is this not the gospel of the kingdom to the city of man: this gospel of the kingdom, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand?

We look out on the world, and in addition to the reflection of ourselves that is there, we see through that perhaps somewhat still misty and smoky lens of our own perceptions a state of affairs which is apparently far more reactive than responsive to the expression of the Word. We see cycles set in motion and what often appears to be reaction to those cycles occurring in the earth—just the opposite, sometimes, to what one would suppose should emerge—emerging in the city of man, because there is reaction to the expression of the Word. When one deals with the city of man it’s wise to be diplomatic. Going out and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” takes many forms. It is said that diplomacy is “the art of letting others have your own way”! I think, with slight modification, there is a certain truth in that; certainly divine diplomacy is the art of letting man see that he must have God’s way in his expression, or have nothing.

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand” brings to my thoughts another promise, to the effect that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” When one hears these words one is perhaps inclined to feel, if one feels that there has been some experience of what it means to be chosen, that this is a pretty good break: God is on our side, or we are supporting His expression and therefore things will work out rather well; the tribulation will not be what it could be, for the elect’s sake. But can we see these words as meaning, fundamentally, that because there are those who are willing to provide the point of focus with the point of focus, the days are indeed shortened, so that there might be some flesh saved, so that there might be some space in the city of man to allow a pattern of response to emerge, rather than persistent reaction to the expression of the Word.

We see, too, that things are heating up, that when the Word is spoken things move much more quickly than they seemed to do in the past, that the lag in the cycle is not what it was. In times past, things could be set in motion and maybe years down the road, looking out in the world, we’d say, for example, “Hey, things are beginning to show up! People are into natural foods and sprouts—we were first!” A superficial aspect, perhaps. But there has been this tremendous lag in the cycle. But now the days are shortened. The city of man is certainly deteriorating, and the city of habitation, the consciousness, the place of consciousness for the expression of the one life, is becoming increasingly distinct.

Thinking about this, I wonder if this is not so much a reflection of the increased response of mankind to the expression of the Word (and there needs to be that), as a reflection of the fact that the gap between the expression of the Word and the sustaining of that in the life processes of this Body has diminished. Is that not in fact the way the days are shortened, because there is no gap, no arbitrary division between the creative Word at its point of origin and its natural amplification through us? No reaction to radiation, perhaps no response even—just unified expression. And if that gap ceases to exist, does that not then bring together the patterns in which human beings move with the cycles of life which move in this Body of the Spirit of the Living God, so that there is one-to-one correlation. We can have our hand on these things, directly. I think it is important that we include the world in our consciousness, see things for what they are, let our touch be upon it. But the deepest service in this regard is in fact within the mechanism of this Body itself, not in self-centered and selfish terms, not in self-indulgent terms, but in realizing that what we do within the Body of the Living God, that is done in the earth. Once it is established in the heaven it must follow through in the earth—it must! That is the law, that is the law of creation: as the heaven, so the earth.

If we look out in the world these days we see many points of focus emerging, people who are in essence representative of their cultures. Shall they move in the old, habitual cycles of their cultures, doing the same thing all over again, or is there a guiding touch which is intimately at point with respect to those patterns? Very often such ones as they emerge become the focus of troubled feeling. We have the mechanism within this Body to be sure that all those who hear the word, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—whether it be unconscious to them now or whether it begin to glimmer at the surface of consciousness—we have the mechanism to be sure that these processes which are emerging the world around are brought into oneness with the life processes of this Body in such a way that what needs to fall away can fall away and that which needs to be brought into this Body can be brought into this Body.

In essence it is our absolute focus in the One. As that One is absolutely protected—absolutely—here is the mechanism by which all those who serve in whatever way, wherever, find drawn about them the right patterns of association, the right pattern of protection. This is heavenly magic! We don’t need to go “lo here and lo there”—unless the spirit of the Lord carries you off into the wilderness for whatever reason and puts you there, making right use of the substance and situation—but here and now it is all represented. This gospel of the kingdom—“the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—shall be preached in all the earth, and then shall the end come. And the gospel of the kingdom is this: that heaven and earth are one, and that what we do together in the heaven must surely be done in earth to the glory of God.

Lord Exeter — Does anything else need to be said? It becomes increasingly apparent as to what we are here to do, no longer to be fussing about our personal confusions and disturbances of mind and heart, or aches and pains of body. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Most people seem disinclined to repent but think it more useful, in a self-centered way, to seek out someone who can, hopefully, dispel the ache and the pain. Repent! Stop pouring life force into your aches and pains, stop pouring life force into confusions and disturbances; repent from doing this, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We have had long opportunity to participate in this process of repentance, so that the kingdom of heaven might become the city of habitation and the King be present in His kingdom, to do what He wishes to do.

Those who have some view with respect to the King I'm sure would be inclined to say, "Well I'm sure that what He would wish to do is what should be done." So that's settled! But I wonder how many of us here present this evening, or beyond the few of us, really consider what the vision, the attitude, the outlook, of the King really is, so that we might associate ourselves with that? I don't think His intent would be to fuss with aches and pains, confusions and disturbances. He is not interested, as we well know, in condemning anyone. There is this lingering attitude present in human beings in general that God is dealing out punishment. We have divine terms here, a recognition of love, understanding, and a door opened in heaven. There is no intent on the part of the Lord to mete out punishment to anyone. I think if we consider His attitude we would find that He is quite aware that human beings mete out sufficient punishment upon themselves, without Him interfering in the matter!

But, really, what would His outlook be? What is His vision of what is occurring in the world? Do we really know what that is or, knowing, share it? Or do we have our own little view, which, as I say, tends to be short-circuited when we start to fuss about all these aches and pains, confusions and disturbances? Certainly He is not interested in all that. The suggestion He would make with respect to it is, "Leave it alone; let it pass away; don't insist that it should be given more and more and more life force." The kingdom of heaven is at hand. There is no need for all of that.

The whole kit and caboodle of divine design is available to be given form and expression in the natural pulsations of spirit, when there are hearts and minds that are open to let this happen. When they are open in that way and there begins to be the movement of the creative cycle within one's own experience, it will have an effect. That is why it is important not to judge that effect. It may even engender a few aches and pains. There may be some increase in confusion and disturbance, because, after all, there are those things of human nature present which need to pass away; something is being stirred up: "Oh Lord, save me from this hell!" But it is really heaven in the process of coming. Judge not. Let the accuser be cast down out of the heaven which he has occupied in human experience for so long. As I recall in the illustration in the Book of Revelation with respect to this, he raised particular hell in the earth after he was cast down. Well isn't that nice? Aches, pains, confusion, disturbance—part of the natural process by which the heaven may finally be reflected accurately in the earth. Obviously it can't be reflected accurately the way things are now.

The King has been rejected; that is what caused the fall in the first place. How could there possibly be restoration without the acceptance of the King? The kingdom of heaven is at hand—but, we are discovering, a lot closer at hand than perhaps in times past we thought it was. Of course for most it looks more like doomsday which is at hand: things are closing up and disintegrating all over. "Poor us; we're not going to be able to enjoy ourselves the way we used to." It obviously is a dilemma, which is so easily dissipated once there is acceptance into one's own experience of the focus point of spirit, the spirit of the King, which then immediately proclaims in one's own consciousness that the kingdom of heaven is not only at hand but is right here. Then of course the accuser comes along and begins to whisper and say, "Well if it's right here, why isn't it more evident in your circumstances?" Give it a chance!

As has been indicated, the days are shortened and there is less of a lag between the heavenly impulse and the effect of it in the circumstances and in human experience round about. Of course this intensifies things, hots things up, which makes it even more uncomfortable for human nature; but at last it is recognized that what feels uncomfortable should feel uncomfortable, and it is splendid that it does. One need no longer be identified with the discomforts of human nature, and by the same token we are not interested in trying to make human nature comfortable—our own or anyone else's. It must come to this point. There has been a tendency to tolerate human nature in others for the simple reason that one is tolerating it in oneself. Until you bring it to point in yourself you're not going to bring it to point in anyone else.

But the days are shortened for the continued existence of human nature. And where should those days be shortened first? The greater intensity should be welcomed, because it is that that shortens the days: the burning up of the human nature in one's own experience. The days are shortened, and as we have this viewpoint of the necessity of receiving the kingdom—which cannot be done without the disposition of human nature—then we are anxious for human nature to dissolve. And we begin to become aware of the King's viewpoint: let human nature pass away. But this requires that there be an acceptance of the King and His spirit into one's own experience and expression.

This is done individually speaking—but then it comes to the body and we become aware of what needs to happen in the body and we become aware of our own responsibility, as individuals, for the dissipation of human nature in the body. We do not align ourselves with the accuser. The only way that one can be a part of the process by which this dissipation occurs is to recognize that, largely, what is seen in others is this reflection of what is still present in oneself but which one has not yet admitted to oneself. You don't judge what you think is occurring in anybody else, because you don't really know what it is. One comes to the point where there is a recognition that all that is required is that there should be a clarification in oneself relative to the whole body. The clarification in oneself clarifies it for the whole body.

So we let it clear in the body, and the body becomes a fit place for the King. And the King comes into the body, and He is not interested in fussing with the aches and the pains in the body, or with the confusion and disturbance in the body. All He is interested in doing is what He is incarnate in this body to do. So there begins to be an alignment of thought, of feeling, of awareness with respect to what it is that is happening in the creative field of the King. And that is what is of sole concern—not "How's this going to affect me? What's going to happen to me? Well who are you? Are you the human nature person who is not being turned over to the King at all? Or are you the one whose identity is in the King? This is my body, and I am here on earth in this body not to condemn the world, not to accuse the world of anything, but to offer salvation. The offering of salvation requires the dissolution of human nature, and it requires the dissolution of the invisible focus of human nature, which has been manipulating human beings ever since the fall.

What you consider to be right and good will have been built into your subconscious mind coming out of your hereditary past since the fall. So all that has no further meaning insofar as we are concerned, does it? All we are concerned to do is to represent, be, the King in expression because He has a body through which to express Himself. And we compose that body; we can't get away from the King, then. There is no sense of separation; it is all one thing. And, individually speaking, we find that we think the King's thoughts, we move in the King's ways. We don't have any personal, human nature thoughts or ways of our own anymore. That would be considered, from the human nature standpoint, some sort of absolute dictatorship.

But, you know, from the human nature standpoint, from the standpoint of the invisible focus of that human nature, there is the intent to establish a state of affairs which is an absolute dictatorship. We hear about people's desire for peace and the disposition of all nuclear weapons, all good causes. Who could be against it? Yet these causes are fundamentally the devil's causes, because the intent is that it should all lead to what has been called world government. Here is an attempt to duplicate what is the fact with respect to the kingdom of heaven, but to do it without the King, to establish something that would be world government. Of course when people think of world government they think of it in terms of their own structures of consciousness. The kingdom isn't a democracy; human beings don't know what it is. There might be the inclination to say, "Well the King rules; therefore it's a dictatorship." Therefore there is an attempt here to bring in world government.

Well, of course the world should be governed, governed as a part of a universal government, whatever that is. It can't really be taken out of that, which is what this particular invisible focus of human nature is attempting to do, so that there is a background influence constantly, to maneuver things through well-meaning people so as to lead everybody to the logical conclusion that the only way we can have peace is to have a world government. But then who is going to govern? Who is going to govern? Of course, if there is a recognition that there is an invisible focus insofar as human nature is concerned, then there is the point from which this government would spring. And that could be interpreted as dictatorial, because it would appear through somebody, or some group of people. That invisible focus might be called the antispirit. We are concerned with spirit proceeding out of heaven, participating in the expression of that spirit so that the earth may reflect it. And in a sense I suppose you could say that's world government; that's the way things actually work. But it's a very different thing to the emergence of what comes to focus in antispirit, in the absence of the spirit of God—that is what the antispirit means. And what comes into expression on that basis is human nature, and human nature is always tying itself up in knots.

Well we're not interested in what is happening in that regard, although we need to be alert with respect to these various movements and causes that are present on earth, and which seem on the surface to be so good, so necessary in case the whole human race should perish: "We must have world government!" If that threat is present and sustained and big enough, then it seems only logical, "Let's rush in and have world government"—world government by antispirit, the invisible focus of human nature. The control is exerted through human nature. It already is, of course, but there is a gathering of things together so that finally there may possibly be a dragon with only one head. The dragon is there already. At the moment it has quite a number of heads, which appear to be in conflict with each other; but back of the heads there is the rest of the dragon. But it's just one dragon. Finally it might work out that all the heads destroy each other but one.

I'm thinking of that in terms of form, but it is all happening because of something which is quite invisible. This is why people who have been looking so desperately to find the evil genius who is making things go wrong on earth have never really come up with an answer. They find someone occasionally—ah, off with his head! But everything is the same as it was before. There is no shortage of human nature on earth! There are plenty of candidates to be moved by this invisible focus, and as long as the attention is paid to form—this form, that form, the other form; this person, the other person; this nation, the other nation—this is distraction from what is actually happening. People with the best of intentions go along with these movements and causes, imagining that somehow or other they are going to achieve some great thing, when those forms are not what they seem to be, because of human nature. It doesn't matter what anyone does, how they organize, how good their intentions are, it's all human nature, and human nature is governed invisibly; there is an invisible focus to do it.

I have never emphasized this point particularly, because one needs to reach a point when one has an awareness of the invisible focus of spirit coming down from God out of heaven in one's own experience, in order to understand what it is in the reverse direction. But there is a reverse direction, obviously so; the fall took place, and human beings are governed by human nature. Until one has an awareness of what the situation is from within oneself, one is in no position to deal with what needs to be dealt with in the larger picture, which is the King's purpose through His body on earth: To do just that, deal with it.

Well, obviously you're not going to deal with this rather immense pattern of human nature, and the antispirit which focalizes it, by soft and peaceable words. There is going to be the necessity for meeting the situation, but not on a crusade basis: "Ah, now we see the antichrist! Let's get on our white horses, with swords drawn, and off with his head!" Well, one can do that; a lot of people have tried that, but he always grew another one. No, it's not the form, because that is merely a reflection of what is in the heaven of that form, and that is an invisible focus. But we need to begin to become conscious that our mandate—shall we put it that way?—is immense, compared to the stupid little things with which as individuals we become involved, and as a grouping we become involved.

Finally we begin to look out with the eyes of the King, with the understanding of the King, with the strength of the King, with the authority of the King. Then all these other things simply are nonexistent anymore as influences, insofar as our vision and outlook and action are concerned. They may be present for a while. I know I personally am not free from aches and pains. I'm not so confused as I used to be! or so disturbed, because there is more space for the focus of invisible spirit coming down from God out of heaven. It is merely something that happens when there is space for it to happen. It is available to anyone, and we find that it comes in a certain way: We move in the way of the Lord; we think the thoughts of the Lord; we share in the expression that is natural on that basis. And consequently we are able to begin to bring into conscious awareness something of the immensity of the job that has to be done—immensity, I suppose, really from the view of the human mind, because it is not immense at all from the view of the spirit of God. It's a very little thing in the total universe, obviously, so there is no problem. But it transcends any view that we have had in the human nature sense. All those things are so utterly petty and meaningless once we begin to associate ourselves with what it is that is really to be done in the fulfilment of the purposes of the King on earth.

© emissaries of divine light

First Of All We Must Have A Man

First  Of  All  We  Must  Have  A  Man

from  Divine Manhood and Womanhood

Martin Cecil   March 9, 1958

How patient the Lord is! We have remarked on this divine quality many times before. The Lord's patience with the children of men is indeed a marvelous thing. We have seen something of the patience of the Lord as He has builded within the scope of recorded history those structures through which it was His intention to achieve the divine purposes. He builds patiently, carefully, knowing the design, understanding the purpose. And how consistently human beings have wrecked that which the Lord began to build! Some of the destructiveness did not entirely eliminate the opportunity that was offered and it was possible to repair the damage and continue in the cycle, but thus far there has always come a time when the destruction was so complete that the Lord was under the necessity of saying, “That is that! It will not work out that way anymore.” And then He proceeded to work it out, or to make possible an outworking, in another way. We see this in the large patterns of opportunity that He has offered to the children of men which we find recorded in the Old and the New Testaments. But consider the millions and billions of individual human beings who have been builded on earth.

We have taken note of the marvelous mechanism of the physical body of man, the intricacy of its operation, the perfect provision that has been made for the maintenance and balance as it allows the expression of life to manifest in form on earth; and the building of a human mind to the point where it is capable of logical thought, of following out in a pattern of reason, of acquiring essential knowledge for the discharge of responsibility in life. And the heart, the emotional realm of man, though it has been such a limited and distorted thing in fallen man, yet what a marvelous capacity! How flat and meaningless life would be—even more meaningless than human beings have found it—if there were not that capacity to feel, to appreciate, to enjoy, to experience satisfaction. Every human being who has been born into the world has had these capacities in varying degrees, carefully developed and builded during the course of that individual lifetime. And though the Lord has made these miracles possible, He has had to watch human beings throwing away their opportunities, failing utterly to comprehend or to do anything to fulfil the true purpose for which He created them. Generation after generation, the world around, human beings have been born. Their bodies and minds and hearts have been builded; they have lived out a little life span—to what end? From the standpoint of the Lord, what was achieved? In virtually every case, practically nothing—the gift of life wasted; all the Lord's care and provision for the development of that marvelous mechanism by which He might express Himself on earth has gone for nothing. What infinite patience! What faith He has had in the children of men, that there would be those sometime, sooner or later, in sufficient number, who would let this tremendous provision which the Lord has made in relationship to each one come to fruition, be used for the purpose for which it was created. And yet He has had to watch generation after generation simply passing away with nothing to show for it. Patience. Faith. How wonderful is the Lord's patience and His faith!

We might consider that there are those, or have been over the ages, who have in some measure—some more, some less—allowed this mechanism to come to the point of being really useful to the Lord. We have the record of many, particularly in the Old Testament, who did permit the marvelous provision of the Lord in relationship to themselves to have some meaning. A few allowed it to have great meaning. Then our Master came into the world, carefully building an instrument for His use on earth—a physical body with the capacities of mind and heart, growing and maturing, being trained, brought into position to allow that wonderful expression of divine being to be offered to the children of men. The instrument in His case was perfect for the needs of that time, capable of functioning in the fulness of the wisdom of the LORD of Lords, capable of doing the work, capable of being used under absolute control. What a marvelous thing—something that in the same degree had been virtually unknown in the world since man fell, or shortly thereafter. This instrument was developed and brought to this point of capability and capacity, a marvelous thing, so that the ministry of our Lord and King might begin to appear on earth. And human beings undertook to destroy it out of hand, at least they destroyed it insofar as they themselves were concerned. Obliterated it—something that the Lord had so carefully builded! It had only taken Him thirty years. And after three more years it was gone, lost to the world. No wonder there was darkness on that fateful day when our Master hung upon the cross.

And yet how patient He has been. How many millions and billions of human beings have lived on earth since that time, bodies and minds and hearts carefully builded, provided with every opportunity, brought to the point where they might be, if they would be, trained to be the divine instrument on earth. But how many have been willing to let it be so? Very, very few. And in our own lifetime we can remember one man whose body and mind and heart were trained and developed to the point where they might be a true instrument for the expression of the Spirit of Truth on earth, and then, in a moment, it was gone! In his case, forty-seven years on earth, a very brief span, but even so, fourteen years longer than our Master was here in the world. That instrument through which the Spirit of Truth might express was builded with care, the facilities, the capacities, were developed with care, trained, brought to that pitch of perfection which allowed the expression of the Spirit of Truth on earth. And then, no more.

The Lord has builded in relationship to each one of you, carefully, providing every means and opportunity for the development of your capacities, your abilities, so that you might become instruments in His hands for the fulfilment of those purposes for which He created you. How much has He been able to achieve in that regard up to this point? We know His patience; we have all experienced it. How perfect is the instrument at this point? How long do we have to allow Him to complete it into what it should and can easily be?

It is usual in the world of men to consider the next generation. Human beings think to achieve so much so that their children can go on from there, but if the divine purposes are to find fulfilment on earth it must come in one generation. The question is: Are those who are charged with that responsibility, all things else being equal, going to live long enough to let it be? It is indicated that man, under the conditions of the world as it now is, should live threescore years and ten, or thereabouts. You know, in the divine state it took threescore years and ten, approximately, for divine man, divine men and women, to come to the point of being adequately mature to begin to undertake their life work. Just about at the time that the Lord might have developed an instrument to the required pitch, in this day and age, it is liable to become so decrepit that it is no more use. We cannot wait and let the job be done at one and the same time.

The Lord seeks to build the essential instrument on earth. We have examples of what happens when the outworking is left to future generations. It is not a very victorious picture. Little distortions, little deviations, become greater and greater, and soon any resemblance to the original is virtually nonexistent. Not too many of those who call themselves Christians would be willing to acknowledge that in relationship to Christianity, but by and large it is true. It has scarcely any resemblance to that which our Master brought into the world; it is unrecognizable except for those who have a measure of spiritual vision, and then, to understand, they do not need to look at Christianity, as it is called in the world; the understanding does not come by looking at it. It is those who have the present opportunity, who are associated with the original, who may do the job. It is possible that if they do not do the job their children may; it is possible.

But we have an outstanding example of failure in the experience of the children of Israel—we have considered that point many times—when they had the opportunity to move on through into the promised land. They had come out of Egypt, they had spent a little time in the wilderness—not very long—and the opportunity was presented to them to move on through into the promised land. Certain ones of them looked the situation over and decided that the giants were too big, that while it was a fine land, flowing with milk and honey, it was really too much of a job to go on in, and their counsel prevailed. And so the children of Israel did not go on in in the way which the Lord had opened before them. We can perhaps speculate as to what might have happened if they had gone on through. The task at that time would have been easy, far easier than it was later, and the precedent of failure would not have been established, which later, if the victory was ever to be known, had to be overcome. The outworking in the promised land itself would of course have been much more rapid, because there would have been proof that the children of Israel were letting the Lord direct and control in the outworking of that which He Himself had established. But no, they would not let it be that way. And they had to stay in the wilderness until that generation had died, that the next generation might have the chance. Well, as we know, in the ultimate outworking it failed. That first generation could have gone on through if they had been willing to do so.

For us this also is true, and it seems to me that there is more indication, which we can perceive on a reasonable basis, that those of us who participate in this opportunity had better go on through, for the next generation may not have the chance. We would that those who are of the next generation should share the fulfilment with us, but let us not imagine that we can leave it to them. It is our responsibility; it is our opportunity; and the Lord has builded carefully, in spite of failures along the way, and brought this present cycle to this time. Let us not try His patience any further, so that we may, by our own choice and action, let Him complete the instrument that is needed both with respect to each one as an individual and with respect to all together. He is capable of doing it; there has never been any question with regard to that. But are you, and other responding ones who share this opportunity, going to take advantage of it so that you may let the job be done in you? Our Master let it be done in Him, through His body and mind and heart when He was on earth, in thirty years. Most of you are older than that; some of you may be younger. Those who are younger do not need to wait. Those who are older have obviously been waiting too long.

Yesterday evening I spoke of the confidence which the Lord has had in you, and I suggested to you that there is no valid reason why you should not share His confidence, so that you are confident in that which God has established in you. Human beings feel inadequate, imperfect, sometimes wicked. They feel that they have limitations, and the devil does all in his power, either through the individual's own mind or through somebody else, to convince human beings that that is all they are—inadequate, limited, sinful, wretched, miserable, poor, hopeless and helpless. Most human beings feel that way underneath, and so when someone comes along and says, “That's the way you are,” the individual says, “Yes, that is the way I feel. He must be right.” The devil was a liar from the beginning. The Lord has confidence in you, otherwise you would not be here on earth. And if He has confidence in you it should be safe to acknowledge that He is right, and that no matter what you feel, no matter what anyone says, no matter what your experience may be, the devil is a liar. As long as you can be convinced of sin you are under the thumb of the devil. When you recognize that truth, you can see what controls in the world of Christianity. It is not God, is it? It is not the Lord. It is not that in which the Lord has confidence that controls. There are many wrong things in the world, probably still many wrong things in you. The Lord has no confidence in wrong things. But there is that in you in which He has confidence and in which you may have confidence. Trust that and do not let all these supposed limitations cause you to distrust it. Because you happen to feel this way and that way, because on the basis of your experience you have had this failure and that failure, do not take the attitude that you cannot have confidence in that in you in which the Lord has confidence.

You know, females in the world tend to have a certain attitude toward their menfolk. Because they feel insecure, uncertain of themselves, because they know they are not what they ought to be, and because they realize, subconsciously at least, that they need a point somewhere upon which they can depend, they are inclined to attempt, in relationship to their menfolk, to test them, to try to tear down, to destroy, in order to find out if there is anything there that is dependable. It is a backhanded way of doing it. That does not excuse men from being so weak and letting themselves be so convinced. What is needed is to find women who will not be so concerned with weakness but will begin to consider that point of strength, that point in which the Lord has confidence, in her man; to encourage that, to support that, to give her response to that, and to refuse to do what she has been inclined to do in the past—insist upon all the weaknesses.

How does this pattern work out? First of all we must have a man somewhere. Women are not going to do it just on their own hook. They never have thus far, and from my standpoint at least, I see no possibilities that they ever will. There needs to be a man—at least one man—to initiate the cycle. And then there must be one or more women who respond and begin to give support, begin to let themselves be changed in basic attitudes so that they do give support and backing and response to that point of strength. Then there begins to be something by means of which there may be the initiation of a creative cycle, so that the influence may begin to extend beyond, and other men and women may come, the men not imagining that they are perfect all at once and the women not insisting that they should be all at once. But it is on the basis of the attitude of the female to the male, of the woman to the man, that the reality of divine womanhood may appear. There is no such thing as a divine woman until she has found her correct attitude toward divine man. She cannot do it on her own.

You may recall the story of the creation, of man in the beginning, which indicated that Adam was created first and that Eve was taken out of Adam. In other words her being is absolutely dependent upon her relationship to man. She cannot be a divine woman, she cannot be what she was created to be, without her man, or without the reality of divine manhood. I am not speaking of it necessarily from the individual standpoint. We have husbands and wives, and they have something to learn. But we do have a pattern in which there are men and women, and it is something that should manifest on the right basis from the collective standpoint of men and women. The men cannot make the women over. Don't let them try it! They are responsible for being men, and when they are men, those who are willing to be true women will appear. A man who is really a man does not want anything else; he does not want the imitation; he simply is not interested. It must come on the right basis. It is needful, then, that men should be concerned about being men. Never mind about the women; just be concerned about being a man. And the women should be concerned about being women. Never mind about trying to make the men over; that is not required. But to be women they must recognize the necessity of their right relationship to the men. They cannot be women without it. If we eliminated all the men from the face of the earth—oh my!—we certainly would not have any true women. That should be obvious enough.

So the women need to recognize that point of strength, that point in the men in which the Lord has confidence, and begin to respond to that and support that, to give themselves to that in response. This is the basis, in this particular pattern, for true spiritual intimacy of which I spoke before. As long as women persist in their attitudes of tearing down and destroying they will never find that for which they are looking, and they reveal in that attitude the attitude of the whole of mankind toward God.

Human beings sought to destroy the Lord when He came, to tear Him down, to eliminate Him, imagining that if He was the Lord, well that would be impossible; so if He stood they could say, “Well that is fine! Here's the Lord; we will believe on Him now.” So has it ever been since man first fell, and so has it ever been in relationship to women with men—the same pattern. Let us let it be changed. Let us, as men, be concerned about being men, true men, having confidence in that in which God has confidence; and as women, let there be concern about being true women and finding the correct attitude toward men. As long as the old world attitudes are persisted in there can never be fulfilment; we can never do the job; we can never let that instrument come to the point of its perfection which is required to let the Lord do the works. Let us not try the Lord's patience in this matter anymore but play our parts in letting the reality of divine manhood and womanhood appear once more on earth to give glory to God in the highest, that there may indeed be the rule of the Prince of Peace on earth and the doing of God's will in the world of mankind.

© Emissaries of Divine Light