Shekinah, in recognizing the vibratory factors carrying over from the Motherland Tongue, is the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. Our Master spoke of the One Who Dwells as the Father, meaning exactly the same thing. He was speaking the words of the Father; that is, the Word of the Lord, or the One Who Dwells, as He Himself stated, for He spoke not of Himself. And the Presence of the One Who Dwells is revealed in the Old Testament pattern as being manifest by the Fire which appeared in the form of a ball of fire between the cherubims upon the altar, above the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant—the Fire, the Light that Glows, and the Cloud or the Glory, the reality of the expression of the One Who Dwells in life. The Way is the way of Love—the Shekinah Fire is that which we speak of as the Fire of Love in the sense of the Divine Pattern. The Light of Truth must be recognized as being identical with the Light that Glows. And the Cloud that fills the Temple and shines round about is Life in active expression as it is born from the union of Love and Truth. The Way, the Truth and the Life of the Master's Word, the trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit—the Fire of the presence of the One Who Dwells; the Son, the Light that Glows; and the Holy Spirit, the Cloud of the Shekinah—are two particular patterns of wording in Divine revelation revealing identically the same thing.
Conflict patterns, resentments, maintained in any individual exclude that individual from the Shekinah Pattern of Being, no matter how well justified the resentment may seem to be. The fact of resentment, the fact of conflict attitudes, precludes the experience of coming to know the trinity of the Shekinah, the manifest evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells—the actual revelation of the Divine Essences of the trinity of manifestation—that which is revealed through the Cloud, through the Light that Glows, and through the Fire. As we begin to consider the reality of the Shekinah Pattern we realize that all creative function, regardless of the level of life or being, is achieved in relationship to what we speak of, in this world, in relationship to heaven and earth, as Shekinah. All creative activity, the creation of this world and of all the things that are therein, is achieved through the reality of the Shekinah. We must recognize that wherever the Greek word Logos was translated as Word, exactly the same meaning was contained in the Old Testament pattern by Shekinah. “In the beginning was the Word”—in the beginning was the Logos; in the beginning was the Shekinah. “And the Shekinah was with God, and the Shekinah was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made. In the Shekinah was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light [of the Shekinah] shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
What a marvellous portrayal—the first five verses of the Gospel according to John, giving a complete, accurate outline of the basic principles of Shekinah, translated to us as the Word but actually derived from and meaning in significance Shekinah—the Shekinah Trinity—the Fire, the Light that Glows, and the Cloud of Glory. We recognize of course that it was the Shekinah Cloud which enfolded our Master's form so that He ceased to be visible to men—not a cloud up in the sky. He ascended in the Shekinah Cloud. How did Elijah leave this sphere of things? A chariot of fire, or a fiery chariot? What was it? The Shekinah Fire, which was in the center of the Light that Glows, which in turn was in the center of the Cloud of Glory. What is the word that was written with respect to Enoch? “And Enoch talked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Enoch talked—the Word. It was not in New Testament times that the wordWord was used to symbolize Shekinah for the first time. It is not in relationship to our translation that the word Word was used to signify Shekinah for the first time. “And Enoch talked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
Why was the word Word used in Hebraic times to signify Shekinah? Because those who recognized the heavenly magic of the names of God and the name of that which signified God's presence wished to keep those words holy and sacred, that they might be used only where there was understanding and appreciation. And so, what was more natural than to say Word—just Word—and anyone reading with any understanding would recognize that the word Word used in such fashion signified the secret Word, the Word that was not to be spoken by profane lips, the word that was not to be bandied about, the Word that carries special significance and power. And what word was it? What was the word? Shekinah. So even in Old Testament times those who were writing did on occasion use the word Word to signify Shekinah. They used all kinds of evasions. Wherever we find the word Glory in the Bible, if you are aware of the true significance you will read Shekinah. In the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer we have the three divisions of Shekinah indicated by the words kingdom, power, and glory. “For thine is the Shekinah” means exactly the same thing as “Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.” What is the significance of the text in the closing part of the Book of Revelation, where mention is made warning against taking away from the word of this prophecy or adding to the word of this prophecy? And what is prophecy? Prophecy is the expression of the Word of God; prophecy is the expression of Shekinah. To take away from Shekinah, the revelation Divine, or to add to Shekinah by the self-active function of the mind, brings a penalty. Obviously the author of Revelation knew and understood the principles of Shekinah. He wrote in symbolical language, but he plainly said, “the words of this prophecy,” the Logos, the Shekinah. If the human mind of man attempts to add anything to that which is revealed from God through Shekinah to man it will bring distortion, destruction and failure. If the human mind attempts to take anything away from Shekinah it will lead to destruction. The Word. What word? There is only one word that fits. Shekinah. Once you know the Word, you see how it fits, how it belongs.
From the beginning of the Book of Genesis, we read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The first pattern portrayed is of motion: “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” God here is supposed to be translated Shekinah—“Spirit,” the Light that Glows, “moved upon the face of the waters.” The face of the waters? Water is the symbol of truth. The face of the waters is what? The face of the water of truth is Life, is it not? Shekinah. “In the beginning, Shekinah,” shown in the trinity in action, moving, and there is the beginning of creation. “And God said, Let there be light”—God, the center, the Fire; Light, the Light that Glows—“and there was light.” What was the next step, after the evening and the morning were the first day? What about the firmament? The Cloud—the Fire, the Light, the Cloud—and we begin to see the unfolding of the reality of Shekinah. We read in the beginning of the Gospel of our Lord and King on earth, as written by John:“In the beginning was the Shekinah, and the Shekinah was with God, and the Shekinah was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made. In Shekinah was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” We begin to realize, everything of God that man has known has appeared through Shekinah. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost of the New Testament are simply a restatement of the trinity of Shekinah—the Fire, the Light and the Cloud of Glory. If we strip away the shell of Judaism from the Hebraic revelations of Deity, and if we strip away the crystallizations of so-called Christianity from the teachings of Jesus Christ, we find that they are one and the same—no break anywhere, no violation of the basic laws and principles of Being, no controversy, no conflict, no cause for resentment. And when the revelation of Shekinah made manifest by Jesus Christ was rejected by men it was revealed again in the portrayal that comes to us as the Book of Revelation, that man might have no excuse for failing to know Shekinah.
Once we begin to realize that the basic principles of the One Law rest in Shekinah we can begin to accept that Law; once we truly look at the solar system we see that the blinded eyes of human beings have failed to see the revelation of Shekinah, for the solar system is Shekinah—the Fire of Shekinah that is called the sun, the Light that Glows that issues forth from the Fire, which carries out into the Cloud of planets. The design of the solar system is the design of Shekinah, brought forth by Shekinah, a revelation of itself; for the design of the planets and of the sun—of the solar system—is in the image and likeness of Shekinah. And whether we speak of the Word, where God said, “Let us make man in our image,” or whether we recognize the reality of the Elohim, or whether we simply say, “And Shekinah said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, to have dominion over the earth and all of the things that are therein.” And so Shekinah did, “male and female created he them”—the Shekinah Pattern is revealed over and over again in life all around us. Father, mother and child for instance—Shekinah. Within the individual; spirit, mind and body, Shekinah—the trinity of man, a manifestation of Shekinah, a revelation of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And if the fire goes out of the heart the body decays, the mind ceases to be a light on earth, and the grave receives what is left.
Blessed Ones, we need to begin to realize that until we know the significance, the beauty, the wonder, the magnificence, yea and the Glory, of Shekinah, we really know nothing, for whatever any human being may think he knows, if it be not oriented with and in Shekinah it is nothing—the image and likeness of Shekinah. When you speak and call upon the Name of the Lord, by what means shall your call reach the Lord? No man, no woman, can approach the Lord except through Shekinah. The Lord cannot be found anywhere except by reason of Shekinah. Every true prophet the world has known has been the voice of Shekinah. Moses, in the days of the children of Israel and their deliverance from slavery, was the voice of Shekinah. Other prophets followed—Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel—each manifesting as the voice of Shekinah, to reveal on earth to the children of men the reality of God. And you can share the privilege, the expression of the Word, of Shekinah, when you are centered in the Fire. For can you know God except by the Fire of Love, the Centering of Shekinah? And when you let the Light, the Light that Glows, the symbol of truth, be the design and the control of your life and your words, of heart and mind and deeds, and when you let your life be a revelation of the garment of God, you are sharing in the revelation of Shekinah. Not the Centering of Shekinah, not the center of the whole, but a part of the whole. Our Master came. He revealed the Centering of Shekinah, the revelation of Deity,Shekinah as it relates to the invisible realm and the visible—but there is a Centering of Shekinah relating to the focalization of the outer world.
All cannot be the Central Focalization of the essence of Shekinah, but all can share in the revelation of Shekinah; for you were made in the image and likeness of Shekinah. Whether you look at the atom, which is built in the image of Shekinah, or the solar system, which was made in the image of Shekinah, whether you look at a man or a woman, which were made in the image of Shekinah, you cannot escape from the Pattern; for it is truly true, as it is written, “In the beginning was Shekinah, and Shekinah was with God, and Shekinah was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made. In Shekinah was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” For human beings have lost their contact with Shekinah. But there is a Way, there is the Truth and there is the Life by which youmayknowShekinah, for today Shekinah is, and the voice of Shekinah declares the former things of the unreal realm are passing away. “Behold, I make all things new.” And that which will not let itself be made new according to the Shekinah Design, that which will not yield to the Shekinah control, shall be no more. But all which yields and comes under control and accepts the Shekinah Design, centered in the Shekinah Fire, shall be made new in the resurrection and the life, for this is the victory.
It is very evident that life is quite capable of doing exactly what needs to be done. It doesn’t require any brilliant human minds to determine this. It may be said that it is already determined. The manipulative endeavors of Lucifer-in-the-dark are totally unnecessary for the experience of life. In fact these produce the experience of life’s absence in varying degrees until it becomes total. We have mentioned various manipulations that are going on in the world. They are not far to seek, and if we are honest we are aware that they are still going on quite close to home. These manipulations are fundamentally based in fear—fear is destructive. It doesn’t matter how good the intentions are, if the motivation is fear it will always prove to be destructive. Virtually all human motivations stem from fear, so virtually all human motivations are destructive in this way. There are variations on the theme of fear but they all relate to this fundamental factor. Because of fear, which spawns greed and other variations, there is a process going on which clearly is self destructive. It seems a good idea, for the benefit of all the buildings and the paper that is so prolifically used in the world today, to destroy the forests. From one standpoint that’s good: we’re going to have enough newsprint. From another standpoint it’s bad because we are all going to suffocate in consequence. If we do that of course we don’t really need the newsprint!
There are terrible things, in the human view, afoot in the world: self-produced diseases of all kinds, in the world and in human experience, and the ultimate threat of thermonuclear war. If this threat could be disposed of we would still have the prospect of suffocating, of polluting ourselves to death in one way or another. It really makes little difference as to how we do it. It seems that, humanly speaking, everyone is intent upon doing it. This all springs out of the motivation of fear and the manipulation which puts in an appearance consequently. We see horrendous things and we see how certain they are. The world is due for extinction. This is a terrifying prospect for fearful human beings. We have spoken for many years now about the restoration of the human race but also about the dissolution of the human world. I wonder what we thought that entailed—just a nice easy movement for everyone out of this sick state into radiant health? What was it we imagined would occur? Perhaps it is true that, should human beings have repented back along the way somewhere, things might have worked out in a more or less easy way, but it's far too late for that. We come to a place where it is necessary to face facts. This world as we know it is due for extinction. It is happening because it rightly should happen.
Of course this prospect of extinction is occurring to many people and this fans the state of fear considerably. And there is a desperate endeavor by people to try to manipulate themselves out of this inevitable doom. One can be totally preoccupied with such endeavors, as many people seem to be. But it is all futility, because what has been sown has to be reaped, and in the reaping there is the dissolution of what shouldn't be there in the first place. Because this is all that human beings have known is this worldly state, it seems as though the extinction of that is the extinction of everything. That is the view of human consciousness the way it is now constituted. Doomsday has been anticipated religiously for a long time. Obviously it hasn't happened so far but it's still anticipated; rightly so, perhaps with a wrong understanding of what this means.
There is a passage which I think might be usefully considered: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:).” The point here is: What would the abomination of desolation be? We could identify it with fear, fear which does in fact stand in what should be the holy place, the place of motivation in human experience. "When ye shall see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place"—that's one way of translating this particular passage—and I think we see it. We see it certainly relative to the state of human beings everywhere but we also see it in our own experience: fear has stood in the place of motivation. The abomination of desolation has been in the holy place for a long time, but virtually no one has seen it. When it is seen then something begins to happen. We see it, however clearly at the moment.
We are aware of fear having been the primary motivation in our own living and in the living of human beings everywhere. For many it has been covered up nicely with cultural attitudes. People behave in a civilized way at times, they claim, as though they were not being motivated by fear, because there is this veneer of civilization over the top of things. And people nod to each other and smile and say, "How do you do?" and "The weather's nice, isn't it?" and so on; and everything goes along as it always has gone along. But now we would acknowledge the fact that fear has been standing in the holy place in our own experience. To the extent that we have seen this we have presumably recognized the necessity for repentance, because the abomination of desolation, fear which produces desolation, certainly does not belong in the holy place, the place of motivation in our own experience. There is another translation to this particular verse which we may recognize also: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet," then the instruction is: Stand in the holy place; let fear be cast out. Perfect love casts out fear. It might be well to consider the fact of fear, fear being the primary motivation standing in the holy place throughout the body of mankind. There is obviously the necessity for repentance and for love to cast it out. Fear is rampant. If we have any sensitivity at all we know that. It is something that we are aware of—fear. We are aware of many things.
When you look at TV, look at the news for instance or some programs, you will see many things going on in the world with your eyes, some of them pretty coarse and in the human sense terrible; bloodthirsty things going on in the world. We can see these things with our eyes. Because we see those things with our eyes, coming to us over the tube, doesn't mean that we are involved in those things. We can, if we wish, turn off the TV or we can turn to another station, look at something else. There are all kinds of broadcasts going on which come in over the radio and over TV, and we can switch from one to another or we can turn the set off. We have an inbuilt set by which we are enabled to perceive what is going on vibrationally. We've called that the heart. The heart is an organ of perception. We perceive fear. There is a vast difference between perceiving fear, being aware of fear, being aware of the fact that there is fear and, on the other hand, being fearful.
True being is not fearful. Why claim fear as the nature, the character, of one's being? We might say, "I am fearful." We know that that statement is fundamentally a lie. I am love. I am truth. I am life. I am. Letting this be identified with fear increases fear. There are a lot of people on earth being fearful. Because of this, through our organ of perception, the heart, we are aware of the fact of fear. We can change stations. We can be aware of other things as well. We are not designed to be blind, deaf, dumb. We have this awareness, but we need not claim to be the things of which we are aware: "I am fearful," for instance. Why accept a lie as though it were the truth? It's quite all right to be aware of fear. It's quite all right to be aware of whatever is present, but we do not need to identify ourselves with it; we know that. Whatever we are capable of perceiving we are capable of handling, of doing whatever it is that's necessary. What is necessary is not to become subject to it, not to claim it as our own identity. We may, as human beings, have claimed fear as our own identity rather easily: Everybody is fearful—I'm fearful. There are other things we are a little more cautious about claiming as our identity, out front at least; we just do it inside. "I'm greedy"; oh no, not me! But the fact is what is present actually, what we characterize ourselves with. All these things are claimed as characteristics of the individual himself. We are aware of all this but still do it.
Let me read something else here, a little further on in the same chapter: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." We have an awareness of what the coming of the Son of man is. We participate in the process of the coming of the Son of man. Here is the state that is current, is it not?—eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered into the ark. There is a point here. It was at that point that the flood came, that the change actually took place. It is also said that no man knoweth the day or the hour, and in some respects it might be said that it seems to have taken a long time coming, but not really; as was indicated, there is an unwillingness that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Well space was given for that, in recent times about two thousand years for it, but nobody to speak of came to repentance. Everything goes on the way it has always gone on, and the results of the goings on become worse and worse and worse, until finally the world as it has been known is dissolved. And, if that is all one knows, one is dissolved with it! It has been long enough surely. We ourselves have had how long since we became acquainted with the truth, the way things work, the way things are? Yet we are inclined to dilly-dally along the way and still continue in many ways to do whatever it is we want to do. This is the human state.
We have a circumstance which comes to us, is brought to us. It is the fact of the moment, whatever it is. Here it is. What are we going to do about it? How are we going to handle this situation? There is nothing that comes to us which is capable of triumphing over us. For this cause I am here: to receive what comes to me, to handle it the way it should be handled, to handle it in the power of the spirit of truth. It doesn't matter what it is that comes. It is this that allows the building of the ark, as it was described. From our standpoint, we could say it is a vibrational ark. It is an ark of vibrational substance, which becomes the substance in which we live. There rightly comes a day when we are totally in the ark, the doors are shut—that is absoluteness—and it is on the basis of this that what corresponds to the flood comes. Mankind has been given the opportunity to repent for twenty thousand years, more particularly in the last two thousand years, but certainly has not done it. So that's that. This is not to say that the opportunity for repentance is not still here. There are people who repent at the eleventh hour, I believe. They just get under the wire, so to speak.
Our concern is to provide this ark of substance because it is our substance. We generate within it and we let it be complete, a very similar situation to what it was at the time of the original flood—not by water anymore, although there are a few floods around, but, it is said, by fire. There are those who say, "Well that's thermonuclear war for sure." Maybe. Maybe. Are we capable of maintaining equanimity in the face of that? We're not going to judge it but let it be whatever it is. The human world, the world produced by human beings on the basis of fear, is on the way out. Are you capable of saying how it should go out? Are you going to be the arbiter of that? "Well it needs to go out in a nice way so that too many people don't get hurt." There are some imponderables here, that is the fact, because Lucifer-in-the-dark is totally incapable of comprehending what the state is in the light. The darkness comprehends not the light. And it is still a matter of Lucifer-in-the-dark, no matter what may have been unfolding in our own experience, the changes that have come. They have not been very massive. I very much doubt if we are entirely Lucifer-in-the-light. Let fear be cast out, so that we can be aware of fear but without being fearful. We would be pretty dumb if we weren't aware of fear.
No more wants of any kind, that the substance of the ark may be complete and that what rightly happens may rightly happen without any fear. Evidently the door of the ark is still open so that the invitation is extended to everyone. I am thankful that there are those who have participated in the generation of this substance by which the ark is built, so that it becomes factual, a reality, a reality that is far more real, if one could put it that way, than the unreality, which isn't real at all but which human beings have thought was real. So we may abide in the substance generated, letting the light shine, spiritual expression in living, that all things may take place exactly the way they should take place, without interference, without benefit from our manipulation or the manipulation of anyone else. Trust! As we are trustworthy, we trust, and all things work together to perfection in the fulfilment of the required purposes, which have nothing to do with human expectations.
Although the rain falls from time to time it is said that the earth will not be subjected to a flood as it was before, at least not a flood of water. There is another flood, however, which comes upon the earth: a flood of the spirit of God, symbolized particularly in this instance by fire. Fire is seen by human consciousness as being hot. It has been seen as being useful but also destructive. Fire is a symbol of the spirit of love which comes upon the earth, just as water was a symbol of the spirit of truth which came upon the earth.
There was an obliteration of life because of the flood of water, except for what was preserved by reason of the ark, which was lifted up by the flood, resting easily upon the surface of the water. While there may have been an actual event, a cataclysm presumably, when the earth was covered with water, the portrayal in the story conveys the truth through symbolism. What happened in the outer circumstance was in fact symbolic of something else that was occurring in an invisible sense. A change was being wrought. The earth after that cataclysm certainly was not the same as it was before. By the same token, in these days there is this other flood which I mentioned, a flood of spirit, symbolized in this instance by fire. We do not need at the moment to speculate upon what the nature of the actual event is in the external circumstance. No doubt we can think of possibilities.
In any case there is a change to be wrought. We ourselves have perceived something of this and have, with many others, sensed changes in the offing in the worldwide sense. I do not know whether they are really in the offing anymore. They are right here. Most people seem to try to live as though they were not. Observations with respect to the future, planning with respect to the future, still seems to be based in what has occurred in the past, as though there were no real changes occurring. This means that most are trying to live in a nonexistent world. It is difficult; we see difficulties on every hand. It is wiser to live in the experience of change, because this permits an increasing awareness of another world. If we are still involved with the past, that certainly obscures our awareness of what it is that is at hand.
In the story of the flood of old it is indicated that there was one person at least—whose name was Noah—who had some awareness of the changes that were occurring and would come in a very specific way in due course. Coming events do cast their shadows before. It is said that he went ahead and built an ark, which as it turned out was a wise move. Others apparently didn't think so at the time. Whatever the nature of the flood may be in external manifestation, it is what is being portrayed in the invisible sense that has first importance. Unless one is related in some fashion to what is occurring in the invisible sense one will be caught off guard and helpless when the external event puts in an appearance. Noah and those who were with him in the ark were preserved. The flood was the means by which the preservation was made possible but this preservation only occurred because there were those who saw what was coming and were more concerned with association with the invisible causes than with the visible effects. Of course visible effects were taken into account but only because there was consideration of the invisible causes. This is portrayed in that particular story by Noah's relationship with the Lord.
There are still invisible causes. There is still the opportunity to participate in association with those invisible causes. If that is done, then the effects may come and those effects will assist in preserving what should be preserved. Those who were caught in the flood of water viewed the situation as being very destructive, but those who were in the ark found it to be quite constructive; they had a new start eventually. As it worked out it didn't seem to do much good. Human beings went right back where they were before the flood of water, where every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. This is the human state, rather aptly described.
But we have an awareness of something that is happening behind the scenes in the invisible sense so that a particular change may occur, first of all in the experience of humanity, and because of this, in all the world round about. This change comes because there is something analogous to a flood. As I say, it isn't a flood of water. It is a flood of the spirit of love, the truth of love, coming down from God out of heaven, as it has been put, emerging out of the invisible into visible experience. For some this seems to be a creative experience, for others a destructive one, depending presumably upon whether one is in what was symbolized by the ark or not. There is an ark relative to what is occurring now in the world, an ark which is lifted up by what happens. For those who are contained within the ark it might be said that there is salvation. Let us not see this word merely in a religious sense, as though it meant going to some mystical or mythical heaven somewhere, but as relating to what happens right here. The question is as to whether anyone survives on the face of the earth. It seems to me some reference was made to the importance of saving a little flesh. It was indicated that the days should be shortened; otherwise probably no flesh would be saved. Well flesh wanders around here on the surface of the earth, so the salvation relates to what happens here on the surface of the earth.
We have seen these things in some measure and recognize our own association with what is happening, participation in it, and our own responsibility, the responsibility which relates to the spiritual, the invisible, happening. There is a flood on the way. Obviously there is something happening in the consciousness, and consequently in the experience, of human beings the world around. The evidences of irrationality are clear enough everywhere, people behaving in the most crazy ways and yet able to excuse it apparently. There is something happening; there is a flood, an intensification. I suppose we might call it a vibrational flood, something happening in the consciousness of human beings which either lifts them up or drives them crazy—or more crazy than they were before. But there is an ark, which originates in an invisible realm.
You may recall that when Noah went to work he had instructions from someplace as to the material for the ark and the dimensions of the ark and all the rest. There was a design. There was something already provided of which he became aware, and because he became aware of it, it took form—the ark was built. So it is in these days. There is the invisible design. There is what is necessary from that standpoint and this may be useful, valuable, offering the opportunity of salvation, provided that there is someone who becomes aware of it. Then, coming down from God out of heaven, it may take form on earth. The invisible aspect of the ark before it was built was essential to the ark after it was built.
There is an invisible aspect to the ark now. We have described that invisible aspect by using a certain word, and that word is the Word—the Word that was with God in the beginning, the Word that is God, the Word by which all things are. Inherently in the Word is the design. The Word is portrayed in form initially by words. If that's all that happens the form will be inadequate. But if by reason of the Word and the words the invisible design takes form through human flesh, by reason of the lives of those concerned, then there is an ark— there is an ark which may be lifted up by reason of the flood. The flood may be described as a vibrational intensification affecting the consciousness of human beings the world around. There is something of this nature flooding into the world, and human beings are aware of it without knowing what it is. Because they are wrapped up in the effects of what is happening they cannot see what is happening. One has to be in position to stand back so that one is unmixed with what is happening, in order to see what is happening. But if one is merely a part of what is happening one doesn't understand what is happening and the experience is a destructive one.
The provision of the ark is present. The Word is present and there are those who know it. They know it, not just because of the words that have been spoken to clothe the Word but because they themselves have experienced the reality of that Word in their own living. Every aspect of expression, thinking, feeling, speaking, acting, then is clothing for the Word. When this is so, a person knows the Word. If it isn't so, but words have merely been heard with the ear, then nothing has yet happened of any significance; the destructive experience is still the primary one and the individual finds himself pushed around from pillar to post. What is he being pushed around by? By his own state, which exhibits an unwillingness to allow the Word to be given flesh by reason of his own living. Human beings suffer their own difficulties by reason of their own actions. They like to blame it on someone else. Very often the attitude is taken that it isn't fair. Did you ever hear children playing, getting into a little trouble somewhere?—“It isn't fair!”—and probably tears flow. One sees adult human beings indulging in the same childishness: “It isn't fair!” Oh yes it is, absolutely.
It has been said that the Law works; at least this is one way of describing the way things happen, and each one is responsible for the happening. Surely our concern is for the creative happening rather than the destructive one. If there are those who insist upon the destructive one, well they must be allowed to so insist. But from our standpoint, we ourselves properly accept the responsibility of being associated with the Word and letting that take form in our living, letting that condition what finds expression in our thinking, in our feeling, in our speaking, in our acting. That is assuming creative responsibility. We don't take the attitude that anyone anywhere can stop us from being right in this way, from letting the Word be made flesh because of our own living. So here is the immediate responsibility relative to this flood.
There is a description in several places in the Bible, in the Book of Revelation in particular, of the nature of this flood. There are some words in the 21st chapter of Revelation about “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.” Well the rain comes out of the sky. In that first flood it is said that it rained for forty days and forty nights. Pretty heavy rain! It came down from the manifest symbol of the heaven, out of the sky. So it is that this flood also comes down from the heaven, or out from the heaven—however one might for the moment be aware of the nature of the heaven, the invisible heaven. There is something coming from the invisible heaven. It was described as “the holy city, new Jerusalem.” We have seen this in terms of a new state of spiritual consciousness for human beings, a true state of consciousness once more emerging out of heaven. It comes as a flood. We don't need particularly at the moment to investigate as to why this is happening. There are very logical reasons as to why it is happening but they might not seem altogether logical to the illogical human mind. It doesn't matter anyway; it's happening. This flood is a reality; it is present with us. Human beings generally are beginning to wonder whether they are going to be able to survive it. Of course their endeavors to survive are based, as I say, in what has been known in the past, grabbing on to the flotsam and jetsam. But there is an ark—the Word—the Word that is with God, the Word that is God, the Word by which all things are, the Word in which life is.
Speaking of the flood, the new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven, it is said: “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life”—they through whom the pure lifestream is flowing. “Blessed are the pure in heart.” The human experience is of an adulterated lifestream, toxic blood. The poisons affect the function of the brain and the central nervous system, producing hallucinations in the mind, so that human beings sometimes imagine they are being intelligent when they are being quite irrational. The pure lifestream is known to those who enter into the Word, into the ark, which lifts them above the pollution, lifts them above the poisons. As we noted in the past, it is ultimately useless to try to cleanse the blood as long as one is still taking poisons into one's body. So it is in the spiritual sense also.
As long as human nature governs the attitudes and the experiences of living, the lifestream is adulterated; there is filthiness in the lifestream and there is no way by which a person can then experience either health or understanding. The Word is present on earth. It has been spoken in words over the years for those who had ears to hear and hearts to understand, who were willing to allow the filthiness to be removed, to be left behind, no longer taken into the expression of living. To this extent there have been those who have allowed this Word to expand in form on earth, both in the form of words and in the form of living flesh, so that the invitation might be extended to others to participate in this living flesh.
But the Word must be known. As it was put long ago, “If ye continue in my word … ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” There have been precious few who have actually continued in the Word. Some have continued in the words after a fashion but have never known the Word. The prior state of human nature has been grasped and held on to, but in the Word “there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.” None of these things are present. Most people think of that as some sort of futuristic, perfect state somewhere, but not possible now. When will it be possible? There have been human beings in every generation for millennia who have had that attitude, that it will be possible one day, but how few men and women there have been who had what it takes to accept the reality now.
The Word has been offered in words and in the flesh for many years, in a personal sense for twenty-five or thirty years. It's interesting, isn't it, but words have been used week by week, month by month, year by year, in services, in Classes, in Assemblies, in lectures, in so many ways for such a long time. From my own standpoint, I have spoken over these years spontaneously for these various opportunities that presented themselves to me. How could this be done? Where did it come from? You know the answer to that, in theory at least. But there need to be those who know the truth for themselves. From time to time there are those who feel that I don't understand them. Well it's true, I don't go into great analysis of the characters of all those who come within the range of my awareness. My time would be cut out, wouldn't it, if I indulged in that sort of thing. It's not necessary. It only would seem to be necessary from the standpoint of human nature, that one has to examine people so carefully.
What is it that offers salvation? The ark, we say; well, the Word. And where does the Word come from? It may be said that it comes from nowhere, but it is now here. It has been now here for all these years. It came anyway—that's all that's necessary—not just in words but in the flesh of living. And what comes that way is the way it exactly should be. In theory, I suppose, most would say, “Yes the expression of the spirit of God is right; that's righteousness.” But in fact it's denied a lot of the time. We don't need as individuals to know everything about everything and everybody. I'm not anxious to have my consciousness cluttered up with all that; I don't know about you. What would we do with it all? Just let the spirit of God find expression, that's all, and we may do this to the extent that we have generated a little spiritual substance to let it happen, to give us a starting point at least, so that we may begin to live the truth of love. We may abide in the ark; but we can't stand outside the ark and question the dimensions of the ark or the material of which it is composed and be in the ark at the same time.
The ark is the Lord's responsibility; its dimensions are His responsibility; the way it takes form is His responsibility. It does take form because there are those who agree with the Lord in this. If there is no one to agree, of course nothing happens; but if there are those who agree then it takes form, and it takes form the way it takes form. We don't question it. We don't tear it down; we don't judge it; we don't try to make it some other way. We don't take the attitude ever that we are being unjustly treated or unfairly treated someway. That's childish nonsense! We stand with the Lord, in agreement with Him, and the evidence of that agreement is that we agree with those who stand with the Lord. It's very simple, really. The human nature approach makes it complicated seemingly. It isn't. It never was. That approach is sustained because apparently most people don't want to grow up; they want to stay childish. We know better. Let us prove that we know better.
So may we provide a facility for the full and free expression of the spirit of God and let Him have His way without constantly injecting our own theories and ideas and opinions into the picture. Let it be the way it is. Now that's been said once or twice, I believe. People nod their heads but seldom do it. They say, “Well this obviously is not right; this is unfair.” Is it? How do you know? Let it be the way it is and trust God. Each individual is responsible for that expression of the spirit for him- or herself and for nobody else. So why look at someone else and say, “Well they're not doing it right; I'm being treated wrongly, unfairly”? No you're being treated exactly the way you should be treated. We all are. Let's not object. If we get a kick in the pants, well that's what was coming to us. Or doesn't the Law work? Let's wake up and assume our responsibilities in a consistent way so that there may be a more expansive ark than has yet put in an appearance, an ark to be lifted up upon this flood of spirit and fire, to offer salvation on earth to all who will receive it.
