Glory To God In The Highest
Uranda June 26, 1953 Class
I would like to direct your attention to one of the outstanding keys to a realization of reality that can be found in Holy Writ anywhere, which has from the standpoint of its true purpose and meaning been virtually ignored. As long as we ignore the keys, we cannot use them to unlock the doors and let the things of God come in. You let the Master in, and when He comes in He begins to prepare a place for you—a mansion of soul, in which the things of heaven are present and made manifest. This particular key was given to man at the time our Master's body was born on earth in the form of a babe. There were many remarkable revelations of the reality of Shekinah at the time of the Master's birth, but the central key is the Angels' Song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Let us look at this expression from the standpoint of reality, with the eye of the heart. “Glory to God in the highest.” What is the Glory? The Shekinah Cloud of Glory. Glory to God in the Highest. That carries to the Highest Focalization of Deity, going beyond the range of human consciousness or awareness. Glory to God in the Highest. And the expression was made in relationship to those who dwell on earth.
So if there was a recognition of Glory to God in the Highest, we see with the eye of the heart how there was a Great Cone allowed to settle down over the earth, the base of it enfolding the earth as in a net, and the point of it extending upward to God in the Highest. And what is it that shapes this? What is it that gives it form? Glory—the Shekinah Cloud of Glory. And it was brought to the earth, enfolding man, centered on earth in the babe that was born. Glory to God in the Highest, signifies that the Cloud of Glory, made manifest to man through the form of the babe that was to become a Man, extended to God in the Highest—that there was no break, no point of separation, no veil, except the inability of human beings to see. The Cloud of Glory, the Shekinah, extended to the earth, enfolding the earth and carrying to God in the Highest. Glory all the way. The Shekinah Cloud of Glory here, and all the way to God in the Highest. And then, when that is a reality, what does follow? “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth”—enfolded in the Shekinah Glory something begins to manifest. “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” The coming of the Master was the Supreme Gesture from God, the zenith of God's Gift of love to man—and only in relationship to Love can there be peace—and it is clearly indicated it was on earth, and the Supreme Gesture of goodwill.
We see that at the time of the Master's birth the Divine expression, the Angels' Song, conveyed to man the Supreme gesture of love and goodwill. What is the natural result when human beings allow themselves to be enfolded in the Shekinah Cloud of Glory that extends all the way to Highest God? First there begins to be a sense of peace—peace on earth—the result of the working of God's Love within the Shekinah Cloud of Glory. And then goodwill. Goodwill from God in the Highest, through the Shekinah, to all the children of men. Goodwill—the willingness to let all differences be past, to let all wrongs be as if they had not been. This is the message of a God of love, who does not require any blood sacrifice. This is the message of Highest God to the children of men through the Shekinah Cloud of Glory made manifest on earth and centered on earth in the body of a babe. Peace on earth.
And the Angels sang the Song even though there was no room in the inn for Him, no bed available to Mary; the Angels sang the Song even though they had to move the ox from the stalls and put in a little fresh hay in the manger to make a place for the birth of the babe—the lowliest place. Even though that was all that man could provide for the coming of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, there was still the Angels' Song, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” No judgment, no condemnation, the open invitation to come and let the beauties of the Kingdom of Heaven be revealed in the lives of the children of men. In conjunction with this there were other evidences.
This Song the Angels sang was heard by the shepherds who tended their flocks—and there we have again the pattern of the Shepherd. Human beings, instead of seeing the glorious significance of the Angels' Song, they have continued to weave the patterns of assumption and belief on the basis that prevents God's love from being received, His power from manifesting, His truth from being known. In season there will be those who are willing, of their own volition, to draw near and begin to see the truth as it is. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
We begin to recognize that the Wise Men who followed the Star came to the place where the Master was born directed of the Spirit of God. And what was the Star? First we have the pattern with the shepherds—the Glory, the Shekinah Cloud of Glory. And then come the Wise Men—wisdom, the sense of the fitness of things, a function in relationship to the mind, to the truth. And what do we see? The Wise Men following the Star. And the Star is what? The Light that Glows. The Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows, and then the Fire of Love. And within the Fire, One like unto the Son of God. The Shekinah Pattern of Being was established in relationship to the Master's birth, and He used it all the way through His ministry. He talked about it. He revealed it over and over again.
And when He came to the point of the conclusion of His work on earth, before the pattern of the atrocity, before the betrayal, He prayed a prayer. And in this prayer we find a glorious portrayal of Shekinah: “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come.” What hour? The hour is come for what? “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.” How is He glorified? The Shekinah Presence of the One Who Dwells has power over all flesh. And entering into the Cloud of Glory is the way by which the Father glorifies the Son. He was talking about the Shekinah Pattern of Being. And then He continued on, “I have glorified thee on the earth.” How? By letting the Shekinah Cloud of Glory have meaning, by letting the Shekinah Power manifest, by letting the Shekinah Light shine. “I have glorified thee, O Father, on earth”—the revelation of the Shekinah on earth.
And then He said, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” Now, is that a true statement or not? That is where the thing finally hinges. What do we believe? Whom do we believe? He said, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” He had some other things to face, but they were things that human beings forced upon Him. He had already completed all that God had given Him to do, before the atrocity. Seventeenth Chapter of John, the Fourth Verse, if you want to read it and look at it yourself.
“And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Here we have the description of Shekinah, and it is working in relationship to heaven and earth. “I have manifested thy Shekinah unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.” But those who thought they were following Him and called themselves Christians forgot that. “All things are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” Specifically, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me … and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee.” And that is all they did know surely. The pathos in this prayer is something that must surely touch the awakened heart. He could not anywhere through it say, “My disciples have reached a point where they can carry on.” If you read it with understanding you will see that the only thing He could say that they knew surely was that He had come from God. But how it worked, what it was, the reality of Shekinah, all the rest, they did not understand. “… and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” How? When the Shekinah Pattern of Reality works through them, the Shekinah Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows. He said, “Let your light so shine before men”—the Light that Glows. “Love the Lord thy God”—the Shekinah Fire, the Light that Glows, the Shekinah Cloud of Glory—let these things manifest in you. He said it so many times, so many ways. “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own Shekinah those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy Shekinah: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.” What is lost? The son of perdition—the whole devil pattern as it works through man, the whole fallen sphere—the son of perdition in any generation. Every human being who defies God and refuses to let God's will be done is a member of the body of the son of perdition. And the son of perdition is lost. “And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” Here, at the conclusion of the Master's ministry on earth, He was talking about joy: “That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”
“I have given them thy word”—I have given them thy Shekinah—“and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.” Well! The Master in His prayer which concluded His ministry on earth said, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Thy Shekinah is truth. “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” Now let us stop and look. You were sent into the world on exactly the same basis, the same laws, the same principles, as the Master was sent into the world.
“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth”—through Shekinah. “Neither pray I for these alone.” The Master recognized that in all likelihood there would be those who would rise up and say, “Well now, He was just talking about His disciples. He was just talking about His twelve disciples having the power.” What does He say? “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” I do not know how He could have made it any plainer, that everything He was saying in His prayer applied to any man or any woman, in any generation, of any color, regardless of background, socially or by creed or anything else. No limitations. It applies to you. His prayer applies to you just as much as it did to anyone, anywhere, at any time. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory”—the Shekinah Glory—“which thou gavest me I have given them.”
Now where are those who have received the Glory? Look in the world. Either God did not give our Master very much Glory or else those who were supposed to receive it have not received it. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.” And it applies to us in this hour. When are we going to receive the Shekinah Glory? When we let it appear. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” We must accept the fact that we are supposed to have Oneness with the Father on exactly the same basis that He had Oneness with the Father. And how was it? Through the Shekinah. It has been called different names, but human beings have forgotten what it means; they do not know. “That they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me.”
“I (Shekinah) in them, and thou (the One Who Dwells) in me (Shekinah), that through Shekinah we may all be one.” Not until you begin to understand the principles of Shekinah can you really understand the Master's use of language here. "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me (Shekinah), and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” In other words, that the Father loved them, you, in this hour, as, in exactly the same way, He loved our Lord when He was on earth. “As thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.” Not where I am going to be. “Where I am.” He was the manifestation of Deity on earth. He was the focalization of, the revelation of, Shekinah to the children of men, and He said, “I pray that they shall be with me where I am,” not where I am going to be. No. Where I am—the manifestation of the power of God on earth.
“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory…” What Glory? Do they have to go to some far heaven to behold the Shekinah Glory? Certainly not. “… behold my glory which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name”—I have declared unto them thy Shekinah—“and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
The Shekinah Fire of Love in the manifestation of the Divine Pattern on earth. Here we have the words of the Master Himself, in His concluding prayer. If they be the words of Truth, the words of our Lord in fact, then let us give heed to them and stop being concerned with all the assumptions. Let us “soar to high neglect of what's denied or said, this way or that,” on the basis of assumption, interpretation, belief, and all the rest. The Master said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”—free to live, to move and to have your being in the Shekinah of our God. And so shall you share the victory and do your part toward finishing the work which you came to do.
© emissaries of divine light
Pluto — Jupiter — Saturn
Uranda June 29, 1947
We have recognized Pluto as signifying the focalization of Cosmic Consciousness on the Christ Plane in a manner that makes it available to human beings through the mentality that coordinates correctly with the currents focalized in the mind through Mercury. Therefore, Mercury represents the mind which in the fallen state, has no attunement with Pluto, but which, in the restored state, finds polarity with Pluto, and so moves in the path of restoration to the Divine Estate.
Jupiter would symbolize, in its positive polarity of Motivation, the fullness of magnanimity, and all that is gracious, noble and beautiful. We might call it the symbol of the open-handedness of God. Saturn, in its negative polarity of the cycle of Motivation, symbolizes, even as Saturn's rings symbolize, or suggest, the rainbow of promise—all of those phases of character, nature or ability by which Divine Motivations may find expression in the colorful, or beautiful, manifestation of life on earth. For instance, Saturn would, therefore, symbolize generosity that is based in a balanced consideration of the individual's ability to receive, without false or destructive reactions.
The reason Saturn has so often been considered as having some evil influence is that human character has been so narrow and the human motivations so niggardly, that they could not receive what Saturn has to bestow, without channeling it into evil cycles of activity. Therefore, what Saturn would bestow was used humanly to produce evil, and what Saturn refrained from bestowing, out of an understanding of human nature, or by reason of human limitations of the ability to receive, was held against Saturn rather than against the individual who had not the capacity to receive. Therefore, Saturn properly symbolizes all those qualities of the individual which allows the open-handedness of God to have meaning on earth. For those whose motivations harmonize with Divine Reality, Saturn bestows her blessing without stint. For those whose motivations are out of harmony with Reality, that which Saturn bestows either cannot be received or, if received, proves to be bitter in the belly.
Planetary Dance: Pluto Jupiter and Saturn
Anne Blaney Salmon Arm, BC Canada
Winter Solstice December 21, 2020
“Pluto symbolizes the Mind that was in Christ Jesus,
or what we might call the Spiritual Consciousness of Reality”
Uranda
Throughout 2020 there were several planetary conjunctions with Pluto—both Saturn and Jupiter entered the same degree of the sign of Capricorn as did the planet Pluto—first, Pluto was conjunct with Saturn on three occasions, followed by Pluto conjunct with Jupiter on five occasions. I suggest that Saturn and Jupiter were accentuating Pluto’s presence and influence. The planet Pluto was actually presenting the prevailing message. Saturn and Jupiter, each in turn, came into conjunction, into union, with the Plutonic energies symbolized by the planet, in order to highlight the message focused through the “Spiritual Consciousness of Reality.” I suggest that this message from Reality Consciousness highlights an awareness of the centuries of unreality which have dominated human thinking, feeling and action, and simultaneously it brings an opportunity to receive and accentuate a new and clear attunement with the Spiritual Consciousness of Reality.
During this year, 2020, mankind was offered repeated opportunities to perceive a specific cosmic command: Let the mind of men and women align with the reality of Cosmic Being drawing all human beings into a totally new range and capacity of thinking—that quality of Christ Mind evident not so long ago through the Master Jesus, who experienced union, or conjunction, with Divine Consciousness.
To ground this message in the earth, our home, and in our very bodies, it was delivered through Capricorn, which is a sign that carries an Earth vibration, relating to form and structure. It is not surprising that this powerful incoming Plutonic energy would catalyze an awareness which exposes the misaligned and destructive ways of thinking and creating that have brought the world and the Earth to its present sorry and painful state.
Throughout 2020, Saturn and Jupiter have, respectively, assisted Pluto in releasing its spiritual energies and opportunities; and the grand finale of these movements is happening right now, as Saturn and Jupiter themselves move into conjunction. Since the beginning, these two planets have been close celestial friends, differentiating and releasing, as planets do, various combinations of Solar Consciousness throughout the Solar System, into the Earth, and into the consciousness of mankind which has long been resistant to these creative impulses—but now it is becoming impossible to resist because the energies are compelling toward attunement and fusion. This co-joining of Jupiter and Saturn right now provides a kick, a snap of the celestial whip, so to speak, to inject an impossible-to-ignore motivating impulse—all this appearing in a total union of complete conjunction during Winter Solstice at 0 degrees Aquarius. The Story proceeds from here.
Apparently these intelligent and directing impulses from Archangelic Solar and Cosmic Being are dramatically trying to get our attention here on Earth! Did they get your attention? Did I?
Virgin Birth of the Christ Body
Uranda April 15, 1951
Tonight I have chosen a text which has tremendous significance. Our own view with respect to it is not according to the popular concept. Let us see what new significance we can find in meditating upon the birth of Jesus Christ on earth. In the first chapter of Matthew, beginning with the l8th verse, we read:
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto Thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS."
In this simple story, which has confounded the minds of the worldly-wise, we have a record of the most significant event that the world has known since the fall of man. Here we have a portrayal in a few simple words of a process by which God initiated a creative cycle on earth, by which salvation should come to man, the restoration from that low estate to which man had fallen to that Divine Estate for which God first created man. First, I would point out that we do not accept the popular idea that the laws of conception were in some manner superseded, or some supernatural method of conception took place. We do not believe that a right understanding of this passage teaches any such thing. As we have before recognized, it was essential that Jesus, in His life and ministry, reveal the Heavenly Father. This story does not violate Truth when it is understood; it does not violate the facts. Our particular concern tonight is not with the manner in which this conception took place. It is not of particular importance to our subject and consideration, but always, when a great leader has appeared in the world and has been more or less generally accepted, the idea has become prevalent that such an one was born of a virgin, by some supposedly super-natural process of conception.
Actually, from the ordinary approach of the mental processes of human beings, any conception is a miracle. Any conception is super-normal in the sense of anything that human beings can do. It is beyond the normal of the range of human activity. There is the Divine aspect, and we recognize that in every case insofar as the reality of the matter is concerned—the true conception, the true manifestation of life that begins to appear in the womb, is the result of Divine action—and that that is not limited to the case of Jesus or of some others. It is simply emphasized in our text that the reality of the life force that permits conception and birth is something that is of God, far beyond the range of human understanding. And that is true of each and every one of us. One of the great stumbling blocks to a true understanding of the life and teaching of Jesus Christ has been that human beings, generally, have imagined that the initial beginnings with respect to the birth of Jesus on earth were so far different from that which is true of the rest of us that we have no valid hope of fulfilling promises and instructions which He gave which anticipate that we should do as He did. Human beings have taken this portrayal of His birth as an excuse for accepting a far lower state of life than God intended that we should. We approach this consideration from the standpoint of considering how the principles that are revealed with respect to creative cycles can be allowed to more effectively manifest in relationship to our own lives and our ministry on earth.
Notice here that it is the beginning of a Great Creative Cycle. The meaningfulness of our lives today in ministry is dependent upon our relationship with and in that cycle that began then—the creative cycle designed to bring about the restoration of man to the Divine Estate. Human efforts which disregard that cycle come to naught. Human beings, with all of their increased knowledge, struggle and strive to establish a better world; they invent great things and accomplish much that is laudable according to human vision, but the state of the world shows that human beings in their efforts to improve the world have failed to recognize the creative cycle which God established and designed for the achievement of the goal.
Birth is used symbolically in many places in the Bible to portray the beginning of a new cycle. He revealed the manner in which we may let the Kingdom have meaning on earth in our lives here and now. The Gospel was that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and He revealed the Way by which we may share in that Kingdom. When we have the vision to recognize the great over-all picture of the beginning of that creative cycle in which we now share, how little, how insignificant, from a human standpoint, was that conception. The conception of that Cycle of Salvation certainly was not of man. The conception of that Cycle of Transmission and Transformation was of God, and it was of what aspect of God? The words here are translated, Holy Ghost. We prefer, Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, or, as it was then and still is, the Spirit of the Living Christ. The Spirit of the Living Christ, working through human agencies, initiated the Great Cycle of Salvation, the creative cycle which should transform the world so that ultimately it would be recognized that the former things shall pass away—"And behold, I create all things new."
The specific consideration here, of the principles of the creative cycle, will need a little relaxation of mind, and technical recognition of the symbolism that is involved, because we know that underneath the simple stories of the Bible there are profound revelations of the Truth of God.
"When, as his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph." Mary, the mother, yes—but Mary, the mother, represents a great deal more than just a woman, or womankind. Mary represents the body of humanity as a whole—that which needs to bring forth on earth the things of God. The great influence which Jesus has had upon the world and upon the people in it has been because the greatest thing He did was to reveal Deity on earth. All things else that He did were a result of that central fact. The greatest thing He did was to reveal Deity on earth; and He instructed His followers to do likewise, to follow Him in that fulfillment and to do the same works that He did. So, Mary here represents the mass of humanity which is supposed, under the right influence, to bring forth the things of God on earth and to reveal Deity. We recall the fact that man was originally created to be the connecting link between Creator and the creation. Man fell from that position and the creation was left without adequate correlation with the Creator, and consequently chaos has been in the world. The process of restoration, then, is supposed to bring man back to the point where he is a connecting link on earth between the Creator and the creation.
"She was espoused to Joseph before they came together." In other words, here we have the elimination of the popular ideas of human effort, human trying, human struggling, by which it is generally supposed that great things are accomplished. Here the human element of self-centeredness and self-sufficiency are set aside and we recognize that this work of bringing forth the things of God on earth, of revealing Deity, of becoming again the connecting link between Creator and creation, necessitates something in humanity that cannot be engendered by man. It is something that must be engendered in man by God and the process of establishing that conception, that beginning, is through the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of the Living Christ. That Spirit of God must be allowed to work in man; it must be received by man; and it must begin to produce something in man.
At first, as in the birth of the physical child, the results of the workings of the Spirit are hidden in the darkness of the womb. Something is growing, developing, but it cannot be seen with human vision. Its nature cannot be determined. Its ultimate fulfilment cannot be known by the human mind. It is hidden from human eyes. If there is not a recognition in the physical sense of the proper conduct, proper care, that which is being formed in the womb may be destroyed before the fulfilment can be realized. We, in love response to God, in letting go to the workings of the Holy Spirit, have seen that in our progress along the Way. Coming up to this point, it has often been true that something has been conceived in us by the working of the Holy Spirit; something of God has been begun in us, which, because the human eye could not see it, was rejected. There was not enough faith, enough patience, enough willingness to let the things of God work out, and as a result of self-activity, wilfulness, and turning aside from the things of Truth and Life, that which had been conceived of the Holy Spirit in us was destroyed. It was never allowed to come to the point of birth where it could be seen and known and recognized. But even at the point of birth the nature of the ultimate fulfilment cannot be known.
What is to be achieved according to the Divine Design down through the years that are ahead cannot be seen and recognized by human vision at the point of birth. The parents may have all kinds of dreams and longings; there may be ideas which, according to the concepts of the moment, are high ideals for that child, but it is possible that that child, moving forward, growing into adulthood, shall in season accomplish something far greater than the parents could possibly have dreamed of. This was the case with the parents of Jesus. It has been the case with many parents. It emphasizes that text: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love and serve Him."
We begin to see then, that we, individually as members of the human family, have the privilege of sharing in this fulfilment as it came to Mary, that this portrayal as it relates to Mary is, and was supposed to reveal the Way whereby we may share in the creative cycles of God on earth. It is not that we should undertake to initiate, ourselves, that which has already been done. Jesus Christ initiated the Great Cycle, focalized it, and did His work well. We do not need to try to imitate Him or to do what has been done, but we do need to let the same cycle of creative activity have meaning in our own lives here and now. We have envisioned that, talked about it, and theoretically accepted it; and yet the very fact that we have not gone further along the Way, have not experienced greater fulfilment than we have yet known, proves that there is opportunity for a still greater understanding of the processes by which the creative work of God can be made manifest on earth through us. As representatives of the mass of humanity, we can accept for ourselves the privilege of that which is symbolized for the mass of humanity here in relationship to Mary.
She was espoused to Joseph. That means that, according to the natural outworkings of ordinary life in the world, this that was used by God would have become the property of man, to use from a human standpoint. We look out into the world and see that most human beings, upon reaching adulthood are considered as belonging to the mass of human activity. This that has been brought forth, this individual that has been raised up to the point where he or she may begin to live, is considered to belong to the mass of human activity. That individual is espoused to the human programs—the popular concept is that the individual part of that world body is espoused to this mass of activity out here, all of the plans and programs, all of the organizations which man has designed in the great field of human activity, as represented by Joseph.
Ordinarily, the individual, this person coming to adulthood, does not recognize the working of the Holy Spirit, does not recognize God's design or purpose of fulfilment for his individual life, and he is absorbed into the Joseph activity of the world. The Joseph activity of the world did not produce that person, did not cause the conception, did not bring about the fulfillment—this Joseph activity out here did not produce the individual. Yet, this person, coming to adulthood, is espoused to the human activity that ignores the patterns of God, the designs of God, the purposes of God, and there is a steady flow of young people coming to adulthood into this vast activity which is humanly designed, with human self-centered purposes that ignore utterly the things of God. Oh, they may be good church members, but the real pattern of the Spirit of God is never allowed to manifest. They are shaped and molded by what they conceive to be the necessities of working so that they can eat and sleep, so that they can work—round upon round of human endeavor, accomplishing what? So it has gone from generation to generation, with ups and downs of all kinds, and human beings have accepted the idea that this is what God intended. They imagine that to be God's intent because that is what exists, and they do not know what God intended. It is not what God intended. Yet He made it possible for human beings to understand what He did intend.
He established a cycle with the manifestation of Jesus Christ on earth, the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings coming into the world, born as a babe in a manger, to grow up as a man, to reveal the things of God on earth. If we begin to see, in this portrayal, how it is that the mass of humanity can bring forth according to God's design only in response to the Holy Spirit, and that, generally speaking, that which is born is taken over by the Joseph activity, the human activity, according to human plans, and it is not allowed to share in God's activity on earth, we begin to see the true significance of this passage: "When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." What is the introduction to that text? "Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise." That does relate to an individual Being Whom we gladly recognize as our LORD and KING, but why limit it to that? He pointed to the fact that there was supposed to be One Body with many members, the Vine with many branches, the fulfilment that we speak of as the Christ Body on earth. How is this which He outlined to find fulfillment.
"The birth of Jesus was on this wise," and the birth of the Christ Body on earth must, also, be on this wise. We cannot follow out some human plan or pattern, no matter how desirable it may seem to be, and hope to experience the outworking that God has planned for us. We recognize that we have to let that Divine fulfilment be conceived in us by the working of the Holy Spirit, and we have to allow it to come to the point of birth. Then, after it has been born, we must take care of it tenderly. We must protect it from the Herod of the self-active human mind that would destroy it. We must allow it to grow to maturity and find manifestation in a vivid ministry on earth here and now, not waiting for some far distant future time, not expecting Jesus to come in some cloud somewhere and set everything right, without our doing anything about it. His Body on earth, His continuing Body on earth, is supposed to let the Christ works be done. Through this Body God intends that the changes should be wrought.
Jesus’ coming—Christ's coming; the working of the Christ Spirit on earth; the working of the Will of God according to that which Jesus Christ revealed; the coming of Christ on earth. Not the coming of Jesus in the form of a man, but the coming of Christ on earth is something that is vitally important. If we read a-right the word that is written we begin to see that human misconcepts have distorted the picture and made it ambiguous. We must let the Spirit of the Living Christ work through us and give us understanding as we read. Then we recognize that through the Body of many members, all peoples, of whatever race, color or creed, the Spirit of the Living Christ shall come into manifestation to accomplish the works and cause God’s Will to be done, so that His Kingdom might be made manifest. It is all revealed here according to His design. Yet human beings continually attempt to impose their human concepts upon it. They think they can say, "I believe thus and so," and become engulfed in the Joseph activities according to human patterns, and some day, somehow, everything will be straightened out and be all right. That is not God's Plan. It is not indicated anywhere here in the Book. It originated in the twisted, distorted concepts of human beings. So the birth of the Christ Body must be after the same manner as the birth of Jesus Christ. It is something that is conceived of the Holy Spirit in those who have not let themselves come under the control of the Joseph activities in the world, all of the human plans and programs. Those who dare to refuse to become subject to all of this human plan and pattern, who dare to remain virgin for God, not virgin in the sense that human beings ordinarily think of it, as if it were merely related to human concepts of sex—no, but virgin from the standpoint of the direction of our devotions and subjections—become members of the Christ Body.
When you reach a point where you let God’s Will have full sway in your life, when you cease to be controlled by those external things that ought not to control, then, by the creative spirit of God you become a virgin, whether you are a man or a woman. You receive forgiveness, you receive the pattern of God which we call the Truth, the Divine Pattern for you, and you become a new creature in Christ, you become something that you were not—and it is that virgin through whom the Holy Spirit can work to bring forth the things of Christ on earth. The human being who has not let himself reach that point of purification, the human being who has not truly repented and allowed his life to be redirected, the human being who has reserved certain rights of self-centeredness, is not yet purified. He has not yet become a virgin, subject to the Holy Spirit instead of being subject to the whims and fancies of the human pattern of activity in the world.
We begin to recognize that every man and woman who truly responds to God and begins to yield to the spirit of God, becomes a virgin in the Divine sense when he is purified, transformed, and made every whit whole, and that process is open to anyone who will accept it. Then, and then only, can that individual be used by the working of the Holy Spirit to bring forth on earth the things of Christ. Then that individual becomes truly a member of the One Christ Body, a branch of the One Vine, and then the Holy Spirit brings forth a conception in that individual that is of the Christ Life, and if he holds steady, remains true to God and the directions of God, if he allows the fulfilments to come, the reality of that Christ Life is born in him. If he allows God's Will to be done, it is nurtured, cared for and protected from the onslaughts of the world and allowed to come to the maturity of ministry. That is our purpose here, to allow that cleansing and purification to so take place that we may reach a point where we allow the virgin field of our hearts to be subject to the things of God.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. When we let that purification of heart become a reality we begin to see God, we begin to know the working of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit in us conceives the things of Christ, and they begin to come forth through us into manifestation. That which is conceived in each one and brought forth through each one, blends with that which is brought forth through all others who likewise let God's Will be done, so that the whole Body of many members is coordinated truly in the Spirit of the Living Christ, and all of them together with one accord in one place let God's Will be done—and then the power of the Holy Spirit becomes manifest; then they have power because the Holy Spirit has come upon them and filled them. Then they have the opportunity of sharing truly in this Great Creative Cycle which God established through Jesus Christ our LORD. Until we let that process take place in ourselves here on earth while we yet live, we are not following Jesus Christ, no matter what we may think or say. Until we accept the personal responsibilities involved we are not doing our part toward letting His Kingdom come.
There is more revealed in this text, but these are our meditations for tonight. If we wonder sometimes why a greater manifestation of the power of God has not appeared, wonder why we have not shared a more vivid outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we have in this the answer. There is only One Way by which we may let that outpouring of the Holy Spirit be full, free and complete, and that is for us to so respond that we become virgin. We must become subject to God and cease being subject to the external patterns and activities which human beings have engendered. That does not mean that we will not participate in those activities. It simply means that while we may share in the doing of those activities, it is not in the sense of being subject to them. We can do the things that are necessary under this particular pattern of life as we have it working here or there—it matters not as long as we are honorably engaged—but we cease to be subject to those external things and become subject to God, and when we are completely subject to God, with no violation of that, then before Him we are virgin; we have come to the point of fulfilling the Law and then the Holy Spirit shall conceive in us those things which are according to God’s design. This is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
© emissaries of divine light
