Let Us Ascend To The Father
Easter Night
Uranda April 9, 1950 8 pm Sunrise Ranch
We come to the close of Easter Day in the year of our LORD, One Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty. We cannot waste time in vain regret for the delays of the past. We cannot let ourselves look back in any manner that brings a re-attunement with the things that have passed away. In the processes of attunement with God and the things of God, the attunement with the things that have passed away and are passing away has been broken, that the identity of Being may be according to that which is Divinely Ordained. Forgetting those things which are behind and pressing on toward the mark of our High Calling in Christ Jesus, we have the opportunity of this hour and of the days allotted to us in time to come. It is for us to let this hour and all the hours that follow it be filled with the Golden Glow of Divine Reality, uncolored, unspoiled by the unrealities of the past or the unrealities of the world.
We have recognized that to follow all the way, we must let ourselves be lifted up to Him Who was lifted up, that we also may ascend unto the Father. That ascension which comes with the leaving of this world is important, but it is not that which we consider. While living on earth in the Kingdom that is at hand, we follow our Master in ascension. In this hour which God has granted us, let us let the inspiration of the Spirit bring a larger vision, a deeper understanding of what it means to ascend unto the Father.
The human mind which has been conditioned in time past to the unrealities of the world does not, immediately on coming into the Atmosphere of the Kingdom, have the ability to grasp and to understand clearly without a consideration of contrast. Coming into the Kingdom, we see that the contrast that is found in evil is not essential to an understanding and a realization of that which is Divine. We refuse to accept the old idea that the good is dependent upon the manifestation of the evil, or that the good cannot be seen and appreciated without the evil. Such ideas we reject, but as yet contrast, the recognition of contrast, helps to an understanding.
We have spoken of, and meditated upon, that Call to ascend unto the Father, as the Master put it, “To my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” If there is the opportunity of ascension, then there must likewise be the opportunity of descending. We remember Jacob’s ladder whereon he saw the Angels of God ascending and descending between Heaven and earth. While we recognize that there is a cycle of ascending and descending in this regard, it does not immediately portray that which is essential to our understanding tonight. There is, then, a process of ascending and descending which is not wrong, which is not contrary to the Divine Will, but the descending which is possible to human beings who are not in the Kingdom is to that which is unworthy of God’s Crowning Creation.
The idea of ascending to the Father tends to be vague to the human mind, or to be hedged about with fanciful ideas of some sort. What does it mean to us tonight? The Master said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” The Father is in the Kingdom. I think the popular concept, by and large, is that after leaving Mary at the tomb, the Master must have gone off somewhere up into the skies, perhaps a million miles or so, and then speeded back in time to meet the disciples. I do not think we have to go a million miles or so to ascend to the Father. The Kingdom is at hand, and the Father is in the Kingdom, and He is near. We do not have to try to perform some Indian rope trick, to hang a rope upon some imagined sky-hook and try to climb it. No. Such mental gymnastics are as foolish as the fancy, the delusion, that comes to those who see the so-called rope trick. No, if we are to ascend to the Father, we need to let our minds be cleared of all the human concepts that have developed out of the past in relationship to this fulfillment.
The human mind needs to remember, “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.” From the standpoint of that glorious example our Master gave, from the standpoint of His instruction and admonition, yea of His command to follow Him, we see that one of the things which God hath prepared for them that love and serve Him is that they should ascend unto the Father—but, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,” and that which I say tonight is not supposed to tell you in just so many words just what you will experience. I am not seeking to express some fixed concept that will stand in the way of your fulfillment, but that in the Current of the Spirit, the realization may be gained whereby we may together be lifted up according to the Promise, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” Surely this is vitally important to our Spiritual fulfillment whereby we may be in position to render service on earth to the Glory of God and to the Blessing of our brother man.
So, letting the former things remain where they are, passed away, and letting the mind be filled with that which God creates New, let us consider what it means to ascend to the Father. If we were to undertake to completely enumerate the Aspects of Being contained in the Father of which we know, our hour together would be far too short to consider it all, and having enumerated what we know, that which the mind can at the present time comprehend would not be adequate to the reality that is, but a few of the things that we know concerning the Father are: first, His Infinite Love. His Infinite Love. Ascending to the Father is opening ourselves still more fully, still more completely, to that which is of the Father. That which is of the Father and the Father cannot be separated; so the first thing necessary is the conviction in the mind and heart that we do not have to perform some impossible thing, that it is possible here and now, and that we do not have to try, but that we can let this thing take place and be a Reality in our own lives here and now. That which is of God is not to be separated from God.
So, we might conceivably, day by day, take some Aspect of the Father about which we know and deliberately consider that phase of the Father’s Being in relationship to all of our functions through the day, opening ourselves deliberately to that which we know to be of the Father. His Infinite Love—we have tasted much of that Love, the richness of God's Blessings to us, but there is more to be known. In opening ourselves to His Love, we remember that Love is that which produces all true union, all true blending. Without Love there is no true union. Heaven and earth are to be One, according to the Word. Heaven and earth are to be One. There is to be a union between this world and Heaven. There is to be a union between the human being and His God, and the only thing that produces true union is Love. So, the Father's Love is that which makes possible our ascending to Him, that we may be one with Him and let His Will be done on earth.
There is much more that could be said about His Love and about our function in relationship to His Love, but next I would put His Truth—the Father’s Truth, the Patterns of Being. The Father's Love and the Father’s Truth. We think of the Cosmos and we think of something far away and vast and incomprehensible, and yet we are not outside the Cosmos. This world in which we dwell is contained within the Cosmos. We are a part of that Cosmos. So, while there may be the applications of Truth that are peculiar to the far distant parts of the Cosmos, all the Truth that relates to us in any way, shape or form is contained right here where we are. The Father's Truth, then, is not far away. It is here at hand. It is here where we are. So, there are many avenues of meditation open to us in the consideration of the Father’s Truth.
Next, I would place His Life—the Father's Life. The first phase of that consideration would have to be the revelation of the Father’s Life as made manifest through Jesus Christ our LORD, because He revealed the Father, the Father's Life. We have much to consider there. We have given it much consideration, but there is much more. Then, as we have responded we have begun to recognize in relationship to ourselves something of the reality of the Father’s Life, the recognition that it is the Father’s Life that allows us to live, that our life is not apart from Him; it is not separate from Him. The fact of our lives depends upon the fact of the Father's Life. So, our consideration of this is not limited to something that was made manifest over nineteen centuries ago, as beautiful as that was. It is here; it is at hand. The Father’s Life here at hand, contained within ourselves, permits us to live and breathe and have our being. So, the Father's Life is not far away.
Contained within these Three Aspects of the Father’s Being of which we are aware, there are many phases of His Being—the Father's Power is one. We could look into the star-studded sky and marvel at God’s Great Creative Power, and it seems so vast and far away and we seem so small and insignificant. That is a manifestation of the Father's Power in which we rejoice and from which we can learn much, but let us not, seeing that, lose sight of the fact that right here, all around us every day, there are evidences of the Father's Power. We see a blade of grass coming up through the soil. We see a bird on the wing or hear its song. We see the mountains and the plains, the trees. We see the human being, fearfully and wonderfully made, with all of his members coordinated, working together, the heart beating, the lungs pumping the air, and all the mysterious, wonderful processes contained in the human body.
Yes, everywhere we look there is evidence of God's Power that is not far away, but is here, near at hand, manifest in ourselves, else we could not lift a hand, we could not breathe a single breath of air. The Father's Power—it is near at hand. It is one of those things that we must realize more deeply if we are to ascend to the Father, because we cannot exclude from ourselves those things that are of the Father and ascend to the Father at the same time. To whatsoever degree we segregate ourselves in mind or heart from that which is of the Father, we place ourselves in a position where we cannot draw near to the Father, and in ascension to Him we must surely draw near to Him. So, there is the Father's Power.
Then, we might note His Wisdom, the Father's Wisdom. Human beings can study the various things that God has made and gain knowledge about them, but whatever it is, from the tiniest form of animal life or plant life to the most complicated forms of life, whatever one may study, however much knowledge one may gain, one must recognize that the Wisdom that brought all these things forth is wonderful indeed, and always there is something amazing, something beyond the comprehension of man. How does life work and manifest in the blade of grass? Does any man know the secrets of life working in a blade of grass? Can he reproduce it? Can he take the substances found in a blade of grass and make that grass to appear—a living thing? No. Then, we must recognize that God's Wisdom is infinitely great, and that it is not just far away. The Father's Wisdom is here. These things could not just appear. What kind of a marvellous force would be causing all these things just to happen?
Sometimes human beings say, “But I do not know how I can have faith in God. I think I will follow along with those who are agnostics or atheists. I believe these things just happen.” What a wonderful happening. Growing up from an amoeba—and where did the amoeba come from? Faith—O. I admire such faith. It is far more than the faith a Christian needs, to believe that all these things could just happen. No. We do not need that much faith—thank God. So, there is the conviction about God's Wisdom and the recognition that it is not far away, that when the Master said, "The Kingdom is at hand," He meant exactly what He said. God’s Wisdom is certainly in the Kingdom and we see it near at hand, evidences of it all around us all the time, and if we are to ascend unto the Father we must open ourselves to His Wisdom, not shut ourselves off from it and say, “This is not for me; God has that over there, but He does not intend I should draw near to it; that is of God, but.” No, no. The Command the Master gave was to follow Him in the ascension unto the Father in the Kingdom that is at hand. So, His Wisdom, an Aspect of His Being, is all around us, available to us here and now as we open ourselves to it and let His Wisdom have meaning in our lives.
With all this Wisdom made manifest around us, with His Love to us, His invitation to ascend unto Him, to receive of His Love and His Truth and His Life and all the rest, why must human beings imagine that they are condemned to blindly stumble this way and that through life as if they were to be cut off from the very things which God says He longs to give to His Children? Why must human beings imagine they must stumble this way and that, with uncertainty? No, man is not supposed to be walking the way blindly. Wisdom is available for the understanding.
Another Aspect of the Father’s Being is Vision. When we have come in contact with sightless persons, we have surely given at least a second thought to the fact that we are thankful for the gift of physical eyesight. What a blessing it is. But vision is more than just physical eyesight. It is perception in all realms of being of which we may be aware, and it is evident God does not desire that we should go blindly stumbling this way and that. God has Vision. Consider the flowers, all the things that He made, all the things that they mean to human beings. Let us see now—God’s Vision. He made these things quite a long while ago, these things that human beings are just discovering have some use. Thousands of years ago God brought forth something, established it on earth, and for thousands of years human beings have passed it by, had no use for it at all. Maybe it was a weed, maybe something else. It has been there all the time and man just now is discovering that it really has a use.
Now, God's provision of that, so that it would be available when man awakened to the necessity—is that Vision? Does anyone need to be convinced that God has vision? That is what we mean by Vision. The ability to perceive in the outworking of things the natural sequences essential to our own points of responsibility, so that we are not asleep, we are not dull and failing to take account of the factors that are involved, at least insofar as we can perceive them, is Vision. But if we neglect to use our vision now possible to us within the scope of our present ability and we pray God for more vision, what is it? It is a futility; it is a farce. God's Vision is part of the expression of His Being and we are to ascend to Him, but if we fail to utilize the abilities of vision we have, we are separating ourselves from God and saying, “I will not ascend; you must come down to me and convince me of it all; I am not going to ascend.” That is not the way it works.
In all things whatsoever with respect to these phases of the Father’s Being, we must utilize that which is in us already, that which is available to us within the range of our present abilities, because a neglect of that use is a refusal to accept more, and until we are ready to receive more how can we draw nearer to God, ascend to the Father? Are the manifestations of the Father’s Being going to get less and less as we ascend to Him? No, not at all. They are going to increase. So, wherever we are, whatever our responsibilities and abilities, there must be an alertness, an openness and a willingness to use those phases of our own beings which correlate with the phases of the Father's Being of which we know. God is not requiring us to do something about that which we do not yet know, but with respect to the phases of the Father's Being about which we do know, there are certain aspects of being in ourselves of which we are likewise aware that should correlate, and if those phases of being in ourselves are not open to that in Him, and if we are not using those phases of being in ourselves for His Purposes, how are we going to ascend—how are the things of God going to increase in our lives?
So, when the Master admonishes us to ascend to the Father, to follow Him—and He led the Way—it is not some fanciful, far distant, vague something or other. It is something that is practical and near at hand; it is right here open to each and everyone, and in letting the phases of our own beings which properly correlate with these phases of the Father’s Being of which we know be brought into the practical play of living, we are beginning to ascend. It is not by struggling or by mental gymnastics, but by the simple process of recognizing plain, simple facts, by using a little of that Wisdom God has granted to us, a little of that Vision. So, we could go on and talk about more of those phases of His Being, but to what end? You can meditate upon them; you can detect them, but the phases of the Father's Being about which we are aware are the Open Gates through which we may ascend to a closer union with Him, but until the correlating phases of being in ourselves are open to that in the Father, we are not going to get anywhere. That which is in us, that which we now have that correlates with those phases of Being in the Father, must be open to Him so that we can begin to feel a union with the Father, a Oneness with the Father in Love, in Truth, in Life, in Power, in Vision, in whatsoever phase of being we may be considering.
I suspect that if I would not conduct another Service for a whole year, you could not properly run out of something to meditate upon—just from this one focalization of consideration. You could find it opening up more and more and more—not just in a year or ten years. In fact, I anticipate considering it for Eternity and I do not expect to run out of something to meditate upon. So, let us ascend to the Father, not just using fanciful words, not trying mental gymnastics or wishful thinking, but a practical recognition of the fact that the Kingdom is at hand, and that these Phases of Being are in the Father and we know it and He has given us the correlating phases of being which can be opened to Him and used, and union with the Father will begin to manifest through the individual by reason of the working of the Law.
So, I thank God for you, for your progress in time past, and in this Easter Day for the fulfillments that have been made manifest. I thank God for all the multitudes of blessings we have received and for that which has been accomplished, but we are just beginning, and we have a wonderful opportunity. This process of ascending to the Father, of letting that which is of the Father find expression in our lives, is as endless as Eternity itself—always something new, something wonderful and glorious. Let no one in self-righteousness imagine that he has arrived. No, but let us truly follow our LORD and ascend unto the Father, “Unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
Martin Cecil — O LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, we lift up our hearts in thanksgiving this evening for that outworking that we have experienced this day, and not only that which we have experienced this day, but that which has come into manifestation in all the days that have led to this day. We recognize and give thanks for that increased Vision which permits us to know as never before Thy Loving Kindness, and as we draw to the close of this Easter Day we rejoice in that outpouring of Thy Spirit in the Currents of Thy Love and Truth and Life which we have experienced here this evening, for the joy and the wonder of the Vision that is opened before us, that we may truly, according to Thy Commandment, ascend unto the Father. O LORD GOD, we thank Thee that Thou hast turned our heart back again, that coming into the Kingdom we may abide therein, letting ourselves fulfill those Purposes, according to Thy Will, to which we have been called in Thy Name, that the fulfillments to which the prophets of all ages have looked may come to pass surely and certainly in Thy Love and Power and Wisdom whereby all things are made New, in the Christ. Aum-en.
Uranda — Aum-en. Peace be unto you under the Law of the Kingdom, Now and Forever.
© emissaries of divine light
He Has Called Your Name
Easter Day
Uranda April 9, 1950 11 a.m. Sunrise Ranch
It is a glorious day and already we have had a glorious outworking and now we are privileged to gather again to share in a further communion in the Spirit of God's Love and Truth and the expression of His Life.
O LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, we thank Thee for the blessedness of this day which Thou hast made manifest, and with hearts full of love, we thank Thee for that first Easter Day which makes possible our fulfillment in this Faster Day as we share with Thee in the Victory. We thank Thee that as Thy Will is done on earth in the Kingdom that Thou hast established, so shall the shining of the Light give assurance and courage to all who turn to Thee, whosoever, wheresoever they may be, that all Thy Children everywhere may share in the blessedness of Thy Wondrous Love and the beauty of Thy Glorious Iruth, that, altogether we may let the Life, the Christ Life, have meaning on earth for all who will receive in Thy Holy Name. Aum-en.
“And when he had opened the Seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour.” You have been sharing this morning the unspeakable beauty of that Silence in Heaven, that which cannot be expressed in word, that which must be lived to give it meaning in the unfolding cycles of time.
Easter Morning—we have felt this day something of the feeling which pervaded Heaven that first Easter morning when our Master established the Victory. Usually, in thinking of Easter, the thought expressed is that our LORD was resurrected from the tomb. The fact is that our LORD was never subject to the tomb, but His Body was. It was our LORD’s Body that was resurrected, not the LORD Himself, for man could not touch Him.
The LORD Himself, men could not crucify. The LORD Himself could not be placed in a tomb and sealed there—it was His Body against which self-active human beings took action—it was His Body that was placed in the tomb—and it was His Body that came forth in the Resurrection and the Life. So is it today, it is not the LORD who has stood in need of the Resurrection and the Life, but the body of His Faithful Ones on earth, the body of His Children everywhere that has stood in need of the Resurrection and the Life.
You have today tasted something of that Resurrecting Power by which the Members of His Body are set free from the darkness of the tomb, that, entering into the Garden of God, they may know that it is futile to look in the tomb to find the LORD. Too long have human beings looked into the tomb, but, as the Angels said, “He is not there.” No, it is not in the tomb that we will find our LORD, although He sends His Angels to bring us forth from the tomb of this world's darkness into the Light of an Easter Day.
It is in the Garden, you will remember, that Mary, when she first recognized the Master's Presence, supposed Him to be the gardener. He was, and is, but not in the sense she thought. No, first perceiving Him, she did not see Him as He was; she did not recognize Him, but He was there in the Garden beyond the tomb. Her fear was that they, persons unknown, had taken her LORD away. How many times since that day have human beings imagined that someone, somewhere, what someone else did, what someone else said, had taken their LORD away. Human beings with their puny activities cannot take the LORD away—it cannot be done. How should the LORD be taken away? No, He was not in the tomb; it was futile to look there and it still is, but they, persons unknown or known, have not taken Him away; they cannot; He is there in the Garden of God.
When her name fell from His blessed lips, “Mary,” the sound of His Voice awakened her from that trance of sorrow that had engulfed her. She was awakened so that she could see that which was before her. The Master was there in the Garden—she knew someone was there but she had not recognized Him. How often human beings have been like that. But the wonderful thing is this: that when He called her name she did not just go blindly on; she was not so deeply engulfed in her own thoughts and ideas that she did not hear; no, she heard Him speak and knew His Voice and answered, “Master.”
There was acknowledgment; there was recognition; there was the depth of love response, uttermost devotion according to the Law of the Kingdom, “Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all Thy heart and mind and spirit and soul and with all thy strength.” Yes, in that answer that came forth from the depths of her heart, you can see and feel and know her fulfillment of the Law, and she saw her LORD. How many times the Master, walking in the Garden of God on earth has called the names of those who did not hear, those who went blindly on, immersed in their own ideas and concepts and their own anguish and human desires, so busy looking in the tomb, so busy worrying about who they might have been and what they might have done to the LORD that they could not hear His Voice.
In time past, you recognize, He has called your name, for today is not the first time He called your name, but you never answered Him as you did this morning. When the anguished heart grows still, and when the mind is quiet, when there is the fullness of love response to Him, then can the human being hear the Call, for He has called your name as surely as He called the name of Mary long ago. We have known something of His Presence; we have sensed it; we have recognized it; so have tens of thousands and millions of others. It is not that we have forgotten the LORD. Mary was searching for Him; so are tens of millions of others searching, looking in the tomb when He is not there; but in the Garden of God He is walking, and He calls the name of each one who searches for Him.
You know that He has called your name, and hearing, you have begun to see and hear truly that wondrous Voice of Love—that Love that will not let you go. Mary answered, “Master.” What do we answer when He calls? If He is our Master, then let us so function in our lives that we prove that it is so, in the fullness of devotion, obedience and trust—in that faith that springs from love for God that cannot be shaken by what any may think or say or do or be, or by what may take place in the world around us, faith that springs from unshakable love for God, that God's Love working through us may have meaning on earth.
That Easter Day set the pattern and opened the Way for this Easter Day which we are privileged to share. What greater honor, what greater privilege could God bestow than this? Our LORD came into the world because God so loved the world and He brought the message, “Repent and be baptized, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” We have found it so. In our lives we have proven His Words are true, true and righteous altogether—the Way, the Truth and the Life. As we meditate upon that Easter Day and see the outworkings of this Easter Day, in our own hearts and minds we know that we have begun to taste, begun to see, that we have begun to feel—but it is little more than that—the Victory of His Kingdom, the Eternal wonders. We have just begun. He opened the Way. He set the pattern for this Easter Day.
After He spoke to Mary, He said, “Touch me not for I have not yet ascended unto my Father.” Having brought His Body forth from the tomb, His first business was to ascend to the Father and what did He say? He told Mary to go and tell the other disciples, saying, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” His instruction was and is to follow Him, follow Him in the Resurrection and the Life, follow Him in ascending unto the Father. His first business, His first fulfillment of responsibility after the Resurrection of His Body was to ascend unto the Father. It was after that that He met with His disciples and talked with them concerning the things of the Kingdom.
First, he ascended unto the Father, and following through, following Him, we must do likewise. It is not enough merely to taste of the Resurrection and the Life—we must together ascend unto the Father. The only way we can know that fulfillment is by following our Master in the expression of His Love for the Father. His Commandment was: “Follow me.” That is His Commandment to each one of us—follow Him. We have seen how that following must lead to the crucifixion of that human self that is not of Him, how it must lead through the tomb, through the Resurrection and then, if we are to follow Him all the Way, the next step is to ascend unto the Father. What was it He said unto the one who saw Him in the Garden, what message did He give? He said, go and tell them, “Behold I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” He made it very clear that He was not ascending to some high Heaven denied to those who should follow after Him. He was ascending and as He said before, “Whither I go ye know, and the Way ye know.” He had prayed and given assurance to those who followed after that “Where I am, there ye may be also.”
He expected His followers to follow Him all the Way, including the ascension to the Father. We thank God that it is so. As you continue to let the Cycles of the Spirit work in the silences of your soul, holding true under the Law of the Kingdom, abiding in the attitude of the Angels' Song, you shall surely find the processes of ascension working in and through you to fulfill His Word even as He said, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”
He made it clear and plain that as He ascended unto the Father, He expected those who followed Him to let themselves ascend unto the Father. “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me,” and so we are to let the process of ascension work in heart and mind and body and soul that we may share that which He established then, that which He made possible for the children of men. This is our opportunity, our privilege, our sacred responsibility on this beautiful Sunday, this Easter, Nineteen Hundred Fifty.
O LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, I thank Thee for these Blessed Ones who are letting themselves be opened more fully moment by moment and hour by hour and day by day to Thy Great Love that they may be lifted up into that place which Thou hast prepared for them in Thy Kingdom which is at hand on earth, that they may truly let Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. O LORD, we thank Thee that as we share and know and experience the wonder of the working of Thy Spirit, we know that all Thy Children everywhere of every color and creed, of every race and clime are likewise being drawn into the Spirit of the Resurrection and the Life that, moving steadfastly forward, all who will may share the Resurrection of Easter Season and the ascension to that place which Thou hast prepared for us in Thy Kingdom that is at hand on earth. O LORD, I thank Thee that it is so and I thank Thee for the blessings of Thy peace which rest upon these Earnest Ones here gathered and upon all who turn to Thee, whosoever, wheresoever they may be, IN the Christ. Aum-en.
The Peace of our LORD, Jesus Christ be with you now and forever. The LORD has truly been good to us this Easter Day and now we have a lovely afternoon in which to let His Spirit continue working in our hearts. We look forward to gathering again at the appointed hour this evening.
© emissaries of divine light
Easter Day In The Kingdom Of The Prince Of Peace
You Can Afford To Wait
Uranda April 9, 1950 7 a.m. Sunrise Ranch
O LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, we come “before Thee this morning that in Thy Love and Mercy Thou mayest examine our hearts. I thank Thee for the Peace that has been established in the hearts of those here gathered and in the hearts of those who are with us in Spirit this glorious Easter Morning. We acknowledge Thee Prince of Peace, and each one, to the degree that he has entered into Thy Peace, shall know that he has come into Thy Kingdom and each shall know that as he abides in the Peace of the Prince of Peace, he is abiding in the Kingdom. O LORD, I rejoice in the privilege of presenting before Thy Throne these Blessed Ones who have entered into Thy Peace, that as they open their hearts to Thee they may know the wonder and the joy of Letting Thy Love flow through them into the world, that having come forth from the tomb they may ascend unto Thee in the Currents of Thy Everlasting Love.
Blessed Ones, Entering the Kingdom the shell of self is left behind. Ye cannot look for it in the Kingdom, for if ye seek it ye shall find yourselves outside the Kingdom. That shell of self is not here in the realms of Peace. This you know, but I remind you that you may ever abide under the Law of the Kingdom in Love Response to our KING.
As you have entered into the Peace of the Prince of Peace, having left the tomb behind, you are granted the privilege of growing in Grace and in Stature until you may know the maturity of function in the Spirit of the Living Christ. Abide in patience and “Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
As you have entered into the Kingdom, you have become Angels before my KING on earth, and as you are Angels of the Kingdom, the Angels’ Song reveals the attitude of the Angels—the spirit and attitude in which the Angels of the Kingdom abide in relationship to all things whatsoever. Would you sing that Angels’ Song, that you may know its spirit. (All sang the “Angels’ Song of Praise”) This is the attitude of all those who dwell in the Kingdom, in relationship to all things whatsoever. Abide ye in the attitude of the Angels’ Song, that thy growing into maturity may be swift and sure.
Remember what I have told you before, that having entered the Kingdom you will not be able to see all the Things of the Kingdom or to understand, but, rather, to abide in Peace under the Law of the Kingdom in the attitude of the Angels’ Song. There is joy this morning, joy in my heart and yours and in all Responding Ones everywhere. As we say “Good Morning” in the realm of Peace in humbleness before the Prince of Peace, there is a great joy, but it is a solemn joy, for, having entered in we are at the place where we now begin to let God's Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Having proven that the Kingdom is at hand, having entered into it, we must next prove that in true Polarity and Love Response to our KING we can abide in the Kingdom. It is not for a few moments sojourn that we have come hither; it is to live, to live in the Spirit of the Living Christ.
There is no need that I should welcome you into the Kingdom, for you have received your welcome already in that moment when your whole being was flooded with Peace and all sense of burden rolled away. The unutterable Love of our LORD and KING which floods one's being when one enters into His Peace cannot be described one to another; it cannot be told, and for each there is that in it which is different from every other. It is that in which we walk with Him and talk with Him in the Garden, communing in His Spirit. Abide ye in that Peace which He left on earth that we might enter into it, even as He said: “My peace give I unto you.”
In the Kingdom it is not the light of the sun or the moon or the stars that gives us the light that is in our hearts and that shines through our lives, but the LORD GOD giveth the Light that is made manifest that we may walk in the Light as Children of the Light now and forever.
And now I would consider with you how it is that you have entered into your first Communion Service in the Kingdom this Easter Morning. Let us note how human beings read their own ideas into the words that are recorded. The Bread and the Wine were blest in the Upper Room long ago, but this into which you have entered is the Upper Room of which that was the symbol—the first abiding place in the Kingdom. Those who were gathered there were supposed to be His Body. He blest bread and gave it unto them saying, “This gathering, you who are here, are My Body. This is My Body; partake ye of it”—not the bread, the symbol of conveyance—"this little group, this little fruitage of My Ministry. Partake ye of My Body, enter into it, be a part of it. Partake ye of it”—the invitation to be a part of His Body. It is for this cause that you have come forth from the tomb and passed through the Gate into the Upper Room, that you may receive that Bread blest by our LORD and KING and know that this, not the bread but those to whom it was given, those to whom it is given, this is my Body. Receive of the Bread I have blest and partake of the privilege, the opportunity, of being Members of my Body. It is for this cause that you have gathered in the Upper Room. Let no one betray that cause, for he who betrays passes to his own Gethsemane.
Those who betray cannot put our LORD in a Gethsemane any more
That sweet and gentle invitation—the Master said that He would not partake of the symbol of the Wine until He could sit down with us and have it fresh in the Kingdom, a New Body in the Kingdom, not a body wandering in the darkness of the world, not a body bound in the tomb, but a New Body of those who should follow Him out of the tomb and into the Kingdom, and with them, with you, He drinks of the Wine of Life as you receive the invitation and accept it—to partake of the opportunity to be in Membership in His Body. The Wine, the symbol of His Life—”This is the symbol of My Life; partake ye of My Life. This is the symbol of My Body; partake ye of My Body”—not merely the symbol but the actual Living Reality of that which is symbolized, for this morning as you have entered into the Peace of my KING and come through the Gate in the Resurrection and the Life, you have found in that Life of the Resurrection the Wine of which He spoke, the Wine which He blest and blesses now, that you may be in the Body and share the Life.
Entering into the Kingdom you know that it is in the Body, in your body on earth as a Member of His Body on earth in the Kingdom, that you share the Life, and while you have not matured in the Kingdom, and while you do not know all the ways of the Kingdom, and you have much to learn—for you are entering the Kingdom as a little child—you are, nevertheless, sitting down with our LORD in the Kingdom, even as our LORD took the little child and set him upon His knee. You are sitting down in the Kingdom with our KING. Having entered into His Peace, this is the Communion Service, the Communion that awaits you and which you now share in the Kingdom.
It is all so simple and easy that the human mind is likely to say, “It is too simple, too easy.” It is not that sort of thing which the mind tried to make you think it was, but for so long you listened to your mind instead of the Spirit. The Master said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” If the mind is inclined to be disappointed because it did not foresee or because your experience is not thus and so, you can silence the mind with the word, “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,” and as this was true before you left the tomb behind, so is it likewise true as you have entered the Kingdom.
Let the LORD move you, the Members of His Body, from Glory Unto Glory. Let the LORD use His Body according to His Will and all will be well, and you shall continue to abide in the Communion, the Communion of the Body, the Living Body and its LORD, the Communion of the life expression made manifest in the Body of the LORD, Communion in the Kingdom that no longer needs the symbol, for “When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”
It is good to bid you “Good Morning,” this Easter Day in the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace, but having entered His Kingdom you will be tested and proven as you grow and strengthen and mature. If in any moment you think to bring your LORD under judgment, if in any moment you think you can improve upon God's Way, if in any moment you wander down by the forbidden tree and listen to the whisperings of the serpent, the result now would be the same as it was in the beginning, for those who eat of the forbidden tree cannot eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Life. Remember who you are and where you are and let no patterns of the past, the dead past, call to you from out of the tomb to make you go rushing back into the darkness. Let the dead bury their dead.
Those who are in the Body in the Kingdom love the LORD their KING, and in that love they know what it means to trust and obey, and they know that being in the Kingdom they can afford to be patient.
Impatience is of that outer world which you have left behind. The people of the world are in such a rush, running hither and thither. They think they have no time to wait and they are right, for they cannot afford to wait. They have but a little moment that is empty and they must desperately try to squeeze something out of that emptiness. No, they cannot have a sense of being in a position where they can afford to wait, but in the Kingdom we can afford to wait, even though they cannot. If the fullness of perfection in outworking has not yet appeared in some point, we who are in the Kingdom can afford to wait. Those who are not of the Kingdom cannot know what it means to be in a position where they can afford to wait, to be patient, to let it work out, as can those who have entered in and passed through the Gate.
Remember.
Remember who you are.
Remember to whom you belong.
Remember where you are.
And remember that you can afford to wait.
Those who live in the world have such a little span, engulfed in so much emptiness, that they must desperately seek to squeeze something from the husks, but as you have ceased being a swineherd running about after the foulness of the outer mind that you left behind in the tomb, you have arisen and returned to the Father where you may partake of the Feast in the Kingdom.
As you were returning, O Blessed Ones, returning as a prodigal son, the Father saw you afar off and came forth and met you and brought you into His House, and having returned you are no longer prodigal, you are no longer a swineherd. You are to forget the attitudes, the habits and the feelings of the swineherd, for these are the things you left behind in the tomb. The swineherds of the world cannot afford to wait. They must desperately try to squeeze something from the husks of being, but as you have returned Home to the Kingdom, returned to your Father's House, you can afford to wait. If you hearken to the whispering of the serpent in some unguarded moment, this old conditioning of attitude could catch you unawares, and if the serpent whispering from the tree can make you forget who you are and to whom you belong and where you are, so that you forget that you can afford to wait, he can entice you into self-activity which would cause you to be removed out through the Gate. Even if that should be, if you should repent truly and return and hold steady before the Gate, yet may you enter in again.
And the LORD knoweth whether all of you here gathered have entered in. I speak not to those who have not, but that my words may be encouragement to those as they listen, if there be any such. This morning I speak to those who have entered in. But this I say to those who have not yet entered into that Peace: “Hold steady, remain faithful and true beyond the Gate. Let self die and remain in the tomb and you shall yet join us in the Kingdom.” But in the Kingdom these are the things to remember as you abide under the Law of the Kingdom.
Remember who you are—not a swineherd feeding on husks but a Member of the Body of your LORD and KING. Remember who you are. Remember where you are—not in the mud wallows of the past before you came through the tomb, but in the Kingdom. Remember, above all things, to whom you belong, for you are not your own. Remember who you are, where you are, and to whom you belong, and remember that the key to perfect fulfillment in the Kingdom, having obeyed the Law of the Kingdom, is this: Be patient. Do not run before the LORD. Do not try to shape the patterns of fulfillment. Do not think, as the swineherds think, that you have no time. Remember that in the Kingdom we can afford to wait. The world cannot; the people of the world cannot; those who are beyond the Gate cannot, but this is fundamental in the Kingdom—abiding in the Kingdom we can afford to wait, and it is in this that you shall be tested. If the consciousness of the swineherd remains, it shall be revealed. I do not mean by this that we shall not be diligent about our Father’s Business. I do not mean that there shall be loitering and foolishness. I do not mean that there will not be activity. There will be more activity, more diligent, more focalized, more effective, than ever before, a living expression of activity in those who abide in the Kingdom, but we are living in the Kingdom where Eternity has meaning.
Consider—years ago it seemed, from any outer standpoint, that I could not afford to wait for the Body to come through the Gate as God Ordained, that I would be wise to make a semblance of a Body, so that we could have more members, so that we could have more money, so that we could have more of this, that and the other thing. Every pressure came to bear to make it appear that I could not afford to wait for this Body to come forth from the tomb, real and true, but that I should do something to give a semblance of more people, more money, better facilities, a greater number of those who have talents, and so on and on and on, that out of that we could then develop the real Body. Oh, so many tried to make it appear that we could not afford to wait. So many dropped away because they said, “We are not getting anywhere. We cannot afford to wait; we must rush out and find this thing for which we long.” Oh, they could not afford to wait. No, the swineherd consciousness can never afford to wait.
But you see, I could afford to wait, though the number of those working with me became so very small, though the financial provision seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, though everything seemed to be against us, though it seemed, from a human standpoint, to be impossible, though so many became discouraged and turned away, though so many found fault and criticized, judged one another, and judged me. O yes, I was the one who could afford to wait, and you were the ones who finally settled down and stopped struggling, stopped living in the swineherd consciousness long enough to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit calling you to awaken from the darkness of the tomb and come forth into the Light of a New Day. Yes, I could afford to wait. I have proven it. And this is what I mean when I tell you to remember you can afford to wait. If the whispering of the serpent tries to make you think that there is a short-cut, that there is something you can do to help God’s Plan along, remember that the serpent is a liar.
Consider now, this Resurrection Morn, that that is what Judas thought. He loved his Master. He would not have knowingly, willingly, done anything to hurt his LORD. He had seen his LORD perform miracles. He had seen Him disappear from those who thought to take Him. He had seen his LORD show Great Power. He had seen his LORD do things to defy human understanding. And yet, his LORD was loitering. His LORD was not taking over the Kingdom. His LORD was not making the best use of all His Power and abilities. His LORD was not taking advantage of all His opportunities to do this thing right. So, the whisper of the serpent came into Judas’ mind and he said, “Now, there is a way you can help the LORD. You know His Power. You cannot hurt Him. He can disappear. He can do anything. He just needs a little help so He can take advantage of the opportunity.” O no, he did not intend to hurt the LORD. He intended to force the LORD to use His Power, to take advantage of the opportunity of the hour. What did he do? He did not think that those coming with staves and swords could touch his LORD. He thought he knew better how to do it than the LORD did. He was just going to help Him along.
In this, then, we have the outstanding example of all history of what I mean when I say, “Remember, you can afford to wait.” The Master could afford to wait. He had things to do. It was working out if they had been patient, but Judas had to hurry it up—and he did. And when he saw what he had done, he went and hanged himself. Judas forgot that under the LORD's Hand he could afford to wait, that if it seemed as if some opportunity was slipping by, the LORD had a better purpose, a larger view.
Blessed Ones, as I greet you this morning in the Kingdom, I bid you remember who you are, where you are, to whom you belong, and remember that in the Kingdom you can afford to wait. You will find that these things, truly remembered, will guard you against all the whisperings of the serpent that may arise, that you may abide in the Kingdom into which you have entered, and that you may fulfill that to which you are Called in the LORD.
Blessed Ones, as we move about those tasks that are given to us in the Kingdom, doing those things to tend and to keep the Garden, and to prepare the way for those who shall follow after you, abide ever in the attitude of the Angels’ Song, and you will notice that the attitude revealed in the Angels’ Song, maintained, will automatically cause you to remember who you are, where you are, to whom you belong—and that you can afford to wait. Others may not be able to afford it. O, the time is desperately short for so many and they must do so much in such a little time, but they do not know what it is to be in the Kingdom, where you can afford to wait. Once more I bid you sing, yea stand and sing, the “Angels’ Song of Praise”. Peace be unto you under the Law of the Kingdom in the Name of the Prince of Peace. Aum-en.
© emissaries of divine light
