“And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
“And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
“The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
Uranda — Let’s consider the same incident recorded in Matthew Chapter 13:1-23
“The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
“For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
“Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Uranda — As we consider this morning the fact that people all over the world are turning their thoughts to the worship of God to the highest degree of realization and understanding that is in them, we are struck with the fact that if all this turning to God were truly concerted action, truly coordinated, truly harmonious, truly bringing forth fruit, these millions could exert an incalculable influence upon the outworking of events in the world. As we have been studying the things of God in the past weeks and months there has been an increased awareness, a deepening of realization, with respect to the fact that all things worthwhile do truly spring forth from the spiritual foundation, and the more fully we understand that foundation, and the more fully we realize that that which is of the foundation can express through us in daily life, the more certain and fruitful will be the expression of our lives.
This morning I was thinking of the influence that we might properly bring to bear upon those who are turning to God and seeking to worship Him. I mentioned the influence that all these people might bring to bear upon the world if it were truly unified function. The Master said that in order to worship God truly we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. If all those who seek to worship God actually worshiped Him in spirit and in truth the conditions that exist in the world would be impossible. The very fact that conditions are as they are proves that regardless of human concept, regardless of such earnestness as may exist, regardless of what may have been achieved within the scope of that which we call Christianity, the vast majority of those who think to worship God have not yet learned to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and until there is the fact of true worship established on earth there is no means by which we can properly hope to correct or remove the ill conditions which beset mankind. Since we have been granted the sacred privilege of beginning to know something of what it means to worship God in spirit and in truth, our proper function is to let the spirit flow out into the world in such hours as this, that we may influence those who are turning to the worship of God and draw them to a realization of what it means to worship God truly.
The reason for the worship of God has not been understood by mankind. Human beings have seemed to imagine that an arbitrary God arbitrarily required that human beings must worship Him or be damned to eternal hellfire. Therefore the consciousness in man with respect to the purpose of worshiping God has been altogether faulty, contrary to the true facts, and whatever there is of the current or spirit of God that may be released by such worship as there is flows into these faulty concepts and gives them life, and therefore that which God would pour out in blessing becomes the very life force that maintains the ill condition that human beings themselves have established.
This morning, as we consider these things, there should be in us a vivid realization of the true reason for worshiping God, of the true purpose of our gathering together, so that our consciousness, established according to the Pattern of Truth, may be a means by which the radiation of the spirit of His Love through us into the world may begin to correct the erroneous or limited concepts which have prevented the manifestation of God's power on earth in a manner that will be effective in correcting the ill conditions that exist.
As long as human beings think that God simply demands that He shall be worshiped man cannot worship God in love. Such attempts at worship are the result of a sense of duty or a concept of necessity of some sort, or because of fear of hellfire, or in the hope of gaining some reward at some future time, or perchance for the purpose of influencing the others who likewise attend church, to establish a concept of goodness in the community regardless of the facts in relationship to the inner spiritual life.
When we realize that God is not demanding for some such reason that we should worship Him, but that that which is true worship is simply the opening of the means by which that which is of God can pour through us out into the world, and that the only true way in which we can worship God is through love response to Him, we begin to realize that man's basic attitude toward the worshiping of God prevents any really valuable manifestation as a result of what mankind deems to be the worship of God. As we love Him and receive the outpouring of His Love and let it flow out into the world through the Pattern of Truth, regardless of human concept, we find it is not because God would take something unto Himself, but because He would give of His abundance into our expression of life, that He directs us to worship Him, so that all men may know what it is to be set free from the bondage of human concepts and the limitations of human vision.
In this realization I would read once more the words which the Master spoke, first as recorded in the 4th Chapter of Mark, verses 1-20, and then the same incident as recorded by Matthew, in Chapter 13, verses 1-23
To my mind we have here one of the most revealing of the Master's expressions while He walked among men on earth. He gave the key. According to one record, He said, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God,” and in the other, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God speak of the same thing. In the Lord's Prayer He said, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” He was talking about the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, and pointed out that it was given unto them to know. And even so, as we let it be so, it is given unto us to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. And in His interpretation of the parable He said, “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.”
“When any one heareth the Word of the Kingdom.” Those who have been following what they conceive to be the teachings of Christianity have undertaken to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ without taking cognizance of what He Himself said that Gospel was. The Gospel that He told His followers to teach and preach was, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and so the Word of the Kingdom is with respect to the Gospel, the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. And when there is a recognition that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, so that it becomes a true realization, the individual begins to so function that he may learn the truth concerning that Kingdom, that he may in season enter into it and share in the wonder of it—not waiting until some distant future time, but accepting it in the here and the now.
As we have moved along the way toward this day, sharing in ministry with respect to the Word of the Kingdom, we have seen this parable fulfilled so many times—those who have heard the Word and then immediately the self-active human mind has snatched it away, so that it never did bring forth fruit; and then those that received the seed into stony places, the seed of the Word into stony places where there was some good soil, a place where there is a realization of the fundamental fact of the Kingdom. But the stony places are where? They are in the heart, the stony heart of man that refuses to respond and let itself be changed by the power of God, the stony places in the heart that refuse to let the mysteries of the Kingdom be revealed in the life of the individual. We have seen the manifestation of that also, as we have ministered along the way.
And then again, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” Let us note the way that same point is covered here in Mark: “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.” There comes, in other words, by the deceitfulness of riches, a concept that the things of this world are more important than the things of the Kingdom, that the things of this world are more to be depended upon than the things of the Kingdom. These things will “choke the word of the kingdom” unless we let the Word of the Kingdom be the good seed in us, so that we bring forth from good ground, “some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred.”
The Master clearly indicates that He does not expect all to bring forth an equal degree of the manifestation of the Kingdom. You cannot yet fully realize what the fruit of that seed is. Consider: The seed is the Word of the Kingdom. When the seed is planted it brings forth fruit to varying degrees, according to the individual talents, abilities and capabilities of the responding ones. What would be the fruit of the seed, of the Word of the Kingdom? It would of necessity have to be the manifest expression of the Kingdom itself on earth, that it might cease to be a mystery: “For unto you it is given to know the kingdom of God,” or of heaven. And the Word that is the seed is the Word of the Kingdom. And when there is a recognition of the fact that there is the Kingdom of Heaven at hand, and that is allowed to germinate in the depth of the individual life, it comes forth a new plant, a new thing, a new pattern of expression on earth, and it begins to bring forth fruit, the fruit of the Kingdom itself. What is the fruit of the Kingdom? All of those things which are in evidence in the manifestation of the Presence of God, that which is the expression of the Divine, the manifestation of the nature of Deity.
And so, until the Word that is the seed, the Word of the Kingdom, is in good ground—not by the wayside, to be immediately snatched away by the self-active thoughts of the human mind; not in the stony places wherein the heart refuses to give way before the manifestation of the Word of God; not among the tares where the Word, or seed, is choked out by the “cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in,” which cover up and prevent an understanding of the Word itself, which is the seed, and prevent the manifestation of the fruit of the seed—the true fruit cannot appear. So it is only where the sunshine of God's Love is allowed to shine because there are no thorns, only where there is good soil because there are no stony places in the heart, that the fruit of the Kingdom can begin to appear in that new thing which is brought forth, the fruit of the expression of God, the nature of God, the qualities of God, the power of God, so that heaven is made manifest on earth.
The Word of the Kingdom is the seed that is planted in the heart of those who truly respond, and then the plant of the Kingdom begins to grow and it comes forth, and in its coming it is a true revelation of the Kingdom on earth and it brings forth the fruit of the Kingdom. This is that which is true worship of God, and anything less than this is not true worship. This is truly worshiping Him in spirit and in truth, because the Word of the Kingdom is the truth and the manifestation of the plant of the Kingdom in the individual life must be in harmony with the Pattern of Truth, and it must be the Fire of Love, the sunshine, the warmth of God's Love, that causes that plant to grow, brings that plant into the light where the darkness is dispelled. If the plant is never allowed to sprout, if the seed is never allowed to grow but is covered over by the “deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in,” there is no true manifestation.
Even if there is some manifestation, and there are stony places in the heart, then in the outworking of events the seed, though it has sprouted and begun to manifest, cannot become a true revelation of the Kingdom of God, and those who see the plant that has sprung up in the stony places do not see a true plant, a revelation of the Kingdom, and when the pressures of life appear in the ministry of the Living God, that plant withers and is gone; for there is that seed of the Word of the Kingdom that falls by the wayside and the self-active thoughts of the human mind snatch it away and cast it out so that it has no chance to begin to grow. Here we have a portrayal of Four Classifications. The first three reveal the nature of man's rejection of the things of God, and the fourth reveals the nature of man's acceptance of the things of God. The three ways by which man rejects the things of God: 1. the self-active mind snatching away the seed of the kingdom and never letting it sprout; 2. the stony places in the heart that prevent its true growth and manifestation; 3. the thorns that choke it and prevent its manifestation—these are the three ways by which human beings prevent the manifestation of the Kingdom in their own lives.
But the fourth way is the revelation of the Way for those who worship Him in spirit and in truth, for here the fruit of the seed of the Kingdom begins to appear and there is revelation of the Kingdom itself. The things of God are made manifest through the lives of those in whose hearts the Word of the Kingdom has been truly planted, for in their lives the one thing worthwhile is that seed which, in its growing, brings forth the manifestation of the Kingdom on earth, to the Glory of God and the blessing of all the children of men.
It is for this cause that God admonishes man to worship Him; not that God would take something unto Himself, but that when man truly worships in spirit and in truth the things of God truly come into manifestation in the earth. Wherever the Kingdom of Heaven is, there is peace and joy and the true satisfaction of living, the true realization of being which God intended that we should enjoy.
“It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.”
“The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” His holy temple is a flesh body composed of human beings through whom His Word may be spoken, and heard in the silence of the earth. This is the Word of the LORD:
“I came forth from the Father, and came into the world many centuries ago through a particular flesh body. I offered the way of salvation to the children of men on earth. I offered this to those who were in best position to receive it. The way was rejected: I was rejected.
“I accepted into my own body the unregenerate state of mankind. I was condemned as mankind is condemned. I was crucified as mankind must be crucified. I was placed in the tomb even as mankind must go into the tomb.
“I came forth from the tomb in the resurrection, thereby opening the way for mankind to come forth. A place has been prepared. The way is open. Behold, I have set before you an open door.”
These words have not only been spoken to you who are here present this morning but have also been spoken by you. In these moments we stand in the earth as one body, not only composed of you who are here present but of many more who have understanding. We arise and ascend into the hill of the LORD, that we may stand in His holy place. The LORD is in His holy place: let all the earth keep silence before Him.
The Word of the LORD can be spoken on earth only as there are human beings to do it. That Word is powerful and creative. That Word is truth. The words of the LORD that have just been spoken are indeed the simple truth. Some of these words are understandable to anyone: others of them are in varying degrees incomprehensible. What indeed is the resurrection? There have been those who have attempted to explain away the occurrence in supposedly understandable human terms. The vast majority have accepted it, if they have accepted it, on blind faith. Something was supposed to have happened to Jesus, so that His body came forth in the resurrection; but what happened, how, is incomprehensible to the human consciousness. Of course, because human consciousness has never experienced it.
There is only one way to discover what the resurrection is, and that is by experiencing it. It cannot be successfully explained ahead of the experience. Of course not, because it is unprecedented. There was one individual precedent: that One knows what it is. The precedent must now be set through the body of mankind. For this to happen there must be one who comes in the Name of the LORD. That one may initially be one person but subsequently includes others who compose the Body through which the Word of the LORD is spoken. That Body knows the truth of the moment. What other truth is there? There are those who think of the truth as relating to the future: What shall happen? What is going to be? There is no future except in imagination. This is the reality. This is the truth now. The truth is known now! The way is known now! Life is known now! We have surely awakened to this.
The human mind is fearful, as it well may be, looking upon those things which seem to be coming in the earth; but the truth is now, the way is now, life is now. The one who comes in the Name of the LORD insists upon the truth of the present moment. There is with that an awareness of the inevitability of the creative process. If one is associated with the creative process now and it is experienced now, it is inevitable now and it is inevitable in all the days to come, in all the nows to come. The truth is acceptable now. The truth is adequate now. The way is clear now. We move in it together in the flesh.
All this implies that there is a point of focus. We have been aware of this. In times past we have been offered the opportunity of discovering what it means to function intelligently in a pattern of focalization. We may not have done it all that intelligently; we may have resisted it and rebelled against it. But ultimately there must be the full experience of blessing the one who comes in the Name of the LORD; only so can there be a sharing in that coming. If we understand this from the standpoint of our own experience, for it is indeed emerging with increasing clarity, then we know that the same is true with respect to the rising up of the body of mankind. There must be a point of focus for them. This is the one who comes in the Name of the LORD.
For this to have creative meaning to others their attitude must be: Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord. Some undoubtedly are inclined to say, “Cursed is he.” Others heretofore have ignored him. Because of the increasing unification of the body of mankind willy-nilly, whether anyone likes it or not, it is less and less possible for anyone to ignore what is happening. “Choose you this day” is also the Word of the LORD to mankind: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” To understand what these words mean there must be present on earth the evidence, the one who comes in the Name of the LORD. Originally the LORD Himself provided that evidence, the evidence that was rejected, but now the provision is made again in a different way, in a way that is without precedent. The way, the truth and the life is proclaimed by reason of the fact that there is present a flesh body of focalization. This fact can only be proclaimed when that flesh body is humble—humble minds and gentle hearts; so may the Word of the LORD be spoken on earth, so may there be the one who comes in the Name of the Lord.
Have we learned to acknowledge the essentiality of right association with focalization? If we have not done that within this Body, how could the body of mankind be expected to do it? What elements of resistance, rebellion, resentment, still remain to dictate to us out of our minds and hearts? Such may be present as yet; earthly heredity has not been dissolved, but surely it shall not control. Only because there is understanding acceptance, acknowledgment, of the fact of one who comes in the Name of the LORD can there be a Body present on earth which proclaims that truth for others. And there is no way by which salvation may come on earth except there is the attitude, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” an attitude to be experienced by those who are open to the experience in the body of mankind. To have that experience there must be one who comes in the Name of the LORD. In humility and quietness of spirit, this truth is surely acceptable to us in this hour now.
The one who comes in the Name of the LORD comes with passion for the truth, and consequently with fire, the fire of love. There is indeed something to occur on earth that necessarily is without precedent. Some suppose this occurrence to be a so-called nuclear holocaust. We know the truth in this matter. The precedent is the fire of God’s Love, the fire of love in the truthful expression of our own living, the fire which is capable of consuming the fears, the hates, the resentments, the envyings, the greeds, that are present still in our own hearts. These can only be dissolved by the fire. Presently there are two ways by which this dissolution can occur. The creative way leaves human beings still present on earth. The other way cleanses the earth of all unrighteousness, but who is left? Let the fire of love intensify in our own hearts, governed by the truth in our own minds. Heretofore our experience has been somewhat lackadaisical. Sometimes we find ourselves put on the hot seat and we probably quite quickly repent, but how long does that state of affairs persist?
We find the whole world moving toward an unprecedented experience. I suppose this was illustrated somewhat by the plight of the children of Israel when they came to the edge of the Red Sea. They were between the Egyptians and the sea, and there appeared to be no way. Nowadays we talk about being between a rock and a hard place, and are beginning to find out what that really means, where to human vision there is no way. This is the state of affairs consequent upon the command: “Thus far and no further!” Of course in the case of the children of Israel something happened. They found that there was a way, but they didn’t for long continue in that way. This presumably is illustrative of various occasions in the ages gone by when the human race was subjected to cataclysmic experience but still survived. It wasn’t long after the flood, according to the story, before people were complaining again, bickering again, fighting again, displaying the traits of human nature that have persisted down to this very hour. But there does come a time when there shall be time no more, when it may be said, “This is it! Shape up or ship out!” We are aware of what it means to shape up. Most people presently are not. If we do not do it, who will? Then the other experience comes: ship out.
The LORD apparently stated when He was on earth, “I go to prepare a place for you.” This has been variously interpreted. But He was speaking about what actually happened, what happened through His own experience. The place was known by Him by reason of the resurrection, so the way was prepared, the place was prepared, was henceforth available to be known, the intent being that it should be known totally by the body of mankind on earth. What would constitute the body of mankind at the time that it was known could hardly be prognosticated: that will prove itself out. We are facing facts, not fancies. And so we, knowing these things to the extent that we do, carry the responsibility. The privilege of knowing carries the responsibility of doing.
A certain awareness of these things is subconsciously present in vast numbers of human beings. Privileges require the acceptance of responsibilities, something that has almost totally been ignored by the vast majority of human beings on earth. We have a spectacle of this ignoring in what is going on close to home here: self serving, an unwillingness to face facts. Surely we have faced facts to the extent that we are aware of the privilege of understanding and therefore of the responsibility of doing. This is the easy way. This is the open door.
In this hour we not only stand at the door and knock, that it may be opened for all mankind, but we let it be opened for ourselves individually, that the truth may come forth in creative expression moment by moment by moment in the natural cycles of our living, whatever the circumstances may be, as we find ourselves present to get the job done. We do not judge our circumstances. We do not judge other people. We simply do the job without shadow of turning, without resentment, without condemnation, without self-pity, without any of the usual human reactions. These mean nothing to us anymore. The former things pass away because we let them go, because we are fully occupied with the expression of the truth, the qualities and the characteristics of love. Because of this we know friendship, increasing oneness with all those who have the privilege of understanding and consequently have accepted responsibility, the responsibility of doing.
And so there is no question as to the creative nature of the outcome. We would not question it. We would not be so brash as to try to find out what it is. Just let it be. That’s all we can do anyway in the moment, let it be. Let the truth be, in the reality of spiritual expression momentarily: and behold, the power, the creative power, the fire of love, prevails. The former things pass away and all things are made new. Again, we recognize it is not all new things; all things are made new. It is the transformation, the transmutation, of the things that are. These are made new because there stands on earth in power and great glory one who comes in the Name of the LORD.
Let the fire of love consume all that rightly passes away, that those things need not be consumed in an external fire. The one who comes in the Name of the LORD speaks the Word of the LORD: “Behold, I make all things new.”
In a little while this year will be half gone, six months of 1953 almost gone. And what has been written upon the pages of time has been written, and no man can change it. What has been written upon the Book of Life has been written, and no man can change it. But there is One, the One Who Dwells, who can make all things new, who can cause the former things to pass away, who has the power to say, the authority, the right, to say, "Behold, I make all things new."
We begin to realize that day by day we are giving evidence, by our attitudes, by our words and actions, as to whether we conceive the Almighty to be All Mighty. The One Who Dwells, is He only partly mighty?—mighty to do this and mighty to do that, well able to do the other thing, but is He All Mighty? This we reveal by our attitudes, by our words. Not that we should with the human mind predetermine what we think the Almighty should do and in some foolhardy manner venture forth and say, "All things are possible with God. He is the Almighty, therefore I can do this and He will see me through that. I can plunge in here, I can accomplish the other thing." That is like saying, "If Thou, O God, art all mighty, then command that these stones be made bread." And it is written, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Yet how often the human being does those things which are in fact tempting the Lord, as if the human being would put the Lord to the test: "If Thou be the Almighty, then do this or that." And even though He is All Mighty, He does not do as you ask in such a case. But you may, if you listen, hear the Voice of Love. It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone"—man shall not live by the patterns of his own actions, by reason of the things in outer form, by reason of the things that he thinks he must have or desire or achieve. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
In our meditations we began to see more clearly the significance of the Word. We recall that in the Old Testament patterns, in relationship to the prophets, there is the frequent expression, "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying," or "The word of the Lord came unto him, saying" thus and so, What is the Word of the Lord? We have come to know that the Word of the Lord is Shekinah. Wherever we read, "The word of the Lord came unto him, saying," we may read, properly, "And the Shekinah, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, came unto him, saying." And in this hour of meditation which we share I would draw you together in the Spiritual Pattern of Being, that you may realize more deeply the reality of Shekinah. There are many things which enter into this Pattern which you cannot yet know or adequately realize, but there is that which you do know. And remember to always function on the basis of what you know. Never try to act on the basis of what you do not know and you will avoid much confusion. The human being is inclined to say, "There is much that I do not know. I do not know this or that," and he begins to function on the basis of what he does not know, and then he gets in trouble.
Let us remember, there is that which you do know. If it is not so, there is something wrong, either with your perception and realization or my presentation. There is that which you do know. Never violate what you know, never deny it; and function on the basis of what you know, and then all is well. Why be concerned about what you do not know? That will appear in season. But let me give you a little warning. Do not expect to know all there is to know in any specific period of time. If in all eternity you were to exhaust and encompass and contain the uttermost limits of all there is to know, that would be the point wherein heaven would become hell. You will never do it. You may know many basic fundamentals, but do not assume that you know or should know all that there is to know. So there is that which you do know, and knowing that which is true, even if it be but one point, you have a beginning, the place of beginning.
The experience of realization—which is illumination—realization which causes you to know any point of truth, any aspect of truth, is in actual fact the working of the Shekinah in you. You need to begin to realize that the Patterns of Shekinah are without end, numberless, ever-changing. "All things were made by Shekinah," all the things of God, "and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made." Realizing this, you can begin to see that there is a specific Shekinah Pattern of Being which comes to focus and function in relationship to everything that we do in the Pattern of the Divine Design, in the current of the kingdom control. We do not imagine that there is only one manifestation of Shekinah. The manifestations are numberless. And we must, if we would truly serve our King, we must allow the Shekinah Pattern to take form in relationship to all that we do, everything, without any exception.
Those whose eyes are blinded by the darkness that comprehendeth not will not see the Light shining in the darkness. It may not be evident to the eyes of many round about, but when there is that which needs to be done we do not properly just plunge into action on the basis of developing the physical form. With respect to anything that is to take form under the action of our hands, or by reason of our living, it should first be allowed to take form in Shekinah. "In the beginning Shekinah created the heaven and the earth." In the beginning Shekinah created. Every creative expression must be the expression of Shekinah. There is no other. Any action, any word, any expression, that is not of Shekinah is not creative but destructive, without a single exception, ever, at any time, in relationship to any person. All things of God, of the Divine Design, of the Garden of God, in heaven or on earth, "all things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made." In the beginning of any creative action, or expression of being, there must first be Shekinah; and if Shekinah is not allowed to come to focus as the manifestation of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, the Almighty, so that the thing that is made may be in fact made by Shekinah, then that form which human beings put together of the substance from the earth is not a true form; it is something that may by the physical factors of Life force—and those factors are from Shekinah—be held in form for a little time, but the moment the human hand and the human will and the human determination let go, it begins to crumble and decay, and soon is gone. Why? The force of Shekinah was misused by man to force certain substance of the earth into a particular pattern, but Shekinah did not make it. Man put things together to make something, but soon the form is gone. The things that were made, the things that were created, in any time past, were the result of the working of Shekinah.
We look back in history and we note certain individuals who were considered to be properly classified under the term genius. Generally speaking they were more or less unbalanced individuals. Generally speaking genius manifests in just one particularized field, and the rest of the human life is comparatively speaking dwarfed, insignificant. Some expression—for instance perhaps a poet, perhaps a great leader of some sort—generally speaking, just one avenue in the individual's life expression reveals genius. What is that? With respect to that particular pattern, that human being, man or woman, has learned to function in relationship to Shekinah, perhaps somewhat distorted, perhaps definitely misused; but there has not ever at any time in all the history of man been what might be properly classified as genius without the reality of Shekinah in relationship to that individual—music, art in any form, the brilliant expression, creative in accomplishment, through any human being anywhere. And so we begin to see that there is indeed in every manifestation of genius, in any field whatsoever, wherever it manifests, something of the reality of Shekinah—every constructive thing. And those who have had a genius for being destructive, they have had the capacity of attunement with Shekinah but have misused and abused it, and so have destroyed themselves and others. We can see that pattern at work; the sort of thing that manifested, for instance, with Hitler: the destruction he brought upon himself and upon his nation, and upon other parts of the world, countless human beings—a misused, abused capacity to contact the Shekinah force. Now in such a case Shekinah does not function in relationship to the individual as in the constructive case, and let us not get off on a tangent trying to understand just what makes a Hitler. That is not so important. What is it that makes a man or woman of God in the Divine Pattern?—that is important.
So, you have been called out of the world pattern as it is, to share in the Divine outworking by which you might become a noble man or a noble woman in the service of our King. So all genius represents a particularized capacity to contact Shekinah. Generally speaking, in the world those human beings who have contacted it have done so more or less accidentally. All kinds of theories and teachings and philosophies have been developed which are supposed to make it possible for the ordinary man or woman to equal the feats of genius. We have so many that I could name. But in actual fact they do not, because they do not understand. And hoping to equal the feats of genius is a poor goal. If we have no greater goal than to hope to equal or come near, perhaps, that which has been achieved by some genius of the past, we have accepted a distorted goal, something that is meaningless in fact. We are here as instruments for Shekinah: Man, made in the image and likeness of God, to be the instrument for the manifestation of the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells.
If you fully comprehend that brief statement you understand much. And we begin to see that for those who truly see, there is the particularized formation of Shekinah—the central ball of Fire, the surrounding Light that Glows, and the Cloud—which comes into being in relationship to every truly constructive or creative endeavor. If you attempt to give an attunement, for instance, and you cannot under the circumstances allow the particularized focalization of the development of Shekinah in relationship to it, you will not really give an attunement. You may not say so; you will not just say, "Well you may as well get out of here." You will give the individual an opportunity, if he or she will accept it, to begin to learn how to respond. You will not talk about Shekinah. Oh no, not at all! If you do you are very wrong. There is not one of you that is actually equipped to talk about Shekinah in the sense of undertaking to convey it to someone else. The point is that you will begin to inspire the individual to a response which will permit him or her to share in the beginning of the development of a Focalization of Shekinah, for that particularized development must appear before the actuality of attunement is established.
Now, of course, I recognize that we have called many patterns of outworking attunements when in the deeper sense they were not. But it was all right along the way. But we have to reach a point where we begin to recognize what an attunement really is. And when we first started this Class I could not have told you, no matter what words I used, because you would not have been able to understand what I was talking about. But you are beginning to reach a point where you can realize that every attunement with God must be by reason of Shekinah, and if Shekinah is not allowed to manifest between the cherubim it will not appear; and without it there is no power, no attunement, just an emptiness, just a form, just action and words that mean nothing.
In other words you must learn how to let the specific Pattern of Shekinah take form in relationship to that which you do. You as an individual alone cannot arbitrarily cause it to be so, but when there is the right pattern of relatedness established with someone else, and function is correct, there can be the beginning of the manifestation of Shekinah between you and that someone else. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-shekinah-fire.html] But you must both stand upon the mercy seat if it is to be so. Your foundation must be in the Law of God—the revelation of the letters of Fire, the rod of Truth, Aaron's rod that budded, the bread of Life, the basic triangle of Being within your foundation, the Ark of the Covenant. And you must learn to stand upon the mercy seat. The Master said, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." And is there one among you who has no need of mercy? "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." Actually the Beatitudes, properly recognized and understood, portray the basic principles essential to coming to the point where you can be a cherubim, a servant of God, an angel of God, standing upon the mercy seat. But you may be standing upon the mercy seat and if there is not someone else who stands upon the mercy seat somewhere, somehow, with you, you, standing there alone, cannot make manifest the conditions essential to the revelation of Shekinah. There must be two, one at each end of the Ark of the Covenant, with the mercy seat between. And it is above the mercy seat, between the cherubim, that there is the beginning of the centering, of the forming, of Shekinah in that particularized Pattern.
Perhaps it would help you to begin to see this more clearly if we did a little supposing within the range of reality. Just suppose every man, woman and child upon the face of the whole earth were centered in God, completely under the kingdom control of the Spirit, letting Life truly manifest—the Shekinah Light is the Life of men—there would be then, around the entire surface of the earth, wherever there is land at least, the manifestation of millions and millions of particularized focalizations of Shekinah. There would be a particularized Shekinah pattern between any given individual and each of his true friends. Suppose some person had one hundred friends. There would be one hundred balls of Fire and glowing Lights and manifestations of Cloud in relationship to that one individual who centered the hundred friends; but they in turn would have other friends, and each might have anywhere from, what shall we say? one to a hundred, more or less, in some cases many more of course, manifestations of Shekinah, and it would cover the earth's surface, and everything that would be done, every word that would be spoken, every action, would be on the basis of the expression of Shekinah in actual fact. The earth would then be a Sun, glowing, shining, in its place in the solar system and the cosmos—a Sun, a manifestation of the only begotten Son of God. How often back through the months we have shared have I told you that Shekinah is the only begotten Son of God? Did I not say the Christ Spirit—Light and Love and Life? What is Love and Light and Life? What is the Christ Spirit? What is the only begotten manifestation of God, that which gives evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells? Shekinah. For the Christ of the New Testament and the Shekinah of the Old are one and the same, and Christ should not be thought of as being any individual, not even our Lord and King. We can speak of Him as Jesus the Christ, the centering and manifestation of Shekinah; but to call Him Christ is a statement which reveals a lack of understanding. People act as if they could interchange the words "Jesus" and "Christ" and it would be perfectly all right. It is not so.
Christ and Shekinah, or Christos, as it is put from the standpoint of the Greek; Christos and Shekinah, the same thing exactly. So we begin to realize that if all those who dwell on the face of the earth were as they ought to be, there would be many more manifestations of the Shekinah Pattern than there would be individuals on earth, many more, and all things would be the expression of Shekinah, and without Shekinah there would not be anything done. Before there can be any real meaning to a pattern of response from any individual in relationship to myself as a teacher or leader, there must be the development between that individual and myself of a particularized focalization or manifestation of Shekinah. And that particular focalization is ours, that person and myself, and it belongs to no other, no one else. That is ours. Under the Divine Pattern I have the capacity to have such an individualized focalization of Shekinah with every man, woman and child on the face of the earth, without any exception, if the individual will let it be so; and in each and every case that manifestation of Shekinah would be ours, just ours, no one else's.
Now, in actual manifestation—well, do not jump to conclusions. You are not ready yet to understand just how all those things work. Function on the basis of what you know and not what you do not know. However, there is the necessity of realizing that nothing worthwhile can be accomplished on earth by anyone, anywhere, under any circumstance, without Shekinah, and any human relationship which is not based in Shekinah, which does not allow the manifestation of Shekinah, is an utterly useless relationship. Two cherubim standing above the Ark of the Covenant, upon the mercy seat which extends between them; and between the two there appears the Centering of Shekinah. Now this manifestation is without regard to sex. And here we begin to see why human beings have jumped to all kinds of foolish and fanciful conclusions, assuming that the angels of God were sexless creatures and that there was no such thing as sex in heaven, and so on and so on, up and down the line. But these manifestations are established without regard to sex—in other words I can have such a manifestation manifest between another man and myself as easily as I can between a woman and myself.
We begin to see then that that which results from the manifestation of Shekinah will be on an individualized basis, and the Shekinah Pattern will take form between any two cherubim who stand upon the mercy seat above the ark of the covenant; and if you have any foundation other than that you are attempting to build on shifting sand, for that is the only sure foundation, the Rock which the Master spoke of, the Rock of Reality—the man who built his house upon a rock. The house of your endeavor, that which you are achieving, attempting to make or bring forth by reason of living, if it is upon that foundation and the result of the working of Shekinah, then it is well. But if you attempt to duplicate, as nearly as you can, the same thing without the foundation and without the working of Shekinah, you may be able to fool those who have poor spiritual vision, it may look to many as if it is just as good, for a little while, but it is upon the sand, and as soon as the storm comes and the wind blows it will fall and great will be the fall of it.
Only Shekinah provides us with the opportunity of sharing the creative work of God on earth and any endeavor that disregards this great Truth must come to naught. There should be a Shekinah Pattern between every husband and wife; there should be a Shekinah Pattern between every parent and child; there should be a Shekinah Pattern between all those who are true friends; there should be a Shekinah Pattern between the one who carries a pattern of true focalization and all those who serve with that One. And only as you allow, for instance, a Shekinah Pattern to develop between you and me can we have any real meaning in the Cosmic scheme of things.
The great, magnificent significance of Shekinah! We need to begin soon to learn more about how to let Shekinah take form. I have told you already: stand upon the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant as a cherubim and let, [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2019/06/attunement-seat-david-barnes-2-2019-p.html] in the Divine Design, yourself have relationship to a starting point. You know it is perfectly permissible for you to recognize me in that position if you want to. You do not have to hunt for someone else unless you wish to. And if you refuse to let me share that pattern with you, I might mention you will hunt in vain for anyone else to share it. He who does not share it with me can never truly share it with anyone else. That is the Cosmic Law. It is the Divine Pattern. Share it with me and you will find someone else to share it with you. But it must work on the basis of Center.
And lo, if your foundation is the Law of God written upon the tablets of your heart with letters of Fire, and Aaron's rod which budded, the living Truth—the same thing that is symbolized by the wine which the Master caused to appear from the water, and the manna, the bread of Life—if these are your foundation, this Creative Triangle, this Creative Field, and you stand upon the mercy seat in correct polarity in relationship, according to the Divine Design, you will share the creative work of God on earth and you will begin to realize that man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word, every Shekinah, which comes forth from God. So let it be and we shall share the manifestation of the kingdom that is at hand. There is no other way. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, the kingdom of Shekinah is at hand. Let it appear to the Glory of our King and to the blessing of the children of men.
