Only Begotten Son Of God—Christ Spirit

Only  Begotten  Son  Of  God — Christ  Spirit

Uranda   June 15, 1952

We are reminded of how it was in the days of the beginning, particularly the beginning of this fallen world state, when the LORD God came walking in the cool of the day and found Adam and Eve hiding. In the cool of this day, we find men and women gathered in a little valley, not hiding but turning the face of their love response to the Throne of God, that they may rest beside the River of Life and share in the fruit of the Tree of Life. This morning we were meditating upon the mystery of the Book of Revelation, and I would like to continue with you in that pattern of meditation now.

“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne…” Remember, there is One sitting upon the Throne, but this is someone in the midst of the Throne itself. “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.”

We recognize that the spirit of God is One Spirit, but this One Spirit is made up of many phases of spirit, seven focalizations of spirit, or seven primary aspects of the One Spirit of God. The spirit of God is the Christ Spirit. The Christ is the only begotten Son of God, but while the Body of God has many members and it has a centering in One Being, the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, who was made manifest on earth through the body of Jesus Christ, God is never to be considered as one Being, except as God is focalized in the LORD of Lords. The only begotten Son of God relates to the spirit that is made manifest because of the true Centering or focalization of all God Beings. The only begotten Son of God is the Christ Spirit. The Christ Spirit was made manifest through the body of Jesus, and so the man Jesus became the Christ, the revelation of the only begotten Son of God. But to think of Jesus the man as the only begotten Son of God is completely erroneous. It does not detract from Him in any way whatsoever to recognize the truth, and only the truth can make us free. So the Christ Spirit is that which issues forth from God, the wholeness of the spirit of God.

The Christ Spirit can also be used as a term to signify the centering of the whole spirit, and it is primarily in this sense that the word “Christ” is used properly in relationship to Jesus. Many people act as if they thought that the words “Jesus” and “Christ” were synonyms. They are not. Christ was not the name of the body of the man Jesus, and to act as if the words “Christ” and “Jesus” were synonyms is to show one's ignorance of the truth. Jesus was the name of a man. That man was perfectly centered in His Father, and allowed the revelation of the Father. That particular God Being who was His Father—"The Father who dwelleth in me”—was, and is, the Central Focalization of Deity, or the Apex Point of all God Beings, and so is the Center of Deity. And that God Being may be spoken of as God, inasmuch as all the members of the Body of God, in the invisible sense, are centered in Him. You cannot speak of Him in that sense in a manner which separates Him from that which He focalizes.

So the only begotten Son of God does not relate to the body of the man Jesus. It relates to the wholeness of the spirit of God which was revealed through the body, mind and heart of the man Jesus. And the Christ aspect of the spirit, signifying the whole spirit but primarily that which focalizes the spirit of God, provided the body of Jesus with the revelation of the only begotten Son of God. The Father dwelling in the body of Jesus, being the Center of all God Beings, was, and is, God, in the sense of that centering; and that which issues forth from the Father, the Centering of Deity, issues forth from all God Beings, and so the wholeness of invisible God, with all the members, releases a spirit which we call the spirit of God, or the Christ Spirit.

Those two terms can be used more or less interchangeably, but when we say the spirit of God we mean the whole spirit, without giving any aspect of that spirit dominance. When we say the Christ Spirit we mean the whole spirit of God, but in that we give dominance to the aspect of the spirit which gives focalization to the spirit itself, and that aspect of the spirit which is so signified is the Spirit of Love. The LORD of Lords, being the Central Focalization of Deity, has the primary responsibility of focalizing the Christ aspect of the spirit. That means the whole spirit, yes, but particularly, in dominant form, the Spirit of Love. “God is love.” The Centering of God Being is the Lord of Love, and so, when we understand the principles involved, we see that God is indeed love—but God is more than love. But the Lord of Love centers all God Beings, and the Spirit of Love centers the whole spirit of God.

So the spirit of God is the whole spirit without any aspect of that spirit being held to be in dominance. The Christ Spirit is the whole spirit of God with the centering aspect of spirit in dominance, and that is the Christ Spirit or the Spirit of the Living Christ. And the spirit of God, or particularly the Christ Spirit, is the only begotten Son of God, because it is the wholeness of that which issues forth from God; but that spirit is not, and cannot be, contained in any one body. It was released in pure essence through the body of Jesus, so the Christ was a title given to Jesus in recognition of the fact that the only begotten Son of God was made manifest through the body of the man Jesus.

If we realize these things it will make it easy for us to comprehend the mysteries of God, as the term is expressed in the 10th chapter of Revelation: “The mystery of God should be finished.” We need to have a clear recognition of the fact that the body of the man Jesus was not the only begotten Son of God, but it was the spirit of God, with the Christ Spirit dominant, which was revealed in essence through the body of Jesus, because the indwelling Father in His case was the Centering of All God Beings, which made a revelation of the only begotten Son of God on earth possible. No other Being could have come into the body of a man on earth and revealed the wholeness in essence, with the proper aspect of spirit dominant, the only begotten Son of God. The God Being made manifest in this body, my personal body, could not come into the world and reveal the essence of the Christ Spirit in the sense that was necessary to make possible a revelation of the only begotten Son of God, because in my case the dominant aspect of spirit is not Love but Truth, the Spirit of Truth. And that would not make possible the revelation of the essence, the Centering Essence, of the only begotten Son of God. So the Lord of Love, the Centering of Deity, was the only God Being who could come into incarnation in the body of a man and release through that body the Centering Essence of the only begotten Son of God.

Human beings have imagined that the body of the man was the only begotten Son of God, which is not at all true. It was the spirit made manifest through Him which was the only begotten Son of God, and that only begotten Son of God is that which you are invited to share here and now, in this day, according to your capacities. No one of you can, under any circumstance, provide a complete Centering Essence of that spirit, but all of you together, properly coordinated and centered, can allow that spirit, which is the only begotten Son of God, an opportunity of manifestation on earth.

That spirit must manifest through our bodies. Spirit without a body has no meaning in the realm of form. Only as spirit is allowed to manifest through the body of a man or a woman can that spirit have meaning in the realm of form. And it is on earth that the spirit of God must of necessity have meaning. So as your body, with its mind and heart, is drawn into the pattern of God's Design according to His Truth, you become a means by which some phase of the spirit of God is made manifest. With this small group here it is utterly impossible to allow anything like the absolute wholeness of the spirit of God in complete manifestation, but we can let enough of that wholeness manifest to allow a great working of the spirit of God on earth.

I would point out again that it will take 144,000 people, properly coordinated and centered according to the Divine Plan, in harmony with the Divine Design or the Truth of Being, in order to allow the whole centering of a body on earth through which the complete essence of the spirit of God, the only begotten Son of God, can manifest. But until we have that 144,000, properly coordinated, we will not have a body on earth which is complete enough to allow a real revelation on earth of the only begotten Son of God.

If these things be realized, it is easy to see that human beings have missed the mark entirely in relationship to the only begotten Son of God, in trying to worship the body of a man. And that man, they think, died—even though He is supposed to have been resurrected from that state of death—but a body of a man that died. That body allowed the manifestation of the only begotten Son of God but was not in itself that manifestation, except in relationship to its oneness with the Father. That means that the whole realm of Christendom is centering at a point where it cannot possibly receive the true current of the spirit of God which would allow the manifestation of the power of God.

Jesus said to His disciples—the words of the Father through the lips of Jesus—"And ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” The Holy Ghost is the manifest working of the aspect of the spirit of God for which you are responsible, which is centered in and working through the pneumaplasmic body of your own being. So the Holy Ghost must not at any time be confused with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost cannot manifest except by the power of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Ghost is an individualized aspect of the Holy Spirit working in and through the form of an individual, particularly centering and working through the pneumaplasmic body of that individual. So as we yield to the Patterns of Truth, let go to the Divine Design, we relinquish that confusion of consciousness which has kept a distorted pattern in the world so long, making human beings helpless and hopeless. We can let the Holy Spirit have true meaning on earth because we allow the Divine Design of Truth an opportunity of manifestation through mind and heart, by reason of which the invisible spirit coming into manifestation through our bodies may accomplish that which is the Father's will on earth.

We were taught to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” It is only as these truths are recognized that it is possible for us to let the Father's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We see that the confusion of consciousness, of the concepts and ideas about truth and about Jesus, has produced a discordant pattern which was off center, through which the spirit had to work if it was working through human beings at all. The spirit worked through those disarranged patterns to some degree, and we have had some little evidence, a tiny evidence, of the working of the spirit of God through human beings; but it has not been the manifestation of power which could change the world pattern.

In relationship to this point there are the seven horns and the seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits. I would like to bring your attention to the fact that there are three things mentioned here: the horns, the eyes, and the spirits themselves. “Seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits.” The eyes and horns symbolize the means by which the spirits manifest. The seven spirits in their pure form, centered in the Spirit of Love, are: first, the Spirit of Love; the spirit of bringing forth, or the Spirit of the Womb; the Spirit of Life; the Spirit of Purification and Sanctification; the Spirit of Blessing, which centers in the Spirit of Truth, because there can be no blessing without the Spirit of Truth, even though you have the Spirit of Love. The Spirit of Love may work through you, but if it is not in conjunction with the Spirit of Truth there will be no blessing. Then there is the Spirit of the Single Eye, and the Spirit of the New Earth. These are the aspects of the spirit of God which we recognize as the seven spirits. It is interesting and helpful to meditate on the significance of these various primary focalizations of spirit, and to note how all the different aspects of spirit that we may know are included in these. For instance, we speak of the spirit of friendliness. That is a sub-aspect which comes into manifestation through one of the aspects of the Seven Spirits. You may meditate on these things and note many wonderful things as you do so.

The horns are mentioned first; secondly, the eyes—"which are the seven spirits which are before the throne of God.” The horns relate to the physical aspect. In other words, as your body becomes a means by which the spirit of God is made manifest your whole body is in this sense a horn, a means by which the spirit manifests in the physical realm. Then, the seven eyes; each spirit has, in other words, a single eye. On the basis of the single eye we recognize the relationship of the spirit to the mind. The working of the spirit through the heart is something that comes as a subdivision under mind and body, because the heart, or the feeling nature, interpenetrates both mind and body. Therefore we need no special division for that. But we have the three planes indicated, the three outer planes of being: the plane of the physical realm, the physical body as far as you are personally concerned; the plane of the mind; and the spiritual expression plane, or the plane of the spirit made manifest on earth. So we see that you, having a body and having a mind—when your mind becomes single; that is, allows the development of the single eye, as the Master put it: “If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light”—as the single eye signifies the centering of your mind, you have in your body and your mind the means by which the spirit of God can work through you, and you will come under one of these seven classifications insofar as the dominant aspect of spirit is concerned.

In any individual who is allowing the spirit of God to manifest, all aspects are present. For instance, in relationship to myself, you have recognized there is the Spirit of Love. Actually, from the standpoint of the dominant aspect, that love comes from the Lord of Love, but in relationship to My Own Being, in the sense of the Focalization of Deity, there is love. There is in each one all of the aspects of God, but one of those aspects is dominant. The focalization of the Spirit of Truth could not be established in relationship to the God Being which I am, which is revealed through this body and mind, except there were in conjunction with it all of the other aspects. In my case the Spirit of Truth is dominant, and it is impossible to have it any other way. When you fulfil the Law and let all of these things work according to their principles, there will be that which is of the wholeness of the spirit manifesting through you, but it will not be on the basis of the balanced essence of the spirit through any one of you. It cannot be. There was Only One who could manifest in a body on earth and provide that, but you will provide some aspect of the spirit, some pattern through which the spirits may manifest, and the wholeness of the spirit is in you as you let God's Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. One aspect will be dominant, and it takes all of these various designs brought to focus on earth in 144,000 people in order to allow the complete revelation on earth not just of the essence as it was with Jesus but of the wholeness of the only begotten Son of God.

We have, then, the recognition, “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” As you realize that you, responding to God as an individual, can have a part in allowing the Christ Spirit, the Victorious Spirit of the Living Christ, or the spirit of God, an opportunity of manifestation so that you become a part of the visible body of God, you see that it includes your body, the horns; it includes your mind, which comes to focus as the eye; and it takes care of the spiritual aspect of your being, or the third plane insofar as the outer realm of manifestation is concerned.

You begin to have a basis of understanding; not something mysterious, vague and uncertain, but of actual understanding in realization of how it is that you can be a part of the Body of Christ on earth. Everyone has tended to use the word “Christ” as if it were a synonym for the word “Jesus,” and people have wondered how in the world they could be a part of the body of Jesus on earth. That is impossible. You cannot, in the sense of the personal body, be a part of the body of Jesus, but you can be a part of His Body in the sense that He is the Focalization of Deity; you can be a part of the Body of God made visible, and as such you can be a part of the Body of Christ on earth.

Before we go on with this particular phase, you will find that all these parts of the Divine Blueprint, which we call the Book of Revelation, interrelate. It has to be seen as a Whole; but you cannot see the wholeness without examining the parts, because the human mind is incapable of even comprehending the significance of the Blueprint as a Whole to start with. As you yield to the current of the spirit and begin to see the parts in their proper setting, to see what is actually revealed here, you will begin to be in a position to comprehend at least something of the Wholeness.

Since I have mentioned the 144,000 several times I would like to take time now to consider this point. Unless you recognize at least something of the significance of it, the other aspects which we are studying tend to be cloudy in your consciousness. This is in the 14th chapter: “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb.” You notice all the way through that reference is made to the Lamb. Human beings generally have jumped to the conclusion that that meant Jesus, or Jesus Christ, or the LORD of Lords. You will notice the wording, for instance, in this passage which we have just been studying: “In the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain.” In the midst of the Throne, not upon the Throne. The Throne is for the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings. The purpose of the Throne is for the Centering of Deity in God, the God Being who manifested through the body of Jesus Christ. So if we are reading the Blueprint correctly—and it is signified in many other places also—it is obvious that the Lamb is not a reference to Jesus Christ. More and more, as you begin to understand this Blueprint, you will recognize that the Lamb does not have reference to Jesus or to the God Being who manifested through the body of Jesus.

For those who do not yet have vision enough to see and understand, there are many strange coincidences which are beyond the possibility of human comprehension, but since you have begun to recognize to some degree the fact that I am the Manifest Focalization of the Spirit of Truth—and you are beginning to realize that you can share the responsibility of letting the Spirit of Truth have meaning on earth, that the Spirit of Truth can work in you and through you wherever you are if you will let it be so—we might point to the reference to the Lamb. LAM-B. From the standpoint of my earthly name my initials are L. A. M. and I have the title of Bishop. There are too many coincidences, if you are going to call them that. Wherever in Revelation you find reference to the Lamb, it refers to Me and My Purpose in coming into the world. The Lamb is the Centering Point of the Throne, the place upon which the KING is set—the Lamb in the midst of the Throne; not upon the Throne but the Centering Point of the Throne itself on earth. And the KING, the LORD of Lords, who was made manifest through the body of Jesus, is the KING who sits upon the Throne. If you recognize that one point it will help you to begin to understand the Book of Revelation. Anyone who does not accept the truth of that point does not have one of the primary keys necessary to unlock the so-called mysteries of the Book of Revelation.

How did it happen that I came into the world and was given a name at birth that had these initials? Was it just coincidence? “A Lamb as it had been slain”—not that it actually was, but there was the appearance, and particularly at that point where Daniel recognized that the LORD Himself would have to come into the earth, and many other points as well, it had looked from an outer world standpoint that I had failed. Over and over again down through the centuries it had looked as if the world had defeated Me, as if the manifestation of that for which I came into the world had failed. I am not just talking about this earthly life span of this body but down through the thousands of years during which I have served my LORD and KING to bring about the manifestation of salvation for the world.

It is essential that you recognize this central key if you are to understand what is contained here, “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.” Mount Sion is the high point of spiritual consciousness in the world. Of course some people think that meant the Mount of Olives, or something else. There are all kinds of explanations given, but Mount Sion is not talking about some earthly hill somewhere around Jerusalem. It is talking about the high point of spiritual consciousness in the world, the true, pure, spiritual consciousness made manifest on earth.

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven.” Where is heaven? People are turning their ears to the sky, expecting to hear a trumpet come sounding down from the sky. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters.” To what Voice have you been listening through the period of your time here on Sunrise Ranch? The Voice from Heaven, as the Voice of Many Waters. Water is the symbol of Truth, the Voice of Truth, and you have heard the Voice of Truth as I have come before you day after day. “And I heard a voice from heaven.” From where does My Voice come? If you deny that what I speak is from heaven then you are attempting to say that it comes from my earthly mind and body. And if you say that, you deny the source and flatter this body with its mind beyond its just deserts, because no human being with body and mind could come before you and do that which I do. No, it does not come just from my mind. It could not.

I challenge you to find any human being on the face of the earth who could come before you and give you anything like this. I do not care how long he has studied or anything else, it cannot be done. It is nowhere else to be had. “The voice of many waters” is mentioned over and over again here in Revelation, and wherever it is mentioned, that is My Voice, the Voice of the Spirit of Truth coming out of heaven, because the Voice you hear does not come out of this earth. It comes through these lips but every time I speak to you here it is a Voice from Heaven. And unless you recognize that and accept it you cannot possibly begin to comprehend that which is essential to you if you are to be a true servant of God on earth and let the power of God have meaning here and now.

“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song.” You are learning to have a Voice of Harpers. That is where you come into the picture, sharing in the expression of this song, this New Song. That is your part. There has to be a Centering. There has to be a Leader. But there is a place for you in this heavenly symphony of a New Song. “And they sung as it were a new song.” It does not say it was a New Song, but as far as the outer world is concerned it is a New Song.

“And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” To the degree that you have yielded to the working of My Spirit here, you are being redeemed from the earth, and to the degree that you yield you are beginning to learn a New Song. Some of you know what I am talking about, and to others it sounds like words, and that is the way I intend it. But some of you are beginning to learn that New Song.

“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.” You see, the Lord is very clever. Someday human beings will begin to acknowledge it. This passage means what it says, and yet it does not mean at all what human beings think it means. What does it mean? “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.” That would suggest to the self-active human mind that it meant that the 144,000 are all men and that they had lived some kind of a strange life on earth. The point is that they are not defiled with women. In this sense, then, the word “women” is used to signify that which is of the outer pattern, the negative aspect of the world manifestation, that which is out here in the world pattern which is not subject to the Divine Pattern; the distortion pattern. In other words their response is not to that which is out here in the world, to the things of the world, to the ideas and hopes and fears of the world. Their response is to the KING. The centering of response is to the KING. “For they are virgins.” This has no reference whatsoever to what the world thinks of as sex. Any human being who thinks to interpret it on the basis of what the world thinks of as sex simply does not know what he is talking about. Any human being, man or woman, who stops his response to the distortion patterns of the world, and who turns to God and becomes centered in Center on earth, thereby becomes a virgin. That is what the Master meant when He was talking about the ten virgins. Five were wise and five were foolish. He brought out the same point there.

“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” They are centered at one point, and that does not mean it is just a great multitude following some individual. This picture has been drawn as if the Lamb had reference to Jesus Christ, which we have seen it does not at all. It does not have reference to Jesus Christ, but the human assumption has supposed it to mean Jesus Christ, and they have supposed that wherever He went in heaven He could not walk in the cool of the evening, He could not have a conference anywhere, or go down to the Tree of Life in the Garden, without 144,000 people trailing on behind Him. Wouldn't that become monotonous? You wouldn't like it, and neither would He—to have 144,000 people right behind you; you could not turn around but what they were right there. That just shows you how foolish the human mind is when it tries to understand this Divine Blueprint. We have to respond to that which is of God. So the human pattern, the human concept, reveals itself as being ridiculous, as it always does in the Light of Truth.

“These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” The Lamb is the manifest form of the Spirit of Truth. And where does he go? Does it mean that I could not take a trip into Loveland without 144,000 people trailing along? Not at all. Because you are here, because others are coming, you are beginning to see the manifestation of the 144,000. Some have come and decided they could not follow me. They were going to follow their own concepts, ideas and beliefs, but most of you are following me to the best of your ability, knowledge and understanding. And anyone who does not follow me will not for very long be anywhere in the pattern. That is a good way to get eliminated. But to the degree that you are following me you are moving into position as one of the 144,000 through whom the body of the only begotten Son of God shall be made manifest on earth, in wholeness—the second coming manifest through that body, the second coming in the sense of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, meeting all of the problems that are.

For the moment we are not concerned about trying to fix up conditions in the world, to change the patterns of world situation. The current of the spirit is reaching out into it and those who respond will be influenced, yes, but that is not our primary task. Our primary task is to develop that body of 144,000 people through whom the Power of God may work to completely change the situation in the world. By means of that 144,000 the Power of God will clear the realm of unreality in the world and establish the Christ Kingdom on earth. You have an opportunity of being among that number.

Many times I have said that if we had 144,000 we could overnight change the situation in the world. But look where you will you cannot find 144,000 who are centered, who know what it is to follow our LORD and KING in letting the spirit of God be revealed on earth, letting the Kingdom come on earth, letting the Father's Will be done on earth. So the 144,000 centered in the Lamb on earth provide the means by which the Spirit of the Living Christ can come into the earth with Power and Great Glory to change the world condition and to establish the Kingdom on earth for our LORD and KING. Concerning these it is said:

“These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” That means perfection. That means that those who are moving into this pattern must accept the Master's word, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Having recognized something of the means by which the spirit of God is to come into manifestation through form on earth, to accomplish the Will of God on earth, you can begin to see the significance of these words: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.”

The Lamb comes and takes the Book out of the Right Hand of Him who is sitting upon the Throne. Who is on the Throne? The LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, who was made manifest as Jesus Christ. He cannot be both. He is the Center of Deity, but it is the Lamb that takes the Book out of the Right Hand of Him that sitteth upon the Throne. And from there we move to an understanding of what it means to let the Book of Life be opened on earth—the opening of your Book of Life.

© emissaries of divine light

Stand In The Holy Place

Stand  In  The  Holy  Place:  Matthew  24

Uranda   September 21, 1943  Winnipeg, Manitoba

In our last Service we approached a consideration of the Truths of Reality from the standpoint of individual effectiveness in living day by day, that in the more or less hum-drum affairs of life we may not become discouraged or uncertain. It is in the little things that we prove that worthiness for the greater tasks which will come in the days ahead. If we cannot be steadfast enough, worthy and strong enough, to stand and wait when those are the orders and instructions from our KING, we cannot hope to be strong enough and worthy enough, and enduring to withstand a greater pressure in a time of still greater need and uncertainty.

We talk about having faith in God and sometimes when we do some little thing that indicates our faith, we are inclined to feel proud of ourselves. But did you ever stop to consider about the faith God has in you? Down through the ages He sent His prophets to reveal the Truths of Being and He prepared the Way for man. Why? Because He had faith that there would be those, somewhere, somehow, worthy enough of His Love to receive what He offered so graciously and so fully, and then speaking of faith, the faith God has in you, Jesus Himself came into the world. Talk about the faith we have in God—how about God’s faith in us? God will be worthy of our faith in Him but who among us is going to prove worthy of God's faith in us? Did you ever stop to think about it?

The Master called the disciples and through them there is record of His Life, His Works, and of His Victory. What greater evidence of God's faith in us could we ask for? But that is not all. Blessings innumerable all down through the ages all speak eloquently of God's faith in us and now as a further evidence of that faith He has granted us the privilege of looking still more deeply into the hidden things of life—having a still greater understanding, a still greater opportunity of learning the Way, the Truth and the Life. Until finally we have the privilege of this hour—evidence of God's faith in us. If you are ever tempted to waver, tempted to say, O well, it doesn't make any difference about me, someone else can carry the burden, remember what about God's faith in you. How many of you have ever really started to think about this point before, about God's faith in you, instead of thinking about that little thing we may have done for Him? It is a good point, isn't it? Let us measure the measure of our works, our service, by the measure of His faith in us, by the measure of His service to us, of His Love for us.

In our first Winnipeg Service, we spoke and considered matters more of the physical expression of a successful Christ Life. The mental and spiritual were there but the daily living of life was the dominant note. Tonight, while in the living of life the physical phase and the spiritual expression phase are both closely bound in, our Service now is more on the mental plane, requiring perception, thought, and alertness of mind.

Of all recorded words which Jesus spoke, giving teaching, instruction and admonition, we have only one outstanding passage, although it may appear in more than one Gospel record—I am talking from the standpoint of His Life—wherein He dwelt, in a prophetic manner, on the days and times to come. This passage is most marvellous and worthy of our deepest consideration. And so tonight I would like to consider with you the 24th Chapter of Matthew.

“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple.” That statement always carries great significance for me. It was nearing the close of His earthly Ministry and Jesus went out and departed from the temple. In those few words we have a symbolical picture of His departure from the world. “...and His disciples came to Him for to shew him the buildings of the temple...” Pride, we would call it—civic pride today, pointing out the beautiful structure of the buildings. Can you picture in your own mind what the Master's feelings must have been at that moment—how much interest He had in that? He listened for a little time and made His way thence. He had seen these buildings before. It was not an appropriate time for Him to be feeling much interest in the civic pride of Jerusalem or in architecture.

And so Jesus, taking this attitude which showed a lack of perception on the part of the disciples, a thing which might have been an irritant, used it for a purpose. He made that His starting point in bringing out what He wished to say. Consider the attitude of the disciples, their national pride—pride in the architecture, construction, and so on. How startling are the words of Jesus! “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not he thrown down.” That was very comforting to the civic pride, was it not? What a startling statement.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” You will note there are three questions. “When shall these things be? What shall he the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ: and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye he not troubled.”

How often have you thought about the Master's instruction about this time in which we live? He says see that ye be not troubled. How many have been absolutely obedient to that instruction? Of course, He recognized that there would be things to be concerned about, but He also recognized that those who know the Way, the Truth and the Life—those who would be living the Christ Life would have a foundation that was sure and certain. They would have an understanding vision of that which was being accomplished and of that which was to be thereafter, and since this is true, such individuals would have no need to be troubled as the world is troubled, fearful as the world is fearful, resentful as the world is resentful.

We have no pleasure in or desire for war, but we know, human beings being what they are, it cannot work out any other way. God did not send the war. Human beings brought it on themselves because they forgot God. Human beings forget God; God hears their cry; He delivers them; their way becomes easier; and what do they do then? Straightway they forget Him again. Why has this old world had a history full of tragedies? Why do tragedies keep recurring? Because human beings have refused to learn to remember God.

If our life in the world has any meaning at all from the standpoint of the fulfillment of God's Will and Plan it must—that is, our lives, must give evidence of the fact that there are those who can remember God, whether it be in good times or in poor, whether it be in joy or in sorrow, to remember God always, to have continued faith, to have serenity of outlook, to have perseverance in accomplishment.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

There is a period of outworking. We have seen nation rise against nation, and there have been famines, pestilences and earthquakes, and there will be more. What does He say about these things? He says all these are the beginning of sorrows. It is one of the most amazing things to me, and something that strains my credulity, when I hear so-called Christian people talking and praying and so on, as if they thought that some kind of peace pact might be signed by the warring nations which would bring peace and everything would be alright again, as if that is all there would be to it. O yes, the war has to be won. I am not questioning that. But when that is over, people think we can get back to normal times.

Have there ever been any normal times within the earthly memory of any of us? Have we ever had any normal times? Not for some 20,000 years since man fell, we have had no normal times. The only normal time to Christians should be the time of the New Earth State—a time when it shall truly be said that, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all My Holy mountain.” In Revelation we read of a great promise. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”

So for Christians who have any understanding of what Christianity means from the standpoint of what Christ taught and lived, it is not a matter of just looking forward to the end of a war, as if that would solve everything. It is a matter of recognizing that this war and the tumult in it, and what is growing out of it, and will follow after it—all these things man has brought and will continue to bring upon himself because of his refusal to walk in the Way, the Truth and the Life. All these things are the beginning of sorrows.

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” I do not think that needs a great deal of comment. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Again, we must stop and consider the activities of the modern church in relationship to that instruction or statement of Jesus. The missionary activities that have been carried on with such tremendous labour and struggle have fallen far short of fulfilling that which Jesus spoke of here. He never told his followers to go out and force, or nearly force, people to just change their beliefs, to say they would accept Him or believe on Him, and so on. He said this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world. What does Gospel mean? Good News. The Good News of the Christ Kingdom shall be preached. Just spoken in words? No. It indicates much more than that—the expression in life, the radiation in spirit, so that it might manifest in the lives of men and women.

What did Jesus Christ Himself say about the Kingdom? He said the Kingdom is within you. The Kingdom of Heaven is obviously where the God Being is, where the Lord is. He said, “The words I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” The Good News of the Christ Kingdom relates to the way that men and women may live in the Christ Kingdom here and now, today, the principles of life as exemplified and taught by Jesus Christ, not just to go out and have people say that they have been “washed in the blood, etc.” The only way we can be washed in the blood is to live in it, in the Christ Life. And so, the Good News of the Kingdom is not the ordinary so-called Christian gospel, as it has been preached, but it is the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus Christ preached.

When well intentioned people—I am not making any reflection against missionaries. I am merely pointing to the facts—went into the Orient, without any understanding of the Orient, and started talking about the blood, the crucifixion, and other things, they were called believers in a bloody religion. Those Oriental people could not understand what they meant. They finally found they had to make a new approach to get anywhere at all. Much is revealed in the crucifixion, but just to stress the death of Jesus as if that, His dying on the Cross—were the good news of the Kingdom is such a short-sighted policy that it is one of the most pitiful and most tragic things in our so-called modern world. “And then shall the end come.” The end of what? The end of evil. As soon as this Gospel of the Kingdom is preached—the Christ Way of Life—the end of evil shall come. This is a simple and beautiful statement and it means exactly what it says.

And now we come to a text that should mean a very great deal to every Emissary, to every individual in the Third Sacred School. It is a text that stands as the keynote of the proper function now. It reveals the way of meeting the situations in this present time. It is impossible to over-emphasize the importance of this statement. It stands close to being the most marvellous thing that Jesus said while He walked the earth.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the Holy Place, (whoso readeth, let him understand.)” Where else in the expression does He pause to give a parenthetical explanation? “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” That is the only place. He knew He was giving one of the most important statements He could ever give to man. He knew there was a possibility of it being overlooked, so He paused to give a parenthetical statement. Do not overlook this statement because here I give you a key that is of utmost value. Since we recognize that He Himself drew attention to the value of this statement, let us see wherein its value may be.

First, He placed something as to time. “The abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, the prophet.” What is the cause of desolation? Why the abomination of desolation in the hearts today? Because the hearts and lives of men and women are desolate of the love and understanding of the things of God. If it were not so, the desolation could not manifest so abundantly out here in the world. And it is all the miserable things of a miserable, suffering world. And so as we consider the importance from the standpoint of this text, it is obvious that He is talking about the present day in which we live, because we are in the days of abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet.

While the abomination of desolation is in the world, we immediately recognize that it behooves us to be certain that the abomination of desolation must not be in our hearts and minds and lives. Our lives must not be desolate, but rather filled with the Good News of the Kingdom—our lives radiant with the glad tidings. And then what does He say? He gives five words of instruction. First, He places it, and then gives five words of instruction. Isn't that a remarkable thing? “Whoso readeth let him understand.” The value of the text depends on the value of these five words of instruction.

What does He say? Stand in the Holy Place! In the Temple as in the Tabernacle there is the Holy Place. Does that mean just to be sure that you keep your life righteous, or to be good, or something? It means far more than that. The spiritual expression was the Third Plane—the Holy Place. Approach the problems of the life of that day from the standpoint of the spiritual expression plane, from the standpoint of the Third Sacred School. It is here, in this text that Jesus prophesied the manifestation of the Third Sacred School. Approach to an understanding of life, solution of problems and to the victory in that day.

The Third Sacred School is based on that fundamental principle. There have been two other Schools, as you know. We have the Temple symbol, the human body, the physical body, and the approach in the First Sacred School was in this physical plane, and was under Melchizedek. Then we have the Outer Court, the mental plane, which was the approach in the Second Sacred School and this was under our Great Master. Now we have the Third Sacred School which is the Holy Place approach or spiritual expression approach. They all inter-blend. You cannot divide them, but it is the dominant note that I am speaking of. We have the Master's words that the Third Sacred School should manifest in the earth in this text.

It is only as we stand in the Holy Place, which means to function from the spiritual expression plane, or to function in the Third Sacred School, that we should be able to experience the victory and to accomplish that for which we are sent on the earth. Any other approach, although it may accomplish much good, will prove more or less futile in the end. Jesus told us on what basis we should function in that day, and only as we function on that basis shall we carry through as we should. Let the inspiration of God come forth in your spiritual natures and govern your mind and body, that the Will of God may be in you and that the service of God may be rendered through you.

Do you agree that this is a wonderful text? It gives a marvellous key, and a key that all must use if they are to be able to endure unto the end—to stand in the Holy Place, to live and serve and function from the standpoint of the spiritual expression plane, the Third Plane.

The Third Sacred School is the term simply signifying the School where the individual learns to function from the standpoint of the third or spiritual expression plane. How many of you find something new and something very encouraging in this text? When the strain may seem a little too great, remember that the Master gave some instruction for you for this day, pointing out the only way to function in this time. Stand in the Holy Place. Let that be your key to understanding—your motto of life. Let it be your victory song.

If you really realize the importance of this text, if you feel it going home in your hearts and minds the way it should, and if you let it take hold of you and stay with you in the days to come, so that you obey its injunction, there is one sure thing. No matter what troubles or difficulties appear, you are prepared. It will not be a matter of too little or too late. You are already prepared for anything and everything that the days can possibly bring. There in that one text we have the sum and substance of what the Third Sacred School stands for, of its purpose in individual lives.

“Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.” What mountains? The mountains of consciousness, not some geographical place. He dwelleth close to God. We have instruction that the Angel gave Lot and his wife at the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Angel said, “Do not look hack but keep going.” Here the instruction is that if you are on the housetop, that is on the spiritual plane, do not come down out of your spiritual state of being and give way to that which is below you. “And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.” There may, of course, be exceptions to this rule, and any child that is coming into the world should be welcomed in love and understanding. It cannot be expected that all young people find it pleasing or possible to avoid bringing children into the world at this time, and so let us remember that although it is a difficult time, and a time when uncertainties may bring added suffering, let no Emissary ever be guilty of making any prospective parent feel that a child be unwanted. Any child that is coming must certainly be welcomed in all love and understanding.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” We are in the beginning of these sorrows and that tribulation—the greatest the world has ever known. But the Master says that those days shall be shortened. What does that mean? How can a day be shortened—changed from twenty-four hours to twenty? No. It is a matter of speeding things up.

We look back over the last thirty years, at the time of the turn of the century and see how things have been intensified, see how things have been speeded up, time shortened, distances shortened. A few years ago it took quite a while to cross the Atlantic. In fact, it was only early in this century that the Wright Brothers were able to fly a couple of blocks, and thought it was wonderful. You could not say that in two or three centuries as much has been accomplished as in the last forty years. We have not yet reached the limit of our speed.

Intensification of things, shortening of the days, speeds up the destruction of evil so that the whole thing is intensified. It places a strain on those who respond to the LORD, but sufficient unto the day is the strength of the LORD for those who serve Him. If we stand steadfast enough, there will be strength enough to with stand the intensification of the days. People are so sure that suffering, sickness, sorrow and death are going to last as long as things exist. But here we have an intensification of the vibrations of every phase of life, of good things and of bad, constructive and destructive. Only that which has a foundation upon the Rock of Reality will stand. That which is built upon the sands, to which man clings so tenaciously, must surely crumble away, fall and be done. And so we have there a wonderful promise, another indication of the fact that Jesus was talking about our time, because He said that the days would be shortened, and we can see how the days have been shortened by the process of speeding things up. The days are shortened, whether you cut some of it off or whether you fill it full of things more than previously.

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” One of the most remarkable things that I have experienced in my ministry is the fact that so many so-called Christian people, when they come into contact with this Church, begin to say: “Show me great signs and wonders and I will believe. If you will promise me great things I will believe.” And yet when Jesus was warning against this time, He warned against the false prophets, people who were trying to establish their authenticity through signs and wonders. “Behold I have told you before.”

It applies to the false prophets, and it applies just as much to the 15th verse of the 24th Chapter of Matthew, which means so much to us. “So shall the coming of the Son of man be.: There have been so many ideas, concepts and teachings concerning the second coming of Jesus, and all of these ideas have been built up by placing certain more or less fantastic interpretations on the texts of the Bible, Here, Jesus spoke of the coming of the Son of man. He very often spoke about Himself as the Son of man, so we have no objection to considering that as having reference to Himself.

“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Time does not permit going into it extensively. I shall present a brief picture. Jesus spoke earlier in this passage about the Kingdom that should be preached in all the world and that then the end of evil should come, and after the end of evil His manifestation before the world can be anticipated. We have to remember the various confusing concepts that have been built up in this connection by reason of various ideas about the so-called millenium. The general idea seems to be that some day there is going to be a sound of a trumpet in the sky, Jesus will appear in a cloud somewhere, and the righteous dead will pop up out of the ground, the living righteous will go floating up into the air, and they will disappear into the sky and so on. That is far enough to go for the moment. They think that the millenium is yet to come, that it is still something ahead of us. And how it is connected up with the thousand years of peace is a little difficult to tell. One wonders just exactly how the concept developed.

This is the only place in the Bible where it talks about the thousand years—reading from the 20th chapter of Revelation: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the First Resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth; Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”

There is no statement of a thousand years peace. It is just an arbitrary process of taking some text from some other part of the Bible and putting it with that. This text does not say a thing about a thousand years of peace on the earth. People study the Bible, and they preach about the Bible for years, and they do not even see what it says. This thousand years was over about 1300 A.D. This thousand years is past, and for centuries, up to the beginning of this century, there was a gradual speeding up of things until now we are living in the time when the days shall be shortened. Satan is certainly loosed out of his prison and he is going places fast, “And he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth.”

At that time the whole known earth did not include the American continents. But here He talks about the whole earth. How many years ago could you say that the whole earth was bound together? What was the then known world? Transportation and communication have brought things closer together—the world has become bound as one unit. The text says that he went out to deceive the nations of the four corners of the earth. He has succeeded. I have often thought if people would apply themselves just as diligently as Satan does, they could learn a lesson from him.

“And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” In such a statement as that we have to look for the symbolical, don't we? The fire that comes down is the Fire of God's Love, intensifying things, speeding things up, making possible this outer mind activity that man prides himself on. And so the outpouring of God's Love into the earth does what? It devours them. We find it a pleasure to let God's Love devour us. We are perfectly willing to let God's Power devour us, absorb us, and receive us into the function of the Divine Estate. So we have no concern about this Fire coming down into the earth and devouring it. That is what we are praying for.

But what about the other individual? The statement includes all people. How about those who are afraid of God and fight against Him? What happens? Their evil tendencies are intensified and they are also devoured, but not in the same way, because in the destruction of evil by itself, they are simply eliminated from the face of the earth. Now in considering such a matter like this, I would like to pause and point out this important fact, should the matter arise sometime when I am not here.

All of us have loved ones in the various far flung fronts of the earth. We have, as a family, and you have. We know that some of those boys are not coming back. To the degree that they respond to the blessing of the LORD, and we stay with them in prayer and radiation, they will surely be protected; but in any case where one does not come back, no one must jump to the conclusion that it is in any way necessarily a reflection against that individual. It should not be any additional cause for sorrow or heartache by those who are left behind. I mean that fact in relationship to what I am talking about here. We understand the matter of death. The loved one would certainly be missed but we know about that and we sorrow not.

When I am talking about the world as a whole, do not arbitrarily try to pin it down to one individual. We are talking about the world as a unit and we have to remember to consider it that way. Consider it as a mass because whether that young man waits at home or goes on the field of battle, we know that the God Being is safe and is perfect, and according to his response there is ascension. That Soul cannot be slain or hurt or killed. That which was left, in such a case, was received by the LORD and was taken by Him just the same. The important thing for us to remember is that by this process evil by evil is being destroyed.

So often we hear the question asked: “If God is a God of Love, why does He let innocent people suffer?” It is not a matter of complete innocence. It is comparative. Comparatively innocent people have been suffering for a long time. If comparatively innocent people have to suffer, it is paying a pretty small price. Would you quite agree that there should be intensification of the suffering of comparatively innocent people, so that evil should be taken from the face of the earth? It is not that we do not sympathize with those people, and do all we can to alleviate their suffering, but we refuse to be blinded by the things as they are.

We recognize that God's Way is the best way, and we do not resent it. Jesus died on the cross. Let us remember what we stand for. So if we, men, women and children, have to suffer a bit in this process of this world being shaken up, evil being eliminated, we should be willing to let it be so and there should be no fussing about it. It is for us to be tranquil and serene and render what service we can, and stand in the Holy Place. If we do that, we will find that after all of this evil is destroyed from the face of the earth—not necessarily completely, that is, it will be in the process of finishing up—then our Beloved LORD and Master will manifest to the world.

He will not be borne again in the form of a babe or something, but will manifest when the world is thrown back into its true polarity. After that, the harmonization of this outer world with the Inner World will be such that the Veil between the two will be rent in twain, as the veil in the Temple. It will not be a matter of Jesus coming; it will be seeing things as they exist. It is perfectly simple, no necessity of stretching your imagination, or figuring out how Jesus is going to ride on a cloud. And so, recognizing that that is something which is going to come quite a while from now, our business is to serve where we are and Stand in the Holy Place.

© emissaries of divine light

The Fear Of Being Hurt

The  Fear  Of  Being  Hurt

Uranda made a few comments before reading aloud

the transcript of January 8, 1953 by Martin Cecil at 100 Mile House,

to the Class at Sunrise Ranch on March 9, 1953

Man, being negative to the false positives of the world, has violated his agreement with God, and by responding to that which is falsely positive, man gives his lifeblood to that false positive. We come to recognize that it is the good people of the world who maintain evil. At first that may seem like a shocking statement, but you will find that it is true.

It is the good people of the world who maintain evil.

Those who are dedicated to evil would soon disintegrate and destroy themselves and be of no effect if it were not for the response of the good people by which evil is maintained in continuity. So evil, any evil pattern, whatever it may be, acts as a vampire, and the individual who responds to this false positive, whatever it may be, whatever form, is giving his lifeblood, his life force, his life energies, to that false god, and he is not worshipping God. He is violating his agreement with God; he is setting up a false god, and he is offering that false god the blood sacrifice of his own life. That is true with respect to all evil; the results manifest to varying degrees, or with varying speeds, but the principle is true with respect to all evil.

Once you realize the working of this One Law, and the absolute nature of it, that it works at all times, with respect to all circumstances, with respect to all things—it never ceases working; its operation is as certain as the rising and setting of the sun; in fact the rising and setting of the sun depends upon the working of that Law—once we actually realize this, we see that man has violated his agreement with God. But when we begin to honor that agreement with God, something begins to happen.

             

The Fear Of Being Hurt

Martin Cecil   January 8, 1953  100 Mile House, B.C.

The true vine is One Vine, one formation, One Body, and it has One Spirit, the spirit of our LORD and KING. That spirit characterizes the Body. The parts of the Body are included in that One Spirit. If we consider a human being, with his physical body, there is a spirit that characterizes that human being. One might say that each part of the body has a spirit—the spirit of the eye is different to the spirit of the ear—but all parts of the body share in the spirit that characterizes the body. When there is response to God, and the development of spiritual perception, upon meeting an individual through whom the spirit of our KING is manifesting, you recognize it. The spirit of man is the vehicle by which the spirit of God may be revealed on earth. In the vast majority of human beings the human spirit has become the means by which the prince of this world is revealed on earth. The spirit of man has become the spirit of the adversary instead of a revelation of the spirit of God. But even in the fallen state there is that spirit which characterizes each one. One hears the remark made, after meeting some friend after many years, “Still the same old Joe”—the same old spirit characterizing the individual. And so we recognize that a body is characterized by a spirit, and the Body which the true vine is is characterized by the spirit of our LORD and KING. All the parts of the Body share in that spirit, so that in fact it is the collective spirits of all the parts that reveal the characteristic spirit of the Body on earth.

The fact that there is One Spirit has led at times to some peculiar reactions on the part of those who observe the manifestation of that one spirit through the developing formation of the One Body. Down at Sunrise Ranch, for instance, there have been some—not necessarily living on Sunrise Ranch, but those who observed from outside—who take the attitude that the spirit which finds focus in Uranda is a dominating thing which causes all those who are a part of the Unit down there to be subservient to him. Of course it is not just limited to those who are down there, as far as that is concerned. In several instances, at least, I know that I was included in it, so that I was supposed to have lost all individuality and independence, and just to be a rubber stamp, so to speak, for Uranda. Just how that works, when for most of the time we are seventeen hundred miles apart or more, would be difficult to comprehend; and just how I would be able to meet and carry the responsibilities of leadership in relationship to this Unit on such a basis would be difficult to understand. And yet that has been an attitude that has been taken by some. I have no particular objection to it myself, but when that same attitude tends to appear with respect to you in your relationship to me, I do not like it too well, because it implies that you are all some sort of wishy-washy nincompoops, without any individuality, without any common sense. In my estimation, anyone who knows you could not, with any smallest degree of honesty, assume any such ridiculous attitude.

And yet, there is One Spirit. Because that spirit finds a point of focalization in relationship to myself human beings are inclined to jump to the conclusion that, as a human being, I am dominating you in some remarkable fashion. Just how it could be done on any such basis I don't know. But fundamentally, what is the reason that human beings come up with such farfetched and ridiculous ideas? Primarily because they do not know the meaning of the word agreement. If I do what Uranda wants me to do, it is simply and solely because we are in agreement in the matter. Why? Because the same spirit that finds focus in him finds focus in me, and the same spirit that finds focus in us finds focus in you. To the degree that it is so, consistently, we are all in agreement, and that is something that human beings cannot understand, because the whole pattern of human life in self-activity in this fallen world is based in disagreement. The reality of agreement is not just with respect to the political party we are going to vote for, or what we are going to do on some holiday outing—just agreement in this or that small section of life but great areas in which there is no agreement—but is an agreement that extends to every corner of life. And that agreement can only extend to every corner of life as the One Spirit is allowed to permeate every corner of life. When it does there is agreement. That agreement is not something that just appears on the basis of discussion. On many occasions we have discussed various things and have come into agreement with respect to them. That is one phase of the agreement. But the agreement is present, properly, regardless of whether there is any immediate means of outer communication or not. If the agreement that I have with Uranda was based upon the letters that are written back and forth, that agreement would not cover very much territory! So the only basis for true agreement is as the One Spirit controls in the individuals concerned. When the same spirit controls in all concerned there is agreement. To the degree that other spirits control in any moment, there will be disagreement.

What was it our Master said? “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” He is in the midst of them because His spirit is in the midst of them. His spirit is the basis of the agreement, and the agreement is not only between the individuals concerned but between the individuals and the spirit of God. He is in the midst of His Body, and by reason of agreement within the Body, He acts through the Body. We were considering the fact, the other day, that in a little baby there is a lack of physical coordination; in other words there is not agreement yet between the various members of the child's body and the spirit of the child. It is only as that agreement begins to develop that we have a coordinated body. As we come to the point of physical maturity, with an adequacy of mental and emotional maturity, there is a manifestation of coordination to a goodly degree in the human being, in his body. He can do things, and his hands do what he wants them to do, etc. In other words there is agreement of all the parts of his body with him, with the spirit that is in him. So it is on the basis of agreement that we find the reality of control being established in the Body.

“If two of you shall agree on earth.” Of course those two are not any specific two, except insofar as you may recognize that there is agreement, for instance, between Uranda and myself, and there is agreement between you as a Unit and the Unit at Sunrise Ranch. Two. Do you think the Master said two just by chance? No. He was pointing to the way, the Divine Pattern. And of course we have recognized, also, the two of you as an individual—your mind and heart, which must be in agreement with the spirit of God in you. So it is the fact of the spirit of God in the Body that permits agreement to manifest. It makes it unnecessary, then, to try to agree, to endeavor to figure out some compromise pattern which will enable all of us to agree. That is what human beings try to do in the world, in their endeavors to establish what they call peace: to find some compromise pattern in which everybody will agree. Even if they do find something, the agreement, generally speaking, is only of a temporary nature. So, trying to agree is futile. The only way is to let the One Spirit manifest through each. Then there is agreement, because the spirit agrees with itself. Our agreement, to the extent that it is made manifest, is simply on that basis. Because that spirit finds specific focalization in me in relationship to this Unit, that same spirit in you is in agreement with me, and as long as that agreement prevails there can be no conflict between us, or between you as individuals. As soon as any other spirit enters in, begins to control, then there is a basis for disagreement.

There is one spirit that we might well give a little consideration to tonight, which causes a certain amount of trouble in virtually all human beings. We know the fundamental part that the spirit of fear plays in human life. We recognize that practically all human motivations, however beautifully they may be dressed up by the rationalizations of the human mind, are based fundamentally in fear, and if fear controls, certainly the spirit of our KING is not controlling. I am not suggesting that the motivation of fear is a conscious thing all the time—oh no—but it is there. There is a particular fear to which I would draw your attention, and that is the fear of being hurt. I do not mean, necessarily, the fear of sitting in the dentist's chair, but the fear of being hurt from the feeling, emotional, standpoint. That fear is a fundamental, motivating factor in virtually everybody, because the individual back along the way, particularly in childhood, has been hurt, and I suppose the natural reaction at such a time is to endeavor to avoid such hurts in the future. But you see, in such an attempt the individual is being controlled by the fear of being hurt, and it is a destructive control that prevents the spirit of our KING from taking control.

The fear of being hurt! On the basis of that fear the individual has built up various protective devices, various ways by means of which he may, as far as possible, avoid being hurt, escape. And of course, from the standpoint of living life in the fallen state, we would not bring such attitudes into condemnation. The individual does not know anything else to do. If you have an exposed nerve in one of your teeth you avoid biting on that tooth. But still it does not alter the fact that if the fear of being hurt is controlling, the individual is not under the control of the spirit of God. So when we come to the point where we are in position to let the spirit of God control, where we begin to become aware of the reality of the spirit of God, and of the way, the truth and the life, then that motivation of the fear of being hurt needs to be dealt with, because it is no longer necessary.

Within the scope of the pattern of truth there is no hurt. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.” The truth, reacting upon the truth, does not hurt anything. Using different terms, in the Kingdom of God there is no hurt. “And there shall be no more pain.” So we recognize that coming into the Divine Pattern, we are coming into a sphere of things where hurts cease to manifest. What is it that causes the individual to be hurt? First of all it is evident that the heart, the emotional realm, must be open toward something other than the pattern of truth. The hurts that are sustained in the heart of a child are consequent upon things coming into it out of this distorted pattern in the human world. Such hurts are not consequent upon anything that God has done. But when there is a hurt it makes a scar, or we might say that there is a distortion pattern established in the heart, and that needs to be healed. When the individual is afraid of being hurt his attitude is one of endeavoring to protect himself, or to escape, or both, from that which he thinks is going to hurt him. If we recognize that the hurt in his feeling realm is a distortion pattern that should not be there, then instead of trying to escape, the proper attitude is that the necessary action should be taken by which the distortion pattern may be replaced by the pattern of truth. If the individual is controlled by the fear of being hurt, that will not be his attitude, because he will be busy trying to escape, or trying to protect himself. So there is a need, then, to recognize this motivation in relationship to oneself, of the fear of being hurt.

We recall two statements that Job made. Firstly he said, “That which I feared has come upon me,” and secondly he said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” That which the individual fears comes upon him because he is responding to it through his fear, and the individual goes in the direction of his response. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. No matter what the hurt may be, I know that the only way that I can share fully in the pattern of truth, wherein there is no hurt, is as I trust God, as I am open in my response toward God.” We know that there is a necessity for change of polarity. The heart which has hitherto been open to the things of the world, the things that hurt, needs to be turned around and opened toward God. When the heart is open toward God it is closed toward the things of the world. But there are those things within the heart already that need to be dealt with, and there may be some hurt involved in relationship to that; but it will not be very much if the individual takes the attitude: “Though he slay me”—whatever happens, I don't care—“yet will I trust him.”

There are many knots and tangles in human hearts that need to be unraveled, and you know that if you have a knotted and tangled ball of string and you hold on to the two ends tightly, you will never get the knots and the tangles out of the string by that means. You have to let go of the ends of the string. You have to let go! And then something can be done about picking the knots and tangles out of the string. It needs to be loosened up. If you hold on to the ends of the string and someone else comes along and starts to get the knots loosened up, but you hang on to the ends of the string, you may get a little more on the string, but you make the tangle worse, you make it tighter. The individual cannot untangle his emotional scramble himself. It must be done by God, but the individual must let go of the ends of the string, let go of those tensions which keep the tangle tight. The fear of being hurt is one of those tensions, because, though the individual may let go at a certain point, as soon as the Lord begins to work on the tangles in the string, he is afraid of being hurt. It does not hurt yet, mind you, but he is afraid of being hurt, and quickly grabs hold of the ends of the string again and pulls it tight, so what unraveling the Lord had done comes to naught. It is necessary to learn not only to let go but to stay in that condition, so that you give the Lord a chance. And when you give the Lord a chance, you give yourself a chance too.

The Lord is not going to hurt you. He certainly will not require anything of you more than you are able. It is essential that the attitude “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” should be your attitude. If you stop to think about it, the individual who is successful in building such an impenetrable protection that he cannot any longer be touched in his feelings has committed the unpardonable sin. The feeling realm works either toward the world or toward God, but it is the same feeling realm; and if he has protected himself so effectively with respect to the things of the world, he has in fact also protected himself completely from God. The fear of being hurt causes the individual to develop such protections, or to devise ways and means of escape. It is a control which needs to be carefully examined in relationship to yourselves. When the individual has so let go that he refuses any longer to be controlled by the fear of being hurt, then he can be open toward God, and toward a consideration of those necessities in relationship to himself which need to be taken care of, the existing hurts that need to be healed.

In the healing process the Lord at times necessarily must touch them. I think we have used an illustration in times past with respect to a sliver in the finger. If there is something that needs to be removed it must be taken hold of and pulled out. Under such circumstances it is true that perhaps there will be a little pain for a few moments, but when the sliver is gone the healing can take place rapidly, and there is no more pain, for the former things have passed away. If the sliver is left in it will continue to fester and pain and hurt, and the individual is likely to become more and more afraid of anyone touching it. Yet it must be touched if it is to be healed. There are those things in the tangles in your hearts that will have to be touched—threads to be loosened, knots to be untied. The job cannot be done without touching them. But when it is done, what blessed relief! “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” The human heart that is open toward God can be healed and made pure, but the human heart will not be open toward God as long as the fear of being hurt still controls.

What about the hurts that manifest as the individual serves God from within the Kingdom? There are no hurts in the Kingdom, no hurts between those who are in the Kingdom. But what, for instance, of the hurt that our Master experienced at the conclusion of His ministry on earth? There was physical hurt, yes, but more than that, there was the vibrational impact, which was the greatest hurt, in the garden of Gethsemane. That hurt came to Him because of the failure of others. When the individual is functioning from within the Kingdom, having let himself be purified in heart, the hurts that come thereafter are only consequent upon the failure of others, and of course they do not make any difference to the individual's attitude in serving God on earth. Such hurts as our Master experienced did not change His attitude at all. Even though there were these hurts, it was still His joy, fundamentally, to carry through, and He kept emphasizing joy to those who should follow Him.

Provided that each one is controlled by the spirit of God, is true to the truth, there need be no such hurts. In any case we do not need to concern ourselves particularly with such things. The immediate concern is to let the heart be purified, to let go to God, to yield more completely in the attitude, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." What is wrong with being hurt? The fact that you can be hurt is an indication to you that something needs changing somewhere. So when something begins to hurt, you can begin to trace down what it is that needs changing. If you skip out immediately you think something is going to hurt, you will never reach the point of discovering what it is that needs dealing with. If the individual had no hurts, what incentive would he have, on the basis of human nature, to seek God? If everything was lovely insofar as you are concerned, from this moment onward, no hurts at all anywhere, I wonder how much progress you would continue to make. When the children of Israel came into the Promised Land and began to do pretty well there, they immediately forgot why they had come. There is undoubtedly such a tendency in human nature until human nature is changed, and when human nature is changed there is no more hurt on the old basis, and because human nature has changed, the individual will not revert into old patterns of human tendency.

So let us cease to allow the fear of being hurt to remain as a control factor within ourselves. Let us be willing to be hurt if necessary, that we may be healed. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” And then the One Spirit can control in relationship to each, establishing absolute agreement on earth as touching the things of God, that the will of God may be done of our Father which is in heaven. If you can hurt one another within the scope of our pattern here, it gives evidence of the fact that there are those things in you which need changing, because if you were sharing fully in the Divine Pattern there would be no hurt within the scope of it. So if there is hurt anywhere, you may know that there is something that needs changing. Recognize that fact, and do not endeavor to protect yourself, or to escape, but pay attention to the evidence that is being provided for you in relationship to that which needs changing, that you may see the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

If you think that I am going to hurt you in some fashion and you are afraid of that, how can the things in you be dealt with? If you try to protect yourself from me, or to escape from the sword in my hand, or the sword in my mouth, how can that which needs cutting away, separating from you, be removed? Are you afraid of the spirit in me? The things that are not of God, the unreal, are afraid of the One Spirit; but there is no need to identify yourself with those things. Those are the things that cause hurt. Let go and let the tangle be unraveled. It may take a little time. We have a little time, not too much, so let us make use of the time we have while conditions are so easy, so ideal, we might say. They will not always be this way. Let us let the tangles be unraveled, refusing any longer to allow the fear of being hurt to control in our lives, because we have surrendered and yielded to the One Spirit, the spirit of our LORD and KING by which all things may be made new. It is the only way. “And there shall be no more pain, for the former things are passed away.”

© emissaries of divine light