Wednesday, August 20, 2025

The Archangel Incarnate In His Collective Unified Body

The  Archangel  Incarnate  In  His  Collective  Unified  Body





Restoration  By  Unified  Action


Martin Cecil  October 26, 1980



Holy, holy, holy, LORD God of Hosts. Thy Name is holy. Holy, holy, holy. Thy Name is Love. Thy Name is wonderful. Holy, holy, holy. Thy Word is Truth. Thy Word is beautiful. Holy, holy, holy. Thy Word is Life. Thy Word is glorious. Holy, holy, holy. Only Thou art holy, LORD God of Hosts.


These words, LORD God of Hosts, may be understood by you as something that is not separate from you at all. The hosts are those who compose the spiritual and flesh Body of the Archangel incarnate on earth. The restoration of man comes by reason of the action of the Archangel through His Body on earth. The fall and failure of man was initiated on an individual basis. The fall would never have occurred if it had remained simply an individual matter. It came to pass because others participated and agreed with those individuals who first failed. The restoration comes as it is initiated individually, but the restoration never occurs unless there are those who associate themselves in agreement with the individuals who initiate the restoration.


What might be called the Plan of Restoration [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/gods-great-plan-1.html] in each of its phases heretofore has been initiated by individuals. Restoration has not occurred, because collectively the essential agreement with the individual initiators was not offered. We know of certain occasions when there was individual initiation of the Plan of Salvation. This initiation came through certain ones, such as Abraham long ago who found agreement in an active sense with the one called Melchizedek. This individual initiation of the Plan of Restoration continued on an individual basis through Isaac and Jacob. Through the sons of Jacob the collective opportunity began to appear, the opportunity for agreement with what had been initiated. To start with there was not all that much agreement, except in a destructive way on the part of the sons of Jacob. In spite of that, Joseph as an individual sustained the initiation of the cycle. He did not judge or blame his brothers but took responsibility for himself. Later there was a proliferation of the tribes of the Israelites in the land of Egypt, so that a collective Body began to take form. It was not yet at all conscious of its own destiny or reason for being until Moses, as an individual, came and proclaimed that destiny. The thirteen tribes of the Israelites were brought forth from the land of Egypt as a Body, a Body destined to be the hosts for the incarnation of the Archangel.


By reason of all this the restoration of mankind could have been accomplished. It would have been accomplished, not by some certain individual in the sense of a human being on earth but by the Archangel incarnate in His unified, collective Body. The opportunity and the training offered to the Israelites was so that this might occur. They were to compose the hosts, spiritually and materially, for the creative action of the Archangel on earth, charged with the responsibility of the restoration of mankind. We are aware that this never occurred. If we see that it might have occurred, then we must acknowledge that there was failure. That acknowledgment came through at least ten of the tribes; they ceased to carry any further identity as a part of that original Body. There was one tribe and part of two others that maintained some sort of identity in a rather futile attempt to turn failure into success. It in fact couldn’t be done, and that attempt has introduced a great deal of conflict and unnecessary suffering in a particular way into the body of mankind.


Again, the Plan of Restoration [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/gods-great-plan-2.html] was individually initiated by reason of the One called Jesus. In the previous design the LORD had always been represented by certain individuals who carried the responsibility for initiating that particular opportunity. It required a number of successive individuals, up to and including Moses, and there were some more subsequently who kept the door open for a little while. But the failure came, and so there was a new initiation under the hand of Jesus, not in representation this time but in person. The same requirement was necessary if man was to be restored, namely that there should be a collective Body for the action of the Archangel. This Body in its core aspects was composed of the twelve disciples.


Love was incarnate on earth through the individual body of Jesus. The Word of Love is Truth. Indeed it is recorded that He said, “Thy word is truth.” His Word was also Life. By reason of Love incarnate and the Word of Truth spoken, Life was a reality in expression on earth. Again He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” In the Word of Truth is Life, and Life is the Light of men; but the Light has shined in the darkness of fallen human consciousness, which remained uncomprehending. It is only by reason of Life that the restoration may come. Clearly, if Life was absent in human experience nothing whatsoever could happen.


So the Plan of Restoration [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/the-unfolding-divine-plan.html] was initiated by Jesus. It could have no meaning except as there were those who were in agreement with what He initiated, in the recognition that the responsibility for restoration was in the hands of the Archangel to be incarnate on earth through the collective Body, spiritual and material, the substance of which was composed of those who were in agreement and who accepted the responsibility for themselves. Human beings have always looked for some leader, some messiah of whatever nature, religious or secular, to bring them salvation. Salvation is never brought that way.



The fall became a reality because of the collective action of those who agreed with the individuals who initiated it. As I say, if no one had agreed with that, there would have been no fall. By the same token there must be those who agree with the individuals who initiate the restoration; otherwise that initiation remains meaningless, clearly so. However, because of what the One called Jesus did as Love incarnate, regardless of whether there were any in agreement with Him or not, the Word of Truth was spoken on earth and Life was revealed. This was done. There was no shadow of turning in Him. Regardless of what human beings did to Him, Love was incarnate on earth, the Word of Truth was spoken, and Life was revealed. And there wasn’t anything that anyone could do to reverse that fact. It was done. The point of initiation was there on earth in the world of mankind. Those who at the time had opportunity to share the building of the Body for the incarnation of the Archangel on earth did not let it happen. It could have happened while Jesus was still present with them. In such case the Body would have formed, and incarnation through that Body would have occurred, so that the restoration might have happened. Clearly it didn’t.


But the same requirement remains now. The only way by which restoration may occur is as there is a collective Body of agreement permitting the incarnation of the Archangel on earth so that the required action may be taken. It is not taken successfully by one individual; it requires the Body. As I say, human beings are always looking for an individual leader, an individual messiah, to come and do it for them. It does not and cannot happen that way. If it is to happen, it happens because there is a collective, unified Body, a Body which is capable of allowing the unfettered, undistorted action of the Archangel on earth. As long as human ideas, even the very best of them, are maintained as to what should happen and how, the Body which otherwise might form and give free expression to the Archangel will not do so.


Because the Word of Truth was spoken on earth and Life revealed by reason of the One called Jesus, something was initiated at that time which, as we have noted, could not be prevented by those who were on hand then. A creative cycle was initiated. It could not be stopped at the time; it has not been stopped since. In spite of the impositions of human distortion—human ideas, attitudes and beliefs—upon what was initiated, the creative cycle has continued to move. The crust of concept and belief in the field of Christianity, and in the field of all other human religions, has not been capable of preventing what was initiated from working as leaven in the lump, so that the crust begins to break up, to move, and the evidence of what has been working below the surface, initiated nineteen centuries ago, puts in an appearance.


It puts in an appearance in various ways. We ourselves are a product presumably of that working. We wouldn’t be sitting here in the Chapel this morning if it wasn’t so. However we may be aware that it is not a ferment merely designed to bring some very special people together somehow. It will bring some people together—whether they’re very special or not we’re going to find out—but it does many other things too. We see in the world how groups of people have become aware of their power to achieve certain human intentions simply on the basis of collectiveness; this is very evident the world around. Human beings gather themselves together in order to attempt to achieve certain objectives because there are enough of them collectively. Of course this has been done all down through human history but it’s more particularly evident in these days where human beings have their ideas as to what should be done and proceed to bring collective pressure to bear to do them. I’ll leave it to your own awareness to list the multitude of such organizations, of long standing or sometimes spontaneous, by means of which this attempt is being made.


Here is evidence of a dawning awareness in human consciousness, mistranslated and distorted, of the fact that restoration comes by reason of a collective Body. Those who are involved in all these activities see with narrow vision related to their own interests, but the compulsion that is back of all that is the continuing emergence of the creative cycle which was set in motion nineteen centuries ago. It is breaking surface in various ways today. There have been moments during the history of the last nineteen centuries when there was evidence of the working of this creative process, but it is coming to a culmination now. The ferment is obvious everywhere. According to the appearance it looks as though destructiveness is inevitable, because all these collective groups are vying with each other, each seeking to have its own way at the expense of others. It is coming out in this way because of the nature that characterizes fallen human beings.


But amongst the population of the world there are those who are not so entirely self-centered and who cannot excuse their actions because they are going to be “good” for human beings, they think. These therefore find themselves unable to participate in the mistranslations that are being made of this compulsion to collective action. Presumably you have been counted among this number. You couldn’t be entirely fooled anymore by human slogans of various sorts and sensed that there must be something real, which would be a true evidence of Life. Life clearly is a collective thing. No one has a corner on it. We can, as individuals, disassociate ourselves from Life and die. This is the usual human habit. But we have become aware that there is a Body which Life builds when allowed to do so, and we have concerned ourselves with discovering what it is in our own experience that allows this to happen. Certainly it isn’t any concepts we may form, any beliefs we may have, because human beings have had concepts and beliefs from one end of the spectrum of awareness to the other for millennia, and this has achieved nothing more than chaos and destruction. So it is something other than the ideas of the human mind which is required.



We should know that our own individual physical bodies do not have any choice but to reveal what is being imposed upon them. You, through your bright intelligence, cannot add one cubit to your stature, if that is what you thought you wanted to do. Most people are not inclined to try that. They may undertake other physical activities to make their bodies bigger in other ways, sometimes by lifting weights, sometimes by eating excessive meals. There are various methods that may be used to modify the physical organism, but fundamentally the body acts out and reveals what is being imposed upon it, through heredity, through the state of the individual’s consciousness. The body has no choice but to follow along these lines. Consciously we may object sometimes when something shows up that is uncomfortable in our bodies, but we should know that we certainly had a responsibility in letting it happen. There is more to what is being imposed upon the body than what is consciously understood, but the imposition is there nevertheless. If we take a look at this we see that the body really has no choice. It just makes manifest whatever is being imposed upon it. It faithfully does this.


If we look at this collective body then, the body of mankind for instance, we see that exactly the same thing has been happening. If we take a look at the forming Body of the Archangel, we may see that what is of the Archangel may be revealed by reason of this Body if those who compose this Body stop imposing their own concepts, their own beliefs, their own ideas, no matter how good, no matter how well intentioned, upon the individual expression or the expression of the Body as a Whole. It has been assumed, because human beings have become disassociated from the creative action of Life, that if they did not impose their own ideas everything would collapse. It seems that nature has survived without the imposition of the ideas and concepts of human beings; in fact when these begin to be imposed upon nature there is trouble. There is obviously Life present, the Truth of which is capable of allowing for the true expression of itself in the forms of nature. It doesn't require a human being on hand to see that it happens, because the human being doesn’t know what should happen anyway. The same is true of the building of our own individual bodies.


So the Body of the Archangel is for the Archangel’s use, and when permitted to receive the action of the Archangel, that will be reflected in the Life which is thereby revealed. This is such a simple thing that it seems impossible of experience to most people. We’ve all been thoroughly deceived. We are coming out of that deception, I hope, so that this Body of the Archangel may be available for the Archangelic use. But if those who compose this Body, or should be composing this Body, are pulling and hauling within the Body according to their own ideas and concepts, according to the continuing patterns of their own human nature, their own fallen state, then the body is liable to be confused: the Archangel on the one hand offering Life and those who are included in the composition of that Body trying to tear it apart.


There is no salvation, no restoration, without the incarnation of the Archangel in His Body on earth so that there might be complete freedom of expression for the Archangel to do what needs to be done. In a sense I suppose you could say that this is a messiah. It isn't a single person, except in the sense that the Archangel has identity, identity which is revealed through the unified expression of His Living Body, a Living Body composed of those who have revealed the willingness and the capability to let it happen. As individuals we certainly know that we cannot hang on to our own personal lives and let this happen at the same time. To hang on to life, to try to keep one’s own personal life, will ensure that one loses the experience of Life. This is what human beings have been doing and proving out for so long. It’s no different in this generation. Only as one’s own personal life is lost in the Life of the Body of the Archangel do we discover the reality of Life. This was a statement made a long time ago by the One called Jesus; at least it’s come down to us in the record, and it’s true. If there is unwillingness to lose one’s own personal life one will ensure one’s own death. To accept the Life of the Archangel, which permeates His spiritual and flesh Body, of which our spiritual and flesh bodies as individuals may be a part, brings with it the experience of Life as it really is, characterized by Love and Truth.


As human beings we have looked at these things, considering the matter. No doubt the Israelites looked at some of these things and considered them. No doubt those who were present with Jesus on earth looked at what He said and considered it, and there have been millions since that time also doing the same thing. But here is the reality which He initiated, working now and bringing forth according to the works of human beings the world around. The reward is to every man according as his works shall be; not according as his ideas shall be, or his beliefs or his hopes or his expectations, but according as his works shall be, whether they are the works of God or whether they are the works of the devil—that puts it very simply—whether they are self-centered works or whether they are the works which are known in experience by reason of the speaking of the Word of Truth.


This Body of the Archangel is a figment of fancy unless and until there are those who agree and associate themselves with Love’s action, which is Truth, in Living. And Living, you know, is not experienced in dribs and drabs; it is a continuous thing. Fortunately it is a continuous thing. If there were even a momentary interruption, that would be that in our experience. So it is a continuous thing. It has been continuous anyway since we were born on earth. As this continuous experience is characterized by Love’s Word of Truth, then we find ourselves associated with the Archangel in His Body. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/spirit-and-body-of-archangel.html] My concern, as I have indicated before, is for this Body, that the Archangel might incarnate and find expression on earth for the restoration of man. You are the ones, amongst others, who let it happen, who agree that it should happen by reason of you or, on the other hand, say “No”. Without the Archangel incarnate on earth, free to act, restoration is impossible. The fate of the world would seem to be in the hands of those who understand these things.



Holy, holy, holy, LORD God of Hosts.

Thy Name is holy.

Only Thou art holy, LORD God of Hosts.


© emissaries of divine light


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Saturday, August 16, 2025

Be Spiritual Man

Be  Spiritual  Man




Martin Cecil  May 26, 1974 a.m.
















From the standpoint of the Christian world, emphasis has been placed particularly upon the crucifixion. This event was one which occurred during the outworking of the particular creative cycle in which our Master was moving at the time, but it could not be said to be more or less important than any other event which put in an appearance during this same period.


We have noted that He came into the world to initiate the Second Sacred School. He did this, but, owing to lack of adequate response, it became apparent that there were not going to be those who would allow what He had to offer to have its real meaning on earth. Under the leadership which He provided, He could have carried the responding ones through in the ascending cycle, if there had been a willingness to move with Him. When it became evident that this was not going to occur, then He undertook to provide the point of focus in His own expression of living, within the scope of the consciousness of mankind, for the movement through the complete creative cycle by which the reality of spiritual man in material form might be once again a fact on earth. But this simply related to His own experience—He was unaccompanied by anyone else in what occurred. Because it occurred on earth within the range of human consciousness, the door was opened for others to follow through also into the experience of true Manhood or Womanhood, the mature state of spiritual man. During the course of that creative cycle which worked out in His own experience the crucifixion occurred—however, this was certainly not the only event.


Actually, the specific process is described rather completely and accurately in the Gospel according to John. We remember the correct sequence of the Four Forces: water, air, earth and fire. Just before the Passover, when He and His disciples were gathered in the place where the Passover was to be held, He undertook to initiate the particular cycle, in the creative sense, which would allow for the restoration of spiritual man in material form on earth, by reason of His own presence and willingness to let it occur no matter what the circumstance might prove to be in the unfolding of the event.


First of all, He did something with His disciples that has not been adequately understood as to its significance. He took some water in a basin and washed their feet. This had something to do with the water force. Here was a symbolical portrayal of something, but it was more than that—it was the point of initiating this particular cycle, a refocalization of the Truth of the First Sacred School. The evidence of the movement of this first force was originally said to be light: “Let there be light.” The Israelites were charged with the responsibility of providing a focus of example and a point of orientation for the world as a whole, that the understanding of mankind might be cleared. The washing of the disciples’ feet had a relationship to this: the feet represent the understanding. So the first requirement with respect to the First Sacred School was to clarify understanding, to provide an example in this regard, and also to offer a point of orientation for the whole body of mankind. Here was a point of refocalization with respect to that same Truth.


The disciples evidently didn't understand what it was our Master was doing. Some of them objected, Peter particularly. He wasn't going to allow it to happen. He had a concept in this regard which was being violated by what our Master was doing. So has it always been whenever anything has been undertaken from the Divine standpoint: human beings who became aware of what was happening have always objected. It didn't conform with their concept of what should happen. Then Peter was told that it was something that was necessary, so he proceeded to insist that Jesus should wash his head and everything else as well—in other words, he was going to do a better job than could be done by God. And this has been the attitude of human beings: they were going to improve on things—anything but allow the cycle to work out as it should, without any human judgment, without human beings trying to determine what should happen. So, finally it all settled down and our Master got on with the job, but He obviously was doing something that His disciples didn't understand. They didn't really need to understand, because what He was doing related to Himself. He was the one who was initiating this creative cycle and moving through it. However, we may see, with a little hindsight, what He was actually doing. Here was the water force which permits the cleansing of the understanding, so that there may be light.


Having brought this to focus and initiated the cycle, it then proceeded forward. Thereafter He spoke to His disciples, and we have the record of some of what He said in the following chapters in this particular Gospel. This related to the second of the Four Forces and also, incidentally, to the Second Sacred School, which had a particular application to the mind. It is clear, again, that the disciples understood very little of what it was that our Master was saying. The Second Sacred School could have been successful insofar as mankind is concerned if there had been those who had found it in their hearts to yield sufficiently in response, so that they might move with what He was in position to offer. He taught His disciples. It was indicated that He taught the people in a general sense, but it was particularly His disciples. So there was teaching involved, and this certainly applies more particularly to the mind of man. He was providing a focus for the movement of this creative cycle as it proceeded through the sequence of the Four Forces, but His disciples certainly didn't comprehend very much.





There is one particular passage here that I would read. He had said this: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him. Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” So there was a blank insofar as he was concerned, and probably this applied to most of the others as well.


Do you begin to know the way He went? There is a beginning understanding, isn't there, of what He was doing, which He summarized in these words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but my me.” In effect He was saying, “Spiritual man”—which is what He exemplified on earth—“is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to a consciousness of his origins, of the truth of himself, except by spiritual man.” He was the evidence of spiritual man on earth. Except as a person gives evidence of spiritual man on earth, there is no way by which he may come to the Father, he may come to a consciousness of the truth of his own being. But there is no way except the way provided by spiritual man. The way of material man is no way at all. It is the way into the tomb, where disintegration takes place.


While it is evident that the disciples at that time didn't have a clue as to what He was talking about, you would have to acknowledge that you do. In other words, there is a consciousness of the refocalization of the truth of the Second Sacred School. This has emerged through you and others on earth. It's taken, apparently, nineteen hundred years to do it, but it's happened.


Those who think of themselves as Christians have always been expecting Jesus Christ to do something for them, obviating any necessity, apparently, of doing something for oneself. But He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”—spiritual man is the way, the truth, and the life. You must be spiritual man if you are to come to the Father, if you are to experience the truth of yourself. “Verily, verily, I say unto you”—and here stress was being placed upon something: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” This is saying, be spiritual man. One can only be spiritual man for oneself, and spiritual man is the truth of the individual. So it isn't a matter of looking to somebody else; it is a matter of being the truth of oneself. This is what constitutes believing in spiritual man. “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also”—the works of spiritual man.


In His case it was a lonely business; He was the only one. We have noted what a tremendous thing that was that He could do it. He who walks through the door which He opened shall do the works of spiritual man, and greater works, because there will be more people doing them. Here was the example of spiritual man in action, that others might participate in the same action—not to be acted upon, not to have their feet washed, not to be taught, but to wash the feet of others and to teach. Spiritual man does not need to be washed nor does he need to be taught—he washes and teaches.


Coming to the end of this period when He was speaking to His disciples, there is the Great Prayer of Intercession, [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/the-masters-prayer-of-intercession.html] as it has been called, in the 17th chapter. And here He was completing the cycle as it related to the Second Sacred School and initiating what was to follow in the Third Sacred School. All that most people have seen of what followed was the arrest, the trial and finally the crucifixion, and He landed up in the tomb. This, in fact, is the external evidence of something that seemed to be happening to the material aspect of spiritual man. It didn't change spiritual man at all, did it? The character of spiritual man continued to be in evidence all the way through, no matter what happened to material man.


Now we recognize that this is necessary in the experience of the Third Sacred School, that no matter what happens to material man, to the person in the external sense, he remains true in his expression of what he knows of spiritual man. In the external sense it seems that a person lands up in the tomb. It seems that way to those who observe. We recognize that it wasn't really a tomb; it was rather a womb out of which something was born. I am sure that many of you have had relatives and friends who shook their heads over you because you were somehow ducking out of the real world. It depends from which direction you look at it, doesn't it? What is supposed to be the real world, we recognize as the unreal one; but you can't convince a person who is involved in that unreal world that it is anything else but real. It's real to him, but that's not the truth.


It seemed like a real tomb into which the material aspect of our Master was placed, and it was sealed up pretty good. There was a boulder placed upon the entrance to the sepulcher, a boulder which, in this particular instance, was finally rolled away. But what does that represent? The hardened human heart, which relates to the veil, which has been solid insofar as human beings are concerned, between the experience of material man and spiritual man. It is the impure heart, as we recognize, that keeps human beings in the tomb, keeps them on the wrong side of the veil, identified in the state of material man. It's only when the heart begins to melt, begins to yield so that it opens the individual to receive something of spiritual man, that there may be movement out of the tomb—in other words, the tomb may be transformed into a womb.




The movement out of the womb of the Third Sacred School

is birth into the Fourth Sacred School,

which is characterized by what was described as a Garden



The yielded heart which opens in love and trust, without trying to understand but willing to move, willing to accept the responsibility of spiritual man, whatever that may be, is the open door to salvation, is the open door to the Father. When Mary Magdalene came to the tomb filled with sorrow because she obviously didn't understand what it was that was occurring, she met up with one whom she supposed to be the gardener. But when her name was spoken she suddenly became aware of who it was really. Her heart was open and she wasn't anymore deluded by the material appearance. She saw the truth, and like human beings tend to be, she wanted to take hold of it, possess it. But our Master said, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” That was true.


The Fourth Day of Creation is not yet the Seventh Day. There is some more movement necessary, for man to be restored to the state of the living soul in oneness with God. In all of this we may recognize in a more specific sense what it was that was occurring in His experience—how He was, as an individual, alone in the world, leading the way through so that later others might accept the same responsibility, the responsibility of spiritual man; and then it would not be such a lonely task.


Some have thought it was going to be a lonely task. They were going to have to give up so much, to leave so much behind, to relinquish their friends and their relatives, and all this. Well, our Master said that was possible too, didn't He? If one is to mature into the state of true manhood or womanhood, one must become a whole person, and those who are not willing to become whole, at the same time cannot remain in any pattern of meaningful relationship, obviously so. They are naturally left behind, and there's no great sweat about it. “Oh, dear, I'm losing such a beautiful friend!” Oh, no. Those who are really beautiful friends are those who are going to come along, who are going to be interested in wholeness also. But if someone doesn't come along, that's no great loss.


The way is very clear. The disciples of old may seem to us who have begun to see more clearly to have been rather dumb, but who is to judge? They certainly didn't have the time that we have had, and it has taken quite a while to come to the point of experiencing this little glimpse—and that's all it is. So it is not a matter of judgment. It's just a matter of moving in the recognition that, as the creative cycle unfolds, we belong in the Garden—out of the womb. But to the extent that that is experienced we also may say, “I am not yet ascended to my Father. I am not yet returned to my origins. I am just on the way.”


So we assume the attitude of spiritual man as a consciousness of spiritual man begins to emerge. The statement is: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life—I am spiritual man. Do you dare to say that? There is something of spiritual man present, evidenced by such vision as you may have this morning in relationship to what we have been considering. Be true to yourself, then. Be true to the self that says, “I am spiritual man,” and your business is to offer understanding to others; not necessarily by bending their ear, but by example, by being spiritual man.


Be spiritual man, [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/material-man-and-spiritual-man.html] and this experience is possible to you as you emerge into the Garden, when the stone is removed from the mouth of the tomb. And the stone is removed from the mouth of the tomb when your heart is made pure. And your heart is made pure when you are no longer identified with material man, when you no longer place your values in the material world—not that there are no values in the material world, but the values in the material world are only valuable when they are the reflection of the values in the Spiritual World, when your treasures are laid up in heaven.





Those who begin to so emerge find that there really is a Garden—it's not just a figment of fancy. There is a tomb too; the tomb was in the Garden, as I recall. The Garden wasn't in the tomb, which is what most human beings want to make it be; they want to stay in the tomb but make it into a garden. We have to leave the tomb. The tomb is still there. We see it, but it doesn't loom so large anymore; it isn't so important anymore.


We rejoice in such awareness as we have of the Garden and we stand in the Garden to do what we have to do as spiritual man, in following our Master, in being what He was, Spiritual Man, providing that example, extending the Water of Truth, teaching by the expression of our lives, and bringing assurance and comfort to those who still remain in the tomb state but whose hearts are yielding. We can't do anything for those whose hearts are hardened, but the yielded heart permits the stone to be rolled away from the mouth of the tomb, so that a person may begin to emerge into the wholeness of being, a living soul rather than a disintegrating soul.


Each individual who reaches the point of being really honest with him- or herself may say, “I am spiritual man. I am the Son of the Father. My character springs from my true origins, not my false origins as material man.” The true origins are in God. What appears to be tragedy to material man becomes Victory to spiritual man.


© emissaries of divine light


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Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Material Man And Spiritual Man

Material  Man  And  Spiritual  Man





Martin Cecil  May 19, 1974 a.m.














It’s very good to be here with you again at 100 Mile House. Many of you had opportunity yesterday evening of viewing the video tape of last Sunday morning's service [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2025/06/evening-meditation.html] on Sunrise Ranch. What was offered through the spirit and words of that particular service was of a vital nature and, no doubt, some of the points which were touched upon will provide food for further meditation in the days to come. Mention was made of material man and spiritual man. Material man and spiritual man are two aspects of each person, whether male or female. Properly speaking, material man, who is the one with whom most people are familiar, is under the dominion of spiritual man, even as spiritual man is under the dominion of the Lord. When this correct pattern is established, then man gives evidence of being a living soul.


In connection with these two aspects of each individual and of mankind as a whole, I mentioned the story of Cain and Abel. Cain is another name for material man and Abel for spiritual man. Material man is triune in nature. He has a physical body; he also has the capacity of mind and the ability to express spirit. These three aspects of material man are generally looked upon as being the complete person. The most obvious part of a person, it's true, at least from the standpoint of usual human observation; but this is in fact, in present experience, less than half a person and a distorted half at that. We might profitably consider the story of Cain and Abel, not only seeing it in the light of a historical event—even in that regard it is in the form of an analogy—but at the same time we may see that it is very aptly and specifically applicable now, at this present time, with respect to anyone and everyone. This is the 4th chapter of Genesis: “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.”


This is what happens, isn't it? A child is born on the basis of certain laws and principles which are here described. When a baby is born, in this case apparently a boy, the most evident fact is the little physical form. There is also related thereto a sense of something heavenly. The baby may be called a gift from heaven. There is this little physical form together with a heavenly atmosphere, so that a person could well say that a manchild has been gotten from the Lord, but in the initial stages the primary factor is the little physical form. Of course, gradually that form grows and there is the development of the mental capacity and also the emergence of the ability to express spirit. It is really the expression of spirit through a child that distinguishes one child from another. Up to a certain point children tend to be very much alike; their behavior is similar; but gradually, as the ability to express spirit increases, the distinctions emerge.


Now, of course, here is the beginning of material man, who rightly is the means by which spiritual man may be made evident on earth; and spiritual man is available to be made evident by reason of the Lord. “And she again bare his brother Abel.” Now here is the proper sequence: when material man is on hand, spiritual man should become evident. Spiritual man could not be known at all on earth if it wasn't for material man. So there is nothing wrong either with Cain or with Abel, insofar as the initial portrayal is concerned. The material child is born, and in the development of that material child the opportunity for the emergence of the spiritual child is made possible. There are two births, in other words: there is the material birth, the physical birth; and later, consequent upon growth and development, there should be the spiritual birth.


Insofar as human beings in the world are concerned now, it seems that the spiritual birth, the birth of spiritual man, is rather conspicuous by its absence. The whole thing is supposed to be material man; that's about as far as most people go. They grow up physically speaking; there is some concern that there should be a healthy development in this regard. At the same time, there is a recognition of the growth of the mental capacity, so that various forms of education are undertaken. And there may be a recognition of spiritual possibilities, in which case usually it emerges on the basis of some religious pattern or other. When all this is put together it's considered to be a human being and sometimes called man, even, but it certainly isn't a living soul; rather, a dying one.


There is a picture here, then, of what actually occurs. The fact of material man is there, the potential of spiritual man is there, but somewhere along the way something usually happens to spiritual man; in fact, he never reaches the point of being on hand with material man in any balanced sense. Mind you, anyone, in the material sense, expresses spirit, but the mere fact of expressing spirit doesn't mean that spiritual man is being revealed. Most of the spirits which human beings do reveal, in the material-man sense, are evidence of the absence of spiritual man. There is fear, there is shame, there is resentment, greed, hate, what have you, all expressions of spirit but certainly not of spiritual man. We have evidence, then, of a physical capacity—human beings get around— and we have evidence of a mental capacity—human beings think that they think—and the evidence of a capacity for spiritual expression which conveys some sort of spirit. But apparently Abel has been slain.


“And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” That pretty well describes the characteristics of spiritual and material man respectively. The sheep, of course, are in the charge of the shepherd, so that spiritual man is under the dominion of the Lord. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/the-lamb.html] This is the condition of spiritual man; there is no spiritual man except on that basis. There may be the expression of spirit in the material-man sense, but that spirit will not be the evidence of spiritual man. “But Cain was a tiller of the ground.” Well, he's concerned with material pursuits, doing things from the standpoint of physical action, mental action, and, of course, conditioned by whatever spirit may be appearing. And we find these spirits very much dominate the experience of material man in the world. The spirit of shame is present in all people, sometimes keenly felt, sometimes submerged. And the spirit of fear—this is sometimes consciously recognized, sometimes it is an unconscious experience. And the spirit of greed—I suppose this might be described in less crude terms, but that is a dominant characteristic in the expression of spirit in material man. He has his values laid up upon earth; there are his values, and because his values are there his spirits are accordingly. So here is material man on the one hand and spiritual man on the other.


“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.” Spiritual man rightly provides the connection between the Lord and material man, and spiritual man offers in his expression of life what is of the true quality and characteristic of his own nature, made in the image and likeness of God. Of course that's acceptable to the Lord, because it is, in fact, the expression of the Lord. Spiritual man is, rightly, under the dominion of the Lord; this is the only existence that spiritual man has. If there is no experience of being under the dominion of the Lord, spiritual man is absent. So his offering is acceptable. But if material man proceeds to do what he wants to do and then anticipates that this will produce a satisfactory condition of life experience, he finds that it doesn't work. His offering is not acceptable to the Lord. While material man may not put it in these terms, the fact is constantly being made evident that the offering of material man is not acceptable to the Lord.


He's always in trouble. He finds himself continuously related to a disintegrating state of affairs; he expends a tremendous amount of energy trying to hold together whatever it is that is disintegrating, but still it disintegrates. His offering is not acceptable to the Lord; it doesn't belong. “But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?” Most people don't stop to look at that; they just get very much annoyed and irritated and angry that things aren't working out the way they expected. They don't pause, as a rule, to look at themselves; they look around to find somebody to blame, or some circumstance, or maybe even an act of God! “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.”



Now we recently have come to recognize how it is that sin lieth at the door. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/original-sin.html] There is a veil, the veil of the impure heart, which separates material man from the experience of spiritual man. So material man sits under the veil, on the wrong side of the veil, and “sin lieth at the door.” Sin lieth at the door, blocking the experience of spiritual man; and the sin is the impurity of heart—a very obvious, not at all mysterious, state of affairs. As long as the heart is impure, spiritual man is shut out of material experience and all there is left is material experience. Material experience without spiritual experience is the experience of a dying soul; material experience with spiritual experience is the experience of a living soul. Human beings have no awareness of what that would be at all, because theirs has been an entirely material existence the wrong side of the veil.


Actually, there isn't a wrong side of the veil if the veil doesn't constitute a barrier, if sin doesn't lie in the door. When the heart is pure the veil is no obstruction between spiritual man and material man, and it is found that they are one. But as long as material man is on his own he feels ashamed, he feels empty, he feels there's something wrong, there's something lacking; but he is loath, apparently, to acknowledge that the lack is consequent upon his own action in slaying Abel, excluding spiritual man. He tries desperately to make a state of affairs that would be satisfactory, while remaining merely material man with sin lying in the door. “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” Therefore, obviously, if what man does is not acceptable, if it is constantly disintegrating and falling apart, then he is not doing well and he needs to look at himself. “… and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”


Here is what occurs in human experience; the human being becomes subject to the material self. He's ruled over by the material self; his desire is in that direction; his values are material values. Those material values may be with respect to physical things or they may be with respect to mental things, intellectual things, or they may be with respect to what he thinks of as spiritual things, religious things. That is the direction of his desire, and because of this, “sin lieth at the door”; he has an impure heart, and the reality of spiritual man appears to be slain. “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” This is the usual human experience in the field—that is, in the processes of daily living: Cain prevails. The government of the individual life is in the hands of material man and any consciousness of spiritual man tends to be obliterated in favor of the material values.


“And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?” And I think He says that to human beings everywhere now: “Where is thy brother?” “And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.”


This is a picture of mankind, individually and collectively, a fugitive and a vagabond, running away, trying to escape the results of the slaying of Abel. And each human being has done this ever since that first occasion. Very rarely has there appeared on the face of the earth spiritual man. The outstanding example, of course, was that of the One called Jesus. Here was spiritual man. He was given short shrift—exactly the same situation as when Cain slew Abel: “Get rid of spiritual man; we don't want to be faced with our own failure.” And yet the failure is there, and because the failure is there human beings are fugitives; they are always running away, trying to escape. All kinds of methods of escape have been developed by material man to try to help him to forget his failure. Sometimes human beings get so wrapped up in their escape mechanisms that they seem to forget for a while; but the discomfort remains, the pain, the misery, and human beings wander on the face of the earth. This is what Satan did, as I recall; he went to and fro in the earth and up and down in it. This is the way human beings behave. What an accurate story is here told, applicable in present human experience. Spiritual man seems to be slain. The whole Divine Purpose ever since that first event has been to restore spiritual man.


When our Master was on earth He spoke in many parables. One of them related to the numerous times when the lord of the vineyard sent his servants into the world that the vineyard might be restored to its true owner. The manner of that restoration requires spiritual man, because spiritual man is under the dominion of the Lord. On each occasion, and there were many such, the means by which this restoration could have occurred was rejected. Those who came to make it possible were ill-treated in various ways. And when the LORD Himself came in human form, He was rejected and human beings tried to dispose of Him.


But He came to clear sin out of the door, to clear the impurities of heart at one point in the body of mankind. That one point related to Himself, of course. For He was present in the world, a man, part of the body of mankind, and He undertook to clear through, insofar as He Himself was concerned, in what has been called the resurrection. The resurrection related to Him; He is the evidence of purity of heart, a purity of heart that was established within the range of the whole body of mankind—one might say, a crack in the door; the door was unlatched and opened a crack. It was described as the veil of the temple being rent. Of course, the veil could just hang there and nobody would know that it was rent, even though it was; and this has been just about what has happened. It has remained hanging there insofar as human beings are concerned, so that nothing has happened with respect to their own impure hearts and sin has remained in the door—Cain has been dominant; material man has appeared to govern.


But nevertheless there is a means by which restoration can occur, a means that was never there before, since man first fell. One man came all the way through, giving evidence of spiritual man dominant. Material man at the time thought that he had triumphed, but it didn't prove out that way. Now this has seemed to be a very mysterious and impossible thing, but here is the evidence of spiritual man. It seems mysterious and impossible simply because there has been nothing on earth but material man and insofar as material man is concerned, therefore, what happens with respect to spiritual man is looked upon as being mysterious and impossible. Well, it is mysterious and impossible insofar as material man is concerned, that is true, but spiritual man and material man belong together. They represent heaven and earth, and heaven and earth are one. They were not created with an impenetrable veil between.


Now the veil has not been entirely impenetrable, in view of the fact that material man has continued to exist; so something—very little—of spiritual man has filtered through, enabling the continued existence of material man. But the veil has been thick and in spite of what has been called Christianity there has been virtually no evidence of the fact that the veil was rent. Do you think there is all that much difference between human beings now and human beings before Christ—BC? People say human nature doesn't change. No, the nature of material man under the veil doesn't change. It gets modified in various ways and people nowadays like to think of themselves as being civilized, but it doesn't take very much, does it, to upset that applecart. If one looks around at the antics of human beings, the trappings of civilization don't seem to count for very much.


But we recognize the veil for what it is and we see that when primary values are placed in material things, whether at the physical level, the mental level, or the supposedly spiritual level—all below the veil—then we have the condition of a dying soul, and that condition must continue to exist as long as the cause of it prevails. Only when there is a recognition of the reality of spiritual man behind the veil, and a willingness to allow spiritual man behind the veil to come through the crack which is there in the veil, is there the beginning of true spiritual expression. This is made possible by reason of the fact that there is a crack, that the veil was rent, that the way has been opened, that one human being on earth allowed it to be so. It took the incarnation of the LORD Himself to get the job done, which in itself is an indictment of the millions and billions of human beings who have lived on earth and never let it get done. And even when the way has been opened, even when the opportunity is present, how many human beings have let it have any meaning at all? Material man prefers his shame, his religions, his science, his politics, his material riches of various kinds, to his brother, spiritual man.


It requires quite a switch in human attitudes if spiritual man is to be accepted into material expression, for the only reason for the existence of material man is to permit the expression of spiritual man. There could be no expression of spiritual man on earth if it wasn't for the fact of a material body, if it wasn't for the fact of a material mental capacity, if it wasn't for the fact of a material capacity for spiritual expression. Nothing would be gained by slaying Cain, because without Cain, without material man, spiritual man cannot exist on earth. But material man has made it so that spiritual man cannot exist on earth.



Finally, however, there are those who are willing to acknowledge responsibility in the matter, are willing to acknowledge that the veil is rent, are willing to acknowledge that the LORD did the job on earth. Human beings have pretended to acknowledge that in what is called Christianity, but they never actually did it. They talk about it but it has no application at all insofar as human experience is concerned; sin still lies in the door in spite of all the confession and all the forgiveness that has been going on in the religious world. Sin lieth at the door; the heart is still impure; the veil is still in place—even though it is rent, even though it is possible for spiritual man to emerge in material experience. Seeing the truth of this, we may recognize the simplicity of the restoration of spiritual man on earth. There is nothing to stop that restoration except the intransigence of material man. The very moment material man begins to be willing to acknowledge that there is no reason why spiritual man may not come into the earth in material expression, something begins to happen.


What about you? Do you acknowledge that? Or do you have ready-made excuses of various kinds? Are you still a fugitive? A fugitive from justice, incidentally; a vagabond wandering around, trying to lay up treasures upon earth to feel secure? Cain is a fugitive and a vagabond, but Abel's blood cries from the earth, from the ground—the life of Abel, to be given expression because there is an acknowledgment that the way is open, has been opened by the LORD. It is there, and when treasures are laid up in heaven—that is, all value is seen as relating to spiritual man—then heaven and earth may be known to be one; spiritual man becomes apparent through material man in spiritual expression, so that the spirit that is expressed by material man is no longer the evidence of the absence of spiritual man.


Human beings make such a problem of all this, as though spiritual man wasn't present, as though material man had somehow to create spiritual man. And they try so hard. But spiritual man is present, the blood of Abel cries from the ground, longing to find expression, to fill the voids which have given evidence of the absence of spiritual man. But how determined human beings have been to maintain the evidences of the absence of spiritual man! They are going to get angry when they feel like getting angry. They are going to resent when they feel like resenting. They are going to be fearful when they feel like being fearful. They are going to be greedy when they feel like being greedy. There are many different kinds of greed, you know. And so the veil is maintained firmly in place and human beings say, “I'm not going to change.” Of course, they usually excuse it and say, “Well, I can't change. You can't change human nature!” No, maybe not, but how about the nature of spiritual man? It is present and can be given expression when there is a willingness that it should be so, when there is real honesty in the matter.


Human beings are all the time fussing about themselves: “Oh, I know what I should do but I have this stubborn streak and I'm darned if I am going to let it go; I'm going to keep it there.” That is dishonesty, isn't it?—human beings struggling with themselves. If you are struggling with yourself you are maintaining material man at the expense of spiritual man. You are subject to what you fight against or struggle with, and so that's the best way of hanging on to the evidences of the absence of spiritual man. But spiritual man is present. Let the expression appear! That's all there is to it, when you place your value in that and not in your stubbornness, not in the human attitudes which want to hold on to the ill things. Well, if you want to hold on to the ill things, you're welcome to them, but don't complain when the results of holding on appear.


Spiritual man stands behind the veil and he's quite capable of coming through the veil when you let him. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” That's the way it is; regardless of human fancy to the contrary, that's the way it is. Spiritual man is present and ready to find expression the very moment material man is actually willing that it should be so. Prove it!


O LORD, by reason of Thy Presence on earth in human form so many centuries ago, and by reason of the steadfastness of spiritual expression, true spiritual expression, that was made evident by Thee, the door was opened in spite of what seemed to be insurmountable odds. There are no such odds anymore. If there has been human failure to follow Thee it has been because there was an unwillingness to do it. As material man we welcome our brother, spiritual man, that the oneness of heaven and earth may be known in the unfoldment of what is called the resurrection, the restoration of spiritual man on earth, which includes the restoration of material man in consequence. We would accept the responsibility of this because we love Thee, because we know we are here to serve Thee, to fulfil the reason for our being on earth, in the Christ. Aum-en.



Why is it that material man—human beings in general—requires so much convincing? Because, generally speaking, people don't want to be convinced. From the standpoint of the LORD, it is a mystery indeed as to why human beings do not accept what is present with them and freely available to them. How is it possible that they would prefer the state of the dying soul to that of the living soul? It's irrational, isn't it? But that is the condition of material man under the veil. The door is open; the veil is rent; the way is clear; spiritual man is present. What are we waiting for?


© emissaries of divine light



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