God's Great Plan

God's  Great  Plan

     

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Michael  And  His  Angels

Uranda   August 5, 1951

Your faithfulness and sincerity in working forward here helps to carry the spirit of assurance and confidence to others. On our recent journey there were a few in various places who showed themselves ready for a deeper vision of what it means to be an emissary, a deeper recognition of the outworking of God's Great Plan, and our individual and collective relationship in it and to it. It was a joy unspeakable to be able to talk with them concerning the deeper things of God’s Great Plan, to share with them a consideration of the various steps of its outworking, and I wonder if we might well pause now to take another look, a deeper look, that with increased vision there may be truly a greater realization of the privilege and responsibility which we share. Always, when we consider these things, let us remember that at the present time, vibrationally speaking, all Responding Ones are included, no matter who or where they may be, and let us remember that, in the ultimate outworking, the pattern includes every man, woman and child who has a true willingness to let go of those human patterns of function and being which result in futility and failure, that they may share in the greater pattern, the greatest pattern there is, which assures fulfilment and not futility, which assures victory and not failure. When we have enough background of understanding, enough depth of vision, to allow us to take a perspective view of the practical nature of God’s Great Design, it is one of the most awe-inspiring, one of the most thrilling, one of the most glorious, opportunities to which any human being can aspire.

There are a number of things which we must bear in mind if we are to take that view. One of them is a recognition of the practical nature of the Master's instruction as given in the Beatitudes, where He emphasizes the present tense: “Blessed are the poor in the spirit of this world: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Why? Because they let the Spirit of the Kingdom that is at hand fill their lives. But while we are rich in the spirit of this world we have no room for the Spirit of the Kingdom of God on earth. However, when we let the spirit of this world be cast out, so that there is room for the Spirit of the Christ Kingdom, He says: "For theirs is,” not  shall be, not will be, some day after they die, not something to be achieved a thousand years or ten thousand years from now, or from the day He was speaking: “For theirs is the Kingdom of God on earth.” We remember that that same theme runs throughout the expression of the Beatitudes.

And we remember that Jesus outlined the Pattern, the Plan, the Design, by which this Kingdom might become known to the children of men. We remember that it is only the human limitation of vision which has caused so many to assume that Jesus had to die on the cross. We recognize that there are prophecies in the Old Testament which could have been fulfilled at the time of Jesus. We recognize that if the twelve disciples had remained true there would have been a solid Core, a vibrational pattern established, which could have inspired many of the thousands who had received blessings at His Hand, and that instead of the intervening two thousand years of darkness and misery there would have been then the beginning manifestation of the things of God.

There was, nevertheless, a recognition of the nature of human beings, a recognition of the probable course that humanity would follow. Again bringing it up to the time of Jesus (and you will recognize that I am touching just a few high points here to establish a basis for that which I wish to present to you) He recognized the direction in which things were moving. We remember that after the victory over the tomb was made manifest, He spent forty days with the disciples. “To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days.” And what was He doing in those forty days? “Speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”

Speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Through three and a half years of Ministry He had undertaken to establish a consciousness of the reality of God's Kingdom here on earth, something that was at hand, something that they could begin to share then, but after that three and a half years of Ministry, after the outworking which led to the cross, the resurrection, and these forty days when He was speaking to them concerning the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, the hour came when He was to withdraw, as a part of that Pattern and Plan — for He had said, “It is expedient for you that I go away” — that He should return to the Inner Realm of things, so that the form could begin to appear, so that the Pattern He had provided could begin to have meaning in them. Yet, when it came to the last minute, virtually the last question they had an opportunity to ask of Him, certain of the disciples said, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” There was a complete lack of comprehension, a complete failure to grasp what the Master had been talking about. It must have been a sad moment when our Master heard that inane question, the foolishness of the human mind failing to grasp the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

Yet, we see that that same tendency has continued down to this present day. We recognize that when the Day of Pentecost came, if they had functioned according to the Divine Design the Power of God which began to manifest would not have diminished and vanished away, but it would have increased and become a true power in the world in the affairs of men, and according to that Pattern, trusting that His followers would allow that fulfilment an opportunity of manifestation. He gave the prophecies that are contained in the 24th chapter of Matthew. That cycle of fulfilment was supposed to come into manifestation about seventy years after the time when He was born. It was supposed to be in the middle of the cycle of fulfilment at the time when He spoke these words. Some of the things which He mentioned were fulfilled then, but many of them are not yet fulfilled.

We see that man's failure to follow through under the leadership which God had appointed, [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/the-leadership-ordained.html] his failure to allow the Power of God to increase instead of diminish, postponed the day of fulfilment. When they failed to follow through while He was ministering with them, it postponed it. Yet, He established a Plan and Pattern by which they could still experience the fulfilment at that time. But again His point was missed, the Plan was ignored, the leadership He appointed was denied, and instead of the outworking which God intended there was another delay. Consequently, the renewed Pattern, not a change of God's basic Plan but of the manner of its fulfilment, was given new form in what we call the Book of Revelation — some sixty years later, when the Pattern should have been fulfilled and was not, when the failure became evident. It had proved itself out, and the Power of God which began to appear at Pentecost had diminished until there was virtually nothing left of it, there was a reaction of persecution which the disciples had brought upon themselves [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/control-pattern.html] and so through John the Revelator a new Pattern, a new Program, was outlined by which the Plan of God might yet find manifest form on earth.

We recognize that it is this part of the Great Plan, according to this particular Pattern of its manifestation, which we have the privilege of sharing. But unless we look back and examine into the cycles of outworking which have led to this hour, we are inclined to make some of the same mistakes that were made in time past, inclined sometimes to forget the Way, the Truth and the Life. When Jesus was outlining His Great Plan with respect to the One Body of many members, the means by which His Power should continue on earth, He pointed out this particular possibility. He made it clear. Let me read you His words, the familiar text that begins:

“I am the true Vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.” If a branch is taken away, in the sense in which He is speaking here, it is evident that the fruit was not appearing. “And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it.” How often the human spirit rebels against the necessities of the purging. The human being says, “But I have served thus and so. I have borne such and such fruit for our Lord.” If you bear fruit, remember that it is the greatest, the most wonderful compliment that God can give to any man or woman, to provide for a purging, a cleansing, so that there may be an increase to the end that the individual may bring forth more fruit. And the process continues until he brings forth much fruit. Now note: “Abide in me, and I in you.” Remember that that is what impulsive Peter forgot. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” That literally took place.

When, after the beginning of the manifestation of the Power of God at Pentecost, they failed to abide in Him, they failed to let the Pattern continue and increase, what happened first? The manifestation of the Power of God, instead of increasing, withered. It diminished very rapidly. We have the record here that it did so. It diminished rapidly. It withered, and because there was self-activity, because it was an imposition of a human plan, a human idea, persecution arose, and in the years that followed, as you know, many of those who tried to be Christians were literally burned. They say, “Burned at the stake.” Too often those who call themselves Christians look back at those so-called martyrs and feel a certain pride, a certain attitude that that is evidence of greatness. That was an evidence of man's failure to recognize the Plan and Purpose of God. It was not a part of God's Plan or intent. It was completely unnecessary. Jesus pointed out here:

“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” Of course. He did not intend to convey the idea that all would be literally burned, as at the stake, and yet it reached that point. The Master had given forewarning of what would follow If they failed to pay attention to the Laws and Principles involved. We have the same responsibility today. As the Power of God is beginning to increase in the earth, we must remember that if we start using it self-actively as Peter and the others did, the results would be the same.

Jesus made it very, very clear on a number of occasions who was to be the leader, and at the cross He passed the place of authority and leadership to John. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/third-and-last-time-.html] But the disciples refused to acknowledge that. They decided to select their own leader, and bold and impulsive Peter was the one they thought could do the better job, and he was the one who led them. Not just at the time of the crucifixion, but again and again all but John followed in patterns which were, in fact, denial and betrayal. And as John was the only one of the disciples who had stood at the cross, so was he the only one who followed through in the Pattern and it was through him that a re-arrangement of the Program became possible. It was because he did remain true that it was possible for God to establish a Program, and make it evident in what we call the Book of Revelation, whereby the fulfilment could yet be. The Dark Ages did not need to be. All this human suffering did not need to be. We can look back and see that. There is an old saying that, “Hindsight is better than foresight,” because we can look back and see that which leaves us without excuse.

Now, with this introduction, so that you may remember all of these things as we move forward in our consideration, I would like to remind you next of God's revelation of His Plan and intent as it was made manifest in the Old Testament period. Jesus did not reveal God's intent, actually. He gave it new form, yes, and He revealed the Way by which it could be experienced, by which fulfilment might come; but let us look back. Seven hundred years before the Master's birth, through the prophet Isaiah, these words were uttered: “Thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.”

Thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The Gateway to the Kingdom of God here on earth is the Gateway of Praise, of Gratitude to God — the Spirit of Thanksgiving. We have recognized that, and we have found that it works in our lives. Sometimes people forget the Gates. Let us not do it. “Thy sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.”

Because things did work out as they did, human beings have failed to recognize that that prophecy, among others, pointedly shows what could have been if the disciples had held steady when Jesus came. That fulfilment could have been then. It is not yet. It is still to be experienced. It could have been under the leadership of Jesus, in the first part of its manifestation at least. Again, He prepared the way for it to appear after He left this sphere of things. It could have come into being and real power following the Day of Pentecost if the disciples had held true, but they did not. But the LORD provided another opportunity, the Program for the fulfilment of the Divine Plan as outlined in the Book of Revelation, and we are sharing that. That is our opportunity, our privilege. If we were to fail — but let us not even contemplate, or speculate on, such a thing. There have been too many failures in the past. This must not fail.

Let me read another passage which relates to the same fulfilment which could have been, and is yet to be, in the 6th chapter of Isaiah: “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, (the New Spiritual Consciousness which shall manifest) and joy in my people.” Has the LORD had an opportunity to rejoice in the outworking of things on earth? Has He had the opportunity of having joy in His people in this interval of the past two thousand years? No. We have been making Him wait a long time. It is time for someone, somewhere, to begin to so function that He can have joy in His people. “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” We see how that same pattern of fulfilment was carried over in the new Program as outlined in the Book of Revelation. “And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble.”

As long as human beings carry out the pattern of their own desires, the ideas of their own making, trying to make things be what they want, it always results in this: “They labor in vain, and bring forth for trouble.” Your own lives can testify to that, and you have seen it on every hand wherever you have been in this old world. But, for those who are following the Divine Pattern something else is the case. “They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” These are some of the things that direct our attention to a recognition of the fact that it could have been.

Let us turn now to another view of the Divine outworking of things. This was actually nearly two hundred years after Isaiah. You will remember that when man first fell, when Lucifer first decided to oppose the Pattern of God and substitute an idea of his own, according to the record there was war in Heaven, and Michael and His Angels fought with the dragon and his angels, and the dragon was cast out of Heaven into the earth. Heaven is at hand. Heaven was on earth. People have tried to understand these things by imagining a separation of earth from Heaven at that time, which did not exist. Heaven and earth were One. It was here on earth that this thing took place, and it was Heaven here, and it was through those whom God had created, Lucifer, the Bright and Morning Star, Divine Man on earth, created to let Deity be revealed in the realm of form in this world. Heaven was here, and it was here in that Heaven on earth that the battle came.

We will not go back and examine all the different phases of it now, but touching a few highlights, recognize that that is what took place. Michael and His Angels fought. The dragon, the self-active mind of man, was cast out of Heaven — and in the realm of self-active human beings they still are out of Heaven. They have been trying to get back into Heaven according to their own way and desire ever since, but they cannot do it. Heaven was here then, and has been at hand all the time ever since. So, Michael and His Angels fought, and the dragon, the self-active expression of man, was cast out of Heaven. The restoration, salvation — the thing for which the Master came into the world — the purpose of all God’s Designs and Plans down through the ages, has been the restoration. The restoration to what? The restoration of the mind, the consciousness of man, to Heaven that is at hand. That is all it amounts to. But the consciousness of man cannot get back into Heaven except by the way which God has established. From that time on the work of focalizing the activities designed to bring about man's salvation, his restoration to Heaven at hand, was in the hands of the One who had cast out the dragon and all his angels, all those who followed after that pattern of self-activity.

Michael was the One who carried on that focus of activity in various cycles, in various ways, many of which are recorded and some are not, leading to an opportunity for man — the opportunity that was established at the time of Abraham, the opportunity that was established at the time of the Children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. It is written that Moses did not enter the Promised Land. The place to which he was taking the people was only a symbol to him. The Promised Land to which he was looking was the restoration of the Divine Kingdom on earth. Looking over Jordan to the land to which the Children of Israel were going, geographically, meant nothing to him. There has been a great misunderstanding in this, for actually he was concerned with leading the people back to the Kingdom of God on earth, and already it had become evident to him that that pattern was not going to work, that taking those people to the geographical place of the so-called Promised Land was moving into too many tangents. They had wasted too many years wandering in the wilderness. That was a Plan, a Pattern, which could have worked. If those who had been delivered from Egypt had followed the Plan which God established, it could have been done then, and it would not have been necessary for Jesus Christ to come into the world.

That is the fundamental point I wish to emphasize now. There was, repeatedly established, an opportunity for human beings to come into the Kingdom. It could have been done without Jesus Christ having to come into the world. As you begin to see this Great Cosmic Plan in all of its points and its relatedness, remember that. And remember that from the standpoint of Michael that was the most important thing of all. That was his greatest desire, that the restoration should be accomplished without any inconvenience to His LORD and KING. Over and over again he worked and labored to that end. Now, if you remember the things we have covered in this brief outline, you will be in position to understand and appreciate something I would read to you now from the 10th chapter of the Book of Daniel:

“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.

“In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;

“Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

“And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

“And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

“And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.

“Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.

“Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.”

We will not take time to analyze all the different phases of this passage, but certain points need to be brought clearly into focus. As it is emphasized here, Michael  was incarnated in the form that was called Daniel. Michael was in the earth at that time working toward the end that we have been considering, appearing as Daniel, and it is indicated here in this text also that from the Divine standpoint he was recognized as the Lord of Truth. But what was the vision? The Bible does not say. I can tell you what it was. It was at that time that the decision was made from the standpoint of our LORD and KING that He would come into the world. Michael, manifesting in various times and ways, had worked to bring about the restoration of man without this necessity on the part of our LORD. It was at that time that Daniel [Michael] was informed, through that vision, that the LORD of Lords had determined to come into the world Himself and to establish the Program, to work out a Plan to make possible the hastening of the Program of Salvation for man. That was a great sadness to Michael, as it is put: “My comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.”

This was a manifestation to Daniel at that time, revealing to him that since the outworking with respect to the Children of Israel had failed, the Divine decision was made to let all of those old patterns go and to move forward into another cycle. The way it affected Daniel is vividly portrayed here: “And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord?” The feeling of failure, of recognizing that all that had been accomplished up to that time had not achieved the desired end, that the LORD Himself was going to come into the world, was heavy upon him. Then there came the assurance: “Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me.” There we see the picture of the acceptance of the Divine Plan.

We recognize that Michael was again manifest, when the Master was here, through the one who was called the Beloved Disciple John, and that for the period that Jesus Christ Himself was here on earth the focalization of the whole program was, of course, in the Master’s hands on earth; but that when humanity had rejected Him, the moment He lost consciousness on the cross, the authority, the responsibility with respect to carrying on that Program, passed back to the hands of Michael, the one who has worked from the beginning of the days of the fall for the restoration and the salvation of man. Concerning the particular pattern of fulfilment that was to be, the Master gave some very definite statements, and with a brief consideration of them we will bring our meditation to a close. “Nevertheless,” the Master said, “I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me.”

From the standpoint of Michael, from the standpoint of the outworking of the Cosmic Plan, there is just one sin — just one! Any other ill thing would have to come under the classification of that one sin. All ill things come into manifestation as a result of that one sin. And the moment an individual clears, so that he is not subject to that one sin, the former things begin to pass away, and that which has been has no more power, no more meaning. The one sin — "Because they believe not on Jesus Christ our LORD.” The one sin — to share with the world the rejection, the denial, the betrayal, and the crucifixion. From that day the world has been under judgment. Opportunity is given to human beings to be forgiven of that one sin, that believing, believing according to the standard the Master gave — “the works that I do shall ye do also” — they shall be saved. That is the standard of belief. Then there is evidence of whether there is belief. The only sin there is is failure to believe on Jesus Christ our LORD. That is the basis of judgment for the world. That is the basis of judgment for every man, woman and child, without a single exception.

So, we come down to this time, this day, this cycle of fulfilment, having a share in that Great Pattern that is portrayed here from cover to cover in the Bible, when a new opportunity has been established for human beings. If we remember the broad scope of it, the Glory and the Wonder of it, the Awe of God’s Love and Patience — and what an awesome thing it is! — then, surely, in this day and age we can remember what we are here for, to Whom we belong, and where we are supposed to live and serve in the Spirit of the Living Christ. Surely we can leave behind the spirit of self-centeredness, leave behind the whims and fancies, the reactions, that spoil the Pattern, delay the outworking, and in effect say to the hungry ones in the world, “Wait a little longer while I have my own way, while I struggle with God a bit,” and which in effect say, “God, I know you have a Plan, a Design; I know you are All-Powerful, but I am still going to contend with you and try to impose my will over yours.” The contemptible foolishness of the human mind, the human being, who takes such a stand!

We have an opportunity toward which the Prophets of All Ages have looked. This time of outworking is ours to share. If we recognize that which is portrayed in the Bible, and which we have viewed briefly in broad perspective, we can surely remember, and keep centered in, the Spirit of the Living Christ all the time, that we may not only share His Victory but that we may have a part in making that Victory have meaning in the lives of others. Except as we so serve we are nothing. Unless we bring forth fruit we are nothing. What Jesus did will be in vain for each one who fails to follow through on this Pattern, this cycle of outworking. For all who reject that Plan as it now stands, the opportunity and the things that Jesus did are in vain. God forbid that it should be so for any of you. Let us share the Victory, and, sharing it, inspire others to do likewise; for we remember the words of the Master’s Prayer where He taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” Where? On earth. “Thy Will be done.” Where? “On earth as it is in Heaven. For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Aumen.”

I thank God for the blessings we have shared, that as we remain steady and true, learning to abide in that polarity which permits the fulfilment of this Great Plan, the Power of God can work through us more effectively than ever before. And there are so many Earnest Ones out there working with us, sharing this outworking where they are. They do not have to be here, geographically. They are a part of it. I thank God for what has been accomplished, but it is little more than a beginning. But, concerning small things, we read the Promise: “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation,” and the Master pointed to the growth of the mustard seed. Let us let it be so in our lives regardless of what anyone else may do.

Heavenly Father, I thank Thee for Thy Blessings upon these Faithful Ones here gathered, and for all who are with us in Spirit, for all who are turning to Thee, that Thy Will may be done on earth as it is in Heaven, causing Thy Kingdom to come; For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. In the Christ. Aumen.

I thank God for the privilege of this hour with you. I thank God for the response that is in you — and according to thy response, so be it unto thee. We are not here to satisfy ourselves or please ourselves. We are not here to play children^’s games. We are here to share the outworking of the Cosmic Plan of God which began immediately to come into force and being at the time of the fall of man. It is ours to share, and I thank God for the privilege of sharing it with you, and all the others who are responding and showing themselves willing to forget the human, petty things which spoil so much that is lovely, that the things of God may appear on earth. God Bless you.

© emissaries of divine light

Sacred Schools Under The Authority And Direction Of Melchizedek

Sacred  Schools  Under  The  Authority  And  Direction  Of  Melchizedek

Historical Relationship Between The First, Second And Third Sacred Schools

Uranda   July 11, 1944

Tonight, our Service will be parenthetical to our regular subject matter, although it relates directly thereto. The purpose of this service is to provide a clarification of the Teaching of the Third Sacred School as it relates in function and manifestation to the First and Second Sacred Schools, all three of which date back in vibrational foundation to the Motherland, or the Edenic State, as God first established it in the earth.

Information concerning what is commonly called the pre-historic period, as presented in the Third Sacred School, is not dependent upon mythology, although mythology lends abundant evidence of the authenticity of that which is presented. Neither is it dependent upon legend, although many legends springing from the dim antiquity of time point with clarity, for all those who read the symbolism aright, to the fact that what is sometimes called “antediluvian history” must be considered in terms of thousands of years rather than of the short period commonly conceived to be correct by reason of Biblical chronology.

It must be remembered that generally accepted historical records which are commonly known, or known of, by the masses of people are largely limited to the last 5,000 years. It does not in any sense deny the authenticity of the Bible to recognize that Biblical chronology, as more or less arbitrarily applied by most scholars to the early part of world history as presented in Genesis, is not correct and is, in fact, very misleading. This is not a refutation of the Bible, but rather, a refutation of the chronology more or less arbitrarily established in relationship to the Bible.

It will be recalled that we have already emphasized the fact that the first nine chapters of the Bible cover a period from the beginning of the creation of this world to the time of the death of Noah. The 10th chapter of Genesis is devoted to an outline of the generations of the sons of Noah, and in the 26th verse of the 11th chapter we have the beginning of the story of Abraham. The story from the time of Abraham to the present is reasonably complete. The remainder of the Bible covers a period of a little over 2,000 years. Whatever period of time is conceived to have elapsed prior to the time of Abraham is covered in ten short chapters, but it took almost the entire Bible to cover the period of time from Abraham to the days when the New Testament events took place nearly 2,000 years ago. Even Biblical chronology over a period of nearly 2,000 years is covered in these ten chapters, and the next 2,000 years involve the rest of the Bible.

It is obvious, then, that those who insist on accepting the usual Biblical chronology must admit, at least, that the Biblical history covering the period prior to the time of Abraham is extremely sketchy. We cannot accept the idea that creation of this world began only about 6,000 years ago, and while there may be some religionists who still hold to such a belief, the preponderance of evidence from the standpoint of nature, from the standpoint of historical records unearthed during the last 50 years, and from the standpoint of an unbiased consideration of the Bible itself, indicates that a much longer period of time in world history preceded the advent of Abraham. On the other hand, we do not accept the idea that millions of years have elapsed, as is commonly taught from a so-called scientific standpoint. All of the phenomena used to support the theory that millions of years have elapsed are easily and correctly understood once the fundamentals of the factual history of the world, as related to the period prior to Abraham's time, are grasped by the student.

More than once the question has been asked as to what Biblical authority we have for that which we teach concerning the history of the world prior to the time of Abraham. That we have Biblical authority goes without saying; but it is not offered here because the student must first grasp the fundamentals of the Teaching before he can understand that which the Bible actually reveals on this point. It must again be emphasized that all of the scientific discoveries in the fields of archeology and geology, when correctly understood, correlate perfectly with that which is actually revealed by the Bible, and that all these sources of information correlate with history as known and presented in the Third Sacred School. For practical reasons, which should be obvious in view of the fact that we are dealing with a vast period of time, the history of which is unknown to the world as a whole, we decline to deal more explicitly with the question of the source of the historical presentation concerning the period in question until the student is advanced sufficiently to allow him to perceive the facts for himself.

All of this relates directly to the subject in hand, because it must be recognized, tentatively at least by the student, that roughly speaking, the advent of man into the world through creation took place a little over 150,000 years prior to the time of Abraham, and that when God first created man and placed him in the earth, man was fully instructed concerning all phases of knowledge necessary to man's perfect function, physically, mentally and spiritually. In the period preceding the fall of man, God established through Divine Man a system of education which was designed to provide full understanding of all things needful to man in all three phases of his being throughout the period of this world's existence. The basic principles of the educational system then established have been retained in the outworking of the Divine Plan for man as established and set in motion at the time of man's fall, and have continued until the present time. In other words, it must be recognized that the Divine Plan originally established for Divine Man did not anticipate, or provide for, the fall of man; but when man fell the Divine Plan was re-arranged, retaining the same fundamentals in all respects, with a view to the restoration of man to his Divine Estate in a manner which would permit the Original Plan to be carried on effectively from the time when restoration should be accomplished.

This must be understood, in principle at least, in order to allow a basic understanding of the place which the Third Sacred School holds in the Cosmic Order of things. Time and space do not permit us at this point to deal more than briefly with the educational system and program which was in operation prior to the time of the fall of man, but it must be recognized that the idea that Adam and Eve, as thought of as two individuals, were most certainly not the only ones living at the time of the fall. In other words, Adam and Eve refer symbolically to all of those thousands of individuals who participated in self-active function, commonly described as the fall of man. The Bible itself gives evidence of this fact when we note that Cain, the first-born of Adam and Eve, according to the story, journeyed from the place where his parents lived, after he had killed his only brother, and readily found a wife.

This Divine Educational System that was in operation prior to the fall of man was carried on through the means of what we properly call Seven Sacred Schools, which had their vibrational foundation in the Seven Planes of this Whole, Holy World. These Seven Sacred Schools of the Motherland of Man, or the Garden of Eden, were the seats of learning and all government. In other words, all educational instruction issued forth from these Seven Sacred Schools, and they were in actuality the controlling factors in all phases of life, including that which we would describe as religion and government. Under this system of function the whole world was populated and the whole world was governed.

It should be remembered that in this period the preponderance of earth's surface was land, as the preponderance of the earth's surface is now water. Other instruction papers deal with the process of the fall and the geographical changes which took place, but in relationship to our present subject matter it must be recalled that in a period of 7,000 years, dating from the time of the fall, these Seven Sacred Schools originally established by God as a means of providing all educational facilities and government for man, were temporarily withdrawn from manifestation in the earth, culminating in the submersion of Lemuria, or that which is described in the Bible as Adam and Eve being driven from the Garden of Eden. About 1,000 years later the continent of Atlantis submerged beneath the waters of what we now call the Atlantic Ocean, as described and alluded to in the Biblical story of the Flood, and the scattered remnants of humanity who survived these cataclysmic changes were forced by circumstance and violent climatic changes to subsist under what we would classify as primitive conditions closely akin to the state of the animal world. This, then, which took place about 12,000 years ago produced what is commonly thought of as the cave man era. From this low point to which man had descended by the process of devolution, it took about 5,000 years of what we may call evolution for man to reach a point where we have the beginnings of recorded history, as generally known in relationship to the Egyptian period. In other words, this carries us up to the beginning of history as generally recognized.

It should be easily seen that it would be necessary that the Sacred Schools which had been temporarily withdrawn from manifestation would have to be re-established in the earth in their natural order, and the outworking of man's progress in world events did not permit the beginning of this phase of the fulfilment of the Divine Plan for the fallen world until the time of Abraham, during whose lifetime Melchizedek appeared. It is obvious from all Biblical references to Melchizedek that He was the Highest of Divine Beings who functioned in relationship to this world, and it should not be difficult to comprehend that the One who manifested as Melchizedek later manifested as Jesus the Christ.

Melchizedek — The Highest Of Divine Beings — Jesus The Christ

In connection with our distinction between the Supreme Divine Being connected with this world, and other members of the One Body of God, it should be understood that this relates to the fact that there are many other worlds peopled and under the jurisdiction of Divine Beings, and that it would be an assumption of the most egotistical sort to imagine that this is the only world in all of the Cosmos which is peopled, or which relates to the outworking of the Divine Order, through the administration of Divine Beings. Therefore, when we speak of the One God whom we all recognize, we realize that the Divine Beings connected with the function and manifestation of the other worlds in the Universe and in the Cosmos, are Members of the ONE GOD BODY just as surely as are the Divine Beings Who administer the Divine Affairs of this world.

The foregoing clearly refutes the false assumption which has been made on the part of some that the Third Sacred School must, in some manner, purport to be higher or more advanced than the First or Second Sacred Schools, merely because it is designated as the Third Sacred School. If the First and Second Sacred Schools had not been established and in manifestation, the Third could not have been brought forth. The work of establishing the First Sacred School was, obviously, the most difficult of all, because it was a beginning, in outer manifestation, without any historical background in the period immediately preceding, or known to man in general, so that it could have been accomplished in no way other than it was accomplished, namely, through the ministrations of Melchizedek, who was manifest in the earth, without father, without mother, and without end of days. There is no record in any part of Biblical history of a more marvelous and wonderful Divine Manifestation in the earth — and it was, simply, a manifestation of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings whom we know in the New Testament period as Jesus the Christ — Melchizedek, who came into the world through the operation of Divine Laws without the medium of a physical body produced by the process of conception and birth, or limited by the processes of decrepitude and death. Only by means of such a Divine Manifestation could the beginning processes of re-manifestation of the Seven Sacred Schools be brought about in the earth under conditions that then existed.

Certainly then, in so far as the world now is, the process by which the First Sacred School was again established in the earth must be recognized as being supreme, and even more beyond the comprehension of the human mind, than was the manifestation and function of Jesus Christ. It must be understood that the First Sacred School established by Melchizedek through the responsive cooperation of Abraham, extended in its dominant influence in the world until the time of the dispersion of the Israelites. In other words, it includes and contains within itself all that took place in revelation and function through Jacob, through Joseph, through Moses, through the Judges, through David and Solomon, through Elijah and Elisha, and through all of the Faithful Prophets of the Old Testament.

As we have already recognized that it was necessary that the Sacred Schools be re-established in their chronological order, it must also be recognized that they had to be established in accordance with their vibrational order relating to the Seven Planes of Being. These requirements were fulfilled in each instance. Through the First Sacred School established by Melchizedek and carried forward so effectively by Moses and the Faithful Ones who followed after him, there was provided a means whereby the mass body of a selected portion of humanity could have returned immediately to the Edenic State if they had remained steadfast and true to God, thereby opening the way whereby the world as a whole could have been restored to the Edenic State en masse. This certainly must be classified as the greatest opportunity accorded to man since the day of the fall until this present time, and it was the greatest undertaking from the standpoint of man that could possibly have been inaugurated. When the selected portion of the world body failed to carry through, and the immediate program under the First Sacred School could not be brought to fruition, the vibrational basis of the Second Sacred School had to be resorted to. But this does not mean that the basic vibrational function of the First Sacred School was lost to the world, for it was, and still is, providing a basic foundation for all that has, or will, come after it.

When man failed to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the First Sacred School, it became necessary for Jesus Christ to manifest in the world, to bring into manifestation the function and vibrational basis of the Second Sacred School. The Life and Ministry of Jesus and that which is recorded in the New Testament period all relates thereto, and provides the immediate foundation for all of the spiritually progressive activities in the world today. While the work of establishing the Second Sacred School was more painful, it was not as difficult task, in one sense of the word, as was the work of establishing the First Sacred School—but in both instances the work was so difficult and so gravely important to the world that it could be entrusted to no one but the LORD of Lords Himself.

In the opportunity afforded by the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ through His work in establishing the Second Sacred School, the field was narrowed down from the broad scope that was utilized in the First Sacred School, which had provided the easiest process of response from the standpoint of humanity, to the field of what we classify as the “mental”. I would here point out that because it is so classified a few persons who are ignorant of the outworking of the Divine Plan have jumped to the false conclusion that we were relegating the work of Jesus Christ to something below the spiritual vibration classification which is utilized in relation to the Third Sacred School. Such an idea is completely false.

The First Sacred School, while utilizing the basic vibrations of physical response, in the primary sense, certainly included in every respect all that is properly classified as the mental and the spiritual. When humanity rejected this easy way, the next more difficult way had to be resorted to, and when I speak of it as being difficult here, I have reference only to humanity's opportunities therein, and not to the difficulties involved in establishing the Second Sacred School. Melchizedek had the most difficult task, but He provided humanity with the easiest possible way of restoration. Jesus Christ had almost as difficult a task and one that was more painful, in establishing the Second Sacred School, and He provided the next easiest way of direct approach from the standpoint of humanity as a whole.

That which Jesus Christ established is still in force, and no one who has any understanding of the work of the Third Sacred School has ever supposed, for even a fraction of a second, that the Third Sacred School or those who function therein supersede in any manner whatsoever the work of Jesus Christ, for we recognize Him as LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, and have never at any time suggested that the Third Sacred School or any individual in it was equal to, let alone above or beyond, that which was made manifest in and through our Beloved Master, Jesus Christ.

While Jesus Christ was on earth, a means was provided by which the world could have been restored to the Edenic State at that time, so that Jesus Himself would not have been crucified, and so that the intervening 2,000 years of misery, suffering and death could have been avoided by humanity as a whole. When the world rejected that which Jesus Christ offered, and crucified Him, the Third Alternative Plan had to come into effect, and Jesus Christ Himself established the authorization and provided the direction for the outworking on the basis of the Third Alternative Plan. But, by reason of the fact that He was crucified by the world, and by reason of the fact of that which He had provided for the world, both in teaching and actual manifestation of vibrational function according to the Divine Order, it was not necessary that He assume personal responsibility in outer manifestation for the establishment of the Third Sacred School. In other words, the processes of bringing the Third Sacred School again into manifestation could be, and were, delegated to a subordinate by Jesus Christ Himself.

However, by reason of the world's rejection of Jesus Christ, the Second Alternative Plan ceased to be available to man in the very hour when Jesus was crucified on Calvary, and the Third Alternative Plan has been in effect since that hour, and it utilizes the approach to the Divine on a vibrational basis of spiritual response as the starting point. Here, then, we have the first Three of the Seven Planes as manifest in this world on a vibrational basis, represented in the manifestation and function of the first Three of the Sacred Schools.

The Fourth Sacred School will not be brought into manifestation until after the restoration of man to the Edenic State. In other words, man must come through the program provided on the Third Plane Vibration, or not at all.

In this connection, it is necessary to point out that every church and all individuals who honestly and sincerely seek to follow Jesus Christ, to do His Will, and who desire to receive that which Jesus Christ offered to the world, are, to the degree that they are correct in their understanding of that which Jesus Christ taught and accomplished, in the Third Sacred School already, and this has been true since the moment when Jesus Christ Himself recognized that the Third Alternative Plan would have to be utilized. And therefore He authorized the Beloved Disciple John as the Head thereof in the earth, while He Himself was on the cross. Jesus did not give that authorization prior to the time that He was on the cross because up until that moment humanity had the opportunity of responding on the basis of the Second Alternative Plan. The moment He was on the cross humanity lost that opportunity, and from that moment onward the Third Alternative Plan was in effect.

So it is that the re-manifestation of the Third Sacred School, which vibrationally dates back to the period of the Edenic State long before the fall of man, has been in actual existence by the decree and authority of Jesus Christ since the hour when He was crucified on Calvary. It is under this authority, and on a vibrational foundation dating into antiquity more than 150,000 years ago, that the Third Sacred School is now operating in the world, that all who will may know the Whole Truth and be set completely free, according to the promise of Jesus Christ, our LORD and Master.

The history of the world since the time of the crucifixion of Jesus down through the dark ages to the present time, as it relates to the manifestation and function of the Third Sacred School, is a vast subject which has been touched upon to a degree in other writings, and which we must now leave for further elucidation until another time. We will now relax into our closing Devotion.

Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the privilege and opportunity we have of recognizing the abundance of Thy Blessings as they have been released into the world through all these thousands of years, and as they are now granted unto us, and unto all who will receive thereof. We thank Thee for all the Responding Ones of every nation, tongue and creed, through whom the Radiance of Thy Love is permitted to manifest in the earth, that all such may have a part in permitting the full manifestation of the Christ Kingdom in the earth and the restoration of the Edenic State, that thereby all misery, sin, suffering, sorrow and death may be banished from the world forever. And we thank Thee that through Thy Love, through Thy Wisdom, and through Thy Patience with man in his wavering response, it is established and made possible that humanity may be restored to the Divine Estate, and that all those who respond from out of the human world body may be drawn with the irresistible cords of Thy hove into the One Christ Body here and now. For in the Christ it is accomplished now and forever more. Aumen.

© emissaries of divine light

The Increase — Melchizedek Is Here

The  Increase

Melchizedek  Is  Here

Grace Van Duzen  August 6, 1977

This is a privilege tonight to stand with you in this Holy Place and see what happens. I have a number of references, as I usually do, throughout this Book — The Bible. It is always so thrilling to see how they weave together. Last Sunday in a service Martin spoke about words and the significance of the words and of our use of them, their vital significance in our living. And something came to my mind with regard to some words and the letters in those words.

As you may or may not know, before the Bible was translated, in its original form [Hebrew] there were only consonants; there were no vowels, and in translation the vowels had to be put in. Actually I think the translators did a masterful job. But this is interesting to me. There are the consonants, framework you might say — a skeleton — and the vowels supply the spirit, you might say the spirit substance, and this makes a vital difference to how the word comes out — what kind of substance. So I thought I would use an illustration. [Grace wrote on blackboard the letters]  M L K (CH)  Now those have no vowels in them and there are several ways that we can put vowels in and get different words. One of them, M  E  L  CH  izedek. The first part of the word really is the name there — Melchi.  Zedek is an ancient form from which has come Zadok, which means priest, so you really have “Priest of the Most High God”, this (Melchi) meaning “Most High God.” Notice Zedek and Zadok — again you have vowels to make it different, haven't you? Or another great one but rather obscure, perhaps: M A L A CH I, the last prophet in the Old Testament, looking toward the New Testament — a very definite connecting link. He prophesied with regard to Elijah, and so on.

Or you could have something else: A M A L E K. Everyone here who has been to a Bible class knows all about Amalek. You could spell it satan or the devil, or one of those things. “Amalek”. In the Bible it says that God would have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Well, as so often in the Bible, it is completely backwards. “God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden” — He didn't, of course. Adam and Eve drove themselves out of the Garden, and it is Amalek that has war with God from generation to generation. God doesn't fight back but Amalek fights anyway. M O L E CH — just to keep Amalek company! — was a pagan god used in human sacrifice, with a fire inside, etc. So we have exactly the same skeleton here but different substance. We could say this — Amalek and Molech — is substance, but it isn't really, because it destroys itself; it is self‑destructive.

Here is the substance [M E L CH izedek] but they have the same consonants, you could say perhaps the bones. Ezekiel wrote something about bones, dry bones. And there was a valley full of them, the great valley of the world, and it was full of the dry bones; many, many, many — the great numbers are emphasized, that there were many dry bones. They were very painful because bones rattling against each other are not comfortable, and this is the state of the world, and the substance very shortly disintegrates and disappears, dissolves. So we have the disintegration, the self-destruction, and ultimately the death, of the dry bones in the valley. And do you remember that there was a question asked? Man did not ask the LORD but the LORD asked man, and He said: “Son of man, can these bones live?” And man said, “Well, for heaven's sake, you know the answer; why are you asking me?” I paraphrased that a little bit. He said, “Lord, thou knowest.” And the LORD asked him again: “Can these bones live?”

Then Ezekiel got the vision. And in Ezekiel: “And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above ... and the breath came into them, and they lived.” The breath didn't come into them until there was substance; the flesh came up upon them — the substance. And as we so well know, man has tried to put the substance into the bones, cover them up and make them nice; but the increase, according to the function on this one level, very limited. So what happens? Well, we have lots of dry bones in the valley — population explosion, it's called. And the Law always works and takes care of these things, but is there anything left afterward? When there is too much substance on one plane the Law works to take care of it and equalize and even things out, so it is self-destruction.

There is a reference in the wonderful Book of Job, where it says that his, Job's substance was increased in the land. The very nature of this substance is that it increases. If that increase is on that very limited level which man thinks he is, a physical being, what is the increase? Well he's got to have more land, or more houses, or more machinery, or more people, or something; or in the physical sense maybe the flesh doesn't know when to stop, and of course taken far enough that is self-destruction. So if this is the increase there is no answer. The increase on each level is the answer, the wonderful substance in the land, in this land, in the body on earth; the Promised Land, we say, individually or collectively the Body of God on earth, on this planet. And it is increased in the land. It is not increased rightly after we leave this sphere of things — then we meet our Maker and all sorts of things — but in the land is where the increase needs to be, and on each plane of being. Remember Job had seven sons and three daughters, the negative triune world. They ate and drank with each other. Here was the substance on every level and the nature of that substance is to increase; but it is an ascending process, isn't it? It's not constantly increasing the physical substance. Rightly it is an ascending process where substance from one level begins to blend and move with that of the upper level — heaven to heaven. You've got seven heavens so you have this constant movement, not up and then down but constantly ascending and descending — a beautiful picture of the substance of the LORD.

Amalek presents a different picture. As I mentioned already, here is the self-active function, the increase on this level, and it is always a getting process: “Now I will get more and more and more”; and it is self-destructive. Of course the fighting against God is the getting process. There are so many wonderful texts in the Bible which apply, apply to just about anything, but I am reminded of the words of Samuel, who let none of his words fall to the ground. If something is falling to the ground it is not in an ascending cycle, it seems to me, and I wonder how many words would be categorized as falling to the ground. We think of idle words, yes — but that is rather an easy description of gossip, isn't it? kind of a nice word, idle words, but they are not nice — or deliberately malicious, spiteful, critical; these all fall to the ground. The substance is utterly wasted, there is nothing there, and we all know that once those words are spoken and fall to the ground there is nothing really to be done about it. We all know how we would like to take back that word more than anything — you can't do it.

That reminds me of another thing here with regard to Amalek. A Class member in this most recent Class, toward the end of our time together, shared something with me regarding Amalek. He had a Jewish background and in his pattern at least — I don't know how universal it is — there was a kind of ritual, I presume, with regard to Amalek, this ancient thing in their history of Amalek, the hated Amalek who tried to destroy them over and over and over. And his pronunciation of the word was “A mol ech” and they would pronounce the word, his own people — “Amalek!” — and then, in gesture, erase it. This was the whole purpose, erasing Amalek, or they would write it down and scrub it out. How futile! This is what the world has been doing generation after generation — keep Amalek alive but rub him out. Why not forget Amalek? We could look to the real substance! But I thought that was very interesting and he saw the analogy, he really found something in this, this young man. But when the word ceases to be uttered, the idle word that falls to the ground, let it fall; and we don't have to erase it, we cannot erase it. Once it is there, that's it, and then something else must begin. But just simply to let Amalek go; it is the only way. Just let him go.

It seems like this is what has been done and continues to be done in the consciousness of man in the earthly hereditary pattern, isn't it? Do the wrong thing and then change it, over and over and over. It seems like all the time is taken up with this; we don't have confessionals here but maybe a sort of an equivalent. But to constantly utter “Amalek” and then do away with it — why don't we quit having to do away with it? Why don't we stop having to change what we do, to right the wrong? And if something happens which may be the result of some wrong function it is a wonderful thing to see right away. “I know the factors that made that happen.” And there is a whole different feeling. If it is an accident there is not the reaction to it: “How did this happen? Why me?” But to really be able to see, instantly I mean, not sit down and think about it; that might help but I am talking about an instant revelation where you say, “I know why that happened!” And not just with respect to the physical thing of leaning on the towel bar and going down with it! but the instant recognition of something much deeper. That is good and there is a clean feeling of a new beginning, of something gone; but that is a different thing from keeping the word “Amalek” in consciousness and then erasing it, because this has been the function ever since man fell. It stays in consciousness; we must always utter “Amalek” and then get rid of it — utterly impossible. Because if this is the word: Melchizedek, that one cannot be there. They cannot occupy the same space.

The Priest of the Most High God

In the Psalms it speaks of each one as being a Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek. This is the same word as the Master's when He said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” It was the same as in His marvelous Prayer of Intercession: “I in them, and thou in me” and they are one, all together in agreement — because this substance is what we have been hearing about: first obedience, then agreement, then spiritual expression. And it is really a thrill to see here in this Holy Place, in this very exquisite Valley, true agreement; many, many experiencing this as never before. I think there is a feeling in the self-active thinking pattern of the world that to agree with somebody, to really let down the bars and maybe find something in what somebody else is saying, this is weak. Oh no, it is very strong! This is strength because then there is a body functioning and not just individuals — substance — and that real genuine substance of agreement is followed by the next step, spiritual expression, the substance which ascends, the increase. This is the increase of the substance and without it there is nothing but bones.

Our Master uttered some very wonderful words which to me apply also in this analogy here, and that was “Go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain.” And in Proverbs: “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase.” I have often wondered why the “first fruits” were so great; the first fruits were always dedicated. To me there is a key herein the Master's words: “Bring forth fruit” but “your fruit should remain.” And if the first fruits are given to the LORD it remains; you don't have a second, third, fourth, or whatever. The first fruit remains and that is the fruit. Here — Melchizedek — this fruit remains. The substance is increased. That is its nature. It doesn't increase to a certain point and then, “Now we've got it; we can put it in a bank and we get interest” or whatever. Well that's all fine on this level but it is a constant, it is a characteristic, of the substance, it increases. And that is life, isn't it? That is eternal life, everlasting life, whatever we want to call it — not ascending after death and then maybe the descending cycle again in incarnation somewhere. I am not knocking that; it has probably had to be. However, the increase of the substance is life, the constant ascending and descending substance, not up and down and up and down — one thing.

The sun shines on the just and the unjust but it seems to me there is a difference with respect to what the just and the unjust do about it. The result isn't the same. The radiation is constant, that which comes down from God out of heaven, we say. But there is nothing on earth without that which blends with that which is coming down, and this is the increase, the substance of one level, and the increase, the refined substance in another level; and all the levels have their own increase, their function. “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase,” that it may remain.

There is another beautiful passage in the Bible and that is in the Song of Solomon. We don't use many passages from this beautiful Book, and this is not the one that we usually use, although if you have been to my class you know I always mention it, and this is from the fourth chapter. To me it is a beautiful portrayal, first a picture of man the way he has made himself to be on earth, his state of consciousness which is separate from the Creator, from God, from the LORD, however we want to put it. It is pictured as a female, rightly, the negative aspect, the means whereby God could be on this planet. It is a picture of this negative body individually or collectively which has removed itself from the Creator, inasmuch as His effectual function through this creation is concerned. “A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” That is a very tight picture. And “a garden inclosed” would be more rightly translated “a garden closed” — “barred” would be a right word. “A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” All the wonder of this magnificent creation is rendered ineffectual purely because man has shut himself out and in essence shut out the LORD. “A spring shut up” is quite a picture to me. A spring is that which bubbles up out of the ground, isn't it? I was wondering what happens when a spring is shut up; it must have to find devious ways in the darkness. Maybe we can think of the subconscious realm, devious and dark, but there is nothing sparkling or bright as that which comes forth from a spring. This has been shut up. Of course the spring shut up dries up altogether in season; it doesn't go on forever that way. “A fountain sealed.” This struck me very particularly because of some other wonderful words which Martin spoke, last Sunday again, with regard to the Book of Life.

This was from Revelation, the seven-sealed book — and here we have a fountain sealed. And no man was able to look upon that book which was sealed or to loose the seals, and here you could say we have a fountain with seven heads. I think a fountain is a beautiful description, very apt, of the Seven Spirits, and we may think of them as the physical counterpart, because there is the counterpart on every level. A fountain — something which comes forth directly — and even if we look at the physical counterparts here, or the seven seals, seven ductless glands, we see “ductless,” a fountain; no ducts, no canals, but directly into the bloodstream. Here are seven fountains! And the marvelous Seven Spirits before the Throne of God have been sealed. Here is the secret to life, as it has been put “life everlasting”, life as long as it is right to be on this planet. How very different so-called life has become through that which has been shut up and sealed.

And there was one way by which the seals could be opened in the book and that was at the hand of the Lamb. The Lamb took the book out of the hand of the Creator, and here, we have been hearing, is spiritual expression, the one way whereby life can be lived on earth the way it was created to be. We are not talking about some foreign, strange way; it is the only natural way, really, that man was ever created to be in. Everything else is completely unnatural, and yet all the other ways, the devious ways, and the distorted self-destructive ways, are accepted as being natural; they are the thing. Nothing is more certain than death, or all those things that lead to death. Human beings always utter “Amalek” and then try to get rid of him, never just let Amalek be gone and let the Priest of the Most High God have expression, collectively but individually, because each is a Priest of that Most High God. The Order of Melchizedek is the design. “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” That is the order; that is the design; and each is rightly a Priest forever after that Order.

There is more to this text: “Thy plants are an orchard of pleasant fruits.” This of course is the Word of the LORD to His creation. “Thy plants are an orchard of pleasant fruits, with all trees of frankincense” and a lot of other beautiful spices, “myrrh”, with all the chief spices. “A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters.” I am reminded of the word in Genesis at the time of Creation: “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.” Here again is the recognition that all these trees are in the Garden, but the Garden has been closed, barred. And perhaps we think of a garden with trees, wonderful trees, all that is available, all that is necessary for man, not only his sustenance on earth but his marvelous enjoyment. But it was all meant to be for the pleasure of the LORD, and of course man has thought of his own pleasure, which means that to get this he must do things in a different way than the LORD might do them, so the Garden has been closed. And here is reference to these trees, these marvelous sources for all life on earth: “A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters.”

Again, in John, the fourth chapter, the Master said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Everlasting life, a well of living waters — this is while we are living, not a dead God that you see when you are dead but a living God while we are living; here is where the living waters are. And He said this well springs up, “shall be in him a well of water” — that is where the well is, that is where the spring is, that is where the fountain is — “in him a well of water springing up” in every moment “into everlasting life.” Water has been looked upon as truth but, you know, it's used everywhere really, if you look into it, as substance, first substance or whatever. “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,” and that doesn't just mean water. Here was whatever substance was necessary in that creation.

I am reminded of Elijah, when fire came down from God out of heaven “and licked up the water that was in the trench” — substance. This is the process of ascension, isn't it, again? Fire from heaven, this marvelous transmuting substance which man can't touch; that one he can't touch and manipulate. It transmutes and it licks up the substance — a picture of the transmuting process, of that which refines and causes to ascend, that doesn't fall to the ground. He says there would never be any more thirsting when this well is present, this which springs up in each moment; no thirsting, no wanting. Here is the absolute provision in every moment within each one.

Now this female aspect that we have been talking about speaks in the Song of Solomon, the negative capacities, the body, mind, heart; the sister, spouse, now the bride. And in Revelation we have the Bride of the Lamb, and the Lamb is the spiritual expression, and here is the negative aspect of that expression; in other words what we are, rightly. Here is this voice now: “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.” In a few words we see something very precise. “Awake” — that's a very positive action. We have been hearing a lot about waking up and it is positive; we even heard that it could be a shock. “North wind” — here is the positive expression as opposed to the south. Here is the north wind, very often the strong thing. The south is often warm and nice and kind. But here is the north wind, and its action, the positive action, is invited: “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south.” “Come, thou south” — here is the negative, absolutely essential. Here is the union, unified radiation, the blending. But there is the action of the negative aspect taken here or nothing would happen. Awake and come, and the spices thereof flow out.

Those trees established in the Garden which have not been allowed to be used — “Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.” His Garden. And the Garden has been thought of as one's own. Man has taken the Garden to be his own, his own possession. The action has been of course man stealing, and he eats the fruits, and he doesn't know how to handle the fruits of that action. That should be rightly, and must be rightly, in the hands of the LORD. And so the invitation is “Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits,” the first fruits that remain, the result of the right action on earth. Melchizedek means King of Righteousness, Prince of Peace — righteousness covering the face of the earth, the fruits of the Garden in the hands of the LORD. And of course, as we know, man has messed around with the fruits, the results of action; he takes this as the seed for further action, and so the same thing is continued over and over — “Amalek, be gone!”

There is another word here, the Word of the LORD after the Bride speaks, and He says, “I am come into my garden.” “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” See the perfect steps, the perfect action here. The Bride is in place, and the LORD is in position to effectively function on earth, to operate again in spiritual expression. And we can see, oh so clearly, how this is true. In agreement, the way is easy. In spiritual expression, the substance is present and we quickly see that manipulating it is utterly futile. Nothing happens; we don't get anywhere! But, when the substance present, it is like magic because the LORD is again in operation; He's in business, and that business is marvelous, and it is not some mysterious business up in the sky. This business right here is taken care of so easily, so smoothly; to the human mind it is miraculous, simply because it said it couldn't be done. But here it is, the substance. And the word of the LoORD in victory certainly comes through these beautiful words: “I am come into my garden.” It has been a long time, in the sense of earthly heredity, according to that viewpoint, since “I am come into my garden.”

Then the next automatic function is “O friends, eat” — then it is passed on. Now we can let it cover the face of the earth. Here is the increase of the substance. “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” That is the Word of the LORD, and who is the LORD? All who are letting this be an absolute reality on earth, not fictional anymore but factual. Then the invitation is extended, strong and sure: “Eat, O friends; drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved.” And this is the Word of the LORD spoken on earth.

Another very beautiful verse in the New Testament, words spoken by the Master: “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” And this is it! l am come into my Garden, and I eat and drink of the fruit of this vine, which is the expression of the body of mankind on earth, but it is the Body of God on earth now, again. That is why He comes into His Garden and that is why all the pleasant fruits and the wonder of this magnificent world, the earth, then is available to Him. And how great is our privilege to be here on earth, on this planet, right now! I have no desire for a spaceship to take me somewhere else because this one is ruined. It so quickly comes back into place when the LORD is on earth to let it happen, to make it happen because we let Him do the job. It very quickly comes back because this is what it wants to do. I suspect that Amalek is happy to get out of there!

The Law works and we are here in this most marvelous position to let it be restored to that One. And we know what His joy is like; we don't have to imagine it; because we have the one who leads us here in the way [Martin], and there is no more beautiful sight than that smile on his face when he is allowed to say, “l am come into my Garden. They are doing it.” There is no more joy actually, no greater joy on earth, than to share in this Law of the LORD which is righteousness, right function. It is the other way that is hard — good and evil.

So I count it all joy and a great privilege to move with each one of you in this place, in the generation of that substance which never falls to the ground. Perhaps we wouldn't speak so often or so much if none of our words were to fall to the ground. I think that is entirely possible. Simply multiplying words seems to lead it in a certain direction; have you noticed? It can start off so nice. We are only saying nice things about people, but there is something about saying things about people that leads into a certain area, and I know we all know what I am talking about. Idle words fall to the ground and that establishes a downward cycle. How marvelous to be able to say with Samuel: “None of my words fall to the ground.” The substance is allowed to be in the ascending cycle to meet that which is coming down from the LORD, and then there is Light.

This is Light, and the darkness flees away and everything that is identified with darkness flees away fast. How good it is to share the words of the LORD in these days, “Behold, I come quickly,” and the response is quick and eager: “Even so, come, LORD.” We can only say that when we are one with that expression, “Behold, I come quickly,” and let all that is not part of this flee away. Darkness flees away when the light is there. It doesn't crawl out; it's gone! You don't even see it go. The light is on and the rest is gone. Melchizedek is here. And Amalak is gone.

Melchizedek Is Here

The LORD is in His Holy Place. Let all the earth keep silence before him. And we share His word, "I am come into my garden. I have drunk my wine. Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." And that is our Word that goes forth to all. He called them friends. And how many friends there are waiting to eat and drink abundantly that which we are right here in position to know right now. Could there be any greater blessing, or any greater mission, or job to do, on the face of the earth?

© emissaries of divine light