Universal Priesthood

Universal  Priesthood

Uranda   April 6, 1953

Man was created in the image and likeness of God, to be the body of God on earth, to be the means by which God's dominion could be extended into the earth with respect to all forms of manifestation here, including the elements. ...

Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God."And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:"And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

In this movement forward, in the process of becoming in actual fact members of the one body, letting the power of God work in us and through us to carry on the divine pattern, we must become priests and priestesses after the order of Melchizedek. We can be hangers-on, or we can be disciples, or followers—a disciple is a follower—or we can reach the point of being prophets (that is, letting the Word of the Lord express through our lips), or we can keep on and become priests or priestesses.

Now I would not want you to feel that I arbitrarily take the stand that every man, woman and child on the face of the earth should be a priest or priestess in the ultimate outworking. There are all kinds of spheres of service and responsibility which relate to that central focalization, and for a person who is content just to be a disciple, well, no one is going to find fault with him if he is a good disciple, or a good prophet or prophetess, as the case may be. There are many spheres of service. But from the standpoint of actually establishing the patterns and accomplishing the will of God on earth, it must be through the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. There is no other way. That is the way which Jesus Christ revealed on earth, and He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He was reestablishing on earth a consciousness, an understanding, a recognition, of the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. 

And we might point out that it is only as human beings have responded to the influence released in the pattern of the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek that they have accomplished anything worthwhile in a real beneficial sense to humanity or to the glory of God, at any time on the face of the earth. This is without respect to church or denomination or creed or color or anything else. You begin to realize that this in which we are sharing comes over to us from the Motherland, from the days before the fall of man, and it is the divine pattern which has not been changed. It is still the same. It is still the same Law and principles of being. What we are speaking of here as the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek was the governing force on earth before the fall of man, and had been for around one hundred and thirty thousand years. And it has been the governing force behind every constructive move, every really blessed life, on the face of the earth since that day, without respect to any of the man-made divisions. In other words, when we begin to recognize the basic truth of the matter, we find that it is the catholic church. Catholic means universal.     

Catholic is universal. To say Roman Catholic is to establish a division, a limit, to build a fence. In other words you begin to see that whatever is constructive or right or real, or response to the spirit of God, in any person on the face of the earth, regardless of nationality or creed or religion or anything else, is a response to that pattern in which we are engaged. We do not use the word "catholic," because of its, well, misuses; that is, we do not use it publicly. But it means universal. And we do not speak of it as a church particularly, in the ordinary sense, because it is much more than the human concept of what a church means. But it is the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. And in order to see the full significance of this, we go back and recognize that the divine pattern was in operation before the fall. This pattern was in operation in relationship to the conditions that worked out after the fall. We remember man's sudden plunge downward into the caveman age, etc., and his gradual emergence into the dim dawn of history. And it was by this means that the focalization of the pattern was carried over from the period that was beyond the range of history, or man's knowledge, and reestablished with respect to the dawn of history.     

So, from my standpoint, any man or woman, regardless of who it is, or where, or in what condition, what they call themselves or anything else—any man or woman on the face of the earth who lets God's will be done, even to the slightest degree, so that there is a real service from it, that person is a part of this which you share here. And it is only to the degree that any person is a part of this, that he or she can amount to anything, I don't care what the standards according to the world concept. But this is, and has been for many thousands of years, the universal pattern with respect to the things of God on earth, the progress of man, everything. Every step of progress that man has made has been worked out under this pattern, without a single exception.     

We have people talk about their churches or their denominations going back two or three hundred years or four hundred years, or back to the time of Jesus, or something of that nature. This program which you are sharing here goes back to the fall of man, on the basis of its present purpose—that is, the restoration of man—and it goes back to the beginning of creation, the beginning of the creation of the world in actual fact. So as far as this world is concerned it cannot be any older than that. It is the divine pattern in operation, and has been since the beginning of the creation of the world. Once we begin to see that, we realize that we have a tremendous responsibility, a glorious privilege, to consciously share in this process of restoration.

But man has been in the fallen state for so long that he imagines that God's whole purpose is just to get him back into heaven, and once that is done, everything is done. This twenty-thousand-year interval in which man has fallen has simply meant that some of the other things that God intended to do have had to wait a bit. Getting man back into the divine pattern is a temporary goal. After man is back in the divine pattern, then we can go on with our cosmic work, our divine pattern of work. Simply saving human beings is not the end and aim of all things; it is merely incidental; because when man fell, man interfered with the processes of God's creative work as it was being carried on in the solar system in relationship to the universe and the cosmos.

The body of humanity became ill. It is not well yet. So as soon as the body of humanity is well and the process of restoration has been worked out, we can go back to work and do the thing that we really were ordained to do, we were intended to do and should be doing. But for the time being we are on a temporary job.

© Emissaries of Divine Light 

It Is Written

It  Is  Written

Uranda   January 12, 1949

Now we note a very interesting and significant point.  "But He answered and said, It is written."  Jesus could have answered in words that had not been written before.  He could have used His Own expression, but His every answer to the tempter was a quotation from something God had already expressed to the children of men through His Prophets.  Jesus did not find it necessary to say anything that had not already been said and made available to the children of men, in order to meet the temptations which confronted Him.  The significance of this is shown, first, by the fact that God had already made provision for the meeting of the tempter's snares long before the coming of our LORD in the flesh; and, secondly He Who was, and is, the LORD of Lords was ready and willing to quote from the Word of God already expressed.  He did not feel that He had to make it original, and something peculiarly His own, to make it effective. 

The Word that had already been written was the word that He used.  "But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."  The significance of that Word, in the fourth verse, which the Master quoted from the third verse of the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, should come home with a new realization to each one here tonight.  "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

© emissaries of divine light

Holy of Holies

from

Holy  of  Holies

Uranda   July 17, 1953

In the encampment of the children of Israel we recognize that each tribe was composed of both male and female. So the positive and negative aspects are seen in the body of the encampment itself. But the positive and negative, or male and female aspects, manifest in many different ways. We have recognized that this particular pattern extends from the solar system to the atom, and is in control, properly, in the divine design, with all things between these two extremes. So let us note with respect to the tabernacle itself what the pattern is. 

There was the outer court of the tabernacle, and anyone who was properly clean, not degenerated into a pattern of just physical cleanliness, etc., but anyone who was classified as clean and was a member of the encampment, in a right sense, could go into the outer court under certain conditions or at certain times. It was more or less open to all. And then there was the next point, with respect to the holy place. It was one of the two rooms of the tabernacle itself, and the holy place was forbidden territory to the people, generally speaking, but any of the priests who were properly officiating could enter the holy place. But at one end of the tabernacle there was a smaller room, cut off by hangings, which was classified as the Holy of Holies. So we see here the three again: the encampment itself, composed of the people, the physical body; the outer court; and then the holy place. And then the Holy of Holies. With the Holy of Holies we have the fourth, the fourth place, which was the place of the ark; and the ark of the covenant provided the means by which the evidence of the presence of the One who Dwells could be made manifest. So the encampment itself represented the physical body, male and female, your physical body. But next we come, as far as the tabernacle is concerned, to the outer court, which symbolizes your outer or your conscious mind. And then the holy place, symbolizing what we call your spiritual expression plane, or the third plane of being. 

But then, within the tabernacle, inside of all of this, was the Holy of Holies, and the only entrance to the Holy of Holies was through the holy place—no entrance into the Holy of Holies except through the holy place. Now the holy place is the place of spiritual things, of spiritual realization, of spiritual understanding, of spiritual correlation with Deity. But the Holy of Holies is the place of Deity, and only the high priest was authorized to enter the Holy of Holies. And it is in the Holy of Holies that we find the Ark of the Covenant, representing the reality of the presence of the One Who Dwells. So your own Lord, or your own individual God being, is indicated there. …

The holy place is a place where all true members of the priesthood may serve in their appointed season, representing the people to God and representing God to the people. Now there is a dual function of those who are true members of the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. The priesthood serves in a dual capacity: representing the people to God, and representing God to the people. Then, in the holy place there is a direct contact; the people could come into the outer court, and any authorized member of the priesthood could be in the holy place. There we have the close association pattern. But only the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies, carrying the pattern to a point of focalization. The people themselves, the body of the twelve tribes, is carried into a pattern of focalization in the priesthood; and the priesthood is carried into a pattern of focalization in the high priest, the supreme point; and the supreme point of this focalization meets the focalization of Deity in the Holy of Holies. So there is the contact, in the direct sense, with God. …

We have male and female in the body of mankind. When it emerges to the point of the representation where we are considering the priesthood in the tabernacle, what do we find? The priesthood as such, then, represents the positive or male principle, and the tabernacle as such represents the negative or female principle. In the final analysis we find that the high priest represents the male sex organ, and the Holy of Holies represents the female sex organs; because sex, in its divine sense, in its true sense, is the holiest and most sacred thing that there is in relationship to mankind on earth.

from

The  Holy  of  Holies

Martin Cecil   December 25, 1972

In the story told in the Book of Job long ago, "There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them." Satan is the self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man. The self-centeredness and the self-will of man is what impels him to do what he does. Satan is certainly not an unknown quantity in the world as it is in this day and hour, for here is the compulsion which drives men to do what they do. In that day long ago, it is said that Job was a perfect and an upright man who feared God and eschewed evil. There was, however, evidently a weakness in the hedge about him. One of the evidences of this weakness was indicated at the point when his wife suggested that he curse God and die; she was not in agreement with him. Because of whatever weaknesses there were in Job's hedge Satan was able to enter in, bringing disaster. Because the holy place was not maintained by those who were responsible for it the hedge was breached. The self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man, Satan, the adversary, took command of the situation temporarily and, as I say, there was disaster and tragedy.

As I welcome you to the holy place this morning as the sons and daughters of God the question arises as to whether Satan comes with you, whether there is anything remaining in your consciousness which is in agreement with the self-centered, self-willed state. At that time, because there was a weakness in the hedge, what Satan had to say necessarily had to be listened to. This morning I trust that we may ignore anything that he may have to say. He has many specious arguments to maintain his position in those who are self-willed and self-centered, but relinquishing this state of consciousness in favor of praise and thanksgiving to God, Satan may be ignored, certainly not agreed with. Because our agreement is with the Lord in the holy place we may come before the veil which connects the holy place with the Holy of Holies.

To you this morning I represent that most holy place. And remember that only the High Priest enters therein. But the High Priest—whoever he may be at any particular time in the unfoldment of the creative purposes of God—represents the Lord to the priesthood and represents the priesthood to the Lord. The High Priest and the priesthood represent the Lord to the people and the people to the Lord (these are the people of the encampment). The High Priest, the priesthood and the people of the encampment represent the Lord to the world and the world to the Lord. Here is the first recognition of a certain detail to the pattern of representation. There is an intricacy to it, requiring each individual to be faithful and true, maintaining integrity in his or her place in the overall design.

In this pattern of representation, we have moved out of the encampment into the outer court and through the outer court into the holy place to provide the setting in the holy place for the spirit of the living God. That spirit is represented to you this morning by the spirit of the words which I speak, that you may know that the holy place is a reality because of the reality on earth of the Holy of Holies. All that is essential to every human being on the face of the earth springs from the Holy of Holies. To deny this truth is to die. Because the children of men, in their self-centeredness and self-will, have been persistently denying this truth and betraying the Lord in consequence, they have died, and the whole world moves to the point of death. Death to what? To self-centeredness and self-will. If a person is identified with this then it is death to that person, but if the priesthood is present on earth in right relationship to the High Priest, then the door is opened to life; there is life for the world; there is a future for the world on this basis. Those who indulge in self-will and self-centeredness take the attitude, so often, described by the words, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." That's true, of course, for those who indulge in such fantasy. Death is the chosen course, but only by reason of their own attitudes, by reason of their own decision; for the Lord has ordained life. This is a world of life. This is a world uniquely created to reveal the glory of life in all its fulness. What remarkable variety there is on earth for this purpose even now after all these thousands of years of human self-centeredness and self-will.

So we stand again in the holy place, aware of the reality of life, life which is revealed by the cloud of glory of the Shekinah Pattern. The cloud of glory emanates from the Holy of Holies because therein is the light that glows and the fire that burns, the source and the origination of everything that is required for the manifestation of life at every level on earth through mineral, vegetable, animal and man. But man holds the key to life or death. Assuming the posture of ignorant self-centeredness and self-will, he dies, and he takes his world with him. 

Acknowledging again the reality of life as represented by the priesthood and the High Priest, the experience of what has been called the resurrection immediately applies. There are two ways: the broad way in which human beings have been treading recklessly for centuries, and the narrow way, the way of integrity, the way of honor and honesty, the way of beauty and meaning, the way of life. Out of the Holy of Holies the word is spoken through the priesthood, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve: If the Lord be God then serve Him, but if Baal, Satan, self-centeredness, then serve him." Every human being on the face of the earth must make this choice. This choice has been made in every generation all down through the ages, but now we come to the time of culmination when the whole stupid mess of self-centeredness may be swept from the face of the earth. This occurs by reason of the creative power of God, not by any mighty effort of man, whose sole effort is the digging of his own grave.

This year, as never before, the unfoldment of what has been occurring during this weekend of Christmas has been placed in my hands so that the spiritual aspects of Christmas might dominate. Heretofore, the material aspects have tended to dominate. All that has been unfolding here was brought to me by those responsible so that it might be to this extent in my hands. Because it has been in my hands and because there has been the openness of response that has appeared, because of whatever measure of integrity is present, we have moved to this hour. We have moved to stand before the veil, a place of trembling and yet a place longed for in the hearts of those whose response and integrity brings them here.

The veil connects the Holy of Holies with the holy place. It is not a veil of separation. It is a veil that is rightly there, impenetrable to all but the High Priest, and no one with integrity would ever seek to tear it aside. It is of the quality that allows what is present in the Holy of Holies to shine forth into the holy place, so that the holy place may be the place of the experience of what originates in the Holy of Holies. The setting of holiness is maintained that it might be so, that the birth of water and of the spirit might be the constant experience. As this hedge is maintained to preserve the holiness of the holy place the creative power of God becomes increasingly evident, shining forth through the veil into the holy place, through the priesthood into the outer court where the consciousness of those who occupy the encampment comes to focus in praise and thanksgiving. The glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle, the outer court, the encampment, and shines round about. There is nothing on earth that can contend with the power of God when it is made manifest in this fashion. The world is inevitably restored and man comes again into his place, made in the image and likeness of God, walking upright and perfect on earth, fearing God and eschewing evil. Behold, all things are thereby made new. The world becomes again a world of life and not a world of death, the world of God and not the world of Satan.

Lift up your hearts and eyes in this hour in praise and thanksgiving to God in the consciousness of the quality and the character of God, which is your own, and in the awareness of the Lord God in the holy place, in the midst. As the Lord Himself said when He was on earth, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name"—in the consciousness of me—"there I am in the midst of them." So it is in this hour. So it is in every hour when there are men and women of integrity who stand in that integrity revealing the truth of themselves in the expression of the glory of life on earth. That glory of life made manifest is the cloud of glory of the Shekinah. Behold, in this hour, so it is established to you, and through you and all those of integrity who share the responsibility of the priesthood of God on earth today.

© emissaries of divine light