As we see the indication of the
earth’s share in the resurrecting power of God, the beginning manifestations of
the springtime; and as we see the pattern of that process of resurrection
extending into the realm of birds and animals bursting with the joy of life, we
recognize that it is God’s will that we should share here and now in the spirit
and the reality of the resurrection—that we ourselves may move into a new
pattern of life and share in the coming of the Garden of God from out of the
east, from out of the future, into the expression of life here on earth. The
Master said that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, the Garden that God planted
eastward in the beginning, the means by which we may let the Divine take form
on earth—and in the prayer which He taught men to pray, we find the words, “Thy
kingdom come.” If it had not been for the reality of that Kingdom, the power of
the Kingdom, the truth of the Kingdom, our Master Himself could not have
revealed the victory. Thy Kingdom come—and we have the privilege of receiving
the reality of that Kingdom in our lives more fully today. And that prayer
concluded, “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever.” Forever.
The Master made that statement a
little over nineteen centuries ago. These nineteen centuries that have passed
were included in that forever. This present moment is included in forever—and
yet human being have imagined that the Kingdom of God could not have any
meaning on earth, that the power of God could not be effective on earth, that
man had, for some reason or other, to face the necessity of living his little
life-span on earth as if the power of God were not a reality, as if that power
could have meaning only some time in the future, or after the human being has
passed from this sphere of things. The will of God is done in Heaven, and the
Kingdom of God is in Heaven, but the will of God is to be done on earth as it
is in Heaven, and the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory belong to the KING,
our Father in Heaven, forever—and that forever includes this present moment,
this hour which we now share. If we are to experience that which God would have
us know in this hour, we must begin to recognize that the Kingdom and the Power
and the Glory of God are a reality in this hour, that they are available to us
in this hour. We cannot accept the blessings of God when we do not actually
believe that they are present with us, and available to us.
We read the record and find that
there were those in the long ago who sought to find out LORD in the tomb. They
came to the tomb weeping, they looked within the tomb—they were trying to find
God, to find the LORD of Heaven and Earth, in the tomb. Even when their own
eyes revealed the fact that He was not there, they could hardly believe it—even
when they were told, they still doubted—and humanity has been looking for the
LORD in the tomb for nineteen centuries. Those who claim to follow him have not
learned the lesson contained in the record: “He is not here.” He liveth; He is
risen; He is not here. “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” And yet, for
nineteen centuries those who have thought to follow Him have been looking in
the tomb to find the LORD.
When they begin to move to the end
of their days on earth, how many there are who say, “I am soon going to die; I
am going to meet my Lord.” They are going to find the Lord in the tomb! Why
look ye for the living among the dead?—for God is a God of the living and not
of the dead. The Master quoted these words of Divine inspiration. For God is a
God of the living and not of the dead. “Why seek ye the living among the dead?”
For nineteen centuries human beings have been looking to the tomb to find the
LORD. They say, “We know that He is not in the tomb; we believe that He rose
from the tomb; but I’ll find Him in the tomb nevertheless. When I go into the
tomb, there I will find my Lord.” Why look for the living among the dead?
Does the God of the Living, who is
not the god of the dead, according to the Master’s Word, have to wait until
people are dead before He can begin to be their God; before He can begin to
make manifest the reality of His Kingdom, His Truth, the control, the design,
the beauty of Life, the power to make that design have meaning? Why must human
beings imagine that it is not until they go into the grave that they can find
the LORD? “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” Until we begin to realize that
God is indeed the God of the Living we cannot begin to have that pattern of consciousness
which will allow the promises of God to have meaning in our lives here and now.
As long as man insists on postponing the promises that relate to life until
after he is dead, he cannot know the fulfilment of those promises while he
lives on earth.
We have recognized that man has
come to believe that Jesus Christ did die, and that He had to die to save man.
For centuries this concept has been held by human beings, but until we begin to
see the truth: first, that he did not die upon the cross; and second, that it
was not God’s Will that He should die—we cannot understand His teaching; we
cannot receive the beauty of His promises; we cannot experience the reality of
living. Humanity has imagined that the God of the Living somehow sentenced His
Son to die, and that without His death there could be no resurrection. While
the Master yet lived, before the crucifixion, the Word of God passed through
His lips: “I am the resurrection and the life.” He did not say, “I am going to
be the resurrection and the life after I am dead.” He said, long before the
resurrection morn, in relationship to Himself, “I am the resurrection and the
life.” If we are to accept the Word of Jesus Christ as having meaning, if it is the truth, then the concept
that He had to die is not truth—because He was the resurrection before He was
crucified; He was the Life before He was crucified.
Let us consider for a moment, some
of the factors which have confused the minds of men with respect to these
fundamental principles of Being. When
our Master came into the world to reveal the Way, the Truth and the Life, He
did not add, at any time, I came into the world to show you how to die, and how
to be resurrected after you are dead. Not once! He spoke many times of life, of
living, of glorifying God in life, of letting the power of God work through our
lives to the glory of our Father in Heaven. He spoke about letting the Kingdom
come and have meaning in our lives; He spoke of letting the Father’s Will be
done on earth as it is in Heaven; but He did not suggest that these things
could not be known to the children of men until after they are dead—for He
recognized that it was here on earth that there was a need. Presumably those
who have gone to heaven are not suffering; presumably they are in peace;
presumably all is well with them. And our LORD and KING, when He was on earth,
said that the physician is for those who are well and strong. No! He made the
statement—when He was accused of serving publicans and sinners—He made the
statement that the need for the physician is with the sick. Are they sick in heaven?
or on earth? Where is the need for the manifestation of the power of God? When
the human being gets to heaven, is he going to carry some great blessing to
heaven; is he going to serve there in some marvellous way, to increase the
beauty and glory and wonder of heaven? Obviously not! For the human being to
feel that by going to heaven he is going to increase God’s Glory in heaven is
presumption and arrogance. No!
The Master said that he who would
be great among you, let him be the servant of all. Is your goal to be the
servant of all those who would dwell in heaven, so that you would be great? His
Ministry was a Ministry of service—He taught the principles of service; He
exemplified the principles of service; and He made it clear that that service
was to be rendered on earth, that it was here where there is the misery and the
suffering and the sorrow and the death, that there was need for the
manifestation of the resurrecting power of God, the need for the power of God
in the lives of the children of men while they walked on earth. If we were to
assume that the God of Love somehow, as is imagined, decreed that Jesus Christ
had to come into the world and die before human beings could be saved—which is
not true—then, remember, we must accept—if we are to be logical and
reasonable—we must accept the idea that Judas was not betraying our LORD, he
was serving God, and that outside of our LORD Himself on earth, we owe a debt
of gratitude that is greater to Judas than to any other man that ever lived.
If we take the attitude that Jesus
Christ had to die on the cross, we must take the attitude that all of those who
helped produce the process of crucifixion were serving God and it is only
because of them and their deeds that we can hope to have salvation—only because
Pilate was so weak-kneed and spineless that he could not stand up to the people,
but washed his hands of the whole affair. So by spineless Pilate we were
accorded the privilege of salvation; by Judas who betrayed we were accorded the
privilege of salvation; by Peter who denied; by those who drove the nails into
His hands; by all of those who fled Him at the time of the trial; by all of
those who shouted crucify Him, release unto us Barabbas, the murderer and the
robber—by all of these who served God so excellently, we are granted the
privilege of salvation! When we begin to stop and look at it, we see that this
contemptible lie that has been foisted upon humanity has made man believe that
since Jesus could not know the resurrection until after he was dead, so
likewise we cannot—to make people believe that all the promises of God are to be
fulfilled after they are dead; to deny the words the Master spoke in so many
ways; for we begin to see that these things are not the words of our LORD.
These concepts and beliefs, they have been added, or they have been expressed
by human beings who did not understand the teaching of our LORD Jesus Christ He
said, “Follow me.” He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” But man has
continued to look for the LORD in the tomb, as if that is the only place they
could find Him; that God is not powerful enough to make His Power have any
meaning while we are living, only after we are dead, only in the future some time,
somehow.
Blessed Ones, if Jesus Christ died
on the cross His body would not have come forth from the tomb. You can consider
the medications that were applied to His body—pain-relieving elements, healing
ointments. He was unconscious when they took Him from the cross, but His body
was not dead, or His body would not have come from the grave. If man had been
able to kill the Son of God on earth, God would have had no means, then, of
saving man. It was the very fact that Jesus did not die on the cross that
proves that God has the power to establish His Kingdom on earth, for if man had
killed God in fact, then man would have been superior to God and there would
have been no hope of salvation; but the fact that when man did his worst,
committing the greatest atrocity of all time, the fact that under those
circumstances the body of Jesus did not die—it is because of this that the
resurrection has true meaning for each and every one of us; for it means that
no matter what the ill conditions which we must face, no matter what suffering,
no matter what need of healing, the power of God is great enough to provide the
victory—and it is a victory in living.
What victory is there in relationship to this world, where the need is, if that
victory shall come only after death? I ask you? He came into the world to
establish a victory on earth in relationship to the lives we live here now; and
if the only victory that our LORD could make manifest was a victory after He
was dead and beyond the control of human beings, beyond their reach, then what
victory is it? A victory to die? Sometimes, perhaps, the way the world is. But
if our LORD had not revealed to us how to live, how to experience the reality
of the resurrection here and now, why did He come into the world? If His Ministry
was only with respect to something after death, why did He need to come into
the world? He could do it all after we were dead. He could do it in some other
realm. If He did not come into the world to reveal something with respect to
living life her eon earth, why did He come? He could have stayed in that realm,
and have done anything in that realm that He did, if He had died, or could have
done.
I know that it seems at first to
the human mind that it is sacrilegious. This concept, this lie, has been held
for centuries, and there are millions of sincere men and women who have never
heard of anything else, who have no way of knowing the truth—the truth that
makes men free—but when human beings look at the life of Jesus Christ, instead
of seeing a life of victory they see a life that was persecuted, and it came to
an end, as far as this world is concerned, on the cross. And humanity is filled
with futility. It has no hope which will allow the acceptance of God’s promises
in relationship to this time, this place where we live; and man is denied the
privilege of sharing in the victory. There is no condemnation in our hearts
when we recognize this truth; no condemnation towards any, no criticism of any—but
our Master said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free.” Man has been believing this concept for nineteen centuries, and has it
made the world of humanity free? It has not. Those who suffer physically, are
they all non-Christians; are those who are in hospitals, all non-Christians;
are those who have difficulties all non-Christians? No! The degree to which the
actuality of the power about which the Master taught us to pray—what is the
difference? We look out into the world, Christian or non-Christian—actually,
from the standpoint of those who classify themselves as Christians it is all a
hope for the hereafter, after they are dead, after they are gone from this
sphere of things, then they are going to have heaven. But the Master’s life was
a life of service and He taught us to serve; He said to let the power of God
have meaning on earth here and now. He did the works, and He said, “He that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” He did not once say,
“You’ll have to believe that I died on the cross.” How many there are who think
they are teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ when they say, “I
teach Jesus and Him crucified”—as if that were the end and aim and goal of all
that Jesus did on earth—and Him crucified; Him subject to the power of man,
brought to a state of degradation. Yes, He did go through those horrible
experiences, but not to die—to prove the victory over man, over the power of
man, over the ability of man to defeat God.
Once we begin to see that if we
are to serve—it isn’t to be in some hereafter, in some heaven, it is to be on
earth, where we are. If we are going to serve God and
man we must have a share in letting the Kingdom come now—but what is His
Gospel? The Gospel as He stated it, was and is, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; available to us, within
reach. And what did He say, “And this gospel, this good news of the Kingdom,
shall be preached in all the world, as a witness unto all nations; and then
shall the end come.” But where are those who have taught the Gospel of the
Kingdom, or preached it? They have preached an idea that Jesus died on the
cross; that you have to believe on His shed blood, as they put it. Yes, blood
is the symbol of life. He expressed His life on earth; He lived His life among
men, revealing the Way, the Truth and the Life—not death—revealing the power of
God among men, revealing the laws of God, the truths of God, and He taught men
to pray, “Thy Kingdom come”—and He did not include in that prayer, “… two or
three thousand years from now.” So many claim, “Well, God’s kingdom is going to
come some day; it will come some day in the future; we’ve been looking for it
for some nineteen centuries now; we surely will not have to wait much longer.”
How is it going to come?—ready made, floating down from the sky, into the world;
ready made; man will not have to do anything; he will not have to serve; he
will not have to the life of Christ on earth; he will not have to do the works
of God on earth. It’s a denial of everything that Jesus Christ taught, to
believe that His Kingdom is coming in any such fashion! Actually, the Bible
does not teach it. It is something that has been developed out of the figments
of human fancy.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done
on earth as it is—in exactly the same manner, not in a different manner. If we
were to believe these popular concepts we would have to say—not, “Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven”
but—Thy will be done on earth as it is not
done in heaven. They would have to be two different wills: one for the state of
Heaven and one for the state of the earth—for here we would have to be subject
to misery and sorrow. Every ill thing is supposed to be the will of God, which
is a lie. It is not God’s will that any should perish. It is God’s will that
His will should be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Do you think it is God’s
will that all the Beings in Heaven shall die? Is it God’s will that those
Beings who have gone to Heaven, whoever they are, that after they live for
fifty years, or a hundred years, or a thousand, they must die? If it is not
God’s will that the Beings in Heaven shall die, then it is not God’s will that
Beings on earth should die—or our Master didn’t know what He was talking about
when He taught men to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is—in exactly the same manner “as it is in heaven”. Thy
Kingdom come—where? in Heaven? on earth! “Thy will be done”—where—on earth, “as
it is in heaven”—and then the words, “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever.”
Are we going to acknowledge that
God does have the power to change things on earth, to meet these conditions? Is
God an impractical God? Did He not create man? Does He not know the needs of
man? Did the Master not say, “Your heavenly Father knoweth what things ye have
need of before ye ask him”? Is our God so impractical that He does not know
what we need on earth? Why did Jesus Christ come into the world? He came into
the world to reveal the Way, the Truth and the Life, and He established His own
pattern of beliefs. “He that believeth on me”, and He introduced it, “Verily,
verily”—or truly, truly, “I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall ye do also.” Where are the works? Where are the evidences of
belief? Human beings say they believe that they’ve been saved, that they are
going to be all right when they die, meanwhile they are subject to every ill
thing. They say, “But the devil reigns here; we can’t get away from that; this
is the devil’s kingdom; so we have to suffer; so we have to do all kinds of
things.” But what did He teach men to pray? “Thine is the kingdom”—not going to be—“Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.” Why must we say,
“Thine is going to be the kingdom; meanwhile we are subject to the devil;
meanwhile we are subject to these ill things; we can’t help it. Jesus Christ
didn’t mean it when he said, ‘Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which
is in heaven is perfect.’ He didn’t mean it.” But He did—of course He meant it, every word of it. And He did not ask
the impossible of us. The human concept of what it means to be perfect may be a
far cry from the Divine design. But He said, “And ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free.”
What was it that was to make you
free? Man says, “You believe that Jesus died on the cross to save you from your
sins, and you’ll be free.” Jesus says, “And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.” Now, which is it? Are we to believe man or Jesus
Christ? Over and over again, the Master’s words sounded in the earth, and the
record comes down to us, revealing the fact that we are to live on earth, that
we are to let the power of God have meaning on earth—and that we can; and that we can serve God. How? By
saying, “We’ll drift through life; we’ll get by the best we can; we’ll do what
we have to to be saved, and then we’ll serve God when we get to heaven; we’ll
serve God forever. Won’t it be wonderful to serve God in heaven.” How about
serving God on earth, and letting His power have some meaning, His will
accomplish something! Is God’s power so weak that it cannot penetrate into this
realm? Is His will so weak that it can
have no real meaning in our lives? Jesus Christ did not come into the world
teaching a weak and vacillating pattern of life. If ever anyone, anywhere
revealed strength and courage and power, it was the manifestation of our LORD
and KING on earth. Nobility!—the simple majesty of the KING He was and is. Why
must we take His words then, and pervert them, and teach men so? He spoke about
that too—about how there would be those who would pervert His words, and teach
men so; and it has been done.
Blessed Ones, once we begin to
recognize that our LORD and KING intended that His Kingdom should be extended into
the earth, and not just kept in Heaven; once we begin to realize that as He had
power over evil, the devil, or over demons, or whatever else you want to call
them, at that time, His power made manifest through those who should follow Him
is sufficient to meet the devil on his own ground, if we are going to consider
it from that standpoint. Suppose there is such a devil. Is there not the powers
great enough to meet the devil on his own ground, and overcome, and come forth
in victory? Our LORD and KING is not a weak KING. Why should we live as if He
were? He came forth in the victory of the resurrection. He invited us to follow
Him.
“I am the resurrection and the
life.” Blessed Ones, until we begin to recognize that we do not have to die
first, in order to experience these things, we can begin to study the words of
Jesus Christ on the basis of what He said, and not on the basis of the
colorations and distortions of the human mind—that we may begin to know the
truth about Jesus Christ, and the wonderful revelation of God’s Deity, God’s
Power, God’s Love that He made manifest, and he said, “Follow me.” Follow
me—just to come and kneel at the foot of a cross as if it were a shrine? No!
What have human beings been worshipping down through the centuries? They have
not been worshipping our LORD and KING. They have been worshipping the image of
a dead body on a cross, and then they wondered why there was no manifestation
of life, why no victory, why no world-transforming power! How shall His power
come, if not through man? He created man in the beginning to be the means by
which His dominion should extend into the world, that man should have dominion
over the earth, and all the things that are therein. If the dominion of the
Kingdom of God is to extend into the world, it must be through man. It will not
be by some mystic, magic means dreamed up by human fancy. It will be by the
working of the power of God through the lives of men and women who dare to know
the truth, and let the truth make them free.
Until we begin to realize that the
reason why there has been no true manifestation of power through all the
millions of people who call themselves Christians is simply that they have been
worshipping the image of a dead body on a cross. The have not been worshipping
a risen LORD. Oh, they mention it a little bit on Easter! But look at the life
that is lived, look at the attitude, consider the facts of the case! To worship
the image of a dead body on a cross, or to worship God—to worship the LORD, all
powerful, whom man could not kill, who came forth victorious over man and over
all the limitations which man imposed, all the indignities that man could heap
upon Him, as he perpetrated the greatest atrocity of all time! No! It was man
in his self-will, in his self-determination that was supposed to be
crucified—not Jesus! It was man, limited to the conditions in which it humanity
finds itself that was supposed to be resurrected. Jesus was not supposed to
need resurrection.
If we begin to read the Bible and see what it
actually says, and to recognize that these laws and principles are scientific.
When man says, “Here is a fanciful dream; there are many questions we cannot
answer; you’re not supposed to understand them; we’re just supposed to believe
them, somehow”—Blessed Ones, we can know the truth! We can understand every
step in the Way of Life, we can understand the working of life and let it be
used to the Glory of God and to the blessing of the children of men. Our
purpose is to serve, according to the pattern Jesus Christ established, and not
according to the pattern of some human fancy. Consider all the divisions among
the churches, all over some little sectarian point or other; there are about as
many divisions and variations in this regard in the Roman Catholic Church as
there are in the Protestant churches, this pattern believing this and this
pattern believing that. There are divisions and variations of every sort in all
the religions, and what is the result? No power! A promise of power that will
save you after you are dead—and that’s all—a promise of a power that is
supposed to save you when you’re dead! But when you’re dead its too late—you
are no longer living on earth. You can no longer serve God on earth; no longer
let your life be what God intended it to be. And so, Blessed Ones, if we are
going to share in the resurrection and the life, we must of necessity begin to
realize that man’s concepts are of no avail. Nineteen centuries have passed and
man has had a chance to prove out all of his concepts, and there have been many—but
Blessed Ones, we cannot depend upon man’s concepts.
We must reach a point where
we know the truth, the truth that makes men free; the truth, the living truth
that we can live on earth and let the victory of our LORD and KING have some
meaning while we live—not merely to save us when we die—for it is the Kingdom
of God on earth which the Master taught us to pray for. Thy Kingdom come. Thy
will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the
Power, and the Glory, forever. In the Christ. Aum-en.
We gather for a special period of Meditation on what is commonly spoken of as Good Friday. Just why it should be called good when it commemorates the crucifixion is a question that some have never been able to understand. But this affords us a wonderful opportunity, because the so-called Christian world has attention centered today upon the events which took place nineteen centuries ago, in relationship to the life of our LORD and KING.When we recognize that He was and is our LORD and KING we can readily recognize special significance in that which He presented on earth. We can recognize that when He spoke, He was in actual fact outlining for the children of men, the Policies of His Kingdom—the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, as it now is. And, when man rebelled against that Kingdom to the extent of undertaking to destroy the KING of that Kingdom, certain vibratory factors were established. Man revealed himself in his self-activity as being the enemy of the KING and of the Kingdom of God. With the last strength which remained in His body, and the last breath before the pain and the suffering was obliterated by unconsciousness, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This was the KING’s statement with respect to His enemies—not merely those who stood by, or who were present at the moment, or who lived on earth at that time, but with respect to all of those through all of the centuries who rebelled against the Kingdom of God on earth—all of those who in times past, or in this present time, have rebelled against the reality of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Even though there be limitations, even though there is vast room for progress spiritually, morally, with respect to character, and understanding and living, in our own land, and in those lands or people’s or nations which stand with us in the present world situation, there is a manifestation of light and the understanding of freedom, and a recognition of the dignity of man which stands as a bulwark against those aggressors who would enslave mankind. At the present time, there are certain out-workings which rekindle hope that the Korean conflict can soon come to an end; and that American and our allied men in uniform may soon be free of the necessity of facing death in such a conflict—in other words, today there are enemies of that degree of freedom we have come to know, that degree of understanding which has been made prevalent in what we speak of as the free nations of the world. And, our attitude should conform to the pattern of attitude which our Master made manifest on earth with respect to the unenlightened ones who failed to take advantage of the glorious opportunity which His Presence on earth made manifest.
There are enemies within and without, individually and collectively, enemies which would crucify the degree to which spiritual things have been made manifest. And this morning, I would that we should take advantage of this hour as an opportunity to release the Spirit of the Living Christ into the world on a basis which allows the power of God to reach and deal with those enemies of spiritual progress, by which men may come to know the Way, the Truth and the Life. We have over three million men in the uniform of our country, serving to maintain a protective barrier against those enemies who understand no language but the language of physical force. Because the world today is an armed camp, facing all of these conflicts by reason of enmity, by reason of man’s efforts to crucify the things of God on earth, I have come before you in the Chaplain’s uniform of the Civil Air Patrol, to the end that we may in this hour pray for peace, not merely cessation of armed conflict, but for the working of the Spirit of God by reason of which man may begin to know peace within himself, have within himself that basis of security which allows him to feel no need for conflict. Conflicts spring from the sense of insecurity, and the sense of insecurity springs from the sense of weakness and of guilt, and these are founded in the sense of shame which man seeks to cover up by his self-active arrogance and pride.
In the face of this picture as it stands in the world today, we have the picture of the KING of Heaven and Earth, with His body mutilated, bruised and bleeding, upon the cross. The dignity, the majesty, the kingliness of His bearing and attitude are readily recognized, and the unspeakable love of His Being to the children of men is revealed in that Word, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And these words remind us of the prayer which He taught men to pray: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, to all the children of men. Thy Kingdom come, in and through each one, and to all the world, that Thy Kingdom of Peace may receive all those troubled human beings who honestly and sincerely seek peace; and that Thy Will may be done on earth as it is in heaven; that heaven and earth may be one; that the unnatural distortions that for so long have distinguished the earth from heaven may be banished away; and that the seeds of conflict in the hearts of men may be brought to naught because they yield to Thy Spirit; and let the sense of insecurity be banished away in the face of the heavenly security of Thy Eternal Kingdom; and that each may come to realize the significance of the prayer: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever. In the Christ. Aum-en.
For nineteen centuries man has hesitated and held back and failed to take full advantage of the opportunity accorded to mankind by our Master’s Presence on earth. But in spite of all of the stupidity, all of the reactions, all of the false concepts, all of the selfishness and self-centredness, a certain power has been constantly and consistently flowing through the lives of the children of men, and the reason for this evidence of victory in the face of all the odds which have appeared on earth can be found in the Spirit and attitude of our KING when He faced the indignities which human beings heaped upon him: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” As soon as we can see the vital significance of these words, and the attitude conveyed in them, we can begin to see the secret of His Power which has extended into the lives of the children of men in spite of all of the things which have sought to crucify the manifestation of that power.
The first man who dared to undertake the work of translating the Bible into the English language [William Tyndale] did so in violation of the laws of England and in the face of the efforts of the King of England and his officers to stop it. He fled from England for his life and managed to get the first translation of the New Testament translated and printed, working in secret and constantly fleeing for his life. Finally he smuggled some English Bibles into England, and again had to flee for his life. Those Bibles were gathered up and burned in one of the great churches of England, and his work was denounced as the work of the devil. On the continent, he lived for a number of years, working to complete the translation of the Bible, fleeing from one city to another, and finally was captured. He was returned to England, tried for his treasonable work in translating the Bible into English—and he was condemned to death, bound to the stake, strangled and burned for daring to translate the Bible into the English language. That was about 1536. His last words, after he was bound at the stake and the executioner was about to strangle him and start the fire, were, when he was asked if he had anything to say, “I pray to the LORD that the eyes of the King of England may be opened.” There was no word of resentment, no word of condemnation—a remarkable pattern in which he followed the Spirit of our LORD on the cross. The spirit of forgiveness, insofar as the treatment which had been accorded to him was concerned, but a prayer that the eyes of the King of England would be opened.
William Tyndale 1494 - 1536
Two years later, just two years later, it became lawful in England, not only to translate the Bible, not only to print it (for anyone who undertook to print it was subject to death, up to that time) but to read the Bible in English in places of public worship. The power of that Spirit made manifest in the life of a man who was so dedicated, and faced all of these difficulties, and came to the moment of execution, with such a prayer upon his lips—and within two years that prayer was answered, in 1538, and those who had been his enemies, who had sought his life for so long, who had made his life a miserable thing for over fifteen years, while he sought to translate the Bible and get it printed, to find a printer who would risk his life to do the job, were won over and were no longer enemies to that which he had sought to achieve. To my mind, this is one of the most remarkable illustrations in all history, of the results of a true dedication to a noble purpose, and to the Spirit of our LORD and KING, and to a man who, having been so persecuted for so long, and finally brought to an unjust trial and condemned to death, could manifest the same Spirit which our KING expressed, and pray that the eyes of the King of England should be opened.
Is it not possible that we should express a spirit of forgiveness toward the enemies who seek to crucify the things of God on earth, and pray that their eyes may be opened? On a certain occasion, the KING of Heaven and Earth was outlining the policies of His Kingdom, His Kingdom that was to extend into the earth, and we have been called to share the work of extending that Kingdom; and we are indebted to this man who defied the laws of England, and the King of England and his Majesty’s officers of the law, to undertake to translate the Bible into English. It was seventy-five years later, after the Bible became legally acceptable in English, that this version that I hold here, the King James version, was begun—the work of translation and printing—and we have the privilege of freely owning a Bible and studying it. There are parts of the world where it is not so easily done. But here we have a statement of policy with respect to the Kingdom. (Matthew 5:43-48)
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
We have touched upon the basic Secrets of Being—the basic principles by which life may be made meaningful on earth—and this is one of those basic Secrets of Being which the Master presented and exemplified. It is a statement of the policy of the Kingdom of God on earth, and of the citizens of that Kingdom. On this day in which man remembers the atrocities which man dealt out to the KING of Heaven and Earth, can we do more than to allow this policy to have a deeper significance in our own lives, a deeper meaning, a deeper power of control? You may say, “But I have accepted this policy of the Kingdom.” You may say that you seek to live by it, and I do not question but what you do, to a considerable degree. But in the lives of those who have so functioned that there was no resentment, even for a moment, when the pattern of expression in life was governed in the absolute sense by this policy, have been those who have made their mark in the world: to nullify and bring to nought man’s effort to crucify God and the things of God. Once we begin to see that it was on the basis of actually living according to this policy of the Kingdom that it was made possible for the Master’s Spirit to continue to exert an influence down through the centuries to our present day; once we begin to see that this is a policy of strength and of courage, of assurance and of power; once we begin to see that man is still in self-activity seeking to crucify the things of God, and we have a part to play in nullifying those efforts, in bringing them to nought, we can begin to be instruments through which that Spirit, which extends through the centuries to this hour, may find more effective manifestation on earth.
Blessed Ones. In that day, there were those who had a short time before cried, “Hosanna to the King.” But when Pilate asked the question, “What would ye have me do?” they cried, “Crucify him.” No voices were raised in protest. No voices were raised to stand with Him. That tendency still remains in humanity. They cried, “Release unto us Barabbas.” A man who was a robber and a murderer—they were willing for him to go free, willing for the symbol of man’s self-activity to remain free. But the symbol of freedom in the Kingdom of God was to be crucified. How do we stand, when heavenly things are being crucified? What is our attitude? To remain still, and out of sight, and let the processes of crucifixion carry on unopposed? Such a cowardly attitude is based in fear—if there was not fear and resentment, there would be willingness to stand on a clear pattern of principle, a clear pattern of individual and collective attitude; not in the sense of condemning, but in the sense of being a means by which the processes of crucifixion may be opposed.
The Spirit made manifest through our Master has opposed that process of crucifixion down through the centuries, and it has gotten through to man because He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; to love your enemies; bless them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you—to what end: that you may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven, right here on earth. If we would learn the lessons of the cross, if we would begin to be meaningful in that Ministry to which we are called, this is the key: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
YouTube Audio
The peace of our LORD Jesus Christ be in you and find expression through you now and always, that in life on earth you may reveal yourself to be a citizen of the Kingdom of our KING, carrying the Spirit and the Power and the Authority of our KING into the expression of life here on earth. So be it in His Holy Name, now and always.
After Martin's first in-person meeting with Uranda in Vancouver, B.C.
from Embassy News — Issue Number Four
Uranda May 4, 1940
Uranda— Beloved of the Lord, in this fourth issue of the Embassy News my Beloved Wanu and I Greet you in the Fire of the Christ Love from Helena, Montana, where we begin our series of Services tomorrow on May 5th…I would also mention that the next mailing is to be a release of the second edition of the book Seven Steps To The Temple Of Light to the whole School. Some of you already have copies of this booklet in the first edition, but we are sending you a copy of the second edition also, because many of you have well nigh worn out the first edition, and we wish you to enjoy the beauty and excellence of the new edition, together with the Word of Light and Love and Life carried to you within its pages…
In Vancouver we held the Seven Services on schedule with an excellent Response which permitted approximately one hundred and fifty people to have direct contact with this Service for the first time. From among the number of those who were given the opportunity to take part in the Third Sacred School, only sixteen have enrolled at latest reports, but we are assured that from among the sixteen there will come those whose Active Harmonization will prove them to be worthy Emissaries of our Great King… I would now share with you the expressions of a Beloved Brother [Martin Cecil] who attended the Services in Vancouver, who had been in the School for some little time prior to our visit there. I am sure that you will agree that even if the results of our journey thus far were limited to the Blessing he has Realized it would be infinitely worthwhile. When it is realized that the Blessings experienced by this Brother are evidences of the Blessings received by hundreds of others, you will Realize more vividly than ever before the joyous Privilege and Responsibility of taking part with us in this glorious phase of Service that is manifesting by reason of our journey through the Harvest Field.
This Brother, whom you may know as Anomon 405X [Martin Cecil], has expressed so beautifully and so splendidly not only for himself but for many others, that I would quote for you in full his letter of April 18th, together with the expression of Response which he mentions therein, as follows:
After Seven Services held in Vancouver, B.C. on April 13, 14 & 15, 1940
Beloved Brother Uranda, it seems almost sacrilegious to address you with the term Brother, unless I may be privileged to do it in a Realization of my Oneness with my own Lord. It seems an impossible task to me to express in words what it is that the visit of yourself and Wanu to this City has meant to me and I know not only to me but to all here who have Responded even in the very smallest degree to your Radiance.
You have given me a picture of True Greatness, a picture that has been hovering in my consciousness but had never until now become fully crystalized to the outer vision, and it is moreover a picture that is Joyously familiar now that it is more fully perceived. And it is a picture that could not be complete without our Beloved Priestess of the Seventh Rais, Wanu.
I recognize that this expression of words means little without a corresponding Release in my Life, and that it is only by my Life that I may prove my Words. Nevertheless the Spirit of the Word is within the word, filling it to overflowing, when I say that I Love you now that I have seen you face to face in a manner that would perhaps have been impossible for me in any other way. And when I speak of you, it is to you and Wanu as One that I refer, for I cannot conceive of you any more as separate.
I shall enclose in this letter an Expression of my Response to your visit here and your Services as a Gift unto the LORD, that the Expansion of Consciousness that has taken place in me may be Released in fulness to the world in Blessing to my Brother Man & to the Glory of the LORD.
Beholding you and Wanu enfolded in the Christ Love as I have seen and known you, and Blessing you in the Holy Name of the LORD of Lords in that great Work to which he has called you in the earth, I am — Anomon 405X. [Martin Cecil]
An Expression of Response to Uranda’s Visit to,
and Seven Sacred Services in, the City of Vancouver
As I begin to let go in the Spirit of this Expression I am carried back to that period of time immediately prior to Uranda’s arrival in this City, a period in which I was somewhat distraught, somewhat uncertain and fearful, a period wherein, to a degree, I had lost contact with my own Lord.
Uranda arrived. I was extremely nervous, as he well knew, and concerned as to what manner of man he should be. So many people have said that at first they were disappointed in him. I don’t think that that was my first reaction. It seemed to be more like relief that in his unassuming charm he revealed Reality in a manner which appealed to me as Reality and fulfilled my expectations of Reality to the greatest possible degree. And so it was that after that first meeting all doubts and fears vanished away, for in perceiving his Reality and responding to his Radiance, however incompletely, I perceived once more and accepted my own Reality. In this I received a new Vision of what he means when he says that one cannot Respond to him without Responding to his own Lord. Though I may not fully understand why, yet I now know that it is so.
His Seven Sacred Services were indeed a Revelation, or an unveiling, for the Expansion of Vision which he made possible to me fills me with awe at the vastness of its scope. The many Realizations concerning the subject matter of the Teachings of the Third Sacred School, which were drawn forth so surely from within me, must be made evident in my Response as I continue on the Central Way. But the Realization which came home to me most forcibly, was the perception of the Radiation made possible to the whole world by the degree of Response of the Blessed Ones attending the Services. For according to their Response was Uranda enabled to Radiate effectively and with great Power through the Responding Ones to all people upon the face of the earth. And so it is that these Services as they are held throughout this Continent are indeed channels through which the Christ Radiance of Light, Love and Life will go forth with great Power to accomplish all whereunto it is sent, that these days may indeed be shortened for the Elect’s sake.
Finally we came to the Seventh Service, wherein all the Blessed Ones were privileged to receive the unleavened Bread and the unfermented Wine at the hand of Uranda. This indeed was a Holy Climax to a period of Glorious Release. And with the clear Realization of what this Holy Communion symbolizes to each of us and with Joy unspeakable at our Holy Privilege, we went our several Ways in Peace.
Let us remember however that this is but a Step along the Way, and however beautiful that Step may be, however fraught with deep and glorious meaning, yet must we be careful not to delude ourselves into thinking we have arrived, or to rest on this Joyous Experience as an end in itself, for therein may it become a stumbling block. Nay, rather let it be a stepping stone to a glorious Beginning without End.
And so I draw this Expression to a close in a Prayer of thanksgiving to our Great Master that in His great Love He has sent One into the world, like unto the Son of Man, that all Responding Ones everywhere might be drawn into the Central Way, for He is not willing that any should perish but that all might have Eternal Life. And I give thanks to Him for the Holy privilege of meeting this One face to face and hearing His Words of Love and Truth and above all for the opportunity of Responding thereto, that in due season as I waver not, I may begin to fill my Place in the Cosmic Plan, to which end came I into the world, in Oneness with my own Lord and to the Glory of the LORD of Lords, now and forever more, Aum-en. — 405X.” [Martin Cecil]
Uranda — As you let go in the Spirit of Radiant Realization Released through our Blessed Brother’s words, I know you share with us the Joy that has been released into the world through his expression… as this Brother’s Radiant Expression in Realization Symbolizes and Focalizes the Response of many in the Harvest Field.
Seven Years Later
Focalization of the Spirit of Life
A Morning Star
Uranda February 23, 1947 Riverside, California
Uranda— The Lord spoke to us out of the Cycles of the Spirit, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the cornerstone thereof: When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
This morning, in the early dawn, I looked Eastward. The darkness was giving way before the coming of the light, and already a veil of light, like a garment, fringed the mountain, over which the sun would soon arise. The brilliant morning star, high in the Eastern heavens, hung like a jewel in the blue of the sky, signalled a message of calm assurance, and in its flashing brilliance I beheld a beacon of the heavens, sending earthward a message that the Sons of God still reign supreme, and shall once again shout for Joy when the earth shall have been cleansed from all sin, suffering, sorrow and death.
In this place, set apart, to which we have been brought by the Spirit of the Living God, I meditate this morning upon the workings of the great Creative Triangles, of which I have told you before, and in my meditations I consider the words by which I may convey to you that which I would long to convey if you were gathered here with me in person, sharing the California sunshine, resting under the green trees, listening to the sound of the breeze, and watching it sway the branches to and fro. In the Spirit, time, space and distance are transcended, and so it is that In the Spirit of the Word of Truth I am with you where you are, as surely as if you were sitting here within the sound of my voice.
We have moved to establish the focalizations of the Creative Triangles in the earth as a Reality, that the Creative Cycles may effectively transcend the limitations of physical circumstance, and begin to shape and mould that form which the Will of God ordains on earth, that all who will may see and know and understand the Power and Reality of the Living God. I would consider with you the words of realization expressed by one whom you already know in Spirit—one whom I wish shortly to introduce to you in a new light [Martin Cecil].
A letter from Martin Cecil at 100 Mile House, written to Uranda who was in California — Our Great Master, when He was living on earth, made the statement: "I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life." In Him all that was necessary to the Salvation of the human race was, and is focalized. The Way, is the Way of the Christ Love, and we recognize that He in His Place is the LORD of Love. Naturally, when He was living out here on earth He was the supreme focalization of the Divine on earth, and therefore, under those circumstances, and by reason of that for which He was in the world, He focalized the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Life within Himself. That which was possible of accomplishment then, was possible only under His personal direction. After His Ascension into the Inner Planes, He remained, of course, the focalization of the Spirit of Love, as the LORD of Love, and resumed His responsibilities as the Supreme Being at the apex of the Seventh Plane, but the responsibilities of the Spirit of Truth were returned to, and placed in the hands of, the Lord of the Sacred Three. We have then remaining the Spirit of Life, which relates primarily to the Christ Body made manifest on earth. It is the Expression of the Christ Life in and through the One Body, that establishes and brings forth the One Body. Therefore, as through response to the Spirit of Love and the Spirit of Truth, the Christ Body begins to come into manifestation, the focalization of that Spirit of Life automatically begins to become aware of the currents of Life focalized in himself and flowing through the One Body. Does that make for separation? In the idea of the serpent it is a splendid opportunity for division. I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is no separation for they are One.February 16, 1947
Uranda— The focalization of the Spirit of Life, coming into manifest expression through and at the Head of that Form established according to the Pattern of the Spirit of Truth, moving under the Power of the Spirit of Love, provides the means for the intensified function of the Creative Triangle on earth, by which Resurrection from darkness into the Light may cause the Restoration to become a Reality.
I take this means of announcing to you that under the blessing of the KING of Kings, the ordination of the second Bishop of the Church of the Emissaries of Divine Light shall soon be an accomplished reality. Seven years ago an important step in the outworking of the Plan of God on earth was fulfilled, when the Lord opened the Way by which Martin Cecil harmonized with us in this Ministry. The initial fruitage of that seven years of faithful function now begins to appear, carrying blessings to you and to all who Respond, and shall Respond, to the Way, the Truth and the Life. The focalization of the Spirit of Life, made manifest in the person of Martin Cecil, soon to be ordained a Bishop of the Church, makes possible the next great step in the fulfillment of the Cosmic Plan, in the Cycles of the Creative Triangles, by reason of which the Service of the Lord on earth shall be caused to increase, according to those things that are written in the Book of books, concerning which more understanding will be given to you in due season; for that Rock cut out without hands shall grow, and fill the whole earth.
In the first processes of Creation, the Morning Stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy. So let it also be now in the Restoration—where the Spirit of Life, working through the Pattern of Truth by the Power of the Spirit of Love, shall surely accomplish that whereunto he is sent, to the Glory of God and the blessing of all the children of men, IN the Christ. Blessing you in the Holy Name of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, and continuing with you in Spirit that you may worship God in Truth, I AM Uranda
