Heaven From The Heavenly Perspective

Heaven  From  the  Heavenly  Perspective

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Martin Exeter   November 9, 1986  pm

We are able to speak together of earthly things from a heavenly perspective. This is most necessary, that a sharing in the process by which hearts are purified might be known. Only when the heart is purified to a goodly degree can we speak of heavenly things with a heavenly perspective. As we have already understood, the house of the Lord, where we rightly dwell, has both a heavenly and an earthly aspect. A purified heart opens the door into the experience of heaven, dissolving the veil which is the impurity of heart. The earthly aspect of the house of the Lord is hardly present at all in human consciousness now.

We have to see the earthly state as it is, but from a heavenly viewpoint; and we have begun to do this. We have noted the awareness that is now present of the working of the creative cycle and how it is that all that transpires in the world as it now is comes about by reason of the working of the creative process; therefore we do not need to dispute what is going on. We may, and I suppose we do, observe the foolishness which is expressed by people the world around, close in and far out. We understand as to why this is. It is because human beings are foolish. Very simple. They are inevitably foolish in this human state. Therefore if we observe foolishness it is not very surprising. It carries very little weight. What carries weight is the working of the creative process, which certainly emphasizes foolishness when foolishness is present; but it also emphasizes wisdom when wisdom is present. Our concern is with the wisdom, because wisdom is of heaven. We ourselves therefore would surely be wise.

We are able to observe the effects of the creative process in the world of form around us. It is well that this process should be operative and that we should at the same time be aware of the fact that it is operative. This gives us a heavenly perspective of earthly affairs. We see these earthly affairs with a heavenly vision and no longer with the earthly vision which comes because of involvement with the earthly affairs. We are quite aware that the vast majority of the population are involved with the earthly affairs and therefore put great store in the various ways by which these earthly affairs are being handled by human beings in this unfortunate state. We do not put much store in that, even though we observe it. We put great store in the creative process itself.

However we need to see the creative process not merely from its effects in the earthly sense. We need to understand that creative process as it is present in the heaven. We are familiar with the question: "Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?'' One can't know the ordinances of heaven without being in heaven. The ordinances of heaven are in the process of being set in the earth by reason of such awareness as is present in those who know that what is happening in the earth is consequent upon the working of the creative process. It is because of this that the ordinances of heaven are being set more directly in the earth, even though those who carry this responsibility may not be fully aware of what is happening by reason of their acceptance of the responsibility. There is, so far, little conscious awareness of what is happening in heaven from the perspective of heaven. There is an awareness of what is happening in the earth—beginning to dawn—as a result of what is happening in the heaven.

The creative process springs out of heaven, and the effects are recognizable to those who begin to share a heavenly perspective. But there needs to be more than that. We need to be in position to speak of heavenly things. This only becomes possible to the extent that we can speak of earthly things from a heavenly perspective. Then there may be the beginning point for the acceptance of what is present in heaven. This relates to something that we perhaps know of old, pointed to through the word "Shekinah'': the evidence of the presence of the One who dwells in heaven. The first touching into what is present in the heaven relates to the most peripheral aspect of Shekinah. This of course is the cloud of glory. The cloud of glory relates to a more or less undifferentiated awareness of something. This is about as far as anyone has reached from the human standpoint. Nirvana has been considered to be an ocean of bliss; it is another way of speaking of the cloud of glory, the most peripheral aspect of such awareness as may come of the heaven; it isn't really the heaven yet.

This also relates to what we have seen as the necessity of silence, of quietness. In that quietness there has, at the same time, been an awareness of the sounding of a tone and of a brightness. This has been known in some measure to us. We speak of the tone of life. How on earth did we become aware of it? This is present within the scope of the cloud of glory. We had to be quiet enough to begin to hear the tone, a sounding note, which is quite different certainly from the cacophony of noise that is present in the earthly state. We begin to hear the tone when we are quiet enough, and we become aware that there is a brightness, a lightness: The yoke is easy and the burden light. Here is the first dawning awareness of the heaven of the house of the Lord from the heavenly standpoint.

We are to dwell in the house of the Lord. We can't yet dwell in the earthly aspect of the house of the Lord, because it isn't present. But we are in position to begin to dwell in the heavenly aspect of the house of the Lord. It's only when this is done that the earthly aspect can begin to put in an appearance. There have been many sincere and earnest people in the world who have had the romantic idea of somehow building an earthly heaven, but you can't build an earthly heaven without heaven. It is heaven that carries the weight insofar as we are concerned, surely, that we may be so unmoved by the present earthly state that we can share an understanding of the heavenly aspect of the house of the Lord.

I am reminded again of another story from the Bible, relating to the Master's experience shortly after His conversation with Nicodemus. At least that seems to be so in the story that has come down to us. He had another conversation, this time with a woman. Perhaps there is more significance in all of this than meets the eye, relative to the male and female aspects and the particular conversations that occurred. After some talk, during which the Master was feeling out the nature of the state of this lady, the conversation developed and she expressed some rather structured views as to how it might be possible to worship God. Then the Master said something which in fact carries considerable significance.

"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me"—understand me, understand what it is I am saying—"the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." It wasn't a matter of form. Certainly it wasn't a matter of geographical location. "Ye worship ye know not what.'' And I think that is a statement that could be repeated within the hearing of almost anyone on earth, particularly the religious people. "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews."

I suspect that the latter portion of that sentence was inserted somewhere along the way, but it does make a point relative to the creative process as it has been working out and as it had been working out up to that point. The First Sacred School, which was brought to a very specific point by Moses, had failed of its purpose after Moses. However here was the initial opportunity provided, by which the restoration of man might occur. Therefore, in the continuing unfoldment of whatever might happen next after that failure it would necessarily have to emerge out of what was left of that state of failure. This is why Jesus was born into that particular situation as He was, because out of the remains of the previous opportunity the next opportunity could come. We are aware of the fact then of the Second Sacred School. These are ways of describing the sequence in this aspect of the creative cycle.

The Second Sacred School emerged through Jesus. As I said, Moses was primarily responsible for the First Sacred School, which failed after him. Jesus was responsible for the Second Sacred School, which failed after Him. The Second Sacred School therefore necessarily emerged out of the First, and what we know as the Third Sacred School must necessarily arise out of the Second—I suppose you could say out of what remains of the Second. But the remains are rather more massive than they were of the First Sacred School at the time of Jesus. That involved the Jewish pattern of things at a particular point of focus at that time in Jerusalem. The evidence of the failure of the Second Sacred School and the remains of it could be summarized by the word "Christianity.'' So out of Christianity, somehow or other, the Third Sacred School had to take form. It did so through Uranda. He certainly had a very strict, one might say, Christian background—Seventh-Day Adventist, to be exact. I myself had something of the sort too.

So what has arisen in the Third Sacred School emerged out of a Christian condition simply because this had provided at least some recognition of the Master's presence on earth and the importance of what He did. All this got mixed up, but still here was a connecting link with the Second Sacred School. Uranda was responsible for this. And while there had been of course failure previously, both after Moses and after Jesus, if anything was to be salvaged out of all this there had to be some sort of success or victory from the standpoint of the Third Sacred School. Thus far it has been proving itself out. Something remained in clear polarity after Uranda. I necessarily had something to do with that, but there were others who held the point with me, so that there might not be a failure this time.

All this is indicated in that little passage that I read: "For salvation is of the Jews." Salvation emerges out of the creative process, which had two shots, followed by failure and dissipation in each case. I don't think those who are Christians would like to hear this; and I suppose most of us came out of a Christian background, but much more than that is included now. Certainly there is the inclusion both of what came out of the First Sacred School and what came out of the Second Sacred School, as witness the fact that there are those who have thought of themselves in the past as Christians present, maybe in this room now, and also those who have thought of themselves as Jews. So, here we go! We would not exclude anyone, regardless of background, whether from the Orient or from the—what?—Middle East. But here is the way the creative process works. It's interesting, it's quite capable of picking up the chips again. It has been doing that, and we are at least some evidence of the fact that it has been doing that.

"But the hour cometh"—and this is surely the hour; it came anyway—"and now is"—you can say that again!—"when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." Along the way perhaps some of us may have misinterpreted this matter of seeking, sensing that "the Father seeketh such to worship him.'' We would be good Emissaries and find them! But He seeks how? In the expression of His spirit. Here is what we have described as a magnetic force, and the magnetic force is quite capable of finding those who will yield to that magnetic force. It is, in that sense, a foolproof system. It brings home those who should come home.

Some of those who begin to come home decide against it along the way. Woe unto them, because they had the opportunity. There are vast numbers of people who never had that same opportunity. If there is one thing that I might feel quite strongly about, it is that anyone who has the opportunity should turn their back on it. There certainly have been those who have done that. They turned their back on my King, and that is the unforgivable sin. I suppose, for some, it is possible to turn around again, but it certainly hasn't happened too often. It may happen for those who, as it were, go "by default''—just drift away. And there are some of those who, as it has been put, are re-surfacing; and I rejoice in that. But if there are those who turn their backs on my King they mean absolutely nothing anymore to me. This is an attitude that we need to share. We are not playing children's games. We are not here to fiddle around with human nature. Along the way we have done a great deal of fiddling with human nature, our own in particular—and other people's too, because we were still fiddling with our own, so we felt it necessary to fiddle with other people's.

But, coming to the point of knowing what we know, we realize there is no sense to fiddling around with human nature. We repent of it in ourselves, and so the current of life is offered to others. And we see this is quite effective. People put in an appearance very often that we really don't know where they came from or why. It doesn't matter. They come because the magnetic force is there and it brings them, and we are thankful for that. We can't pat ourselves on the back and say, "I did it.'' We may have participated in extending the magnetic force. We had no idea where it would land up, and we don't need to know—just do it. We do it through our willingness to repent as necessary. We become aware of the elements in ourselves which need to be relinquished, then let the spirit carry them away, and then there is a clear connection for those who are being drawn by this magnetic force. We all share in this. We all have our own fields of responsibility because we are all different. Aren't you glad for that? Would you want any reproductions of yourself? I am quite content to be unique, and so it should be for each one. We are not trying to be anyone or anything. Someone may be accused occasionally of trying to be Jesus, for instance. What blasphemy! That One is who He is. But each one of us is who we are individually.

We discover that our dwelling place is in the house of the Lord; and our first experience of the house of the Lord is necessarily the heavenly aspect of it, because as yet there isn't any earthly aspect to experience. When we know the heavenly aspect then we begin to be in position to dress and to keep the garden, in other words to set the dominion of the ordinances of heaven in the earth. Then the fact of the new heaven and the new earth can come quickly. The new heaven and the new earth simply refer to the house of the Lord. It isn't new; it's just new to us.

So in our time together this evening we have touched into a heavenly awareness of the creative process, which certainly has produced certain effects in the earth. But we begin to see that it is our responsibility to understand this heavenly aspect of our responsibility. We may know that we have repeatedly played a part in this particular creative cycle which I have described from the time of Moses. You can go back farther than that, I suppose, if there is any reason for it, but this is the most recent application of the creative process in a specific sense through human beings. We have a perspective in this regard because we are very much aware that in the heaven the total concern is for the re-creation of man. This much we know of the heaven from the heavenly standpoint. All that happens at the moment is for that purpose. There is a lot more going on in the universe than that, but insofar as our field of responsibility is concerned, that's it! And when we are in the heaven that is known; it's prominent in awareness. We don't find ourselves at any point saying, "Ah, shucks, I forgot!'' No, the dwellers in heaven are trustworthy. They are inseparable from the One whose house it is. We begin to become aware of what the ordinances of heaven really are and how they must be brought into the earth to allow for the restoration of the earthly aspect of the house of the Lord.

We learn once again to dwell in heaven. I don't think that is such a tough proposition. It means that a good deal of our present surroundings must be largely ignored. We don't find it necessary to become involved in them in the sense of reacting to them. We may utilize our external opportunities in the business of repentance—that is required—but we see everything we do in the external sense from the heavenly standpoint and we don't get lost in our consideration of it from the earthly standpoint. What are your favorite things from the earthly standpoint? What do you imagine you were created to do on earth? Human beings translate that invariably in human terms: "I'm a businessman. I'm an artist. I'm a banker. I'm a scientist. I'm a sociologist"—all very important things, meaning absolutely nothing.

I am the angel of the Lord incarnate on earth. All these affairs that human beings put so much store by are not important for that reason at all. They may carry an importance to us because they enable us to bring something out of heaven into the earth in relationship to people, that's all, not to satisfy ourselves. What do you do, day by day, to satisfy yourself? That's something that might be thought about a little, because we are not here to satisfy human beings, ourselves or anyone else, but to bring heaven into the earth; and we use what is at hand to do that. Anything we do day by day is for that purpose only. People get so thoroughly embedded in their external interests, that they forget: "Oh shucks!" again.

Of course one has to have money; one has to live, after all. You do? Why do you have to live? What would the reason be? So that you can do your human thing, whatever it is? That's no reason at all. You might just as well be dead. The only reason that human beings are still alive is to give them an opportunity to find out why they should be here; that's the only reason. If we begin to know that, then let's be true to it. I thank God that there are those who are discovering what it means to be true to that, so that nothing of this earthly state looms so large that it causes amnesia, a lapse in memory, as to why one is here.

So we consider these things together in times like this. But, remember, the spirit of truth brings all things to remembrance constantly, so that you never forget. We are not here to forget why we are here but to do what we are here to do. Remembrance Day is coming up shortly. With respect to it there is something about "lest we forget." Well I think that's a pretty good thought to conclude our time together this evening. We are not here to forget why we are here but to do what we are here to do. Just let it happen. Just let it happen.

© emissaries of divine light

Lovest Thou Me More Than These?

 Lovest  Thou  Me  More  Than  These?

Uranda  December 25, 1953

And so we come to the evening of Christmas Day, and as we are gathered here in the Chapel after a beautiful day, and the manifestation of many, many blessings, I am reminded of a text in the 21st Chapter of the Gospel according to John, beginning with the Fifteenth Verse: “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?” This was the occasion of the third time that the Master had appeared to His Disciples after the Resurrection, and they had dined, and Jesus asked the question, “Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him. Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto Him, Lord thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

And as we note these three expressions, the questions and the answers, followed by the admonition in each case, we are reminded of the fact that Peter had denied our Lord three times. Peter was supposed to understand something of the basic principles of being, and yet when he was asked the question the third time, he was grieved—he felt that the Lord was picking on him unjustly. If he had been aware of the basic principles of being, he would have recognized the opportunity to establish a clearing with respect to those three denials, and likewise to have that clearing established in all three planes of his own being. “Lovest thou Me?” Lovest thou Me more than these who are round about you? Do you love Me more than you love them? I know that a different interpretation has been put upon those words, and some have assumed that it meant, “Do you love me more than these love me?”—and I suppose the way it is worded here, that could be read into the text. But His question was, “Lovest thou me more than these?” Do you love Me more than these others, which would include himself—and in view of later events we can see that our Lord was well justified in asking that question.

Each time Peter gave assurance, “Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” It has always seemed to me that Peter gave a very tame answer to a very vital question: “Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee”—almost offhand, almost suggesting that the question was obviously superfluous, it was really unnecessary; as much as to say, well you know that I love you, why do you ask the question?” Instead of recognizing the opportunity to give verbal assurance in a deep way to his love, it was a more or less off-hand reply, containing a hint of rebuke to the LORD, for even having asked the question. “Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” What a wonderful opportunity that was for Peter to have said something about the depth of his love, to have given expression to something that would have given vital form to that love.

If our Master were to appear here tonight, at the close of this day on which the world celebrates His birth, and if He were to ask that question of you, “Lovest Thou Me”—I wonder, what would your answer be? Would you say, “Why yes LORD, you know I love you”? If you answered that way I would be utterly ashamed of you. If you could not find some better way than that, to voice the depth of your love, I would feel that my years with you had been in vain.

You might express it in a thousand different ways, but surely you would say something about the longing you have known, through the days of your years, to know Him and to know His Love more deeply. How there had been a longing in the hearts of men for so long, with respect to which they did not know how to act, and the precious joy of such a moment in His Presence, consciously to see and to hear, would surely inspire an expression—recognizing that words were inadequate—giving assurance, or establishing your position as the case might be, being thankful for the privilege of living life on earth, to the end that there might be evidence of the unspeakable love in one's heart, in your heart. But it is not the question here so much, in relationship to Peter's answer, about which we are concerned tonight, but the question to you, your answer, and the admonition.

First, “Feed My lambs”, and then the following two times, “Feed My sheep”—and if the Master asked you three times over, would you be grieved, and take the attitude that He was doubting you, that He was asking unnecessary questions, that He might better occupy Himself otherwise? If He asked you thirty times, would there be enough trust, enough centering, to be assured that He must have some reason, that He must be doing something of importance, to accept a cue, as it were, and to work with Him, to give the answer, no matter how many times the question might arise. And if the question was given twice, or thrice, or more times, would you repeat the same answer each time? The third time he changed it enough to say, “Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” There was an attitude of rebuke to our LORD, that was wholly and completely out of place—to tell the LORD He knows all things, therefore He knows that you love Him. When you stop to think about it, wasn't that a very unresponsive attitude for him to take?

If he had said, “LORD, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest whether I love Thee. I feel I do. I trust that my life shall reveal the fact that I do, but if Thou dost perceive in anything, a quality of lack in this, then pray help me, that it may be healed, and that I may love Thee fully.” Isn't that a different attitude? Instead of simply saying, “Lord, thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee; it goes without saying, you have asked a foolish question.” But in each instance He said feed. “Feed My lambs. Feed My sheep. Feed My sheep.” There is not any purpose in life on earth, other than this, that has any real meaning. To the degree that we are feeding the lambs, and the sheep, feeding the Bread of Life, offering the Water of Truth, our lives have meaning.It must be that there are those who hear the question, even if I do not voice it in so many words, “Lovest Thou Me?”—the question sounding through the centuries from the lips of our Lord, and an answer that does not have the mediocre nature of the one which Peter gave so long ago, an answer that springs from the depths of a full heart.

Service does not begin with accomplishing. It begins with being. It is the being that accomplishes when the Father does the works. When the human being tries so hard to accomplish, he invariably stirs things up, muddies the water, spoils the pattern. It is not just in doing, as important as doing in the outer sense may be, it is in being—and it is being that accomplishes when the Father does the works. What are we doing? It is not the external bustle of doing, according to the worldly pattern, that accomplishes. First there must be being, and then within the reality of Being, something is done. We need to do many, many things. We need to feed the lambs, and the sheep. In the doing of this, we have a great variety of action, many places to be filled, responsibility in many directions. Here we might raise the question of what has it been in relationship to myself, which was most effective in achieving the results that have been achieved in you and through you? Has it been what you have seen me rushing about to do? Or has it been the constancy and the consistency of being, that finally put it across in your heart? Just the words that I spoke? That had its place. The things that I did, those things had their place. But wasn't it the constancy, the consistency of Being?

At first, I think with most if not all of you, there were tendencies to expect that stability of being to topple over now and again, to be a sort of humpty-dumpty thing—but while the words came, words went, and the deeds were done, the days passed, and you forgot the words, and you forgot the deeds, wasn't it the fact of being? Didn't most of you try to upset that being? And when you could not, you argued with yourself, struggled with the words that were spoken, looked for something to find fault about, the way things were run, or what somebody else did, or something? There have been, with most at least, various reactionary theories, and unless it got too severe I just ignored it and went on, and I let the waves of your own reactions come and go. They washed up on the rocks and made it splash, and were gone. You pushed and you shoved and you pulled and you struggled, trying to shape things around, but finally you began to come to a realization of being. And either you had to share that reality of Being or find that what you did turned out to be of no avail. You began to find that that state of being could not be pushed around, no matter what came or went—there it was. That constancy of being is what finally drove home to you the fact that it was more than mere doing. You had to share a state of being if you were to be a part of this.

You cannot give what you do not have. People are not looking for works, as such, though works are necessary—people are looking for a revelation of being. Until they begin to sense—see, feel, know that reality of Being, they won't have any faith in what you try to feed them, will they now? You can offer it to them. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. What is it that makes the individual finally receive the food you offer, receive the cup of cold water that you extend? Not merely the fact that you have some food, or say you do, to offer. It's the persistent influence of your being. At first there is not any faith in it, there are doubts, there is skepticism, and efforts to upset the being, just to prove that it doesn't work, that it does not amount to anything. But as you hold steady, in being, a part of the Central Being of the One Body, finally there begins to be enough faith in you to make people willing to accept the cup of water and taste it.

Of course, once they taste it and find out that it really is so, that there is something in the cup, then they begin to drink more freely. But they have been handed an empty cup so often that they still think that if you offer a cup that it is going to be empty. So they won't take it. They have been fooled too many times, so that it is not just a matter of extending the cup of cold water, or a piece of the Bread of Truth—that is not enough, not nearly enough. The convincing thing, the thing that turns the tide—against which no arguments can avail, no twistings and turnings of the mind, no judgments or resentments, no struggles—that consistent, constant state of Being that remains unmoved by all the pushings and the pullings, the ups add the downs. And unless you share the state of Being, you cannot share in any true sense the work of feeding the lambs or feeding the sheep.

Our Gracious lord, and Holy King, we thank Thee for the privilege of Being the Body of Thy Being on earth, that the evidence of Thy Presence may be revealed to the children of men. We realize that millions accept the idea that the evidence of Thy Presence was on earth long ago, and that the evidence of Thy Presence will appear on earth some day, but few there are who are yet aware of the Way, the Truth and the Life, relating to the second coming of the evidence of Thy Presence on earth. We would do our part toward letting the evidence of Thy presence again appear on earth, and if we would let that evidence be made manifest, we realize that we must first be so centered in Thee, so centered in Thy Being, that the reality of Thy Being in us may be made evident through us, in the processes of our living, that Thy Kingdom may come, and Thy Will be done in earth as it is in heaven, for Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the Glory forever; and as this Christmas Day comes to a close, we would, in the seven days intervening until the beginning of a New Year, be filled with meditation upon these things, that we may ponder them in our hearts, and be prepared for a greater service than we have yet rendered.

O Lord, we would be honest in examination, facing the issue with respect to the evidence made manifest through us—evidence of the lack of the Kingdom, or of the reality of the Kingdom; evidence of defiance of the KING, or evidence of the Being of the KING; evidence of our sharing a state of Being in Thee, or evidence that we are failing to share any true state of Being. What is the evidence as revealed through thought and word, and deed, through attitude, now and in the days to come. Gracious LORD, I thank Thee for the love which Thou dost bestow upon these here, and all who serve with me on earth in Thy Name.

© emissaries of divine light

Glory To God In The Highest

 Glory  To  God  In  The  Highest

Uranda  June 26, 1953  Class

I would like to direct your attention to one of the outstanding keys to a realization of reality that can be found in Holy Writ anywhere, which has from the standpoint of its true purpose and meaning been virtually ignored. As long as we ignore the keys, we cannot use them to unlock the doors and let the things of God come in. You let the Master in, and when He comes in He begins to prepare a place for you—a mansion of soul, in which the things of heaven are present and made manifest. This particular key was given to man at the time our Master's body was born on earth in the form of a babe. There were many remarkable revelations of the reality of Shekinah at the time of the Master's birth, but the central key is the Angels' Song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Let us look at this expression from the standpoint of reality, with the eye of the heart. “Glory to God in the highest.” What is the Glory? The Shekinah Cloud of Glory. Glory to God in the Highest. That carries to the Highest Focalization of Deity, going beyond the range of human consciousness or awareness. Glory to God in the Highest. And the expression was made in relationship to those who dwell on earth.

So if there was a recognition of Glory to God in the Highest, we see with the eye of the heart how there was a Great Cone allowed to settle down over the earth, the base of it enfolding the earth as in a net, and the point of it extending upward to God in the Highest. And what is it that shapes this? What is it that gives it form? Glory—the Shekinah Cloud of Glory. And it was brought to the earth, enfolding man, centered on earth in the babe that was born. Glory to God in the Highest, signifies that the Cloud of Glory, made manifest to man through the form of the babe that was to become a Man, extended to God in the Highest—that there was no break, no point of separation, no veil, except the inability of human beings to see. The Cloud of Glory, the Shekinah, extended to the earth, enfolding the earth and carrying to God in the Highest. Glory all the way. The Shekinah Cloud of Glory here, and all the way to God in the Highest. And then, when that is a reality, what does follow? “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth”—enfolded in the Shekinah Glory something begins to manifest. “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” The coming of the Master was the Supreme Gesture from God, the zenith of God's Gift of love to man—and only in relationship to Love can there be peace—and it is clearly indicated it was on earth, and the Supreme Gesture of goodwill.

We see that at the time of the Master's birth the Divine expression, the Angels' Song, conveyed to man the Supreme gesture of love and goodwill. What is the natural result when human beings allow themselves to be enfolded in the Shekinah Cloud of Glory that extends all the way to Highest God? First there begins to be a sense of peace—peace on earth—the result of the working of God's Love within the Shekinah Cloud of Glory. And then goodwill. Goodwill from God in the Highest, through the Shekinah, to all the children of men. Goodwill—the willingness to let all differences be past, to let all wrongs be as if they had not been. This is the message of a God of love, who does not require any blood sacrifice. This is the message of Highest God to the children of men through the Shekinah Cloud of Glory made manifest on earth and centered on earth in the body of a babe. Peace on earth.

And the Angels sang the Song even though there was no room in the inn for Him, no bed available to Mary; the Angels sang the Song even though they had to move the ox from the stalls and put in a little fresh hay in the manger to make a place for the birth of the babe—the lowliest place. Even though that was all that man could provide for the coming of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, there was still the Angels' Song, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” No judgment, no condemnation, the open invitation to come and let the beauties of the Kingdom of Heaven be revealed in the lives of the children of men. In conjunction with this there were other evidences.

This Song the Angels sang was heard by the shepherds who tended their flocks—and there we have again the pattern of the Shepherd. Human beings, instead of seeing the glorious significance of the Angels' Song, they have continued to weave the patterns of assumption and belief on the basis that prevents God's love from being received, His power from manifesting, His truth from being known. In season there will be those who are willing, of their own volition, to draw near and begin to see the truth as it is. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

We begin to recognize that the Wise Men who followed the Star came to the place where the Master was born directed of the Spirit of God. And what was the Star? First we have the pattern with the shepherds—the Glory, the Shekinah Cloud of Glory. And then come the Wise Men—wisdom, the sense of the fitness of things, a function in relationship to the mind, to the truth. And what do we see? The Wise Men following the Star. And the Star is what? The Light that Glows. The Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows, and then the Fire of Love. And within the Fire, One like unto the Son of God. The Shekinah Pattern of Being was established in relationship to the Master's birth, and He used it all the way through His ministry. He talked about it. He revealed it over and over again.

And when He came to the point of the conclusion of His work on earth, before the pattern of the atrocity, before the betrayal, He prayed a prayer. And in this prayer we find a glorious portrayal of Shekinah: “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come.” What hour? The hour is come for what? “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.” How is He glorified? The Shekinah Presence of the One Who Dwells has power over all flesh. And entering into the Cloud of Glory is the way by which the Father glorifies the Son. He was talking about the Shekinah Pattern of Being. And then He continued on, “I have glorified thee on the earth.” How? By letting the Shekinah Cloud of Glory have meaning, by letting the Shekinah Power manifest, by letting the Shekinah Light shine. “I have glorified thee, O Father, on earth”—the revelation of the Shekinah on earth.

And then He said, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” Now, is that a true statement or not? That is where the thing finally hinges. What do we believe? Whom do we believe? He said, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” He had some other things to face, but they were things that human beings forced upon Him. He had already completed all that God had given Him to do, before the atrocity. Seventeenth Chapter of John, the Fourth Verse, if you want to read it and look at it yourself.

“And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Here we have the description of Shekinah, and it is working in relationship to heaven and earth. “I have manifested thy Shekinah unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.” But those who thought they were following Him and called themselves Christians forgot that. “All things are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” Specifically, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me … and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee.” And that is all they did know surely. The pathos in this prayer is something that must surely touch the awakened heart. He could not anywhere through it say, “My disciples have reached a point where they can carry on.” If you read it with understanding you will see that the only thing He could say that they knew surely was that He had come from God. But how it worked, what it was, the reality of Shekinah, all the rest, they did not understand. “… and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” How? When the Shekinah Pattern of Reality works through them, the Shekinah Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows. He said, “Let your light so shine before men”—the Light that Glows. “Love the Lord thy God”—the Shekinah Fire, the Light that Glows, the Shekinah Cloud of Glory—let these things manifest in you. He said it so many times, so many ways. “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own Shekinah those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy Shekinah: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.” What is lost? The son of perdition—the whole devil pattern as it works through man, the whole fallen sphere—the son of perdition in any generation. Every human being who defies God and refuses to let God's will be done is a member of the body of the son of perdition. And the son of perdition is lost. “And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” Here, at the conclusion of the Master's ministry on earth, He was talking about joy: “That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

“I have given them thy word”—I have given them thy Shekinah—“and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.” Well! The Master in His prayer which concluded His ministry on earth said, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Thy Shekinah is truth. “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” Now let us stop and look. You were sent into the world on exactly the same basis, the same laws, the same principles, as the Master was sent into the world.

“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth”—through Shekinah. “Neither pray I for these alone.” The Master recognized that in all likelihood there would be those who would rise up and say, “Well now, He was just talking about His disciples. He was just talking about His twelve disciples having the power.” What does He say? “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” I do not know how He could have made it any plainer, that everything He was saying in His prayer applied to any man or any woman, in any generation, of any color, regardless of background, socially or by creed or anything else. No limitations. It applies to you. His prayer applies to you just as much as it did to anyone, anywhere, at any time. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory”—the Shekinah Glory—“which thou gavest me I have given them.”

Now where are those who have received the Glory? Look in the world. Either God did not give our Master very much Glory or else those who were supposed to receive it have not received it. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.” And it applies to us in this hour. When are we going to receive the Shekinah Glory? When we let it appear. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” We must accept the fact that we are supposed to have Oneness with the Father on exactly the same basis that He had Oneness with the Father. And how was it? Through the Shekinah. It has been called different names, but human beings have forgotten what it means; they do not know. “That they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me.”

“I (Shekinah) in them, and thou (the One Who Dwells) in me (Shekinah), that through Shekinah we may all be one.” Not until you begin to understand the principles of Shekinah can you really understand the Master's use of language here. "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me (Shekinah), and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” In other words, that the Father loved them, you, in this hour, as, in exactly the same way, He loved our Lord when He was on earth. “As thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.” Not where I am going to be. “Where I am.” He was the manifestation of Deity on earth. He was the focalization of, the revelation of, Shekinah to the children of men, and He said, “I pray that they shall be with me where I am,” not where I am going to be. No. Where I am—the manifestation of the power of God on earth.

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory…” What Glory? Do they have to go to some far heaven to behold the Shekinah Glory? Certainly not. “… behold my glory which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name”—I have declared unto them thy Shekinah—“and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

The Shekinah Fire of Love in the manifestation of the Divine Pattern on earth. Here we have the words of the Master Himself, in His concluding prayer. If they be the words of Truth, the words of our Lord in fact, then let us give heed to them and stop being concerned with all the assumptions. Let us “soar to high neglect of what's denied or said, this way or that,” on the basis of assumption, interpretation, belief, and all the rest. The Master said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”—free to live, to move and to have your being in the Shekinah of our God. And so shall you share the victory and do your part toward finishing the work which you came to do.

© emissaries of divine light