“The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” His holy temple is a flesh body composed of human beings through whom His Word may be spoken, and heard in the silence of the earth. This is the Word of the LORD:
“I came forth from the Father, and came into the world many centuries ago through a particular flesh body. I offered the way of salvation to the children of men on earth. I offered this to those who were in best position to receive it. The way was rejected: I was rejected.
“I accepted into my own body the unregenerate state of mankind. I was condemned as mankind is condemned. I was crucified as mankind must be crucified. I was placed in the tomb even as mankind must go into the tomb.
“I came forth from the tomb in the resurrection, thereby opening the way for mankind to come forth. A place has been prepared. The way is open. Behold, I have set before you an open door.”
These words have not only been spoken to you who are here present this morning but have also been spoken by you. In these moments we stand in the earth as one body, not only composed of you who are here present but of many more who have understanding. We arise and ascend into the hill of the LORD, that we may stand in His holy place. The LORD is in His holy place: let all the earth keep silence before Him.
The Word of the LORD can be spoken on earth only as there are human beings to do it. That Word is powerful and creative. That Word is truth. The words of the LORD that have just been spoken are indeed the simple truth. Some of these words are understandable to anyone: others of them are in varying degrees incomprehensible. What indeed is the resurrection? There have been those who have attempted to explain away the occurrence in supposedly understandable human terms. The vast majority have accepted it, if they have accepted it, on blind faith. Something was supposed to have happened to Jesus, so that His body came forth in the resurrection; but what happened, how, is incomprehensible to the human consciousness. Of course, because human consciousness has never experienced it.
There is only one way to discover what the resurrection is, and that is by experiencing it. It cannot be successfully explained ahead of the experience. Of course not, because it is unprecedented. There was one individual precedent: that One knows what it is. The precedent must now be set through the body of mankind. For this to happen there must be one who comes in the Name of the LORD. That one may initially be one person but subsequently includes others who compose the Body through which the Word of the LORD is spoken. That Body knows the truth of the moment. What other truth is there? There are those who think of the truth as relating to the future: What shall happen? What is going to be? There is no future except in imagination. This is the reality. This is the truth now. The truth is known now! The way is known now! Life is known now! We have surely awakened to this.
The human mind is fearful, as it well may be, looking upon those things which seem to be coming in the earth; but the truth is now, the way is now, life is now. The one who comes in the Name of the LORD insists upon the truth of the present moment. There is with that an awareness of the inevitability of the creative process. If one is associated with the creative process now and it is experienced now, it is inevitable now and it is inevitable in all the days to come, in all the nows to come. The truth is acceptable now. The truth is adequate now. The way is clear now. We move in it together in the flesh.
All this implies that there is a point of focus. We have been aware of this. In times past we have been offered the opportunity of discovering what it means to function intelligently in a pattern of focalization. We may not have done it all that intelligently; we may have resisted it and rebelled against it. But ultimately there must be the full experience of blessing the one who comes in the Name of the LORD; only so can there be a sharing in that coming. If we understand this from the standpoint of our own experience, for it is indeed emerging with increasing clarity, then we know that the same is true with respect to the rising up of the body of mankind. There must be a point of focus for them. This is the one who comes in the Name of the LORD.
For this to have creative meaning to others their attitude must be: Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord. Some undoubtedly are inclined to say, “Cursed is he.” Others heretofore have ignored him. Because of the increasing unification of the body of mankind willy-nilly, whether anyone likes it or not, it is less and less possible for anyone to ignore what is happening. “Choose you this day” is also the Word of the LORD to mankind: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” To understand what these words mean there must be present on earth the evidence, the one who comes in the Name of the LORD. Originally the LORD Himself provided that evidence, the evidence that was rejected, but now the provision is made again in a different way, in a way that is without precedent. The way, the truth and the life is proclaimed by reason of the fact that there is present a flesh body of focalization. This fact can only be proclaimed when that flesh body is humble—humble minds and gentle hearts; so may the Word of the LORD be spoken on earth, so may there be the one who comes in the Name of the Lord.
Have we learned to acknowledge the essentiality of right association with focalization? If we have not done that within this Body, how could the body of mankind be expected to do it? What elements of resistance, rebellion, resentment, still remain to dictate to us out of our minds and hearts? Such may be present as yet; earthly heredity has not been dissolved, but surely it shall not control. Only because there is understanding acceptance, acknowledgment, of the fact of one who comes in the Name of the LORD can there be a Body present on earth which proclaims that truth for others. And there is no way by which salvation may come on earth except there is the attitude, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” an attitude to be experienced by those who are open to the experience in the body of mankind. To have that experience there must be one who comes in the Name of the LORD. In humility and quietness of spirit, this truth is surely acceptable to us in this hour now.
The one who comes in the Name of the LORD comes with passion for the truth, and consequently with fire, the fire of love. There is indeed something to occur on earth that necessarily is without precedent. Some suppose this occurrence to be a so-called nuclear holocaust. We know the truth in this matter. The precedent is the fire of God’s Love, the fire of love in the truthful expression of our own living, the fire which is capable of consuming the fears, the hates, the resentments, the envyings, the greeds, that are present still in our own hearts. These can only be dissolved by the fire. Presently there are two ways by which this dissolution can occur. The creative way leaves human beings still present on earth. The other way cleanses the earth of all unrighteousness, but who is left? Let the fire of love intensify in our own hearts, governed by the truth in our own minds. Heretofore our experience has been somewhat lackadaisical. Sometimes we find ourselves put on the hot seat and we probably quite quickly repent, but how long does that state of affairs persist?
We find the whole world moving toward an unprecedented experience. I suppose this was illustrated somewhat by the plight of the children of Israel when they came to the edge of the Red Sea. They were between the Egyptians and the sea, and there appeared to be no way. Nowadays we talk about being between a rock and a hard place, and are beginning to find out what that really means, where to human vision there is no way. This is the state of affairs consequent upon the command: “Thus far and no further!” Of course in the case of the children of Israel something happened. They found that there was a way, but they didn’t for long continue in that way. This presumably is illustrative of various occasions in the ages gone by when the human race was subjected to cataclysmic experience but still survived. It wasn’t long after the flood, according to the story, before people were complaining again, bickering again, fighting again, displaying the traits of human nature that have persisted down to this very hour. But there does come a time when there shall be time no more, when it may be said, “This is it! Shape up or ship out!” We are aware of what it means to shape up. Most people presently are not. If we do not do it, who will? Then the other experience comes: ship out.
The LORD apparently stated when He was on earth, “I go to prepare a place for you.” This has been variously interpreted. But He was speaking about what actually happened, what happened through His own experience. The place was known by Him by reason of the resurrection, so the way was prepared, the place was prepared, was henceforth available to be known, the intent being that it should be known totally by the body of mankind on earth. What would constitute the body of mankind at the time that it was known could hardly be prognosticated: that will prove itself out. We are facing facts, not fancies. And so we, knowing these things to the extent that we do, carry the responsibility. The privilege of knowing carries the responsibility of doing.
A certain awareness of these things is subconsciously present in vast numbers of human beings. Privileges require the acceptance of responsibilities, something that has almost totally been ignored by the vast majority of human beings on earth. We have a spectacle of this ignoring in what is going on close to home here: self serving, an unwillingness to face facts. Surely we have faced facts to the extent that we are aware of the privilege of understanding and therefore of the responsibility of doing. This is the easy way. This is the open door.
In this hour we not only stand at the door and knock, that it may be opened for all mankind, but we let it be opened for ourselves individually, that the truth may come forth in creative expression moment by moment by moment in the natural cycles of our living, whatever the circumstances may be, as we find ourselves present to get the job done. We do not judge our circumstances. We do not judge other people. We simply do the job without shadow of turning, without resentment, without condemnation, without self-pity, without any of the usual human reactions. These mean nothing to us anymore. The former things pass away because we let them go, because we are fully occupied with the expression of the truth, the qualities and the characteristics of love. Because of this we know friendship, increasing oneness with all those who have the privilege of understanding and consequently have accepted responsibility, the responsibility of doing.
And so there is no question as to the creative nature of the outcome. We would not question it. We would not be so brash as to try to find out what it is. Just let it be. That’s all we can do anyway in the moment, let it be. Let the truth be, in the reality of spiritual expression momentarily: and behold, the power, the creative power, the fire of love, prevails. The former things pass away and all things are made new. Again, we recognize it is not all new things; all things are made new. It is the transformation, the transmutation, of the things that are. These are made new because there stands on earth in power and great glory one who comes in the Name of the LORD.
Let the fire of love consume all that rightly passes away, that those things need not be consumed in an external fire. The one who comes in the Name of the LORD speaks the Word of the LORD: “Behold, I make all things new.”
In a little while this year will be half gone, six months of 1953 almost gone. And what has been written upon the pages of time has been written, and no man can change it. What has been written upon the Book of Life has been written, and no man can change it. But there is One, the One Who Dwells, who can make all things new, who can cause the former things to pass away, who has the power to say, the authority, the right, to say, "Behold, I make all things new."
We begin to realize that day by day we are giving evidence, by our attitudes, by our words and actions, as to whether we conceive the Almighty to be All Mighty. The One Who Dwells, is He only partly mighty?—mighty to do this and mighty to do that, well able to do the other thing, but is He All Mighty? This we reveal by our attitudes, by our words. Not that we should with the human mind predetermine what we think the Almighty should do and in some foolhardy manner venture forth and say, "All things are possible with God. He is the Almighty, therefore I can do this and He will see me through that. I can plunge in here, I can accomplish the other thing." That is like saying, "If Thou, O God, art all mighty, then command that these stones be made bread." And it is written, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Yet how often the human being does those things which are in fact tempting the Lord, as if the human being would put the Lord to the test: "If Thou be the Almighty, then do this or that." And even though He is All Mighty, He does not do as you ask in such a case. But you may, if you listen, hear the Voice of Love. It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone"—man shall not live by the patterns of his own actions, by reason of the things in outer form, by reason of the things that he thinks he must have or desire or achieve. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
In our meditations we began to see more clearly the significance of the Word. We recall that in the Old Testament patterns, in relationship to the prophets, there is the frequent expression, "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying," or "The word of the Lord came unto him, saying" thus and so, What is the Word of the Lord? We have come to know that the Word of the Lord is Shekinah. Wherever we read, "The word of the Lord came unto him, saying," we may read, properly, "And the Shekinah, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, came unto him, saying." And in this hour of meditation which we share I would draw you together in the Spiritual Pattern of Being, that you may realize more deeply the reality of Shekinah. There are many things which enter into this Pattern which you cannot yet know or adequately realize, but there is that which you do know. And remember to always function on the basis of what you know. Never try to act on the basis of what you do not know and you will avoid much confusion. The human being is inclined to say, "There is much that I do not know. I do not know this or that," and he begins to function on the basis of what he does not know, and then he gets in trouble.
Let us remember, there is that which you do know. If it is not so, there is something wrong, either with your perception and realization or my presentation. There is that which you do know. Never violate what you know, never deny it; and function on the basis of what you know, and then all is well. Why be concerned about what you do not know? That will appear in season. But let me give you a little warning. Do not expect to know all there is to know in any specific period of time. If in all eternity you were to exhaust and encompass and contain the uttermost limits of all there is to know, that would be the point wherein heaven would become hell. You will never do it. You may know many basic fundamentals, but do not assume that you know or should know all that there is to know. So there is that which you do know, and knowing that which is true, even if it be but one point, you have a beginning, the place of beginning.
The experience of realization—which is illumination—realization which causes you to know any point of truth, any aspect of truth, is in actual fact the working of the Shekinah in you. You need to begin to realize that the Patterns of Shekinah are without end, numberless, ever-changing. "All things were made by Shekinah," all the things of God, "and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made." Realizing this, you can begin to see that there is a specific Shekinah Pattern of Being which comes to focus and function in relationship to everything that we do in the Pattern of the Divine Design, in the current of the kingdom control. We do not imagine that there is only one manifestation of Shekinah. The manifestations are numberless. And we must, if we would truly serve our King, we must allow the Shekinah Pattern to take form in relationship to all that we do, everything, without any exception.
Those whose eyes are blinded by the darkness that comprehendeth not will not see the Light shining in the darkness. It may not be evident to the eyes of many round about, but when there is that which needs to be done we do not properly just plunge into action on the basis of developing the physical form. With respect to anything that is to take form under the action of our hands, or by reason of our living, it should first be allowed to take form in Shekinah. "In the beginning Shekinah created the heaven and the earth." In the beginning Shekinah created. Every creative expression must be the expression of Shekinah. There is no other. Any action, any word, any expression, that is not of Shekinah is not creative but destructive, without a single exception, ever, at any time, in relationship to any person. All things of God, of the Divine Design, of the Garden of God, in heaven or on earth, "all things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made." In the beginning of any creative action, or expression of being, there must first be Shekinah; and if Shekinah is not allowed to come to focus as the manifestation of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, the Almighty, so that the thing that is made may be in fact made by Shekinah, then that form which human beings put together of the substance from the earth is not a true form; it is something that may by the physical factors of Life force—and those factors are from Shekinah—be held in form for a little time, but the moment the human hand and the human will and the human determination let go, it begins to crumble and decay, and soon is gone. Why? The force of Shekinah was misused by man to force certain substance of the earth into a particular pattern, but Shekinah did not make it. Man put things together to make something, but soon the form is gone. The things that were made, the things that were created, in any time past, were the result of the working of Shekinah.
We look back in history and we note certain individuals who were considered to be properly classified under the term genius. Generally speaking they were more or less unbalanced individuals. Generally speaking genius manifests in just one particularized field, and the rest of the human life is comparatively speaking dwarfed, insignificant. Some expression—for instance perhaps a poet, perhaps a great leader of some sort—generally speaking, just one avenue in the individual's life expression reveals genius. What is that? With respect to that particular pattern, that human being, man or woman, has learned to function in relationship to Shekinah, perhaps somewhat distorted, perhaps definitely misused; but there has not ever at any time in all the history of man been what might be properly classified as genius without the reality of Shekinah in relationship to that individual—music, art in any form, the brilliant expression, creative in accomplishment, through any human being anywhere. And so we begin to see that there is indeed in every manifestation of genius, in any field whatsoever, wherever it manifests, something of the reality of Shekinah—every constructive thing. And those who have had a genius for being destructive, they have had the capacity of attunement with Shekinah but have misused and abused it, and so have destroyed themselves and others. We can see that pattern at work; the sort of thing that manifested, for instance, with Hitler: the destruction he brought upon himself and upon his nation, and upon other parts of the world, countless human beings—a misused, abused capacity to contact the Shekinah force. Now in such a case Shekinah does not function in relationship to the individual as in the constructive case, and let us not get off on a tangent trying to understand just what makes a Hitler. That is not so important. What is it that makes a man or woman of God in the Divine Pattern?—that is important.
So, you have been called out of the world pattern as it is, to share in the Divine outworking by which you might become a noble man or a noble woman in the service of our King. So all genius represents a particularized capacity to contact Shekinah. Generally speaking, in the world those human beings who have contacted it have done so more or less accidentally. All kinds of theories and teachings and philosophies have been developed which are supposed to make it possible for the ordinary man or woman to equal the feats of genius. We have so many that I could name. But in actual fact they do not, because they do not understand. And hoping to equal the feats of genius is a poor goal. If we have no greater goal than to hope to equal or come near, perhaps, that which has been achieved by some genius of the past, we have accepted a distorted goal, something that is meaningless in fact. We are here as instruments for Shekinah: Man, made in the image and likeness of God, to be the instrument for the manifestation of the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells.
If you fully comprehend that brief statement you understand much. And we begin to see that for those who truly see, there is the particularized formation of Shekinah—the central ball of Fire, the surrounding Light that Glows, and the Cloud—which comes into being in relationship to every truly constructive or creative endeavor. If you attempt to give an attunement, for instance, and you cannot under the circumstances allow the particularized focalization of the development of Shekinah in relationship to it, you will not really give an attunement. You may not say so; you will not just say, "Well you may as well get out of here." You will give the individual an opportunity, if he or she will accept it, to begin to learn how to respond. You will not talk about Shekinah. Oh no, not at all! If you do you are very wrong. There is not one of you that is actually equipped to talk about Shekinah in the sense of undertaking to convey it to someone else. The point is that you will begin to inspire the individual to a response which will permit him or her to share in the beginning of the development of a Focalization of Shekinah, for that particularized development must appear before the actuality of attunement is established.
Now, of course, I recognize that we have called many patterns of outworking attunements when in the deeper sense they were not. But it was all right along the way. But we have to reach a point where we begin to recognize what an attunement really is. And when we first started this Class I could not have told you, no matter what words I used, because you would not have been able to understand what I was talking about. But you are beginning to reach a point where you can realize that every attunement with God must be by reason of Shekinah, and if Shekinah is not allowed to manifest between the cherubim it will not appear; and without it there is no power, no attunement, just an emptiness, just a form, just action and words that mean nothing.
In other words you must learn how to let the specific Pattern of Shekinah take form in relationship to that which you do. You as an individual alone cannot arbitrarily cause it to be so, but when there is the right pattern of relatedness established with someone else, and function is correct, there can be the beginning of the manifestation of Shekinah between you and that someone else. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-shekinah-fire.html] But you must both stand upon the mercy seat if it is to be so. Your foundation must be in the Law of God—the revelation of the letters of Fire, the rod of Truth, Aaron's rod that budded, the bread of Life, the basic triangle of Being within your foundation, the Ark of the Covenant. And you must learn to stand upon the mercy seat. The Master said, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." And is there one among you who has no need of mercy? "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." Actually the Beatitudes, properly recognized and understood, portray the basic principles essential to coming to the point where you can be a cherubim, a servant of God, an angel of God, standing upon the mercy seat. But you may be standing upon the mercy seat and if there is not someone else who stands upon the mercy seat somewhere, somehow, with you, you, standing there alone, cannot make manifest the conditions essential to the revelation of Shekinah. There must be two, one at each end of the Ark of the Covenant, with the mercy seat between. And it is above the mercy seat, between the cherubim, that there is the beginning of the centering, of the forming, of Shekinah in that particularized Pattern.
Perhaps it would help you to begin to see this more clearly if we did a little supposing within the range of reality. Just suppose every man, woman and child upon the face of the whole earth were centered in God, completely under the kingdom control of the Spirit, letting Life truly manifest—the Shekinah Light is the Life of men—there would be then, around the entire surface of the earth, wherever there is land at least, the manifestation of millions and millions of particularized focalizations of Shekinah. There would be a particularized Shekinah pattern between any given individual and each of his true friends. Suppose some person had one hundred friends. There would be one hundred balls of Fire and glowing Lights and manifestations of Cloud in relationship to that one individual who centered the hundred friends; but they in turn would have other friends, and each might have anywhere from, what shall we say? one to a hundred, more or less, in some cases many more of course, manifestations of Shekinah, and it would cover the earth's surface, and everything that would be done, every word that would be spoken, every action, would be on the basis of the expression of Shekinah in actual fact. The earth would then be a Sun, glowing, shining, in its place in the solar system and the cosmos—a Sun, a manifestation of the only begotten Son of God. How often back through the months we have shared have I told you that Shekinah is the only begotten Son of God? Did I not say the Christ Spirit—Light and Love and Life? What is Love and Light and Life? What is the Christ Spirit? What is the only begotten manifestation of God, that which gives evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells? Shekinah. For the Christ of the New Testament and the Shekinah of the Old are one and the same, and Christ should not be thought of as being any individual, not even our Lord and King. We can speak of Him as Jesus the Christ, the centering and manifestation of Shekinah; but to call Him Christ is a statement which reveals a lack of understanding. People act as if they could interchange the words "Jesus" and "Christ" and it would be perfectly all right. It is not so.
Christ and Shekinah, or Christos, as it is put from the standpoint of the Greek; Christos and Shekinah, the same thing exactly. So we begin to realize that if all those who dwell on the face of the earth were as they ought to be, there would be many more manifestations of the Shekinah Pattern than there would be individuals on earth, many more, and all things would be the expression of Shekinah, and without Shekinah there would not be anything done. Before there can be any real meaning to a pattern of response from any individual in relationship to myself as a teacher or leader, there must be the development between that individual and myself of a particularized focalization or manifestation of Shekinah. And that particular focalization is ours, that person and myself, and it belongs to no other, no one else. That is ours. Under the Divine Pattern I have the capacity to have such an individualized focalization of Shekinah with every man, woman and child on the face of the earth, without any exception, if the individual will let it be so; and in each and every case that manifestation of Shekinah would be ours, just ours, no one else's.
Now, in actual manifestation—well, do not jump to conclusions. You are not ready yet to understand just how all those things work. Function on the basis of what you know and not what you do not know. However, there is the necessity of realizing that nothing worthwhile can be accomplished on earth by anyone, anywhere, under any circumstance, without Shekinah, and any human relationship which is not based in Shekinah, which does not allow the manifestation of Shekinah, is an utterly useless relationship. Two cherubim standing above the Ark of the Covenant, upon the mercy seat which extends between them; and between the two there appears the Centering of Shekinah. Now this manifestation is without regard to sex. And here we begin to see why human beings have jumped to all kinds of foolish and fanciful conclusions, assuming that the angels of God were sexless creatures and that there was no such thing as sex in heaven, and so on and so on, up and down the line. But these manifestations are established without regard to sex—in other words I can have such a manifestation manifest between another man and myself as easily as I can between a woman and myself.
We begin to see then that that which results from the manifestation of Shekinah will be on an individualized basis, and the Shekinah Pattern will take form between any two cherubim who stand upon the mercy seat above the ark of the covenant; and if you have any foundation other than that you are attempting to build on shifting sand, for that is the only sure foundation, the Rock which the Master spoke of, the Rock of Reality—the man who built his house upon a rock. The house of your endeavor, that which you are achieving, attempting to make or bring forth by reason of living, if it is upon that foundation and the result of the working of Shekinah, then it is well. But if you attempt to duplicate, as nearly as you can, the same thing without the foundation and without the working of Shekinah, you may be able to fool those who have poor spiritual vision, it may look to many as if it is just as good, for a little while, but it is upon the sand, and as soon as the storm comes and the wind blows it will fall and great will be the fall of it.
Only Shekinah provides us with the opportunity of sharing the creative work of God on earth and any endeavor that disregards this great Truth must come to naught. There should be a Shekinah Pattern between every husband and wife; there should be a Shekinah Pattern between every parent and child; there should be a Shekinah Pattern between all those who are true friends; there should be a Shekinah Pattern between the one who carries a pattern of true focalization and all those who serve with that One. And only as you allow, for instance, a Shekinah Pattern to develop between you and me can we have any real meaning in the Cosmic scheme of things.
The great, magnificent significance of Shekinah! We need to begin soon to learn more about how to let Shekinah take form. I have told you already: stand upon the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant as a cherubim and let, [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2019/06/attunement-seat-david-barnes-2-2019-p.html] in the Divine Design, yourself have relationship to a starting point. You know it is perfectly permissible for you to recognize me in that position if you want to. You do not have to hunt for someone else unless you wish to. And if you refuse to let me share that pattern with you, I might mention you will hunt in vain for anyone else to share it. He who does not share it with me can never truly share it with anyone else. That is the Cosmic Law. It is the Divine Pattern. Share it with me and you will find someone else to share it with you. But it must work on the basis of Center.
And lo, if your foundation is the Law of God written upon the tablets of your heart with letters of Fire, and Aaron's rod which budded, the living Truth—the same thing that is symbolized by the wine which the Master caused to appear from the water, and the manna, the bread of Life—if these are your foundation, this Creative Triangle, this Creative Field, and you stand upon the mercy seat in correct polarity in relationship, according to the Divine Design, you will share the creative work of God on earth and you will begin to realize that man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word, every Shekinah, which comes forth from God. So let it be and we shall share the manifestation of the kingdom that is at hand. There is no other way. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, the kingdom of Shekinah is at hand. Let it appear to the Glory of our King and to the blessing of the children of men.
Our last meditation together was with respect to certain fundamentals in the field of the blueprint as revealed in the Book of Revelation. This blueprint is clarified over and over again in many, many different ways through the entire Bible. Our consideration of the beginnings of the manifestation of the First Sacred School, or the beginnings of the manifestation of Abraham and the children of Israel, provides us an opportunity to understand the great significance of this blueprint. There is an old saying that hindsight is better than foresight. With the limited human consciousness this is so, but from the standpoint of divine consciousness, divine vision, it is not so, and as we learn to function according to the Divine Design under the control that is inherent in truth, we find that the recognition of the right pattern of action, or right-useness, is present at the moment, and we can see the shaping of things to come.
When we look back, however, on the basis of limited human consciousness, we can well understand how the men and women who lived in the long ago had only their capacity to perceive the spiritual pattern to go by; they did not have an antecedent pattern; they did not have an outline of someone else's previous experience. The consciousness of what happened in the Motherland had degenerated to a few legends and myths, and in any case was not widely known. The records with respect to what happened, the records which were preserved, had not yet been found.
We might pause for just a moment to help you correlate on this point, because the records that were stored in a specially built Temple, the records from which the early part of the Book of Genesis, for instance, comes, were placed in safekeeping by certain of the Naacal Sages prior to the submersion of Atlantis, so that there would be a connecting link in outer form for those who should follow after. It was not until the time of Moses that these records, in the ruins of this Temple, were found. This is part of the significance of the experience of Moses, who was in the wilderness herding sheep for forty years.
Later on we will study more specifically the outworking and its significant aspects. But Moses was forty years of age when he killed an Egyptian who was belaboring one of the Hebrews, and he decided that he should leave that part of the country, after committing murder. So at the age of forty he went out into the wilderness and became a sheepherder. I think that this is another evidence of God's careful preparation of those who are to accomplish much under the inspiration of the spirit. A sheepherder learns patience, he learns gentleness, he learns careful alertness. And later on, when he was the shepherd for the children of Israel, he certainly needed all of the patience possible to him. On one occasion he became impatient and spoiled one of the divine patterns. But he needed patience; he needed to learn to protectively care for the flock. And so for forty years he practiced on sheep, before God turned the children of Israel over to his care.
Now it is not anticipated that you will have to be in training and under practice for eighty years before you begin your ministry. We recognize that Moses was a very well-educated man. He had attended the finest schools and universities in Egypt and they had a real educational program, very remarkable in many ways. He had lived in the court of Pharaoh; he had functioned as one of the princes of Egypt and had had every worldly advantage. He had a fine mind; he had a knowledge of languages; he was an educated man. So that first forty years of his training was very essential.
And then came the second forty years of training. As a sheepherder? Yes. But more than that. As he wandered with his sheep, seeking the best pastureland for them, it was not far from Mount Horeb where he found the ruins of an old Temple. It was a place where he could keep his sheep a good deal of the time, and there was water and pastureland. And so he began excavating, as opportunity afforded, in this old Temple. He began uncovering whatever might be found there, and he discovered some records. Some of the records had been damaged and could not be deciphered, but the records that had been left there so long ago under the care of the Naacal Sages were found by Moses, and the specific means by which he was enabled to find them was through his function as a sheepherder.
The information we have with respect to the creation of the world, for instance, the story of the early outworking of the world as it appears in the Bible, came from those records; likewise the story of Job. The Book of Job was in these records in the Temple and was translated by Moses and made available to us. Many of the poems which later became Psalms—many of them attributed to David—were among those records which Moses found and translated and made available. David did round them out perhaps a little in some instances, he did set them to music, he did make them popular with his singing, etc., but the Psalms, broadly speaking, did not originate with David as is supposed, but rather they came through Moses’ work of excavation and discovery and translation. Likewise the material which comes down to us as the Song of Solomon. It was by Solomon rounded out, given form, from the ancient records which Moses had established, Moses’ early translation. But while it was Solomon who gave the record specific form and some popular position, shall we say, the Song of Solomon was among the records which Moses translated while he was herding sheep in the wilderness.
We begin to see that a great deal of that which is of value to us in the Bible came to us by this means. And after Moses had discovered the ruins of this old Temple and began to translate and give form to these records in a manner which would make them available to us today, he was of course extremely interested, and he studied this material diligently. He lived with it; he was out there with his sheep, and the spirit of it began to penetrate into his heart and mind and consciousness. So he had a number of years in which to do this work.
There is no Biblical story to support what I am outlining to you, so you can accept it according to your own determination of consciousness. But in any case, that is what happened. There were basic principles from the standpoint of the outline of the Divine Plan which later became incorporated in the Books of the Prophets, particularly Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. So the very foundation of our Bible, in recognition of God's laws and principles and patterns of operation, was made available to us from these records by reason of Moses’ discovery and his ability to translate, his ability to get them in form so that they could come down to us as they have. Some of the records were lost, but once we begin to see this pattern of Divine Provision, once we begin to understand God’s care and the outworking of the Divine Pattern, we can recognize our great opportunity, our great responsibility.
But at the time of Abraham these records had not yet been discovered. Abraham did not have all of this material to study, read or consider. He did not have an outer awareness of the former things. It is true that Melchizedek did give him certain instruction and information, but you will have to recognize that if the disciples—earnest, sincere men—found it so difficult to actually comprehend what the Master was teaching, when they did have the background pattern of experience with respect to the children of Israel, you can perhaps more easily understand the problem as it confronted Abraham. He was instructed, but the background of experience was lacking. And so we emphasize again the point that, with human beings, hindsight is, under limited consciousness, better than foresight.
The disciples did not take full advantage of that which had been experienced by the children of Israel, that which was taught and made known. The Master used that material as text material in the presentation of His teaching; He revealed how these truths were there and that it was simply a matter of recognizing them and allowing them to come to focus in relationship to God’s Plan and purpose. But even though there was that background pattern for the children of Israel, and even though they were privileged to live and serve under the greatest Teacher the world has ever known, they simply did not reach the point of understanding what the Master meant by “the kingdom of heaven that is at hand.” And so it is not surprising that the orthodox concepts of Christianity have come down to us on such a limited basis. But we have a remarkable opportunity.
We not only have a blueprint, an outline of things yet to be with respect to the Divine Pattern, but we have two great cycles of outworking to give us background understanding: the situation as it developed with respect to the children of Israel, the First Sacred School, and the outworking with respect to the Master on earth and His disciples, and what followed. We can look back to two different patterns. So how blest we are, in comparison with Abraham. When we consider the extent to which he, under that circumstance, followed through effectively, we cannot but admire him and give thanks to God that he functioned in such a beautiful manner. We can then see, perhaps more clearly, what I mean when I say we have a greater opportunity today, a greater privilege with respect to actually understanding the things of God, than had either Abraham or the disciples who walked on earth with our Master when He was here.
So often human beings feel that if they could have had that privilege they would be able to move forward more effectively, they would be able to comprehend more easily. You know, I doubt very much if you would have had any better comprehension than the other disciples. In fact, it is just possible that some of you, insofar as the True Being is concerned—not you the human being, not you the body, but you the Inner Reality—it is possible that some of you, maybe all of you, were incarnate at that time. I do not wish to go into a specific consideration of that point, but I do wish to emphasize that had you, as you are now, lived then, I doubt if you would have done any better than they did.
It is by reason of this outworking in the cycles of time, by reason of the changing vibratory patterns from out of the cosmos, by reason of many things, that you have a better opportunity than the disciples who walked with our LORD on earth. Consider, for instance, the expansion of consciousness and the increase in knowledge in the past fifty or one hundred years. They did not have that. What kind of a world consciousness were they dealing with? They were having to break out of the world consciousness of humanity. With us, while we may have to break out of it in relationship to certain religious matters, certain recognitions of spiritual principles, the overall pattern of the world consciousness has expanded and does not present the immediate limitation which was present at the time the Master was on earth.
Knowledge has been increased. We turn to study the physical body and its various marvelous mechanisms. Do you think that any of the disciples had the privilege of studying anything so filled with the possibility of understanding as this that you see on the blackboard before you this morning? The working of the human eye—just to mention one point. And we can take literature that is prevalent in the world, and within the scope of the world consciousness, and study such things and know that they are true. Some of the conclusions may be wrong but the basic pattern of understanding is there. So one of the greatest advantages we have over anyone in the period of recorded history is the fact that knowledge has been increased—not just for us but for all. And this manifestation of knowledge and learning is something that is widely recognized, widely influential.
So we are not in the position that Abraham was, and that the disciples of our LORD were, of attempting to work against the patterns of limitation in the world consciousness which did not have an awareness of such knowledge. They were limited people; they did not know these things. If you go back and actually consider their patterns of thought and life, the extent to which they allowed themselves to become narrow, prejudiced little creatures, content with, well, conditions which make us feel that we have advanced a long way, then we can see that all of these things put together give us the opportunity of understanding. And to the degree that you have that consciousness and awareness, you have a perspective within which to more deeply and clearly understand all of the things which we are studying together.
The Word
YouTube Audio
David Barnes May 1, 2023
Listen for the Word. In the beginning is the Word. In this beginning is the Word. In the beginning is Shekinah. In the beginning is the Word, and the Word is with God, and the Word is God. I am the living Word. I am the Word made flesh. I am the evidence of the Presence of the LORD on earth. I am an aspect of the only begotten Son of God in expression. The Word is the expression of God. By the Word all things are made. Thou shalt bear true witness of the Word. The expression of the Word makes all things new. The expression of the Word sanctifies. The expression of the Word brings everything up to date, in the present moment. The expression of the Word allows time to be shortened, for the elect’s sake. He sent His Word and healed us. I do not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of my KING.
Speak the Word only, and this Body shall be healed. Blessed is he who comes in the Name, the evidence of the Presence of Word. Now is present the Magnetic Core, the Magnetic Focus of the Word on earth, and that provides quite a different kind of leadership in the world. The fall was caused by loss of attunement with the Word. Restoration will come by re-attunement with the Word. Let us make available the opportunity to speak the Word—in services, in sessions, in classes, in attunements, and in daily living. The primary responsibility of leadership in the Third Sacred School, being in heaven, is to speak the Word in a Core sense. The Word is the Word of the KING in His, and through His, Body of representatives now here gathered—this leadership Body. This is our purpose: To speak the Word on earth.
The Word of the KING is spoken on earth, come and behold Him. In heaven, I am always in the Presence of of the KING. Nothing is hidden. How wonderful to be naked and unashamed in the Presence of the KING of the Kingdom—and those of my fellows who serve with the KING in His Kingdom, naked and unashamed before one another in the heaven of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings. In the days to come, let us be naked and unashamed in one another’s company, in the Presence of the KING—and everything will be fitting if we do that. It is so wonderful to be at this place where we can let that happen, not hiding behind the trees, no fig leaves—but open to Him first, and then to one another. That would be my prayer for our time, and for all the days ahead. [April 10, 2023]
Uranda Chanting
YouTube Audio
There is a Land of the Living, a land, a Land of the Living
O come, O come and dwell
O come and dwell, in the Land of the Living
O come and serve, O come and serve, the God of the Living
The God of the Living
There is a Land of Light, there is a Land of Light
O come and dwell in the Land of the Light
O come ... O come ... O come
And as you begin to feel something of that which can be conveyed through radiation On Tone, you can begin to recognize the healing qualities. I wish for you to begin to understand why the vowels are so important in relationship to the reality of radiation, and how you can begin—as you learn how to express in the current of the Spirit—begin to let the tensions relax, begin to establish a sense of being enfolded in the Cloud of Peace, begin to establish a realization that you are not separate and apart—that is, establish that realization in each hearer—and you begin to know that there is a power which is well able to produce the adjustments in your body, in your mind and heart, which may be necessary to the achievement of your Divine Purpose on earth.
Listen For The Word
YouTube Video
Martin Cecil April 18, 1982
The spirit is in motion; it always has been and always will be. That motion we have described in various terms. It is indeed the Word. Obviously, to know what the Word is in the moment it is necessary to hear it. There has been such a cacophony of noise humanly produced that the Word has not been heard at all by most human beings on the face of the earth. We hear what we listen for. To hear the Word we must listen for the Word. This ability to listen is important.
So we learn to listen. The listening is of a different kind; it is not merely hearing sounds in the ordinary way, but listening to the spirit. Listen to that first, not being so concerned with the form. Very often those of rather simple understanding, but with open hearts, hear the soundless sound of the spirit with greater clarity than those with complicated intellects, because what is present in the intellect tends to be imposed upon what may be faintly sensed of the spirit. We can't hear if we don't listen.
Listen!for the sound of many waters.
Listen!for the sound of the rushing wind.
Listen!for the sound of the silent earth.
Listen!for the sound of the radiant sun.
Listen!
Let your ears be tuned to this sound because your heart is; for what is present in your heart will determine what you hear. Listen for the sounds of the spirit. These sounds have always been with us but we have had no ears to hear them, because we didn't listen. All that has been offered over the years through these services, for instance, is the opportunity to learn to listen to the sound of the spirit. Then there is no need for interpretation, which is invariably misinterpretation. But the Word is heard when you learn to listen. It is here present with us in this moment; it is in motion in this moment.
As our hearts and ears are attuned to that movement, then the rich substance of spirit may fill every part of our physical bodies. It may flow forth through every part, perhaps particularly through our arms, our hands, our fingers, but it floods through the flesh of our bodies. Do you think, if that is so, the physical form can remain the same? Would this not bring the reality of healing? The spirit, the reality of life, pours forth when allowed to do so because we listen, and consequently hear, and so find natural attunement with the movement of spirit. Then the substance of spirit may fill our physical forms, our minds and our hearts and, pouring forth, fill the environment, so that the fire of God may fall from heaven.
This is a transforming fire, but how can it work, how can it be known, unless it can be received? And how can it be received if we do not hear the spirit by which it comes? And how can we hear the spirit without listening? What is it we listen for? If you are accustomed to listening to troubles you are not accustomed to listening to the spirit. There is something happening now, in this moment, which would sweep all the troubles from the face of the earth in a moment if there were those present who would let it happen. They will not let it happen if they are listening to the troubles; all that happens then is an increase of troubles. But listen to the spirit, listen to the Word, listen to the power of life, and move with that because you hear it. When you do, then you comprehend, you see; but you never see until you listen and consequently hear.
Now there begin to be those on the face of the earth who stop fooling themselves because they begin to know the truth, but only to the extent that they have learned to listen, to hear what is actually happening, what is really on the move. What is then heard with the hearing of the ears immediately begins to be seen, understood, comprehended, because we share in the happening; we ourselves are the happening. The experience itself is that of oneness, no separation between God and man, the reality in one's own experience.
Lord God of Creation, Holy art Thou
It Is Written
Uranda January 12, 1949
Now we note a very interesting and significant point. “But He answered and said, It is written.” Jesus could have answered in words that had not been written before. He could have used His Own expression, but His every answer to the tempter was a quotation from something God had already expressed to the children of men through His Prophets. Jesus did not find it necessary to say anything that had not already been said and made available to the children of men, in order to meet the temptations which confronted Him. The significance of this is shown, first, by the fact that God had already made provision for the meeting of the tempter's snares long before the coming of our LORD in the flesh; and, secondly He Who was, and is, the LORD of Lords was ready and willing to quote from the Word of God already expressed. He did not feel that He had to make it original, and something peculiarly His own, to make it effective. The Word that had already been written was the word that He used. “But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The significance of that Word, in the fourth verse, which the Master quoted from the third verse of the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, should come home with a new realization to each one here tonight. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
