Shekinah
Uranda April 8, 1954 Class
I would like to draw your
attention to a passage which we have considered before and which we will consider again many times. It is one of the passages of very great
significance upon which we may well meditate. The Easter season and the
approaching Easter Day commemorates great and stirring events in the outworking
of history in relationship to man and his spiritual attainment. We have
considered together the fact that having received the current of the Holy
Spirit, we can anticipate the manifestation of Power.
Obviously
there must be Power before the greater works may be done. The means by which
this Power may come into our lives is of tremendous importance to each and
everyone of us. We have in the past considered the significance of the Word,
the secret Word, the sacred Word, and we have recognized that the Word Word was very often used in sacred writings to signify the
secret or the sacred Word—Shekinah
carrying a vibrational pattern which correlates with the
Motherland tongue.
In the first chapter of the Gospel according to John, we have a
most significant outline of basic Truth in relationship to the Word. Human beings have jumped to the conclusion that this word Word here is supposed to be a synonym for Jesus. We cannot agree with that view and a careful
study of the factors will show that while the Christ Spirit that was revealed
through the body of Jesus was indeed the evidence of the presence of the One
Who Dwells, this word should not be taken as signifying Jesus, the man, but
rather the Spirit that was revealed through the man.
The meaning
of this word Shekinah is the presence of the One Who dwells. The Master revealed the Father
in His living, in His teaching, in His action and the revelation of the
presence of the Father was the Christ Spirit or the Christ—so the word Christ in the New Testament actually means exactly the same thing
as the word Shekinah in the Old Testament. And we
remember that this Word was signified many times when it was not actually stated.
We
recognize the revelation of the Christ Spirit as God's Love—which is the Way—God's
Truth and God's Life. As the Father put it, speaking through the lips of Jesus,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” And the Christ Spirit, so gloriously
revealed through our Master's life, was indeed the evidence of the presence of
the Father, the One Who Dwells. The Secret Place of the Most High was and is Shekinah. The Shadow of the Almighty was and is Shekinah, the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells.
It
was this Word, the Logos, the Christ, the Shekinah, made evident through Jesus
and through the Apostles—to the degree that they let the works of God be done—and through the Prophets of old, which allowed the works which have been
performed to appear on earth. All of the works of the Old and New Testament
periods—which were above or beyond the ordinary pattern of function—were
definitely the result of the increased working of the Spirit which is the
evidence of the presence of the One who Dwells.
As
long as we have life in the body, we have the evidence of the presence of the
One Who Dwells, as long as we have the capacity to think, to feel and to know,
we have some evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells. It is not that we
imagine that there is no evidence of the One Who Dwells or of His presence. We
see the evidence of His presence on every hand. We see it with every expression
of faithfulness, of nobility, of true character, as we observe one another in
daily life. Yes, here in our daily life we know the evidence of the presence of
the One Who Dwells, but we know that this manifestation of the evidence is not
yet great enough—that we here can let our lives, our capacities, our bodies,
our patterns of life action become a means by which still greater evidence of
the presence of the One Who Dwells may appear.
We
remember the word that is written, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of
the living God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” The Spirit of God is the Shekinah, the evidence of the presence of God or the One
Who Dwells. We remember that in the days of old, the Tabernacle was the symbol
of the body of man or mankind. In one pattern it was the symbol of the female body—but
it was also the symbol of the body of mankind, as mankind is supposed to be
negative or responsive to the Body of God, and it was in relationship to the Tabernacle
that this evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells was made evident in
the days of the children of Israel—the Glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle
and shone round about.
Your
body is the Tabernacle, and in your body we have the Outer Court—which relates
to the conscious mind; we have the Holy Place—which relates to the emotional
nature, and the Holy of Holies. The ancient description of this evidence of the
presence of the One Who Dwells was first of the Cloud of Glory, and within the
Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows and within the Light that Glows, the Fire
that Burns—and Glory relates to Life, Life relates to Truth, and Fire relates
to Love. We understand the symbolic meaning of the words. We see that in the
Old Testament pattern, it was exactly the same portrayal as that given by the
Master—God’s Love and Truth and Life made manifest through human beings is the
evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells. Now with respect to this Shekinah of our King, we have this passage in the Gospel
according to John, beginning with the first verse in the first Chapter:
“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” In
the beginning was Shekinah, and Shekinah was with God, and Shekinah was God in action.
This same evidence of the presence was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.
We
will consider this passage again in different ways, but tonight, we pause first
to note this statement, “All things were made by him.” Life, whether
made manifest through a righteous person or an evil person, that life is a part
of the Christ Spirit, a part of Shekinah.
All things that have been made on the face of the earth, by all the human
beings who have ever lived or who live today, all things that man has made were
made by reason of the presence of Shekinah—the
Christ Spirit, the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Life.
“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
Wrong uses of this evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells permits man
to make evil things, but without Shekinah was
not anything made that was made at any time in history. In your life you have
never made anything, achieved anything, experienced any fulfilment except through
the working of Shekinah.
In
any beginning—in the beginning of your life, in the beginning of any action, in
the beginning of function in any moment—the action that is made
possible by reason of Shekinah. To
the degree that we realize this, we see that man can take this Spirit of God
which is in fact the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells and use it
self-actively, use it contrary to God's Will, contrary to God's Purpose and
produce that which God would not bring forth; but whatever we do, good, bad or
indifferent, whatever appears in our lives in any way, shape or form has come
forth by reason of the use, right or wrong of the evidence of the presence of
the One Who Dwells. We recognize that it is of vital importance that the
evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells should be allowed right function,
right use, right application in our daily lives, in ourselves, in our
circumstances.
“In the
beginning was the Word.” Because of this statement as it is worded, human
beings are inclined to think that this Word,
whatever it was, while it was in the
beginning, it remained back there somewhere, but this Word, this Shekinah,
this Christ was and is the only begotten
Son of God; it is that which issues forth from God, the Shekinah, the Christ,
the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells—and while this Word was present in the
beginning, it has been present in every moment of time since that
beginning, whenever that was.
This Shekinah—this evidence of the presence of the One Who
Dwells—is present with us in this moment; and the baptism of the Holy Spirit
relates to an increase in the manifestation of the evidence of the presence of
the One Who Dwells, and that evidence should appear more vibrantly, more fully
in our daily lives.
From
the beginning of the story as it is portrayed in Genesis to the conclusion of the Book in Revelation, the same theme is repeated over and over and
over again. We see it exemplified in the life of the Master, but that was not a
variation, it was not a different theme—it was the
same theme that has been expressed from the beginning of time. This
is the theme that is with us now. Once these simple Truths are seen and
accepted and we share the experience of allowing an increase in the
manifestation of the evidence of the One Who Dwells, we thereby become members
of the One Body—we thereby share in the increased outpouring
of the Holy Spirit.
Blessed
ones, all the things that have been done have been achieved by reason of this Word—Shekinah.
Our Master's life was made meaningful because of Shekinah. If
our lives are to be meaningful, it must be by reason of this same Shekinah. No
matter what the term, no matter what the name used—it is the same thing, the
evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells. And to the degree that we allow
an increase in this evidence, we fulfill our mission on earth—to the degree
that we use the Love, the Truth and the Life of the Christ Spirit, of Shekinah, for wrong purposes, for self-active purposes, we
fail.
To the degree that we let Shekinah use
us to reveal the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells in us, we serve God, we glorify our King and we become a means by which blessings are made
manifest to our brother man in the true Spirit of Service. If there
is Power, that Power comes from God. But how does anything come from God? By
one means only, by Shekinah or Christ, the Christ Spirit—that which issues forth from God constantly,
at all times—under all circumstances the Christ Spirit, Shekinah is present. “And without him was not anything made
that was made.”
If
my lips make a sound, which we call a word, in the expression of the Truths of Being—that sound was made by the Word, by Shekinah, by
Christ. As our bodies became the means by which the revelation of
the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells is brought forth on earth,
the fruit of the Spirit appears in our lives—we become members, branches of the
one vine, bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit. And what is the Spirit—the Holy Spirit, Shekinah, Christ, it is all the same.
The
Master said, “By their fruit ye shall know them.” The fruit of the Spirit is
the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells. Every action, every word,
every attitude gives evidence of some spirit in man—but no spirit, even the ill
spirits of fear, resentment, envy and all the rest cannot appear except by
reason of the misuse of Shekinah in
our lives. If we, in reverence before the Throne of God, come to realize that
every word and every deed, all that we express in life provides evidence of the
presence of the One Who Dwells and that Shekinah
makes possible all these expressions, we will surely in relationship to any
impulse, pause to consider and meditate upon the wonders, the beauty and the
glory granted to us as we allow the evidence of the presence of the One Who
Dwells to appear in our lives.
As long as life remains in you, you are a
witness. And what evidence do you present as a witness? What is the evidence
that appears in your life? The evidence of distortion, self-activity, wrong
function or the true pure evidence of a true witness, the evidence of the presence
of the One Who Dwells. What is the evidence in your life? Is it the pure evidence?
All that you think and say and do every attitude you express tends to convince
someone either for or against the Kingdom of God on earth.
“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
We cannot separate that which is with God from God. The only begotten Son of
God—not Jesus, the man, but the Christ Spirit revealed through the man—which we
also are privileged to reveal, the Shekinah,
the Word. The Word is
with God, and the Word is God. The
true manifestation of the evidence of the presence of God is the expression,
the action of God in our lives.
In
this present time, there is Shekinah—and
Shekinah is with God and Shekinah is God. In this
present time, there is the reality of the Christ Spirit and the Christ Spirit
is with God and the Christ Spirit is God in action, for the Word is the only begotten Son of God and this is that which you
are called upon to reveal in your life according to your capacity, for our
Master said, “Follow me”, and if He revealed the only begotten Son of God, and
if we follow Him, then we likewise reveal the only begotten Son of God—Shekinah, the Spirit of the living Christ.
Until
we realize our opportunity in letting this be so, we cannot truly follow Him; we
cannot truly serve God or man; we cannot experience and know the increase of Power—we cannot hope to have fulfilment. Only as we, members of
the Body, branches of the Vine, do our part toward revealing the evidence of the
presence of the One Who Dwells, Shekinah, Christ, the only begotten Son of God—only so can we bring forth
the Fruit of the Spirit, only so can we accomplish that for which God brought
us into the world; for your body was formed in your mother’s womb by the power
of Shekinah, by the working of the Christ Spirit of Love and Truth and Life.
You
were born and you grew as a babe, a child, a young man or woman to this present
day, regardless of the wrong uses to which you may have put that Spirit in you,
making it manifest not as true evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells,
but the evidence of darkness, of distortion, of chaos, of unreality. You come to
know that only as you follow our Lord and King in revealing the evidence on
earth of the presence of the only begotten Son of God, Shekinah, Christ, the Holy Spirit, can you come to know your part and place
in the Cosmic Plan, only so can the Kingdom come, only so can the Will of God
be done in earth as it is in Heaven.
Without Shekinah, no change is possible in the sense of movement
toward the goal which God has set before us. To the degree that we violate our
privilege of having Shekinah present in our
bodies, in our Temples, we separate ourselves from Shekinah and
come to naught, but to the degree that we let Shekinah
have full true expression in revealing the evidence of the presence of the One
Who Dwells, we find that there is power enough, understanding enough, to permit
great events to take place in our lives so that we begin to share in the doing
of the Greater Works; we come to know the Truth with respect to the resurrection
and the life; we come to know the only begotten Son of God—not the man Jesus,
though He revealed Shekinah. We cannot come
to know Jesus, the man—for he is not here. We can come to know the Shekinah of our King which He revealed on earth; we can
come to share in the action of the only begotten Son of God in this realm of
things, in this day and time—and surely there is need in the world for the
evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells.
Let
us then let the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells be made manifest
in us and through us, in thought and word and deed, in attitude, for the Christ
Spirit is here as surely as at anywhere at any time, and as a member of the body
of mankind, you are called upon to be a member of the Body of Christ, a member
of the Body of the only begotten Son of God on earth, the Shekinah of our King.
So let it be.
Peace
be unto you as you abide in the true evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells,
letting your capacities of Being in body and mind and heart reveal the evidence
of the presence of the One Who Dwells. Peace be unto you in the Shekinah of our
King, in the Christ Spirit of His Being, that mankind, the son of man, may
provide the evidence of the presence on earth of the only begotten Son of God.
Peace be unto you. In Love, in Truth and in Life, peace be unto you, in body
and mind and heart and through you to all who will receive in the Shekinah of
our King, which is to say, IN the Christ. Aum-en.
© Emmisaries of Divine Light
