Vol. 44 No. 15 - Elizabeth Clare Prophet - April 15, 2001
Sunday Sermon
The Imitation of Christ
Part 1
This morning I shall speak to you on “Putting Our Trust in God when the Arrows of Words Assail Us,” for this is the title of chapter 46 of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. Although Thomas à Kempis is generally thought to be the author of this text, in reality, we do not know who wrote The Imitation of Christ.
I am convinced, however, that it is wholly inspired by Jesus and the ascended hierarchy, for this little book has been a trusted guide for disciples of Christ from the middle ages to the present. All who aspire to be one with the Christ have taken it and pored over it until it has become dog-eared, underscored and stained with the sweat and toil of overcoming that we as disciples face in this world.
The chapter begins with the words: “My son, stand steadily and put thy trust in Me. For what are words but words? They fly through the air, but a stone they cannot hurt. If thou art guilty, think that thou wouldst gladly amend thyself; if thou art conscious of no fault, consider that thou wouldst gladly endure this for God’s sake. Little enough it is that sometimes thou shouldest endure even words, since thou hast not yet the courage to bear hard stripes.” <1>
Jesus talked about bearing persecution in his Sermon on the Mount. He said: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” <2>
Sometimes we think that we would gladly bear Jesus’ cross and we take up that cross willingly until the hour of our testing. Then somehow we forget that the third fall of Jesus on the stations of the cross was under the weight of mankind’s momentum of injustice. Jesus bore the full weight of the sin of injustice, yet when we come to that place on the via dolorosa, we are inclined to say, “Why should we bear another’s injustice? We can bear all things with Christ, but why bear injustice?”
Somehow we feel that if injustice is spoken against us, we have the right to rise up in righteous indignation. But in so doing, we abandon the cross. We abandon the Christ and we act as Peter did when he cut off the ear of the Roman soldier in the Garden of Gethsemane. Thus we see that injustice is often followed by an act of retribution or revenge, for we think that something must be done to correct the insult to the ego. We forget that we have made the commitment to place the ego upon the cross to let it die, to let it be crucified.
Transmute the Energies of Injustice
This is timely instruction, because in the last days, when we are about the refinement of our consciousness, the dross and the gold must be separated within us. We find, however, that our sense of injustice will allow us to be overcome by the false words and the false statements of another.
The temptation of the dark ones is to make us believe that we are the only ones who suffer, we are the only ones who bear injustice and we are all alone. That temptation deprives us of the understanding that at a certain hour, at a certain time in the period of overcoming, all who have willingly and gladly taken up the cross must have the sacred opportunity of receiving the energies of injustice from the world for transmutation.
If we set ourselves to be the focal point of the light of the Christ, we will attract the imprisoned energies of God. The white-fire core of this energy, although overlaid with injustice, is nonetheless God and it desires to be free. The fiery core of every erg of energy that comes forth from God and is misused by man still desires to return to God. So when you have made your heart the altar of God and the fire of God is blazing there, is it any wonder that the debris of the mass consciousness will collect there to be consumed?
By the magnetism of your heart’s love, you draw to yourself mankind’s energy of injustice. This does not mean that you need to identify with that energy, for it comes to be consumed in the flame. When it is consumed, God’s pure energy is returned to wholeness, the overlay of injustice is transmuted into justice; and the white-fire core, as the balance of Alpha and Omega, can now function. That energy can then be used for the light and for good works among mankind.
“The Carnal Mind Is Enmity against God”
Paul said, “The carnal mind is enmity against God.” He gave that teaching to show us that the carnal mind is concerned not only with sensuality but also with separating itself out by its refusal to be consumed on the altar of the Lord and replaced by the Christ.
We read again from The Imitation of Christ: “And why do such small matters go to thy heart but because thou art yet carnal, and regardest men more than thou oughtest? For it is because thou art afraid of being despised that thou art unwilling to be reproved for thy faults, and [thou] seekest the overshadowing of excuses.
“But look better into thyself, and thou shalt acknowledge that the world is yet alive in thee, and a vain desire to please men. For when thou shrinkest from being abased and confounded for thy failings, it is evident surely that thou art neither truly humble nor truly dead to the world, nor is the world crucified to thee.”
We can be offended, disturbed or irritated by false accusations, by vilifications, by being misunderstood. Oh, the pain of misunderstanding! How we are brought low when we feel that the one closest to us has not understood! Yet is not this the entertainment of the carnal mind--the carnal mind that has not surrendered all of itself to the Christ?
If we would walk all the way with Jesus, we cannot neglect the stations of the cross, nor can we neglect the Word of the Saviour that is given to us, for we understand, as Paul said: “They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” <3>
We see then that the carnal mind rebels against any and all discomfort on the path. Unless it can be at ease on the path, it rebels against the path. We learn day by day the subtleties, the machinations, the rationalizations of the ego functioning as that carnal mind. We see, then, that the injustice of the world can be our undoing on the path if we do not surrender self-righteousness, if we still consider that we are right in the use of the law and therefore not willing to be humble even if we are wronged or injured.
“What Is That to Thee?”
Our text continues: “But hear My word, and thou shalt not care for ten thousand words of men. Behold, if all should be spoken against thee that could be most maliciously invented, what would it hurt thee if thou wouldst suffer it to pass entirely away and make no more reckoning of it than of a mote? Could it pluck so much as one hair from thy head?”
I remember the words of Jesus, quoted so often to me by one of his disciples who walked among us as Clara Louise Kieninger. Always in the face of calumny or vilification she would say, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” <4>
There is a plane of bliss, a plane of attunement, that comes in the fire of the heart whereby you can be in the very midst of chaos and confusion, injustice and strife, and be aware of the love of God. Not in self-righteousness, but as a flame that burns upon the heart and consumes this energy the moment it is misqualified by others around you.
It is a state of humility, never of aloofness. It never says, “I don’t care what happens to you. You can say or do what you will.” It is above any form of reaction, for remember that aloofness to others’ faults and errors is also a reaction.
We cannot remain aloof. We have the obligation to transmute every disturbance that occurs within our forcefields. We have a second obligation, and that is to preach and to admonish. We cannot allow our fellow servants, our brothers and sisters on the path, to believe in the action of injustice or that they may continue on that course.
Therefore, we must have the courage to speak the word of the law and of truth. Simultaneously with the power of the spoken Word, love is the consuming fire of God. It takes courage to walk among mankind and to be willing to challenge error. It is always easy to remain aloof. But remember that in our aloofness we may neglect to tutor a soul and neglect the salvation of a soul.
Jesus said, “If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” <5>
We must realize that the purging of our consciousness is necessary--to forgo some carnal pleasure, some gratification of the ego or the release of unkindness or cruelty. To forgo it is to pluck it out, to cut it from the vine of consciousness. In some situations, silence accomplishes all these things, for it accomplishes transmutation and admonishment. In other situations, only the affirmation of the law by the spoken Word will accomplish the purpose of God in you.
We Must Test the Motive of the Heart
Returning to our text, we read: “But he that hath no heart within him, nor hath God before his eyes is easily moved with a word of dispraise.” This is the heart of our teaching today.
We are concerned these Sunday mornings with the development of the heart chakra, the heart flame, and with meditation upon the heart. When we feel the light of God and the radiation of God and we sit in the presence of our Lord, we believe in all sincerity that our hearts are pure, for we have come purely before the altar of God. We believe that relative to our state of evolution we are reasonably humble.
However, there is another measurement of whether or not we have the true heart flame. And it is in this teaching: If we are easily moved with a word of dispraise, are we easily moved because another criticizes or condemns us? Are we easily moved because that which we cherish in our ego is suddenly torn down by the ego of another? Or perhaps by the Christ of another?
Then we must see and test the motive of our hearts. Then we must know that if we live to please God, we can never be moved by the criticism of man. But if we live for the praise of men, then we will certainly be moved when our employer or someone we respect tears down something we have done.
Jesus said: “For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” <6>
We may argue and we may struggle with the angel of the Lord who wrestles with us, wrestling with the carnal mind that the Christ might come forth. But we can look nowhere else than to the tree of our own consciousness to find the source, cause and core of the evil fruit.
James said, “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” <7> We admit to conditions in our lives and in our actions that are not of God and not of the light. And if it is for these that other men take counsel against us, let us not say we are being crucified for Jesus’ sake, for we are not being crucified for the good that we do, but for the evil. And if it be evil, we have not entered the crucifixion, for we are yet in preparation for that crucifixion.
Then we must thank the Lord that out of someone’s mouth has come instruction and an ability to see ourselves as others see us. And if through the injustice of another, or the seeming injustice, we are led to contemplate another aspect of our lives that may be at fault, then by the grace of God we must also thank those who come to us, for we know that we can learn from every word that is spoken. We can receive a lesson on the deep thoughts and motives of our hearts.
“That the Thoughts of Many Hearts Might Be Revealed”
We must remember, then, that in the heart flame is the Christ, and in the Christ is absolute control of creative energy and creative flow. If we retreat to the secret place of the Most High, which is the altar of the heart, and align our consciousness with the Christ, we will cease to put forth the fruit of im-pure motive. Until we do this, we must reckon with our God. And we may see that something may be left within us of the human will, the human pride, the human ego.
The Imitation of Christ continues: “Whereas he that trusteth in Me and hath no wish to stand by his own judgment shall be free from the fear of men. For I am the judge and the discerner of all secrets. I well understand how the matter passed; I know him that offereth the injury and him that suffereth it. From Me proceedeth that word. By My permission this hath happened, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” <8>
Do you remember that passage? “That the thoughts of many hearts shall be revealed.” Do you remember to whom it was spoken? It was spoken to beloved Mother Mary by Simeon, who was waiting to see the light of Jesus. Simeon said, “This child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against.” <9>
Simeon saw the true mission of the Christ in every man, for the Christ comes as the two-edged sword that divides the way of reality and unreality. Therefore he comes for the fall of the ego and the rising of the Christ. That is the sign that is spoken against.
Then Simeon said to Mary, “Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” <10> You see, when we are willing to undergo the crucifixion, which is the piercing of the heart with the sword of the entire weight of world pain, we find, as with Mary and Jesus, that because we were willing to bear that piercing of the heart, the alignment of reality and unreality comes, which is the sign of the descent of the Holy Ghost.
Unless we are willing to personify the Christ, to personally walk with the Christ, we do not have hope of the Comforter or of the sword of the Holy Ghost, which shows mankind whether they are on the left or the right side of truth.
Bearing the Sins of the World
Therefore, it is a question of the heart and of the puri-fication of the heart. If we would be servants of God, if we would continue to walk through these days and hours when the burden of the world is like lead, we must see that bearing the sins of the world has meaning in our own time. It was not simply an action for one man, one Son of God, at one moment in history. Every hour of every day, little children who suffer on beds of pain and disease require someone somewhere to help them carry the cross so that they also can go on in their evolution.
That cross comes as the energy I spoke about. And wherever you have the fire of God you have a vortex of light, and into that vortex flows the sea of humanity’s consciousness for redemption. Redemption takes place on the cross where the vertical line of the Father meets the horizontal line of the Mother. There, in the center of the cross, when you are centered in Christ within your heart, you have the fire that holds the weight of sin and is the transmutation of sin.
The Hour of Judgment
The text continues: “I shall judge the guilty and the innocent, but by a secret judgment I have thought fit beforehand to prove them both. The testimony of men oftentimes deceiveth. My judgment is true. It shall stand, and shall not be overthrown. It commonly lieth hid and is manifest but to few in every matter. Yet it never erreth, nor can err, although to the eyes of the foolish it may seem not right.”
We are in an hour when the signs of the heavens tell us that it is the hour of the judgment of God. Today the sun and the moon are both in the house of Capricorn, which we mark as the sign of God Almighty, the eternal Lawgiver and Judge and as the origin of all cycles.
Just as it is the hour for the judgments of God upon mankind and upon us individually, so it is the hour when the fallen ones usurp the position of judge. And they send forth their condemnation and their energies to defile. The cruci-fixion comes when that energy of misjudgment comes to you for redemption. And the greater the light you bear within the heart, the greater the darkness that must be transmuted there.
When that darkness comes into the vortex of your heart chakra to be transmuted, those who are around you who are of lesser attainment, who know not the law of cycles, will begin to identify with the darkness that is in transition, that is in the process of going into the fire to be transmuted. Therefore their injustices and vilifications, the words from their mouths, will be the mouthings of evil spirits that assail you in the hour of your moment of glory and of transmutation. Every saint, everyone who walks as a disciple of Christ, has a halo of light, the fire around the heart and around the being that is the sign of the flame of the Paraclete, the cloven tongues of the Holy Ghost. Beyond that forcefield of light is a forcefield of darkness that counteracts the light--darkness, remember, that is in transition, ready to be consumed.
When you stand unmoved before injustice and unkind words, you give free flow to that dark energy to be consumed by the love action of your heart. But when you react and enter into strife or resentment or revenge with the one who has become the mouthpiece of darkness, then you leave the forcefield of light. You leave the center of the cross and you separate yourself from the Holy of holies to become en-meshed once again in the karma of the mass consciousness. Then perhaps you share the karma of the one who has been the mouthpiece of destruction.
I think that those who are the mouthpiece of injustice are our greatest friends because they deliver us into the hands of the Judge, of Almighty God. They become the instruments for us to pass the test of the crucifixion and the glorification through the resurrection. Therefore, the true meaning of loving our enemies becomes clear: We love those who bring us our greatest tests.
How else can we rise? Do we desire to be in an ivory tower, an incubator or forever on a mountaintop retreating from the world?
to be continued
This sermon was delivered on January 20, 1974, by the Messenger of the Great White Brotherhood Elizabeth Clare Prophet at the Motherhouse in Santa Barbara, California.
3. Rom. 8:5-7.
4. John 21:22.
7. James 3:11.
8. Luke 2:35.
9. Luke 2:34.
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