"CHRIST THE ADVOCATE, THE INTERCESSOR BETWEEN MAN AND GOD"

An address given by the Christ messenger 'Zodiac' (a teacher in the Temple of Jerusalem at the time of Christ) at the Zodiac Circle on Sunday, 23rd November, 1924.

"Take your weariness and your sadness and lay it at the feet of the Christ, knowing that as you do so you are not only obeying His request but that you are also healing and restoring yourselves. If you will do this, He promises that both will be made good - the wounds shall be healed and the strength replenished - so that you finish stronger than you began.

"There is much that needs to be said, so mark this communion as one when the self was laid aside - and an occasion where a little more was learned of the things that are of God.

"Some people still question the advisability of withdrawing the veil from those incidents which were of an intimate and truly private character. In the World of the Spirit, reserve, as it is understood upon the earth, is unknown. When they go into the Spirit World, they will go back over the past, and with eagerness will seek among their hidden resources to find something that may help another. How can you help others unless you have had similar experiences?

"Sympathy is only half-expressed when it has no knowledge behind it. In the World of Spirit is the bigger, wider view of sympathy, and know that even the most sacred thoughts - those which concern the inner citadel of feeling and the true emotion - know that these are precious tools that can be used to lighten another's sorrow and distress.

"You must all understand this clearly; that reserve, the isolating of the Self, the covering up of the feelings that matter most, the shutting of yourself into the turret of self-possession - in the sense that what is within is your own - these things are seen for what they are.

"It is difficult to get the Christ view on such matters because in your world it is considered not only unwise, but also the worst possible taste, to wear your heart on your sleeve. Thus, reserve over the things that really matter has come to be regarded as a virtue which must be cultivated and tended carefully.

"We, who are free, are able to look into the hearts and minds of many who are hungry for that word of understanding which would turn the earth from a wilderness into a home. Seeing and entering into this terrible sense of loneliness, our most intimate thoughts and emotions are at their disposal so that we can say and demonstrate: Let me comfort you for I understand.

"You are not guiltless in this, for you store up love as though it were something which must be kept far from the eyes of those who know you best - and herein lies a great responsibility which you have never considered in the Christ way as yet.

"When you come into the World of Spirit you will find that love is the greatest force there is. It is the only force in the Realms of Spirit that can bring you, or anyone, closer to the things that are of God. Many while on earth, place their love behind locked doors and for a time the key is lost. Within the Realms of Spirit, love cannot be given out on the impulse of the moment when you see that love works. As in all things, the capacity for giving out love is a matter of growth - slow growth in some cases. There is a need for breaking down these barriers - invented by the false conceptions of the physical mind - to break down and pour out love, not only on those who love you, but on the stranger without the gate.

"There are many excuses and many explanations given in regard to shutting up of love. Pride, which you call reserve; a sense of self-preservation; that sensitiveness as to what others may think; the diffidence that love may not be returned, and so on. What do they all amount to? Tear off the ornamental covering and be frank. Is it not Self underneath - Self and nothing less?

"When you enter into the Realms of Spirit, if you have not loosened the door while upon the earth, you will find it very difficult indeed to wrench it open then. What will you do when you find yourselves in conditions of love, and yours has not yet learned to walk alone? You are entreated, not only for the world's sake, but still more so for your own sake - to pour out your love.

"One of the most usual forms of anguish which faces the newly-released soul, is in looking back over the physical existence and seeing those omissions - the little word of love at the right time, taking it for granted that the other knew, satisfying the conscience by saying: 'They understand and I need not put it into words'. When they enter the Spirit Realms, great is the anguish on seeing the effects of those omissions. Nothing can undo the past, in that sense. The hungry soul went on its way unrejoicing; the tired mind worked on without the balm that was at hand; the tears were not stayed although they were shed in secret - not stayed because that which could have been given was withheld.

"All these things must be faced and reckoned with. You have larger responsibilities in regard to love and the love that belongs to others. In family life it is the same; in the wider circle of your friends and acquaintances it is doubly applicable; and also it concerns those whom you meet in everyday life. Send out love, send out sympathy and send out understanding. What does it matter if at times you do not receive it? Your part is to give, and you cannot feel one pulsation of real love without the Father pouring down upon you love in an amazing way. Never let it be said again amongst you: 'I do not like them because they do not like me'. That is entirely beside the point.

"You are instructed for the sake of the emancipation of the soul within - pour out love, so that the power that love provides may be yours for ever more.

"Lay aside the earth conception of things and try to take what the Master Himself taught. You will remember how He treated the sinners who crossed His path during his earthly sojourn. You will remember that Christ, being God, and God being Love, said to one who had called down upon herself the most drastic judgement of the world: 'Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more'. This illustration is still relevant today. The sins of the flesh are regarded with the greatest abhorrence and are treated in the most pitiless manner. The results of that treatment are long lasting. Although you may wince under these things, it is necessary to know about them for your minds are being prepared for the greater, wider understanding that must be the possession of the soaring soul.

"Throughout the generations sin has been divided primarily under two headings - of course, many more in detail - but, those sins which are permissible and those which are not.

"In the world of work there are methods, transactions, which come under the very comprehensive misnomer of 'business'. Under that deceptive heading, much can be accomplished, which, if it were in any other walk of life, would be treated as it deserved. Stealing is punished in a drastic manner when it is discovered; cheating also finds no mercy. You know that these things go on to an extensive degree in those same big transactions.

"Can you see where this is leading? On earth the sins which are found out are the sins that matter. The sins that can be covered over in one way or another are the permissible ones and are ignored.

"In the Realm of the Spirit names have no weight; actions, not so much as you might think, but motives, thoughts - these are the things that stand. Know now, that you cannot think one destructive thought in regard to another without injury to yourself. You cannot evade the responsibilities that are attached to the Divinity within. When you arrive in the Spirit World, you will see that after all, the root of so-called 'sin' - in fact, the only sin there is - is selfishness and want of consideration for others.

"This has been expressed by thoughtful people on earth but even they do not understand what is meant by 'selfishness' or lack of consideration for others.

"You can see that in considering so vast a subject which the earth names as 'sin', it comes back to that most obstinate enemy of the soul - love of self. You need to understand in its magnitude that whatever is done - under whatever name the world likes to call it - whatever is done that injures another, is sin against the soul within, in a manner impossible to explain. The person so injured is immediately compensated by the Saviour.

"Yet, when the offender arrives in the World of Spirit, he will have to reckon with a double burden: The burden of inflicting a hurt upon another; and that far greater burden: The damage to the Real-Self - the retrograde step that affects the Divine within.

"The Christ acts in this way as the Advocate, the Intercessor, between man and God. Rid yourselves forever of that misconception that the Christ intercedes for you to some Great Spirit, all-powerful, all-mighty and isolated from you by His very Divinity and Holiness. The Christ is indeed the Intercessor, the Advocate, between man and his God - but it is between that man and the God which is within.

"Many who arrive in the Realm of Spirit find these heavy burdens upon their shoulders which must be carried until the effect of them has been overcome. They turn to the Christ for help against themselves - clinging to Him as a man clings to a raft in a big and treacherous ocean - knowing that before the judge of their 'Better-Self' they have nothing to say in extenuation. Then it is that the Saviour, being the Saviour, intercedes, and taking upon Himself the larger part of the anguish, raises the suffering soul and gives him strength to fight and to get free.

"Can you see the importance of telling the world what it is that is being constructed? Can you see why the Christ instructed you to seek to love them that hate you - to bless and not to curse? In those words many have read protection for the unworthy - but the Divine Mind of Love sought to protect the individual, knowing that it is impossible to strike another without bringing upon himself the double burden that has to be worked out.

"These burdens take many forms. Some have so bound themselves with evil that their sufferings are intense. You speak of a 'hell of fire' as an explanation that this is the torture of trying to get free from that which man has, by his own folly and weakness, attracted to himself.

"The Gospel of Love, which has been impressed upon humanity for so long, is, in reality, in its simple truth, the Gospel of Protection. When you hear again of this one or that 'sinning', remember that there is the earth view of sin - which is totally opposite to the spiritual view as expressed by the Christ; self is the enemy which all have to overcome. The greatest sins against the spirit within are those which, ignoring the claim of others, puts self above all else. Whatever the sins may be, is not the concern of others but of the individual only; remember the greater view: God looks into the heart of things and sees there the motive, the thought, the underlying influence that brought out the weakness, or that far more dangerous spear of action.

"You can see for yourselves those sins which are the result of underdevelopment in a spiritual sense. As children they do that which is to their own advantage, and as children they neglect to do that which the elder ones would as a matter of course. These are ranked quite differently from the sins of commission that are done with knowledge of good and evil. When those who have the gifts of the mind, the gifts of the environment and opportunity, turn from the Light to darkness, pitiable indeed is their plight.

"But remember that God does not condemn; the condemnation is there in a terrific force, but it is the condemnation of the greater, wiser Self, which through all the mazes of experience, all those labyrinths of the physical mind, keeps pure and clear and free, because it is of God.

"All that has gone before has a sequence and a connecting link. It is in regard to the acquirement of spirituality. Many people are puzzled about this. Some have an idea that the process of elimination is best. They think that by cutting themselves off from the world in as complete measure as possible that, as a natural result, spirituality will be theirs. But it does not follow always that the gain brought about by elimination is as great as was expected.

"Do not confuse asceticism with spirituality. An ascetic may be a man of God, but his spirituality is a far finer thing than that. There are many who wish to love God with all their heart and mind, and are fearful of attaching to themselves the things of the world - even if those things are good in themselves. Indeed, they feel and act upon that feeling that only by detaching themselves from everything that represents joy can they follow in the footsteps of the Master.

"The Christ, you must remember, came to earth to demonstrate to man that God was in their midst, bearing their burdens, able to understand what physical existence and its trials represented. But because the Christ laid personal happiness aside, it does not mean that He expects, or even wishes, His beloved ones to do likewise. Christ the Saviour, Father, King, loves to bestow upon His loved ones gifts of all kinds. So you need to understand that your instruction has been, and always will be, to take the things of the world and to spiritualise them by your love for God.

"When you arrive in the Realms of Spirit you will find that there is nothing in physical life that does not have its rightful place. Those who have ruled out so much, banishing it under the heading of evil, will find that although their wish for self-sacrifice has brought them much, their experience is not complete. Free from the body they go back among the haunts of man, and in their wiser understanding seek to raise that which is of a low level so that it may release the spirituality which lies hidden - sometimes suffocated or buried - but hidden in everything created by God.

"God, when He created the human mind, in equipping the human mind with certain longings and right desires, did not expect that these should be regarded as anything but gifts which a loving Father delights to bestow. There is nothing in the physical world that does not have its spiritual counterpart. You will find as you go on that although it may cost effort and thought and perhaps suffering, yet that which is contained within human life can and must be brought up to the spiritual standard that God intended.

"The process of elimination may be favoured by many - but be more courageous, take the more difficult course; and in going over that which is within your mind, spiritualise it by the very love for God that is in your heart.

"Never forget that man's ways must be brought into harmony with God's ways in the end. Until that unity of purpose and of thought is there, then suffering must come - but it is not the Divine Will. The Love of God would that it were possible to make the harmony complete at once.

"Slowly we go on, but we are building every minute. Do not be disconcerted if it seems at times that evil has the power to destroy. Far, far outweighing that, is the force of Love - God's Love - and you should know that because God is in command, all must be well in the end.

"Just do your part in thought and in action, and give out from yourselves that which is a gift from the Most High: Love - that understanding love for which humanity today stands so desperately in need - that love and understanding which shall banish loneliness and isolation, and bring into new life and strength those hidden resources of love that lie within each one - only waiting for the greater love to call it forth.

"Keep on in faith. The Master has called and you have answered. The watchers are around you day and night, and you are protected from everything that could harm - except the straying thoughts of the mind of the body - apart from that, you are secure. The time will come when that last drag shall be removed and then, stepping forward in perfect liberty, you will be able to give your undivided attention to helping those who are lower down.

"The Mind of Love takes that which is faulty and turns it into that which is strong, so that we might go on unchecked, unhindered by anything. We work out of sorrow into content - if not into that brighter and more glorious thing called joy; out of weariness into rest - that rest which, closing in the spirit, blocks out the world, its worries and its trials; that sweet serenity, which, contacting with holy things, brings the soul the quietude and the peace which is of God.

"With the morrow, take up your lives again with new hope, stronger purpose, and certainty of success over 'self' in the end. When donning the beautiful robes of selflessness, you are at once allied to those in the Spirit Realm, those whom you long to gather to your side because they remind you a little of the Saviour, of the Good Shepherd - of He who sought until He found, and finding, drew the lost one close to Himself, out of the storms of life.

"The blessing of the Holy Father is upon you. The gifts of the Spirit have been shown to you with that generosity which is Divine, and Love is closing you in. The blessing is all around you - Children of the Light, you shall find your chief joy in passing on the three-fold blessing to others, and in showing that where faith abounds nothing is denied.

"God keep you in the brightness of His Face and may you rest on His strength during the days which are to come. Amen."

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