"MAN'S CROWN OF THORNS"

"...Meeting together is for God's purpose; your temples grow in dedication and purity. Because of the missionary spirit that dwells within, it is ordained that you leave something behind which is not of the earth at all.

"People gather into halls to seek distraction; they want to forget the realities of life for a little while. God understands that His children who are so hard beset desire something which will help them to put aside the anxieties of the day. This is a serious point because many gather without a thought of God in their hearts. You must remember that there is a vast host of bound souls who have never found their way to God; such as these gather into conditions, and sometimes much damage is done.

"So realise now, that you have gathered together in this hall to do missionary work for the One who loves you best. Know that although in your homes, or your temples, you have much that is of God, it is necessary at times for you to lay aside that which you prize so much and to enter into conditions which are material in the extreme. Therefore, you meet with joy and His blessing rests upon you, so then you will know that when you depart, the work of the Christ will have been done.

"Those things which represent thorns to you do not necessarily represent thorns to God. Remember the One who wore the crown of thorns for our sake. Remember those followers of His, who, as they carried the cross of their own earthly experiences, so often felt pressed upon their brow the crown of thorns and recalled the anguish of their Master and their Lord. Remember those who had to stand and watch their loved ones, sometimes their children, sometimes their parents, wearing the crown of thorns in turn.

"Into the arena many went; into the prison-houses - foul in the extreme - the young were driven to languish, to die from the diseases of the body rather than by the whip or the lions. Throughout history there is record of those who suffered and those who had to stand in anguish and watch.

"As time sped and as fresh generations sprang up to take part in the battle, to wrestle against physical conditions, there were many who had to endure thorns both sharp and terrible, thorns impossible to be avoided so far as their earth life was concerned.

"Your forbears, those who lived in this same spot in the far distant past (local area) - what do you think of those ancient times? You are a little people in comparison with the great people of the world, but you have many gifts which have been denied to the vast majorities; you have an inheritance of piety and you have an inheritance of sacrifice.

"Your forefathers were strong in the faith of their fathers in turn. Your forefathers did not turn from the cross; the thorns of life - though many - they bore with patience; and they have left in these conditions - out upon the hillside, in the valley towns and villages - something of their own strength, something of their own resistance. You today can borrow of the gifts which they have left behind.

"You are children of the Light. This is something to be envied in the right way: to look back over the past, and to be certain that those from whom you have sprung, so far as the earth body is concerned - and this refers to all God's children - were noble men, were self-sacrificing.

"These are gifts which nothing of the earth can buy; these are the pearls which are beyond all earthly price. God's eyes are opened to the depression which represents your daily life; He knows your anxieties. There are many among you who have felt the thorn of physical weakness almost too much to bear. Many are lonely souls - some who question God as to whether He has forgotten their plight. Bur even as they ask, close beside them are the ministering angels, and soon they felt slightly comforted, although they knew not why.

"Those who love you from the Higher Side of Life, often enter into your homes; they listen to your conversations as to ways and means; they are sent by God to show you, if you could but hear, that the ways and means of the earth are so different from the ways and means of the World of the Spirit.

"The Way to God often leads through the valley of poverty; over the stones of adversity; up the steep, barren hill of 'going without'. But the means which are at hand are God-means; are the gifts of the Spirit which can defy the valley of poverty; which can give you the strength to stride over the stones of adversity and can inspire your hearts and minds to sing praises to God as you climb the barren hill to the Better Land. The ways and means of the earth often hold the attention of the physical mind to its detriment and bring sorrow upon the one concerned.

"Now, at this moment, God invites you to take a wider view. Extend the vision of your mind, and realise that out of your hardship there is being borne something which you will never cast away - power for the life to come, strength for the next garment, ability for the next mind which you will use so joyfully and with so much freedom because you have purchased it by the sorrows of the past.

"Think for a moment about the crown of thorns from the earthly aspect; ponder upon the man who goes through his daily life not wanting God - desiring only the things of the earth. Many within the body look upon the wealth of such a one as desirous. Sadly, they only look upon the surface, they have not learned to penetrate into the truth which is there waiting for them to explore. For that man, by the selfishness of his life, by taking instead of giving, he is indeed weaving into his crown a thorn which will pierce his very being when the earth life is no more. That is but one thorn from the Spirit point of view.

"Think of those who prize the gifts of the earth mind beyond their worth; the abilities of the earth mind are important in many ways - yet there are facts which so many ignore. Do not make an idol of the earth mind. Pursue knowledge because out of the effort made, out of the stilling of the voice which cries out to you to 'rest', out of the necessity to discipline yourself, much of the Spirit is born. You are gaining a freedom which will be precious in time to come.

"However, there is a warning which is often overlooked. When you are free from the earth mind and earthly condition, your aspect of knowledge will be so different; you will look at life from an angle that is unknown to you. What then will it avail you if you have probed into earth knowledge and have forgotten the great Creator of wisdom in its true form?

"Can you not see that when you pursue the studies of the earth, through self-denial, through the harnessing of the physical will, you are preparing yourself for a more constructive work when your conditions are fairer and sweeter than these? Keep a clear view; do not let the desire for earth knowledge come between you and your God; to realise that if you do then when the earthly existence is over for you, in your crown will be a thorn, the thorn of false knowledge, the thorn of your waywardness, and a thorn that pierces deep.

"Think with pity upon those who live their life heedless of the inner voice; regardless of the great world of suffering which is all around. Day by day these are adding to their crown of thorns, and when the earth body is cast asunder, the crown of thorns - weaved by themselves, created by their thoughts and actions - will be pressed upon their brow, and it will take countless years, in earth time, to cast aside.

"Do not grieve over the hardships of your daily way. As you struggle within your daily life and overcome, you are being fed by Spirit hands; you are gaining that true food which shall ensure the Divine within; you are casting aside the husks of the world so that the bread of life shall be yours for ever.

"Many of the followers of Jesus knew the pangs of hunger; they knew about the poverty that you experience at times. When their call came to follow Christ, many had nothing but the clothes they wore, and a staff - no money and no food. Though the body failed at times, though darkness obscured the earthly sun, they fainted as they sought to give out the truth which the Master had entrusted to them. Yet they knew that because Christ had shown the way, the hunger of the earth was only earthly. Again and again they were fed by God's angels, and they rose to speak and to baptise those who had gathered to learn.

"You are the wise ones, you are the true pilgrims, you are indeed the torch-bearers for the generations that are to come. What are you doing? You are seeking to contribute your portion of power wherever you go; you are seeking to maintain the traditions of the past; you are seeking to follow in the footsteps of those who went before you, whose hardships were greater than your own.

"Do not let the crown of thorns cast too much shade over the joy that is surely your own, for the crown of thorns does not rest upon your brow. Only in your conditions does the crown of thorns seem to be ever before your eyes. Upon your brow rests the protection of God, the symbol of the cross and that which you regard as the laurels of success.

"Be at peace even though turmoil is all around. All around the earth there is a seething mass of discontent. Stirring up within the heart and mind of man there is that which you regard as evil, that which is as foul disease; for there are many among the great unseen who seek to destroy the faith of the individual. There is a great army of alien souls arraigned against the Christ, who are trying to dig a pit into which the children of the earth shall fall.

"Those with the Light, although their Light may be great, and although their love may be deep, they dare not interfere with free will. Not only the great unseen, but vast numbers of those all around the earth, are - day by day, hour by hour - weaving their crown of thorns which they must wear and endure when the earth life is no more.

"Keep a clear vision. Do not allow the cries of the earth to turn you from the goal which lies in front. Within you is God, is Christ - within is all-power, all wisdom, in reserve for use in time to come.

"The brave man and the brave woman travel light. The true disciple, remembering the lot of the Christ and those who upheld the truth which He came to bring - travels light. The things of the earth have their place; but the things of the Spirit for ever take chief place with the true disciples.

"As the days go on, though it may seem that the crown of thorns is there in very truth, to the eyes of the Spirit of such as these, lo! the crown of thorns has gone, and the crown of gold - which has been purified by the fires of physical life - the crown of gold is theirs forever more.

"The message is of great cheer. All who meet together for the same purpose always have the opportunity of making contact with the power of God. The power of the Holy Spirit rests upon everyone, giving courage for today, courage for tomorrow, and courage for the years which lie in front.

"Therefore, although the thorns of physical life seem to have undermined your physical health, seem to have sapped that courage which you long shall be your own, by the power of God as you pray at night and in the morning for strength, then when the veil is rent in twain and you pass into the Better Land, you shall look back over the record of the past, and see to your own deep joy, that you were brave, that you were strong, and that your faith remained intact.

"Throughout the land there are those who are envied by many. Remember that those today who are suffering hardships, who have endured loss, are seeking to imitate their Christ, for they - in miniature - are saviours also. They are wearing the crown of thorns while the body endures, so that when the body is cast aside, nothing of sorrow, nothing of darkness, and nothing of bondage, shall be their lot.

"Revise your thinking; take a wider vision of your lives and the lives of those who seem to have so much. Realise that in the sight of God - because it was exampled by the Christ - the way of going without is the shortest, sweetest way into the Kingdom of Peace.

"When old age comes upon us, the joys of the earth no longer attract; when the body begins to fail, we are glad to watch the hurrying throng as it passes before our gaze. As we sit in contemplation of the life that has sped and we wonder as to the life which is to come, then to the freed soul comes a true sense of values. We look back over the past and thank God if duty with love came first. Those nearing the gate of revelation are glad, when looking back, to realise that self at times was cast aside for the good of others.

"Jesus the Christ brings you good cheer; He bids you not to count the thorns in your crown that lies before you; but rather to count the thorns upon that crown as the gifts for the by-and-by. For sorrow will be translated into power, grief into joy, poverty into the riches of the grace of God.

"That is the message which comes with deep compassion. Joy keeps step with you even though troubles may abound. Know that you have the best companions of all - those bright and glorious ones who share that which your life represents. Is it not clear to you that God understands; that God has not forgotten you; that God has provided those things which nothing of the earth can take away?

"Comfort is brought to you at all times, along with the great link of sympathy - the sympathy of the Christ, the sympathy of His messengers who knew the same hard road. But each one thanks God for it all. As for Jesus the Christ, nothing of sorrow for Himself ever held His Mind - He sorrowed for His children; He sorrowed because He knew that the time would come when it seemed that the promises were not to be fulfilled; when it seemed that God had overlooked their plight - but though He sorrowed, He could not be weak for them.

"It is the same today. God sorrows because you suffer; but God cannot be weak where you are concerned - He wants you to have the very best - and only those can have the very best who 'sacrifice' the things of the earth, who are willing to exchange them for the things of the Spirit.

"These words are inspired by Truth itself. Within these words all those who have true knowledge, true wisdom, find the answer to all their wonderings, to all those torturing doubts that assail the human soul. Peace and peace again, joy and joy again, and the exceeding comfort that no one can tear from you.

"You are the beloved of the Father and Mother God. He will give you your soul's desire, for out of the earthly wounds, out of the stripes of this world, you will find your true self, you emerge into your rightful inheritance, and your forefathers - those of ancient days - are with you to underline the words and to pass on that same battle cry.

"You are blessed with your crown of thorns - seeing no thorns there but only that which represents power in time to come. You are blessed with understanding and illumination and with that deep spiritual bliss which knowledge of God's laws can surely bring. The great unseen, the captive souls, are one point nearer to God, one point nearer to the Light because of you. Because you have met together, and will meet together, the angel hosts take up the song of joy. Over these vibrations the power of God is demonstrated - the power of God is at work. Because of you some will come to know something of freedom, others will see something of the brightness of God's love.

"Are you then not blessed? Are you not honoured? The missionary spirit springs up strongly in the human heart and mind. You can be messengers of truth and light and love and wisdom for evermore. You are charged to be joy-bringers, joy-holders, and joy-takers from the One who loves you best, Jesus the Christ, the Greatest Sufferer of all time.

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