An address given by the Christ messenger Zodiac through the deep trance mediumship of Miss Winifred Moyes,
at Central Spiritualist Church, Brighton, on February 24th, 1929.
(Note: This message was edited for a more general readership)
"MY dear children, I come tonight because we have work to do together, and I ask you for this short time to lay aside preconceived ideas, to lay aside your theories, your worldly ambitions, and to listen to the words which I pass on, given to me by the Master whom I serve.
"In these times there is so much that is misunderstood, so much that has been misinterpreted by those who have not kept close to the Divine commands. There are the teachers and the preachers - and I challenge them in this way: How close do they example in their lives that which Christ laid down for them to follow? I challenge the teachers and the preachers as to their sacrifices, as to that which they pass on to others. Many there are who give out the pleasing word, many who forget that only by taking the steep road can Truth be released. That is a point which has never been emphasised sufficiently. Christ not only taught the way which led into spiritual emancipation, but He took that way Himself.
"Yet, little ones, it is not mine to come here and speak in tones that seem as scolding, or to sit in judgement upon anyone. I come into your presence charged with love, and I ask you to lend your thoughts to me for a short time while we think of those things which are lasting, those things which have not to be changed in aspect when the body is no more. And the Master has instructed that this night I speak on that which I name 'Sacred Temples'.
"Now bear with me while I explain. There are many with good motives, many good and conscientious men who will give up unthinkable time and effort to travel into foreign countries and to search out the history of the temples built up in the past and used for the purpose of worship in one form or another. I say that there are many men and women who will undergo inconceivable hardship to unravel the secret of a few stones or ruins, and they pass on their information to others without asking reward in earthly coin. These things are constructive in a sense I would explain to you: Anything that calls out from men endurance, self-denial, self-government - all this is on the creative side. But I ask you to ponder on this fact: that those so-called sacred temples served their purpose and now lie in ruins among the sands of far countries; yet within the grasp of all is a Temple which is holy indeed.
"Oh, cannot you grasp my meaning? Cannot you see how effort is squandered on these expeditions, how those who could be used for God's essential work, are frittering away their capacities, their gifts, their intellect, their physical vitality - to unearth something which has had its day and which now, symbolically, is crumbled to dust?
"Around the individual there are countless sacred temples - the temple of the physical body which houses God within. How many are there who would dedicate their lives to unearthing the history of their brother or their sister, of the one who seems as dead so far as the things of the Spirit are concerned?
"Let us come back to values, I have underlined that effort, that concentration, that self-denial are on the constructive side, but I must speak the truth: Those who would seek for that which has had its day, and will not raise a finger to rebuild the temple of the outcast, of the fallen, of the one who is obsessed by the enemies of the Christ; the man or the woman who shrinks from this most essential duty, this responsibility placed upon him or her, by the Lord God Creator - such a one has much to learn and much to suffer when the body is no more.
"Sacred Temples. Little ones, cannot you grasp that to me you are sacred indeed; and, what is more, to God you are sacred as well. The physical tabernacle may not be according to your liking. The body may represent pain and restriction and an obstacle - so it seems, to your lofty aspirations - but that body of yours is sacred. It is the temple which houses the Divine within.
"In time long past when I too walked the earth plane and had my place at the Temple, there were - so symbolic it seems to me now - the outer courts, then the enclosure which held the table for the shew-bread, and the seven lights - the lamps dedicated to the lord God Jehovah, and the Altar of Sacrifice, and beyond there was the Veil, but beyond the Veil there was naught - naught of the physical - just space, and that was the Holy of Holies. The threshold was not crossed except once a year, on the Day of Atonement, when those whose duty it was parted the Veil and passed therein.
"Cannot you see how all this is worked out with each and everyone? You have a physical tabernacle, and beneath the physical tabernacle is that which you name the soul-body, and the soul-body houses the Divine spirit - all-purity, all-wisdom, something of God Himself. And that cannot be expressed by anything on the physical plane; it cannot be seen by the physical eyes. It is as naught to those who look thereon, for only the eyes of the spirit can gaze upon Spirit; but the Holy Spirit itself is enshrined within. Sacred Temples each and everyone.
"Think you, dear children, as to this: The outer garment, oh, much attention is paid to that. The physical body must have its comforts, its ease; it must have many ministrations; and there are countless thousands who, when they pass out of the earth-stage find upon the soul-body the selfishness of the life that was lived for the physical alone. Oh forget not that that which you think, that which you do, that which you desire, that which you deny - all this is shown upon the soul-body. But again, forget not that the soul-body, however distorted it may be, however horrifying to look upon, however weak, however indicative of a careless past, houses something which is holy, something which is indestructible, that which is of the Creator Himself.
"Consider this, for time is fleeting. This world has much to undergo. It has to pass through the wilderness-stage and the crucifixion before the resurrection, in a spiritual sense, can be made its own. And upon the earth-plane there are millions of sacred temples, temples in which God dwells; yet the owner knows not the truth, the owner has not been taught. Oh, sorrowful is the thought - the owner knows not that there is God within.
"Cannot you see how great is the responsibility of those who know, and how terrific is the responsibility of those who know and teach not? You may wander far upon the earth-plane. The beauties of nature may call out from you your highest admiration. You look upon the setting sun over a glistening sea; the birds soar into the sky and song breaks from them and something within you is freed for a space. But I say that the finest beauties upon the earth-plane are but the merest reflection of the beauty built up in the conditions around you by the faithful thought, by the tender care of another, by the wish to serve, by the desire to do better today than yesterday. Aye, the glories of the earth-plane are but dimness in comparison with what you, little ones of my heart, can build up, by the grace of God; for within there is all-power, within you - caged, fettered, entombed may be - is the Holy Spirit waiting to express Itself.
"So then, I ask you to ponder upon this thought, to put aside the books, to extricate yourselves from that which is confined to the mental plane, and as children to seek your God so that the golden doors of wisdom may be opened unto you and you may pass therein. For indeed it is true that when the body is no more that which you have learnt, for the most part, will be as useless to you. You will have emerged out of the physical aspect, and you must re-learn, you must change your sense of values; you must have another interpreter, another teacher from the one to whom you gave your deference when living as men and women upon the earth-plane.
"The doors of wisdom cannot be opened by the gifts of the mind. The doors of wisdom remain closed to many a man who startles his little world by the unravelling of so-called scientific secrets. The doors of wisdom are closed to so many who have upon their altar the god of intellect and worship at its shrine. But the doors of wisdom are thrown wide open to the little child who turns to her gentle Jesus, to the tired mother, to the harassed father, to the young man in his uncongenial employment, to the young woman who awakens each morning to a day of ceaseless toil. The doors of wisdom are opened to such as these, for out of effort, out of suffering, out of the reluctance, out of the going without - the spirit within has gained something of freedom, something of that sweet liberty which it longs to make its own.
"So I come back to the thought: Sacred temples - the sacred temples which are all over this little plane. In outward guise they are different. Some are beautiful to look upon, yet within there is disease in a way that is horrifying when the truth is known. There are other temples, commonplace, maybe, showing naught of that which man admires so much; but within, if the heart is pure, there is a radiance and a loveliness inexpressible in earth language. There are temples coarse in character, blackened by the sun. You name such as these savages, yet very oft through that endured by these children of God - the famine, the thirst, the dangers of the forest, the diseases which they understand not - very oft such as these pass out of a blackened temple and find that upon the soul-body glory is there for evermore.
"Sacred temples of the Most High. How are they treated? How are they protected? What of the young, what of the careless, what of the ignorant? Oh, cannot you see that no tour of exploration could be half so wonderful as the exploring of what lies within the physical temple of some homely man or woman? God works in mysterious ways, and within the reach of everyone there is this great and glorious capacity to be as the finest pioneer and, more than that, to be as great as the greatest missionary upon the earth-plane.
"Little children of the Light, hold up your light and forget not that all around you there are those whose light is indeed hidden under a bushel, and the bushel is self. The time is coming when there shall be power descending from the Most High upon the earth-plane. The power of the Holy Spirit shall be cast to the right and cast to the left, and in that hour, in that day, no longer will it be possible to deny the God that lives within.
"Sacred temples of the Most High. Cannot you grasp how wonderful is the gift that you each can have - the treasure of humility, the grandeur of the powers of Christ Himself, all awaiting release by that which you are willing to endure? And forget not this, that when the body is no more, upon the soul-body will be marked your history - that which you did, that which you forgot to do; and upon the soul-body of others will be marked their weakness or their strength, and in that hour it may be that you have to gaze upon another who could have been helped by you, who could have been saved uncountable years of suffering when the physical body was no more. In this moment that which man names 'hell' is tasted to its fullest. If we had spoken, if we had acted, if we had given the word of warning, that one would be free instead of bound!
"Yet again I raise your thoughts above the sadness, above the folly, above the selfishness of the child-souls and the bondage of the physical mind, and I say unto you: You are precious to God, infinitely precious to God. You are sacred unto Him for you are His own. He has given unto you that which is Himself, and though the temple may be spoiled, though the temple may be desecrated, though the temple may be cast aside by those who know not its worth, yet within the temple there is a second temple, and within the second temple there is Divinity Itself.
"So I take my leave. I come in this same way through the power of the Holy Spirit, sent by my Master Christ, and as I spake to the children when upon the earth-plane - to those who sat around listening to the words which He had bequeathed to us - so I come into your presence to give once again the simple teaching of the Master; to underline and underline that the time must come to each and everyone when they must go back over the past and see for themselves to what use was the sacred temple of the body put. Was it kept in honour of God, or was it a monument to the bondage of self?
"These things, dear children, must be faced, and our responsibility grows and grows as our consciousness of the reality of truth is expanded. We cannot say: 'I was ignorant'. We cannot say: 'There was no-one to guide, no-one to warn'. When the body is no more we judge ourselves, and even the all-Compassionate Heart cannot comfort us, for that which we did was by our own free-will. God, as Christ, soothes and raises, points to the part of retrievement, but our hearts seem as broken, for we look back upon the record of the past and the cry is wrung from us: 'I did it myself, I did it myself!'
"Yet I dare not leave this thought upon your minds, for it is not in harmony with Perfect Love. The Master bids me speak in tones of reassurance, to tell you once again that by work, by service, you can retrieve, you can rebuild. That which you failed to accomplish in the yesterday can be done today, and the tomorrow is full of opportunity, full of spiritual opportunity. Then arise, my children, arise and grasp your privileges; and hold this thought closer, closer still: You are as a sacred temple and within there is God forever and forever.
"The Holy Spirit is resting upon you even as in days of old - that which you name the tongues of fire. Oh, stretch out to God, draw unto yourselves something of His power, something of His love, and go forth as His messengers to do His work while yet the day-time is within your grasp."
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