LECTURE: The Mystery of the Priesthood of Melchizedek – March 23, 1978
The Mystery of the Priesthood of Melchizedek
Lecture from March 23, 1978
LECTURE TRANSCRIPT:
“Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” It is written in the Book of Psalms,
4 For The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
[Psalms 110:4]
And it is written in Hebrews:
1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
[Heb.5:1-10]
And further, it is written in the Book of Hebrews:
1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
[Heb.7:1-5]
And so we discover the great mystery of this priest, Melchizedek, whom Abraham the great patriarch, the great father of the seed of the tribes of Israel, recognized. He recognized him as the one who officiated in the person of the Christ and he tithed to him, giving him a tenth part of the spoils. The great mystery of Melchizedek, the mystery of Jesus Christ, is that he himself was made a priest after the Order of Melchizedek.
We find, then, that the great mystery of this priesthood is revealed in the path of initiation and that the mystery is the putting on of this inner Christ Self. And that when we be endued and endowed with the fullness of the Trinity and imbued with that Word incarnate, it is, therefore, the goal of life for us to walk in the footsteps of this priesthood.
We recognize that the joining of holy orders is a sacrament in the Church and being a part of these holy orders, we follow in the footsteps of the servant who would be great, the servant that is the servant of all in that person of the Christ. We find that the great mystery of the Order of the Priesthood of Melchizedek is a mystery of the Seventh-Ray Masters, the masters of ritual.
We find that in the days of Abraham unto the present, the certain order of those who officiate in the temple among the twelve tribes, it was the thirteenth tribe, the Levites, who stood in the person of that Christ. And in this explanation, which we find in Hebrews, we learn that the law is established for the descent of that priesthood. But then we discover that Jesus Christ himself was not a Levite but came of the tribe of Judah. And therefore,
11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
[Heb.7:11-19]
And so we find that the law is perfected in the grace and the hope of the incarnation of the Christ. And it is not by the traditional descent of that priesthood that we are made priests, but by the descent of the Christ incarnate within us each and everyone.
As we heard the dictation of Beloved Mother Mary and we saw the opening of the way of sons and daughters of God to represent the hierarchy of the inner Church, so we understand in this moment of our celebration of the Second Coming of Christ that it is the intent of the Lord Christ to make each and everyone that priest, that priestess, of the sacred fire, tending the fires of the sacred OM, tending the fire that is the flame of the ark of the covenant.
20 And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
[Heb.7:20-22]
Walking in the footsteps of Jesus, then, we are received first as babes in Christ, as little children. And then we come into the maturity of the age of twelve, discoursing with the doctors in the temples. We go with him into the inner retreats of the Great White Brotherhood for the tutoring of our souls. We become his disciples. We are called to be his apostles.
And ultimately we discover that his entire translation, the all-power in heaven and earth that is given unto him is given that he might give it unto us and make us, therefore, sons and daughters of God, those who are called, called it is said in the Book of Revelation, to be kings and priests unto God.
This anointing of our souls with the robes of righteousness comes by initiation successively, step by step, lifetime after lifetime. In this age in the coming of the Seventh Ray and the orders of the Seventh Ray, the initiations of the Holy Spirit and the violet flame, we may come together, then, and realize there is a path to be followed: that we too may work for and implore the grace of Almighty God, that by works and by grace we too might have the anointing.
We also might hear the approbation in the hour of our baptism, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
I did not know why Beloved El Morya placed this little meditation upon the Priesthood of Melchizedek upon this program, until a few days ago. And then Lanello came to me, bringing with him a friend, a very dear friend, and I would like to tell you this story of this friend.
It was very early in my coming to Washington to be trained as the Messenger, when we were meeting in a very little hall, and there was present at this meeting an individual whom we had never seen before. We had never met him and there he was and a great being of light.
An Ascended Master came forth and gave a dictation and called this rather revered and venerable gentleman, this elderly man to the altar, and released a dictation of light and said, “Thou art a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek.”
And at that moment, this individual was sealed with an anointing of sacred fire that came down upon him in such immense light. It lit the face of the Messenger and the man and they shone like the sun. As I watched this in complete awe and wonder, I heard in the dictation the sealing of his light for the ascension.
The name of the man was Leon Shagnon. He lived for many years, even many years after the ascension of Lanello, and a number of years ago, then, he passed on. And I had not heard of him since his passing, until just the other day when Lanello came to me hand in hand with Leon Shagnon, who had just then ascended from the retreat of the Ascension Temple at Luxor, Egypt.
And so this one who was called to be a priest, who no doubt had earned that priesthood in previous incarnations, happened to come into that meeting not by chance…was not known by Mark…received the blessing. And in the fullness of time, the word of that Messenger, the Word of the Lord that spoke to Mark, through Mark, was fulfilled.
Lanello has a great joy in coming to me and visiting me with newly ascended sons and daughters of God—this beloved son of God then ascended already with the initiation of the priesthood. There are many who do not ascend with that initiation. It is something that can be earned after the ascension. It is a special initiation, a special devotion to the sacred fire, a special, a special, consecration of the chakras.
And so it is Lanello’s desire to make known to you, with Jesus, that here is a goal of priesthood for both sons and daughters of God. It is the fulfillment of the ministry of the Christ. It is the goal for those who serve also with the servants of Zarathustra, who tend the flame of the sacred fire. It is a Seventh Ray ritual of order and all who are ordained, at a certain level of ordination within the Church upon earth, are also called to receive that mantle.
So I bid you, then, come into that communion of hearts, where you realize that as one son of God has ascended, as one is called, called out from among the multitudes and anointed, so you also may be called here and now and in these days of the fulfillment of the cycle of Pisces. It is truly the hour of the calling of our ascension and when we realize that truth, that verity of the two laborers laboring in the field, “one is taken and the other is left,” we find that there are plucked from among us those souls of light. And they are plucked because there is a moment when the body temple itself can no longer contain the intensity of light that God desires to manifest within us.
That is the moment of the victory, of immortality over mortality. It is the victory of life over death. It is the hour of the resurrection.
It is truly a great joy to know those who make it on the path, to see their devotion, to see their trials and tribulations. As I have known a number of souls who have made their ascension, I have seen the great remarkable reality of these sons and daughters of God is that they are not perfect robots, goody-goody people that we imagine are the only ones that get into heaven. But actually they are people who are very real, very human, very much a part of us who make mistakes and yet because their hearts are pure, they are forgiven. They atone. They balance karma.
I have never really seen those waxen-like figurines that are portrayed perfected ones, but perfected in the flesh. I have not seen that type of person in the resurrection or the ascension. I have not seen those who have the pride of person or the pride of the outer perfectionment.
But I have seen very real people, very real souls, very dedicated souls, souls on fire with God, so on fire with God that they have been assimilated and absorbed into the very essence whence they came. I have not known that any of these individuals were particularly sophisticated, in fact they were not sophisticated at all. They were innocent and humble, but very intelligent and often highly educated. But they all shared one thing in common: a very deep devotion to God in manifestation.
I think, then, as the Old Man of the Hills once recounted about himself. He called himself “Peck’s Bad Boy.” He spoke of himself as a little boy and the things he used to be caught at doing, little naughty things. And he wanted us to know that he made it on the path and by and by he determined to take his own self discipline and he worked his way on the path of initiation.
And so I think that we must be pure in the things that count and we must not enter into spirals of condemnation on this day, when we are entering now the period when Jesus himself is condemned to death. This weight of world condemnation is the cross that we carry during the weekend of Easter and we must realize that God does not condemn us for our failures, for our mistakes, for our past sins. But he does exact the requirement of the law of the balance and he shows us how to transmute that energy.
In the very presence of Gabriel then we feel the winds of hope, the wings of hope, the energy of hope, and we realize that we too have come from God, that we too are called to return. And that life is intended to be lived in joy, in an immense joy and gladness, as our cup runs over with light. And we are intended to be vigilant and watchful and to see that we no longer make the mistakes that we made in ignorance, but that we enter into a higher communion.
END
This lecture, The Mystery of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, was given by the Messenger Elizabeth Clare Prophet at the Class, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST on March 23, 1978 in Pasadena, California.
Who is Melchizedek?
Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God, is an ancient member of the sacred-fire priesthood that we know as the Order of Melchizedek. The Melchizidekian priesthood is very ancient, going back all the way to other star systems. It is the priesthood of the seventh ray, combining the perfect religion and the perfect science. Priests of this order are required to be scientists as well as to perfect the way of the light of God in their temples.
The Biblical record
Melchizedek is first seen in the Bible as the priest of the Most High God who met and blessed Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of the spoils. Melchizedek served Abraham bread and wine, the first record we have of the serving of Holy Communion. Melchizedek is a very key figure of light, a Guru of gurus. He was the greatest initiate and adept of the Old Testament and ascended at the conclusion of that embodiment.
In chapter 7 of the Book of Hebrews we read:
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
In the Hebrew, the name Melchizedek means “king of right.” Therefore he is a king of righteousness who multiplies the Law of God by the right use or exercise of that Law. It also means king by right, by attainment. Melchizedek also held the title of King of Salem, which is King of Jerusalem, the Holy City. The word king means, “key to the incarnation of God.” Therefore Melchizedek holds, by the rod of his authority and his attainment, the key to our incarnation of God in the Holy City, in the New Jerusalem.
Lord Ling explains the description of Melchizedek as without father or mother:
But it is written that in due course of time, by the power of the spoken Word released from the throat chakra, spiritual individuals shall face one another and, uttering the sacred words, shall quicken by light rays in the seed power the proper use of the sex (sacred) energies and the caduceus action, and produce a living form instantaneously in the great cosmic light from which steps forth a son of God in radiant manifestation.
In this manner Melchizedek was born without father and without mother, without descent, without beginning of days and without ending. You say, “You have said that he was born without father and mother, and yet you have said that they faced one another.” Yea, it is true. But those who faced one another were as masters of light, a Son and Daughter of God, and he was without earthly mother and father, but not without heavenly mother and father. Thus, I have revealed to you this night one of the secrets of the Order of Melchizedek.
The Order of Melchizedek
The book of Hebrews says that Jesus was “made an high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.” The akashic records reveal that both Jesus and Saint Germain studied in the retreat of the Archangel Zadkiel when they were in embodiment on Atlantis. Both completed their initiations and training in the order of the priesthood of Melchizedek before the sinking of the continent. They stood before Melchizedek and the great Archangel Zadkiel, who said upon these two blessed ones, “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.” Once one receives that training and initiation, it carries over to succeeding lifetimes. Thus, Jesus was already a priest of the Order of Melchizedek before his birth in his final embodiment.
One of the symbols of Melchizedek is the Maltese cross. This cross is made up of four V’s that meet in the center of the cross, representing the four planes of Matter. Melchizedek teaches the mastery of these four planes, and he is at the heart of the cross at the point of the meeting of the lines of force of Spirit and Matter, Alpha and Omega.
The priesthood of the ascended master Melchizedek is of the seventh ray and the seventh age. You can request to become a member of that order. The first step is the giving of the violet flame. You can also write a letter to Jesus, Melchizedek and Archangel Zadkiel, asking to be trained in the priesthood of the Order of Melchizedek. Burn the letter, and the angels will take it to the heaven-world. Each day give violet-flame decrees and ask to be taken while your body sleeps at night to Archangel Zadkiel’s retreat for training.
An outer order of the priesthood of Melchizedek
On June 30, 1978, Kuthumi announced the forming of an outer order of this priesthood:
O sacred fire flame, O flaming ones of the priesthood of the Order of Melchizedek, I am come in the name of the World Teacher. I come, a fellow servant of the Lord Christ, imbued with the wisdom of a mystical light. It is the light now tenderly burning within the secret chamber of your heart.
Let the priesthood, then, come forth, ascended beings of light who carry flames and palms and march two by two as they come before the altar of the LORD God. They appear to be singularly unconcerned by the great tragedy and tribulation of earthly life, and yet these ones who have chosen the higher way and the higher consciousness contain within themselves such an intensity of light, such a magnitude of the Great Central Sun within their hearts, that I tell you, beloved ones, that each and every one of you receives an impetus of light from these dedicated servants of the Most High God who serve at inner levels as the ascended brotherhood of Melchizedek.
Beloved ones, I come to you, then, with a very special announcement. I come to you, then, with the great gift of this priesthood. I come, then, with the translation of a word, of a sacred fire, and of a wisdom. It is the desiring of this inner priesthood to raise up among Keepers of the Flame, devotees of the Ancient of Days, an outer order of this priesthood of Melchizedek. Therefore receive the anointing of the Lord Jesus, who stands with me upon this altar today—the anointing of the heart, precious ones, by the man of sorrows who has become the man of joys. The anointing of the heart, beloved ones, is the sacred opening of the potential of that heart to be a sacred fire.
When you contemplate the depiction of the saints and of the Lord Christ as the blood drips from the heart, understand the translation, that this is the heart of a Christed one dripping with the sacred fire, and the very drops of his blood are for the transmutation of world sin. And so by that body and by that blood repeated again and again and again through the brothers and sisters of Assisi, we would raise up those who would be electrodes of the inner priesthood of Melchizedek.
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