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Edna Lister’s Sermons 1947
Edna Lister Truth Temple sermon outline; January 5, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: John 1:1-14.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." – John 1:1-14.
The term Logos means the "Word," yet also means expansion and dynamic activity. Poise is dynamic powerful action, a positive fire. How does this operate?
The Holy Breath is the vibration of Light. "The life was the light of men." – John 1:4. Life represents growth and expansion. A single cell divides to become two, then four. All nature expands, grows and expresses itself according to an original idea.
Many a person has mistaken lukewarmness for poise, saying, "Nothing bothers me anymore." Of course nothing bothers him. Nothing ever disturbs someone who is half asleep.
We all have spiritual debts to pay, and debt returns to the maker. Debt wraps itself into a ball, like yarn, and rolls homeward to you now. Broadcast Light, as the Word, and Light rolls forth to meet and melt the ball.
When you surrender to the vibration of the Word as Light, your consciousness expands to overcome both time and space. You can really start something good. Leave nothing out. Your broadcasting can overcome death itself.
Top ↑Edna Lister Truth Temple Bible study outline; January 5, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: John 3:1-11, 16-17.
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness." – John 3:1-11.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." – John 3:16-17.
What is "vicarious atonement?"1 If I put my hand on the stove, does the other fellow feel it? No. Did Jesus say that he had saved us? No. He said, "Look on me and be saved. Believe on me and be saved."
His other commandments, "Take up your cross and follow me," and, "The works that I do and greater shall you do," are active orders. He has called you to master the self through surrender to God to become the servant of all the Power.
You must surrender your self to be used by God's Power. You must be open to the Light, and pure in motive, purpose and desire.
Abraham made the greatest advance in faith for all time when he followed the orders of the One God, who commanded him, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." – Genesis 17:1, and called on him to offer his son as a sacrifice.
Jesus made the advance in achievement for all time when he found his own lordship and divinity of soul through having found Oneness with God, The One.
Practice recognizing the presence of God2 in your life. You train your muscles and nerves to be obedient servants to your will, and so must you train your thoughts and emotions in obedience the same way.
Abandon your old, limiting earthbound ways. Arise with Light as Power, soaring into the glory of soul freedom.
1^ Vicarious atonement is the teaching that Christ died on the cross bearing the penalty of sin for all mankind. However, the debt of sin we have accrued since then remain the individual soul's responsibility to pay.
2^ Brother Lawrence (Nicholas Herman, c. 1605-1691). Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule of Holy Life. Brother Lawrence worked for a time as a soldier before entering the Discalced Carmelite Prior in Paris. Uneducated, he entered the monastery as a layman and worked in the kitchens and as a cobbler for the remainder of his life. Brother Lawrence is known for his devotion and ability to bring God into every aspect of his life.
Top ↑Edna Lister Truth Temple sermon outline; January 19, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: John 3:1-11, 16-17.
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness." – John 3:1-11.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." – John 3:16-17.
Humanity's treadmill through the ages has been what the ancients called the "wheel of fate," which consists in doing the same things repeatedly, without variation. This requires nothing more than living by instinctive creature nature, urges and desires, with no need to explain or understand life.
The first awakening comes when the creature realizes that it has a physical body. Creature consciousness identifies with that body, saying, "I am a body."
The first evolution of consciousness in this stage is an instinctive faith. The creature is just existing as a body, but is still not "born again," merely unconscious of anything beyond the self.
The second awakening is of the emotions, hallmarked by "I love… I hate… I feel…" This marks the first consciousness of self as being more than a body.
Those living primarily in the physical-emotional dimension use "human nature" as their excuse and explanation for doing as they please.
To ascend in consciousness from this, you must let go of the urge and tendency to excuse and justify self. Instead, acknowledge that most of your emotional states are personal, and become conscious of the choices you are making.
The third awakening is mental. To Nicodemus, Jesus described this as being "born again." The wind that blows where it wishes is the invisible Breath of God, the Holy Spirit. This spiritual quickening rouses you from the "sleep" of physical and emotional self-satisfaction.
At the third awakening, you look around and ask: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? You must become a mental searcher.
You ask, knowing it will be given. You seek, knowing you will find, and knock, knowing the door will open. After you unfold who you are, where you came from and why you are here, you may be reborn into greater action.
You are now more interested in living by character than by reputation. You accept your responsibility in the spiritual fourth dimension. For example, will you work for peace or starve while waiting for someone else to do the job?
Work hard and be strong. If you stop, look and listen to the world too long, you go to seed, just like a cabbage head. Instead, broadcast millions of miles of praise, prayer and singing, enough to fill the world with Light.
See the kingdom every hour, renewed in every way. Quickening Spirit lifts you from creature to God consciousness instantly, when you say, "Let it be so." God then reserves your place.
Top ↑Living Water, Christ for All People
Edna Lister sermon outline; January 26, 1947, Tacoma, Washington; April 22, 1956. Scripture: John 4:5-30.
"Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him." – John 4:5-30.
Jesus acknowledged that he was the true Messiah after the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar called him the Messiah. She had intuitively understood who and what he was. The outstanding idea in this chapter is the Light as the power of feminine intuition, which is based in love.
The Samaritans had been slaves in foreign lands, Jews who had returned from worshiping false gods, pagan and heathen. They had to be reintegrated into the twelve tribes, yet no Jew would speak to them, especially to a woman.
Jesus rested by the well and entered the silence to receive the living waters. He spoke to the Samaritan woman and broke her bondage, which started a vibration that we still live on today, a world Messiah and women lifted to God.
Women were still in bondage after all the lesser racial messiahs had completed their missions, for only the first and only Begotten Son of God could open the vibration of their freedom. Jesus spoke six phrases directly connected with women.
First, "Give me to drink" illustrates the embodied rational soul asking love-as-intuition to lead it to become one with God.
When the woman questioned from where he would draw the living water, Jesus answered, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." – John 4:14.
This exchange illustrates how Wisdom, using the Oversoul, shares the secrets of Power with love-as-intuition.
The woman's five husbands represent the soul in bondage to the self's love of physical sensations. The man with whom the woman was currently living, who was not her husband, illustrates her wrong choices and creations in the world.
"The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he." – John 4:25.
The woman, who at first represents the creature soul, now embodies rational soul in this passage. Jesus symbolizes the Oversoul as I AM consciousness, which becomes "am he" [or "am she"] as Oversoul enfolds the embodied soul.
The disciples returned and marveled that Jesus was speaking with her. "Yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?" – John 4:27.
The disciples represent the soul faculties, which have searched and return with meat. Intuition and illumination have already received that and more.
The woman, as love, consciously fares forth to bring others back to God, which integrates how love stabilizes your body cells into working for you properly and efficiently.
Jesus acknowledged his responsibility for lifting when he said, "I am he." You acknowledge your responsibility with "I am my brother's keeper. I and the Father are one. The Father does the work." The One of you is God, the One.
You need fearlessness in expression. Are you afraid to say, "I AM healed"? God is with you. Whom shall you fear? Your character is Godlike because God as me is the same as God as us.
God is a Spirit and works as Spirit with you in your present place of all wisdom and love. He works through you, acting through you as illumination and intuition. Heaven is your place and your state of consciousness.
Have you loaded your ship o' dreams with a cargo of darkness in the past? Cast out the ballast. Are you still waiting to load a new cargo? Load it today with a cargo of power, strength, love, glory and Light.
Declare, "I acknowledge God as all. I express God as my love. I belong to Him. I serve God's Power. I am responsible. I am fearless. I am surrendered to God in heart and mind."
Top ↑Edna Lister Truth Temple sermon outline; February 2, 1947, Tacoma, Washington; April 20, 1947, Buffalo, New York. Scriptures: John 4:46-53, John 5:2-9, John 11:11-15.
"So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee." – John 4:46-53.
"Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath." – John 5:2-9.
"These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him." – John 11:11-15.
Three outstanding miraculous episodes in Jesus' ministry illustrate three types of faith, which are three phases in the Christed life. First, a child with a fever, who was dying. Second, a paralyzed grown man, who was half dead. Finally, Lazarus, who was dead.
Each of these cases represents too little life. Everyone needs outstanding life, and vital faith. So the main idea must be life through faith.
A blind, unreasoning belief is an emotional faith that waits to see before it believes. The poor and common man, was paralyzed and slow. He had "faith for me," but his faith extended no farther than his self.
The blind man at the Bethesda Pool had blind faith as acceptance. Yet he was determined, and never gave up. He was waiting for the angel, but had to see to believe. He was an acceptable type to God, and so was healed.
The wealthy nobleman represents the intellectual-mental type, who demonstrates faith for someone else. He had hopeful faith in Jesus because of his love for his son. Yet he was the type who must know why, when and how. However, God found his faith acceptable, and so healed his son.
The intellectual type must have proof or a "sign," so when he returned home, he asked the hour of his son's healing to make certain. This perfectly illustrates having faith for another's healing, based on intellectual-mental acceptance.
You are healed according to your faith and comprehension of law. Living by Christian laws is good, because it means that you are thinking about it. Yet the Christed One is doing more; he is becoming law.
Obedience to these three laws is essential: First, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." – Matthew 25:40. Second, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." – Matthew 5:19. Third, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." – 1 Thessalonians 5:22.
The disciples combined emotional-devotional and mental-intellectual acceptance because of their love for Jesus. Jesus knew Lazarus had been ill and would die. Lazarus did not respond to Jesus from a distance, but was dead.
Jesus had to die on the cross to fulfill his mission. Therefore, his disciples had to know life through faith, because it was part of their training. Their faith was acceptable, but they still needed to see before they would believe. Jesus waited until he knew Lazarus was dead, to provide proof to convince them of the truth.
Here you have three types of healing, which is life, given through faith. First is unconscious faith that says "I believe, but I wait to see the result."
The second is the conscious mental faith of "I know, but I need proof." Third is the unshakable super-conscious "I am faith" where you have become faith. "I am become life through faith."
Life itself is silent, and needs no sign. Faith without works is dead. Life in action is a sign, and the works follow. Let your prayers be loud and your actions silent.
From the lowest to the highest expression, every approach is good. Yet everyone needs more life. When you live life, the "signs" or proof will follow. You will have no reason to ask, for all the life-giving Power shall be added to you.
Declare, "I believe. I know. I am healed by the life-giving Power, because Jesus the Christed of God, as the Source of all life, is the giver of all life."
Top ↑Edna Lister Truth Temple sermon outline; February 9, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scriptures: John 6:14-15 , John 6:25-58.
"Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." – John 6:14-15.
"And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." – John 6:25-58.
Jesus gave the "bread of life" teaching just after he had performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Among those who witnessed that sign, some intended to make him a king of the Jews.
"When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." – John 6:15.
People followed Jesus to the other side of the lake because they were excited by the miracles he had performed. They were hungry for more.
Jesus taught them that in the previous age, Moses had fed their bodies, but in this age, he brought food for their souls. What is this soul food? From where does it come? Where can you get it? How can you use it?
Jesus was acknowledging, "I AM the bread of life," while declaring, "I AM that bread of life." The article "the" sufficiently identifies what is actually or potentially existent. "That" refers to what is already pointed out or named, already understood at the time.
I am "the" substance of the Father. I am "that" substance of the Father, God's substance. Jesus refers to the Father ten times in this passage.
The substance allotted to you came down from heaven. You must raise it up at the last day. Christ will raise you up at the last day. No one has seen the Father physically. The God-conscious souls can see the Father in Spirit.
God created and sent the Begotten Son forth as a ray of Light, the red ray of energy, and the substance of faith. This is why Jesus could say that you must eat of his flesh and drink of his blood.
The Begotten Son is the Holy Spirit, the Father-Mother as one. This is your assurance and proof of his reality and flesh and blood. You can derive unshakable courage from worshiping God, to whom you may offer your unalterable devotion.
Service, sacrifice and success — you must combine your soul faculties with your strength of character to answer your call to spiritual arms and soul conquering.
Top ↑Edna Lister Truth Temple sermon outline; February 16, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scriptures: John 8:12-16, John 8:31-36, John 9:1-5.
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." – John 8:12-16.
"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." – John 8:31-36.
"As Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." – John 9:1-5.
"The Word made flesh" is 100 percent Light lowered in it rate of vibration to become visible form. "I AM the Light of the world" combines three principles of Light, Wisdom, Love, and the Holy Spirit.
The white Light of the Christ principle vibrates at a level far above any material light in the world. That Light is life. Conversely, darkness is death. To overcome, you must look up and overlook the world.
Further, you must practice awareness of the Light, surrender to the laws the Master taught, and pay attention to the sacred fire, the Light of life. Finally, you must express joy.
You either follow Jesus in observation of law, or like the blind leading the blind, you fall into a ditch in the dark. Jesus dared to be himself, and the past 2,000 years substantiate the truths he taught.
When you watch and wait upon the Lord and live your life in truth, it produces successful results. Your soul sings, "I know whence I come and whither I go."
You need an original plan, a plan specific to your ascension needs. A one-year plan is admirable and a five-year plan is good. But what about a life plan? Wait upon the Lord in the silence of Light and receive your soul's plan, complete and perfect.
Top ↑Edna Lister Truth Temple sermon outline; February 23, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: John 10:1-18.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." – John 10:1-18.
A man who owns a building enters by the door. The sheep know the shepherd, their owner, who has the key to the sheepfold. They also know that the thieves climb over the fence.
The fence around a sheep pen can be eight feet high, and open at the top. Often a boy sleeps inside with the sheep, and opens the door at the sound of his master's voice. The sheep know their master's voice also and will cry out if they are hungry.
The shepherd leads his own sheep, and the sheep follow him. They will not follow a stranger, but must be driven, since they do not know the strange voice.
Jesus taught this parable to caution the people against false prophets and soothsayers who were fooling the people. Doubtless, his disciples had asked.
Jesus mentioned many doors, and said, "I am the door of the sheep." – John 10:7. "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." – John 10:9.
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." – Revelation 3:20.
You cannot see any of these doors from the physical point of view. So this must refer to a mystical door, one that takes you directly to the high place in consciousness. Daniel, for example, opened three mystical windows — wisdom, love and selflessness — toward Jerusalem to pray.
What is a good shepherd and how does he act? The good shepherd uses the door and cares for his flock personally. He gives his life to save his sheep. He treats them with love, tenderness and compassion.
What has this to do with you? Sheep represent your thoughts, metaphysically. The subconscious mind, your hireling, often drags your thoughts down into the world, stealing your time, energy and faith, worrying until you have nothing left.
When self holds sway, the thieves and robbers, the emotional desires and fears of the self, climb in and steal the sheep. Self does not care what happens after you indulge it. Self betrays the body and leaves soul to pay the debt. As a willing partner in sin, self always gets you into trouble but never pays its own way.
"I am the door" measures the shepherd's stature. Life is composed of so many small elements. Think of every thread that goes into weaving, both warp and weft. You each have all the materials you need to weave a perfect cloth.
How many bricks does it take to build a sheep pen? You must set every brick by hand, perfectly. You must keep the sheep warm, fed, protected and sheltered. Can a lukewarm, indifferent shepherd do this?
What is the temperature of your desire now? What is your stature? Whose stature are you using as a living ensample of how to shepherd the sheep of your Father's flock?
Top ↑Edna Lister sermon outline; March 2, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: John 12:20-36.
"And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them." – John 12:20-36.
To transform means "taking form into a different state." The prefix trans- means "across, beyond, on the other side, through, into a different state or place." Love heals, and changes form into a higher state. You can change your flesh (cells), your body form (appearance) and your mental-emotional disposition. However, you cannot change Spirit.
Transformation contains four ideas, lessons leading you from outer to inner consciousness in the life of Christ: Rebirth, transformation, sublimation, and transfiguration. You must pass through all these initiations as you follow Jesus the Christ in ascension.
Rebirth: Some Greeks, who represent the intellectual world and intellectualism, came to Philip, asking to see the Master. Strangely, Jesus replied, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."
What did he mean? You must give up in sacrifice your ideas of a part time life to expand in consciousness. You must die to live; that is, you die to the old ways to live by the new.
Transformation: Metaphysically, Philip represents the power of speech, the spoken Word. People are always saying they love life, or hate life.
You "love" your outer expressions, things, and excitement, or through your love of God, you "seek first the kingdom," and "surrender all" self to attain it. You shun, or "hate" the outer, and move away from it, paying less attention to the world, and more to the Spirit.
Sublimation: Metaphysically, Andrew represents strength of mind. Sublimation means that you can change flesh, disposition or form, and change life's creative forces into the strength of God.
As the servant of all Light as the Power, declare, "Father, glorify Thyself, glorify Thy name as me." If disposition causes you to knock someone down, give them your own credits and double in repayment of the debt you have created.
Transfiguration is an initiation of the Christing, when Jesus was transfigured into the Christ. Peter, James and John, who were with Jesus, heard a voice from heaven.
Some hear a Voice from heaven. Some hear the voice of an angel, while others hear thunder and lightning. The Voice scares some, who hide in a bomb shelter of self, like turtles.
Transfiguration is the meaning of "And I, if I be lifted up" into the glory and radiance, will reach that creative point of stillness. You are transfigured into love, poise and Power. You ask, "Am I good enough?" Hour by hour, make the effort to love enough.
Learning Greatness Through Service
Edna Lister sermon outline; March 9, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scriptures: John 13:3-15, John 13:34-35.
"Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." – John 13:3-15.
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." – John 13:34-35.
Learning greatness through service is an example of humility. The first verse of this chapter of the Gospel of John depicts Jesus as the man of God.
"Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." – John 13:1.
Jesus knew exactly who would betray him: "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled; He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he." – John 13:18-19.
As soon as their last supper together had ended, Satan seduced Judas Iscariot into betraying the Master. Jesus dipped bread, and gave it to Judas; immediately Satan possessed him. "After the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly." – John 13:27.
Judas acted from pride. He knew that Jesus was refusing the crown of outer royalty, but hoped to force him into accepting. His reputation among the Zealots was riding on this. Judas never dreamed that Jesus would choose crucifixion instead.
How does this apply to you? Does it apply to you. It does apply if you have ever badgered another to do as you thought was right or best for him because you think you know better.
"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands; and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded." – John 13:3-5.
Jesus displayed humility when he quietly got up and washed his disciples' feet. He was secure in his identity, knowing that he had come from God and was going to God. Peter protested that Jesus humbled himself.
When Jesus explained that while he might not understand now but would later, Peter wished to be washed all over. Jesus corrected him again, saying that he was already washed, meaning he was washed free of sin.
Then the Master spoke to them about their need for understanding and humility. You must make everything old in your life new. To convert the old to the new, you lift it up to a cloud continent of Light for God to cleanse with the waters of the River of Life.
Service to God is nothing menial when you remember that God is all, everything below as well as above. As a neophyte, you can expect to be assigned to the bathroom detail and the kitchen police occasionally. You are always a neophyte at one degree or another.
Yet you must not allow yourself to become entangled in earthly duties to the exclusion of God-consciousness. Ascend by lifting everything up to God, even as you dash through home or office, recognizing what is out of place, picking up and repositioning things.
Jesus loved his disciples, yet knew their strengths and weaknesses. He knew what they would do and what he had to do. Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, yet he washed his feet, giving him the chance to be saved.
You fall into the same old ditches that disciples did — pride, misunderstanding, taking offense, being judgmental. Ditch water is muddy, but if you always wash it off, someday even the ditches will be clean.
You can love your neighbors and the world. You can love one another until you return to God as gold tried in the fire of life's crucible. Your personal love will then have become universal.
Edna Lister sermon outline; March 16, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scriptures: John 14:1-6, 12-18, John 15:1-6.
"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have to you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.... Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees nor knows Him: but you know Him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." – John 14:1-6, 12-18.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." – John 15:1-6.
Jesus often had to recapitulate his teachings to his disciples. Thomas had lived with Jesus for 3.5 years, yet he still failed to recognize where Jesus was going or how he would get there. Phillip said, "Lord, show us the Father," as if God were still mythical.
These Scriptures hold three important ideas: Preparing to ascend is essential. You must do the greater works. The Father is the final authority.
Jesus said that he was going to the Father's house to prepare a place for us. If you believe in him, you will be able to do the greater works that he did.
Jesus prepared them further by telling them, "Where I go you know, and the way you know." In reading the Bible, you must remain objective-minded and listen to what the speakers and teachers are really saying.
You cannot personally know anything except through direct experience. You experience life through your practice of living. Yet, what good is your experience unless you are willing to follow the Way? Jesus prepares us by saying, "I do know the way. I do know the truth. I do know the Source. I have seen the Father."
You must accept your oneness with God and that no separation exists. Jesus declared, "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. No man may come to the Father except by me."
Man, by doing and being the good, is expressing the greater works. This is how you come to the Father through Christ. Your spiritual growth depends on your response to this call.
You do not get to the Father by yourself, but by the Christ Light, the glory, the Way, the truth and the life. Jesus calls you to come after him and to know him through the Father or through the works the Father performed through him.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." – John 15:1-6.
The Father is the vinedresser, Christ is the vine, and we are its branches. Either you accept this oneness in being, or choose to continue the victim of your separateness in thinking.
Pruning helps the plant to grow strong, whether vines or roses. Unless you choose to prune the suckers and shoots of self, life will prune you in ways less pleasant.
The Master has prepared the way for you. Now is the right time and here is the right place to surrender all self. The Father is your final authority, and He authorizes your ascension now.
Top ↑Edna Lister sermon outline; March 23, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: John 17.
"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." – John 17.
A prayer is action, and all about doing. Jesus' prayer here is filled with so much action.
Imagine the universe filled with principles only, but no personality. Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come." How beautifully he gave us our relationship with God as our Father, a personality and the principle of Light.
So many simple statements reveal his closeness with the Father. "The glory which I had with You before the world was," and "I came forth from You," are traces of an intimate history.
This is the perfect sample of prayer as an intimate approach to God, including praise, giving treatments, silence and communion.
First, your approach must include praise that is filled with gratitude and expressions of your thankfulness. No prayer is complete without a sense of unity and oneness with God.
When Jesus said, "O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was," he was asking to be given the perfect words of praise. Praise opens every vibration on a high creative keynote.
Obedience is your basis for praise that ascends to God as incense. Praise your family first. You cannot send your parents or children back to the manufacturer, but you can praise them to make your experiences with them pay dividends.
All prayer treatments must begin with the magic Word, "let." Lift everyone and everything onto a cloud continent of Light and let the Power move through. This is pure love. The love you give returns to you and builds your bridge over the next abyss.
Your prayer treatments to "sanctify" those for whom you pray, sanctify you in turn. Consecration means "to endow with authority, to bring under law."
Sanctification comes only through giving, and results in the release of pent-up Power. You find that you must take in metaphysical laundry and scrubbing. Even darkness pays dividends when you lift its cause and effects and let Light do the work.
Jesus prayed to the Father for "those who will believe in me through their word; that they all may be one … I in them, and You in me; that they may be made perfect in one."
This is prayer to enter the golden silence. To know that you are one with God is to comprehend, to understand.
To "be still and know that I AM God" is to open your spiritual eyes and ears. Your ears may hear, but you listen to God with your brain cells.
To live without entering the silence is like the parents who lived in a twenty-room house with twenty children, but had everyone sleep in one room. Ascend in consciousness, clean your spiritual windows and use your soul faculties.
The quality of your praise determines the heights to which your prayers can ascend. Praise sets the creative keynote for your soul work in the silence. Praise everything anyone has ever said.
Look for the darkness in any situation or expression, for that is your prayer point of contact with God. You are in the world to serve God by lifting and letting His Power move on your words of praise.
Do not weep about what someone said. Lift it up, onto a cloud, and make it pay dividends. This is how you can get more from prayer. Make the darkness people present to you a high point of glory, then hold your point of glory.
Top ↑Edna Lister Truth Temple Luncheon Club speech outline; April 2, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scriptures: Matthew 22:35-40, Matthew 26:6-13.
"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. – Matthew 22:35-40."
"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." – Matthew 26:6-13.
During Holy Week, Jesus spent the final three days of his ministry in the temple. He gave them all he had for three days. Today, his words still work to turn us toward the Light.
Often people find his teachings too hard to follow. Most people think of his Passion only once a year. Yet true prosperity comes from true sacrifice and obedience to law. You must risk something. You could take your faith out for a walk ten minutes a day, just as you study or exercise.
You can become an expert in anything by giving it ten minutes a day for ten years. So many people become expert dodgers, job hunters and job holders. Too many become experts in giving up and avoiding life.
Become an expert in standing firm, knowing, daring, doing and being. These skills require sacrifice, obedience, love and faithfulness.
So many people become expert dodgers instead, not job hunters and job holders. Too many become experts in giving up and avoiding life. Become an expert in standing firm, knowing, daring, doing and being. These skills require sacrifice, obedience, love and faithfulness.
A young man had lost his job in hard times. He could find no work, he had no money, no home and no friends. He returned from a fruitless search to his rented room, only to find the heat turned off. Feeling very sorry for himself, hungry and frozen to the bone, he wept. He decided to throw himself into the river. It was a long walk, but he kept going, his mind a blank.
The whole time, he was talking to himself in discouragement and self-pity. He leaned against a doorway, exhausted, and asked, "Who will help me? Who is on my side?" In his brief, numbed silence, he heard a Voice say, "I AM." Astonished, he listened and heard, "I AM," repeated twice more.
The young man looked up and saw a rosy glow. His little self fell silent long enough to hear his soul speaking. He returned to his room, and the heat was on. Exhausted, he slept. Early in the morning, a call came from a firm where he had interviewed the day before. By that afternoon he had a good job.
Before you can do anything and expect success, you must know where you are going. More important, you must know who is going where — super-conscious I AM or subconscious "little me."
Top ↑Edna Lister Truth Temple Bible study outline; April 4, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scriptures: Matthew 27:45-61, John 19:28-30, Luke 23:44-46.
"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children. When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulcher." – Matthew 27:45-61.
"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." – John 19:28-30.
"And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." – Luke 23:44-36.
From the sixth to the ninth hour, there was darkness while Jesus was leaving his earth body. He occupied not simply a cellular physical body, but an atomic vehicle that he held in form by mind.
The Father had fully o'ershadowed Jesus as he became the Christ. Thus, he cried, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" as the Father removed His o'ershadowing. Jesus' Oversoul had already ascended to be at one with the Father.
"It is finished!" and "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit" are declarations that Christ had completed everything he had come to earth to do. To "commit" means to give completely.
The veil of the temple was rent. The veil symbolizes the seven veils of spiritual darkness and illusion obscuring your clear perception.
Jesus had won; he had become perfect while embodied as a man. He was the living ensample, the essence of love and Light.
The graves opened, and the saints, who had slept, awakened and arose from their graves. After his Resurrection, they walked earth with him in ascended bodies. They were visible because men's consciousness had been raised to see them.
Edna Lister Truth Temple Easter Sunday sermon outline; April 6, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10.
"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." – Matthew 28:1-10.
Following the Crucifixion, Jesus' disciples and followers were in shock, fearful for their lives. They remained sequestered, watching and praying, waiting in great suspense for what would come next.
As dawn came, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the mother of James, went to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body for burial. The earth quaked as an angel descended and rolled the great stone away from the entrance of the tomb.
The description emphasizes how the angel descended in great Power, rolled the stone and sat on it. Jesus, however, did not appear. He had already left the tomb, invisibly.
Do not be surprised at this. You cannot see mental substance, like radio waves, which can pass through solid walls.
The night-watch, the Roman soldiers assigned to guard the tomb, had swooned at the sight of the angel, and lay as men dead. The angel spoke to the women, telling them not to fear to but to advise Jesus' disciples that he would meet them in Galilee.
Jesus himself appeared to the women, repeating the same message. Later, he appeared to his disciples in the upper room, when the doors were closed. Again, he appeared to prove to Thomas that he was resurrected.
Yet again, he met them on the sea shore, advising them how to enlarge their catch. He cooked them breakfast and fed them on the beach, three times asking Peter if he loved him, and commanding him to feed his sheep.
By all these acts, Jesus proved that there is no death for soul. Eternal life had given him power over death itself. Every soul is capable of the Resurrection and Ascension, two great tenets of Christian religion.
Must I believe? What good will my belief do me? If I am just religious, it is no good. Resurrection and Ascension are both practical.
The old wedding ditty says, "Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue." Everyone has "something old" to resurrect and lift from life's old conditions. The "something new" is the Light of illumination awaiting you. "Something borrowed" is the darkness that you take from others, to lift. The "something blue" is the Mother Love of God to consume darkness and to heal.
Resurrection is commonplace, really. Every autumn, trees lose their leaves, which die and lie buried under winter's snow. Yet every spring, bulbs come up, grass grows and trees unfold new leaves.
St. Paul said, "I die daily," and the cells of your body do die, yet new cells are born. Mundane material life reaches a climax and dies, but eternal life lies just beyond the door that opens. You die to old hatreds and are born again to new loves.
Ascension is also prevalent throughout life as you live it. You ascend from grade school to high school to college and university. Everyone ascends from infancy to adulthood. You ascend from a menial position to management.
Any reaching out or up for more is ascension. Everyone on earth practices some form of ascension, some more than others. The only difference in the height of your ascension results from your choice and conviction. Others can choose the lesser of two evils, but there is only one choice for me.
I choose the way of eternal life and follow him. I choose when my conviction is strong, and desire is burning, flaming and glorious.
There is only one right and only one right way to choose. When you follow him, you become the life and Light that he is. Then stand as unconquerable faith and stick it out until you win.
The world always chooses the way of self, which is so temporal and temporary. The ascension way is the soul way stretching into eternity.
If you have laded your ship of soul with a cargo of self, you may not make it through life's many storms to find the dock. If you tie it up, self may refuse to unload its cargo.
You could travel from port to port for the rest of your life, fully laded, with no room to add a soul life of glory. You must choose to and unload the self.
If necessary, you must choose to be the same glorious martyr Jesus was, from Resurrection to joyous Ascension. He lived on earth and in heaven. He appeared on earth to his friends.
A martyr must put in the time, effort and study to develop his joy and strength for life. He must stand ready to defend his choice, to die for it if need be. You die to failure every time you allow your old way of life to move in again.
Christ is risen! Arise! The victor's crown awaits you — a crown of glory, a crown with wings. All this is yours when you ascend to become Light and the success of glory.
Edna Lister Truth Temple Bible study outline; April 13, 1947, Tacoma, Washington;February 17, 1957, Tacoma, Washington. Scriptures: 1 Samuel 9:1-2, 1 Samuel 11:12-13, 1 Samuel 15:1, 22-26, 1 Samuel 15:34-35.
"Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher {taller} than any of the people." – 1 Samuel 9:1-2.
"The people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for today the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel." – 1 Samuel 11:12-13.
"Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.… And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel." – 1 Samuel 15:1, 22-26.
"Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel." – 1 Samuel 15:34-35.
Israel had been ruled by judges for 200 years. During that time, they recognized only one king, the Lord God of heaven.
Samuel the prophet was the last of his lineage. He had appointed his two sons as judges, but they became corrupt and took bribes. The people then asked for a king. Samuel prayed and God said yes, He would send a man to be king.
"And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." – 1 Samuel 8:7.
Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, a man of fine ancestry, was himself a "mighty man of valor." His son, Saul, was a young and goodly man, great in stature but humble in attitude. He went out on his father's business and met Samuel, who recognized and anointed him.
His inheritance was perfect, and Saul became king. What did he do with his inheritance? He came from a line of great ancestors, but that did not make him a great king. God had chosen Saul, and endowed him with abilities and capabilities beyond the ordinary. Still, Saul had to choose what he would become.
When Saul was victorious in battle, his humility gave way to arrogance and pride in his own might and strength. He failed to hearken to the Word of God through Samuel, and in rebellion and stubbornness, he disobeyed commands.
God repented that He had made him king over Israel. Because Saul had rejected the Word of God, so also God rejected him from being king.
Metaphysically, Saul represents the personal will of the little self that takes over and rules after its own desires. You must lift personal will and desires to be united with wisdom and love, so they may rule as illumination and intuition, as symbolized by Samuel.
This conquering requires two actions on your part: You must hearken to the Word of God, and you must obey. Had Saul hearkened to God's orders, he would have become a man of valor and a great king.
As you listen with the ears of your mind, you hearken either to the voice of self or to soul's intuition and illumination. You must choose to obey the commands you receive through your higher creative center, as the voice of conscience, for example. Only by listening for the Voice of God and obeying can you become a wise ruler in your own life.
Self's stubbornness and rebellion divorce you from true oneness with God. You then find yourself outside the reality of truth, rejected by God. You forever stand at a spiritual crossroads with a new choice to make every hour.
"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." – 1 Samuel 15:22-23. To choose to obey is better than sacrifice offered as worship.
Your divine heritage includes all the abilities and capabilities you need to become a master of self. Like Saul, you must choose what you will become. You are constantly accepting and rejecting truth. Samuel, who represents soul consciousness and spiritual discernment, rejected the little self. Saul had played with his people for rewards and credits for self.
So you, who are moving up in consciousness, ruling from the high place, have the power to reject all little self's demands. You can train the will by lifting it up where soul will rule it from above.
As God told Moses, "Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it." – Exodus 25:8-9. "There are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." – Hebrews 8:4-5.
Soul consciousness must be your "pattern of the mount" [Exodus 25 and Hebrews 8], your blueprint for success in conquering self. You must so indelibly etch obedience to law in your consciousness that you consider no other path, no matter how hard it may be to obey.
Accept your inheritance as sons and daughters of God. Ascend in consciousness and live on the mount where you become a good and wise ruler over your kingdom, today.
Edna Lister sermon transcript; April 20, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scribe: Ruth Bender Collord. Scriptures: John 4:43-53, John 5:1-10.
"Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in his own country. Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house." – John 4:43-53.
"After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath." – John 5:1-10.
When you ascend in consciousness, you don't look inward to intellectual opinions and emotional prejudices. You go "out and up," and look up in consciousness to God.
The nobleman's son, the paralytic at Bethesda, and Lazarus were so "used up" that they no longer had enough life in them. The River of Life, which contains all the vitality you need, just flowed over them, without permeating them.
It does you no good to be a lifeless log, just floating along. You must be fully saturated with Light as the life of God.
These Scriptures describe three types of healing and three types of faith. First is "blind faith," which produces martyrs and does not believe that enough is left over for me. These people think, "If I wait long enough, perhaps something will happen."
Yet this faith lacks that fiery spark that will catch another to dunk him in the healing pool. Jesus came by and asked, "Would you be healed?" He said, "Yes" enthusiastically, which reveals his emotional-devotional type of faith was ready to heal him. He got it his way.
Second is the "I have faith for you" type, such as the father's faith for his son to be healed. This is the mental-intellectual sort of faith. A proud Pharisee, he had to go to the Master. He put his pride in his pocket, knowing that his peers would brand him with criticism and condemnation. Yet he did it anyway because he loved his son.
About Lazarus, Jesus said, "I am glad that I was not there to the intent that you believe." This was proof that he was the Son of God. Jesus knew of his coming crucifixion, and that his disciples needed an unconquerable faith.
Lazarus had not responded to Jesus as had the nobleman's son. The River of Life flowed on regardless of Jesus' distance from the nobleman's son or Lazarus. Yet Jesus said, "I am glad that he died" to prove that life controls death.
Had Jesus entered Lazarus' tomb, he would have disobeyed God. Instead he said, "Father, please answer this prayer. Here are the disciples, who need to know that You have done this."
Most people will say, "You must face the facts," rather than facing the Light of eternity. You make a liar of God if you think you must face earthly facts first, which are merely the truth of appearances.
The truth of reality is right before you, staring you in the face. All you must say is, "This is good. Let there be Light!" Jesus knew that some messiah eventually must stand up and say, "This is good," as God had declared His Creation to be good seven times in Genesis, the first chapter.
We, the sons and daughters of God, are at fault for we have created this mess in the world. The obvious answer lies in this scripture. Every time you look into the face of darkness, such as illness, call it good, and command it to come forth and reveal itself, it must. Let the robe of Light descend and clothe you. Break through the shell of darkness that surrounds whatever it is, and declare it good. Shout it if you must!
Doctors are meddlers, tinkerers, and patchers. Jesus' method is already perfect. Take your "facts of life" from the real facts of eternity — God wants His sons and daughters to be healed. The facts of eternity are not the facts of past experience, or facts of outer appearances.
The third phase of faith includes those disciples who stand on comprehension and know, who look through the face of earthly reality to say, "You are healed." Life works silently. You pray, and the Father works in silence.
Your thinking must hold but a single idea to fill it full of complete faith. You must know that this glory is immediately present. Your desire must burn until you can take a deeper breath and know that what you breathe is the Breath of God.
If you believe that God is everywhere evenly present, if you know this, then you are perfect and can go twenty-four hours a day without getting tired. The materialistic world has done it, and in greater measure than in Jesus' time.
What have you done? Are you healing fever, palsy, paralysis? Don't settle for the small stuff. One of the greater works, for example, is regrowing a limb. Your enemies in this, as in all things, are your own prejudices and opinions. Today's "let down" is tomorrow's "set down." Pray, pray, pray!
A disciple knows that God is not only a state of consciousness, but a personality, the archetype of Personality. God is complete, and He wants completeness in any miracle. Forget retirement and become a "caretaker" of Creation instead. Nothing but your own ideas limit what you can do.
God is never satisfied with His Creation, but constantly inspires every element within it to better its best. He is all the Mind that is, all the Substance that is, all the Power that is. If you want to rest, you can do so for eternities, and any way you follow is perfect.
Yet if you are a disciple of Jesus, you will be a 100 percent miracle. Miracles come in their completeness and perfection according to the heat under your faith, and your love of God is the flame.
How much love can you give to God? Do you love your Father? Does He have everything? Yes. That is the law. You must choose which facts of life you want to live by, appearances or reality.
Living Water: Christ for All People
Edna Lister lecture outline; April 22, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: John 4:5-30.
"Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him." – John 4:5-30.
This chapter of the Gospel of John shows Jesus as the true Messiah. Its keynote is the feminine and women, and stresses the acknowledgment of responsibility. He shows fearlessness in speech and actions, and that Godlike character belongs to everyone.
The Samaritans were descendants of Jacob, whose well this was at Sychar. They read and believed in the Old Testament. Yet they worshiped God in the old high places, and some followed strange gods.
No self-respecting Jew would speak to a Samaritan woman. Yet, by doing so, Jesus opened the keynote of feminine emancipation for all women. He, who was the Messiah, spoke to and helped the Samaritan woman.
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." – John 4:24. God is a Spirit!
As Jesus did, you must acknowledge God as your Father — He proclaimed, "I am the messiah." He said "my Father," "Not I but the Father doeth the word," and "I am my Father are one."
In all fearlessness, he said, "If God is with me, whom or what shall I fear?" This Messiah-like character belongs to you and all of us.
The story of the woman at the Sychar well illustrates five phases of intuition being exalted as love ascends. First, he said, "Give me to drink" of intuition, then "I will give to you the living waters of love."
Thus, Jesus opened woman's emancipation vibration. The creature soul, lifted and ascended, frees intuition and spiritual illumination.
When she mentioned the Messiah, he told her, "I, who speak to thee, am he." When his disciples heard this, they marveled, which is how intellect usually responds to intuition and illumination.
Finally, love is able to put intuition to work. Illumination brightens the corners of your beliefs, removing doubts. Everything comes into balance and harmony when you worship God as Spirit, in Spirit.
Why are you waiting? You can all load a ship o' dreams with the cargo of your choice, exactly what you want in life. All you need to do is to acknowledge your responsibility and be fearless in your expression. Are you afraid to say, "I am healed"? If so, why?
All that the Father has is yours to use — all Light as Power, Love, strength, might and glory, now. Load that ship o' dreams and it will sail right back to you.
Edna Lister sermon outline; April 27, 1947, Buffalo, New York. Scripture: John 17.
"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." – John 17.
Since we learned about breaking the sonic barrier, we realize that the way to reach God in prayer is to ascend in consciousness. To do that we must accelerate our faith.
The doubters and scoffers asked questions to trip Jesus, to prove him wrong. Those souls who were sincere asked him, "How can we do the works of God?"
If you accept Jesus as the Way-shower, you must accept that his words had special mystical meaning. We share the Hebrew Kabbalistic numerical meaning of his answers and messages to prove the hidden meanings within the King James Bible. In the New Testament, you find only new mysteries unfolded. Each teacher presents a different phase.
Each prayer represents an approach to life. Using the intellectual approach, you do not demand answers. Using the devotional approach, you cannot expect an answer to an argumentative question. Both forms of prayer, intellectual and emotional, go to God. Yet the ideal is to become the comprehension of both methods. As many paths lead to God as the number of souls on earth. Each has an acceptable truth and his own approach. You may not demand that others follow your way.
They said to Jesus, "show us a sign." He answered, "I am the bread of life." He taught us to speak with assurance, candor, brevity and confidence. Say, "I am the bread of life," and mean it. Each embodied soul can stand and declare this with every breath from the Source.
Peter was chosen as the first disciple, because Jesus knew he would perfectly represent the symbolic rock of faith. "Upon this rock, I found my church." Faith does not leave love out of the equation. The totality of Creation is part of God.
The differences in faith stem from the different degrees in the spectrum between consciousness and unconsciousness. Faith is everywhere evenly present. Faith is your number one expression, the outstanding flavor of your life, the seasoning that makes the dish.
An agnostic's disbelief illustrates a vacancy in both the head and the heart. He is advertising that he has a vacuum, an empty room. An atheist is someone who has locked truth in the basement and thrown away the key.
Open the rooms, and let Light as faith fill you. Look up in consciousness, breathe, and know that God is your faith.
Self cries, "I must be free!" Soul cries, "I must do the greater works!" The first statement admits that one is a slave. Freedom is not doing things out here, but only freedom of the soul. When you have soul discipline, no earthly power can stand against you.
If you have faith to hold that great wall of Light around you, no one can enslave your soul. They can tell you what to do, but you can stand and say, "I cannot do this. It's against principle for me, and I will have to live with its consequences, not you."
When you talk about it, you are playing with it. You do until you can see the place you occupy this moment as the greatest place ever, and can say, "I am now doing my greater works!"
Where you find yourself now is where to begin your greatest works. You can take off from where you are standing — this is your take-off field. "I am that bread of life, I AM." The manna in the wilderness was only good for one day, then it spoiled. Fresh manna falls every day.
Unless you rub truth in like a liniment, every hour on the hour, you forget where you are and where you are going. God planned that all His children should return home. You must do your share now or you will have to return to earth.
God pushes and entices you. He has given you the kingdom of heaven, yet you gripe. Right where you are, someone asks you to do something more. You will enter the kingdom of heaven or get kicked into it, for the River of Life is flowing back to the Source.
Faith is unconquerable. The Master says, "Commit yourself unto me and I shall bring it to pass." Love more greatly. Declare, "I love where I am, and I am at my take-off field now."
Anyone can do what he must do every day, or he is a slave to self. The greatest false god is old age and quitting, going to seed, turning brown and shriveled, and shrinking away. If you want more life, you have to live it. Moses was 120 and "his vision was undimmed and his power was unabated" because he lived by the faith of God.
"I AM faith, the faith of God." This is free when you give up all old age ideas. When you quit living with your problem, and live with God, the problem will shrink. If you think of it all the time, you are feeding the problem. When an idea tries to enslave you, use the key, "I AM that bread of life, I AM." For faith is unconquerable. It is that mighty law.
Edna Lister sermon transcript; April 27, 1947, Buffalo, New York. Scribe: Ruth Bender Collord. Scripture: John 17.
"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." – John 17.
Jesus' prayer is proof of God as a personality. The Bible describes heaven as a place, and God as law and as a Father. Ninety percent of prayer is prayed at God, not to God.
When you have a sense of praying to God as a Father, it integrates you in the family of personality. A Father is not someone at whom you direct cold statements of truth or law. These never give you a feeling of closeness or a chance to see your heavenly home.
Prayer is how you express your spiritual life. Any love or aspiration is prayer. The act or action of prayer is at first a process, then it becomes an act. To know the act of prayer, you must understand that it has three phases.
First, prayer is an intimate approach, not a series of intellectual statements. Prayer is a communion from the personality of heart to the heart of personality.
Second, prayer involves treatments, lifting and letting. Third is the silence, which is the supreme activity of God, not a sitting and waiting.
Prayer is a process of activity. The first key is praise. Tell the Father how great He is and how much you love Him. For instance, darkness is increased by praise of it. Curses increase darkness, therefore praising darkness is cursing.
"Do not-ers" do not and do nothing, slacking all the time. "Do-ers" do and work harder all the time. Praise opens the door to the silence.
First you must praise your enemies, the people about whom you imagine and declare criticism and condemnation. Those traits and flaws you criticize and condemn in others, you must work out in yourself.
When you become pure poise, pure tolerance, you no longer see less than this in the outer. Peace, patience, tolerance, and compassion come from poised ascension in consciousness.
Second, you must aim all your prayer treatments at giving. First you lift. When you gesture with your hands, you start a vibration. So, you reach out and lift up, saying, "I lift you up into the Light."
It may take the material light of distant stars millions of years to come to earth, but when God moves, His spiritual Light emanates instantly. The Light of God finishes what began as a thought or idea in the mind of man. The lifter's mind sets the keynote of Light.
The only way to cut corners and get cash from God's bank is to present the Father with a cashier's check. You write that check according to how much life you think He can spare you.
You usually give Him just a teaspoon to fill when you need to fill an ocean. Yet remember, when you center your attention on anything around you, you are no longer God-conscious.
Lift everything, all the time. You can lift everything, your memories of the past, difficult personalities, hard situations onto a cloud and call Light down on them. Thus, you redeem your soul substance. If you lift everything up to God, your lifting lifts you.
When you are down or low in consciousness, you know that you have not lifted. Then you must climb onto a cloud yourself and lift everything and everyone onto another cloud. You do the lifting and all the letting.
When you have nothing more to lift, you have come up through the rainbow fields of color into the golden silence. You must open the door, step by step.
Then listen for commands and suggestions. You hold this silence by the communion of eyes, ears, and brain cells, which "wait upon the Lord." You cannot reach the golden silence without giving.
Declare, "As I lift these governments, these people, I sanctify them in truth." To sanctify is to "set apart as or declare holy; consecrate: to make legitimate or binding by a religious ceremony: free from sin; purify: to cause to be morally right or acceptable."
The darkest place you lift is the one that pays you the greatest dividends. Do not ask why. Just lift whatever it is because it is there for you to take the responsibility for lifting it.
The golden silence is the true Light of Shekinah glory, the radiance of God's presence. "He who hath eyes to see, let him see. He who has ears to hear, let him hear" in the golden silence. You must become intimate with God before you can reach the Light.
You get out of prayer what you put into it. I can say, "Dear Father, Lord, help me," and it is done. What you put into it determines what comes to you. The greatest amount of darkness that you take time to lift becomes your greatest point of glory.
It's not how long you pray, but how hot you pray. If you pray lukewarmly, you will have a spoiled life, just as if you had tried to prepare dinner in a lukewarm oven, no love, no affection, just criticism and pride.
You can completely surrender self with just a single word of praise. In just one word you can turn, lift, let, and dare to say, "I am healed." Have you? No you have not.
"Dear Father, please move in and possess me. I surrender. Please move in and sanctify them and me higher." When you stand there, in the glory of God, say, "I am healed." Finally, thank God a thousand times an hour that you already have the answer to your prayer, perfect, whole and complete.
Edna Lister sermon transcript; April 27, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scribe: May Wilder. Scriptures: 1 Kings 3:4-12, 1 Kings 5:12-16, 1 Kings 11:4-10.
"And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee." – 1 Kings 3:4-12.
"And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together. Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force, Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work." – 1 Kings 5:12-16.
"For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem; and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded." – 1 Kings 11:4-10.
The Old Testament does more than to present history. Through metaphysical interpretations, we find God's symbolic presentation of principles hidden within it, which we can modify into livable laws for daily use.
David had made Solomon king of Israel during his own lifetime. So Solomon was still young and humble, feeling inadequate when he journeyed to Gibeon to offer a thousand burnt offerings.
In a dream, God asked Solomon the desires of his heart, and he in turn requested an understanding heart to discern righteous judgment. Pleased, God granted his request and added riches, honor and long life, too.
Solomon returned to Jerusalem and ruled his people well. He had such understanding and largeness of heart that his name and fame became great. People traveled from every nation to hear his wisdom.
Solomon's life as king illustrates three distinct phases — his preparation for service, the period of execution and accomplishment, and the period of decline into old age.
In the first phase, Solomon let God lead him. He loved the Lord and desired to walk in His statutes but realized his inability to rule effectively. He knew his success and contact with God would depend on his preparation.
Solomon went up to the high place at Gibeon, surrendered to God, and offered a thousand burnt offerings. God appeared to him in a dream, granted his request and gave him added things.
Solomon believed he would gain the answer to prayer, acted "as if" he did, and he did. God never fails you when you go to Him in surrender.
Solomon's name means "peace," and in the second phase of his rule, he accomplished such peace as Israel had never known. However, he attained this peace by forming alliances by marriage and acts of political expediency, all of which later led to his downfall.
Because of the peace Solomon created, he was able to build the Temple in Jerusalem, a gigantic task. He used his wisdom to formulate the systematic building plan. Its magnificence and splendor have never been equaled.
"We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." – 2 Corinthians 5:1.
The temple symbolizes the spiritually renewed body of man, which becomes the temple of the indwelling Christ. When you live by nonresistance, you constantly renew the body spiritually until it becomes the enduring temple of the living God.
Peace becomes enduring within you as you remain in the high place of consciousness and lift all self-created enemies, not merely appease them. This establishes you in an active peace, not merely a cessation of strife.
Solomon's third phase became a period of decline, but you should make it the high point of your ascension. As he aged, his love for God grew lukewarm. Bored with life, he followed the line of least resistance.
He had taken many wives and concubines from neighboring nations, and permitted most of them to continue worshiping idols. He forgot his promises to God and took God's gifts for granted. The women influenced him to build altars to false gods and make sacrifices to them — what folly! Thus, Jehovah cut him off from his kingdom.
As you prepare before Ascension Day, go up, as Solomon did, to the high place and the altar there. Offer a thousand burnt offerings, day after day lifting your failings, small and great.
As you build in the kingdom of the soul, build, as did Jesus did, to be a fitting and enduring temple to the living God. Keep all your vows, your desire ardent, your desire burning, lifting all false gods into the Light. As Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. wrote:
The Chambered Nautilus
This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,
Sails the unshadowed main,—
The venturous bark that flings
On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,
And coral reefs lie bare,
Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.
Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;
Wrecked is the ship of pearl!
And every chambered cell,
Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,
Before thee lies revealed,—
Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!
Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year's dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.
Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
Child of the wandering sea,
Cast from her lap, forlorn!
From thy dead lips a clearer note is born
Than ever Triton blew from wreathèd horn!
While on mine ear it rings,
Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:—
Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low‑ vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!
– Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Edna Lister sermon outline; May 4, 1947, Buffalo, New York. Scripture: Acts 16:16-39.
"At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city." – Acts 16:25-39.
A slave girl, who was possessed by a spirit of divination had followed Paul and Silas all over the city of Thyatira, speaking about them and attracting unwanted attention. In irritation, Paul cast out her demon, making her useless to the men who made money on selling her predictions. They, in turn, had Paul and Silas arrested and thrown in prison.
There, they prayed, praised God and sang hymns. They made no argument and wasted no time protesting. Their outstanding faith created a miracle for them.
The only argument you really have is with self. Arguing with self makes your love and faith weak, and the opposition wins. When you are in agreement with soul, your love and faith become even stronger, while the opposition weakens, and you win.
An outstanding faith creates aggressive faith, love and compassion. It has nothing negative or passive about it, but is energetic, joyful, praiseful, prayerful and songful.
Without faith, you have no great vision of the good. Lack of vision plagues the earth today because people feel they cannot see and thus, do not.
What is outstanding about your faith? How energetic are your praise, prayers and singing? How great is your life's beauty? Most people are too hasty, too hurried and too busy to know the beauty of life. Stop a while until you can sense the inner beauty, capture and hold it, nourish and sustain it.
When you let life's beauty feed you, your faith grows more beautiful. Dare to be enthralled with love, loving it more than self.
You can be a searcher after beauty, a collector of the glorious. As you let yourself be transformed and transfigured in ascension, you reflect your love in the quality and inflection of your tone of voice.
Stop waiting for the future. Take time to live now. You dwell in a body composed of the same substance as stardust. Show God the stars of beauty in your shining eyes. Walk in joy at your high point of soul expression and conquering.
Edna Lister sermon transcript; May 4, 1947, Buffalo, New York. Scribe: Ruth Bender Collord. Scripture: Acts 16:16-39.
"At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city." – Acts 16:25-39.
Lent comes forty days after the New Year. Easter is forty days later. Ascension Day is forty days after that. You make vows to become responsible for others, to absorb the darkness they have created, leaving to God to set the debt they must pay.
The law says that nothing may stop the other fellow from seeking. Loose him and let him go. Place a pillar of fire about him and declare that nothing can harm him. Pray for his desire to flame in him. He will look up in consciousness only through his desire.
You can lay anyone's life line in the Master's hands, and let Light care for him. When you worry about him, you tangle your lines of responsibility, wasting your time.
Today's text includes argument, agreement and an encompassing faith. Paul and Silas did not argue with self or with God, but prayed and praised and sang songs of praise. They were in perfect agreement with faith, and thus, self was in agreement with soul.
Three quarters of the average person's life is a mess because they argue with self. Some people collect hurts and offenses. As collectors of darkness, they take offense, even when the other fellow doesn't mean any.
You ought not to take into your heart what you do not wish to have there. Do not collect old age wrinkles or frowns.
Do not repress fear, worry, and resentments, but call them up from the basement to agree with you, even one moment a day, over one infinitesimal point. Like an unruly disobedient child, no good place exists where you can stop him, if you have not lifted his line of Light.
Faith is both a principle and a substance. How do you put faith into action? You weaken your faith, love and joy if you give in to argument. You are truth. How can you quit being truth? All the life in you is truth, which is a principle. The substance of your body is truth.
Faith can be boiled up into a definition; faith is the source of inner, joyous beauty. When you are of truth, you have the love of God, and you love God with a mighty love.
Love permeates your aura like a fragrance. Love is faith, and others follow it. The world will follow, for it is sick of odious stenches. Just go out and do some digging, and get over being a softy. Women themselves have nearly destroyed the romance of womanhood in men's hearts. Now they are living in a mess.
What about the peace and joy the Master left? You cannot make universal peace at conferences when you live by argument and rebellion personally. The love of God, the love of people is the love of which we speak.
You and I are to blame for the destructive attitudes working in the world today. Mankind is now on the edge of that volcano of self, which is just about to erupt today.
If you have one iota of criticism in your heart, you are not of peace. Your Oversoul star is filled with all the substance you will ever need to create with, according to your faith.
The Father asks at night, "Have you brought back all the Light I gave you?" Criticism will dissolve the Light-as-substance He originally gave you.
The destruction of the world shall not come. Praise, prayer, singing and unconquerable faith shall save all.
Reach into the Light until you can feel that great beauty of Light, the beauty of days, the beauty on earth. Take time to live, to breathe beauty divine that is waiting to express through you and as you.
Do you ever search for beauty? Faith is beautiful, pure beauty. Love is beautiful, pure beauty. You are the heirs of God's Power, God's Love, God's beauty.
Boil up in consciousness of love, not down and out in despair. As you ascend in consciousness, to be surrounded and possessed by Power and Light, you become Power and Light.
Do not live life by constantly forcing people or situations to do it your way. Do not sit down and wait. Hold fast to that contact of Light. The Light goes before you to open doors and clear the way. It goes as you and for you.
You are here on earth to work out your salvation. You may not criticize, or you tune in the world's criticism, and soon are a mess of it.
When you ascend in consciousness, without ceasing, you will find everything moving for your benefit. You will not need to make up months of redoing for five days of undoing.
Practice golden silence and wise speech. Paul and Silas are an ensample of what praise and prayer can do. When someone tears up your garden of golden silence, replant it until it thrives.
This can be your year of achieving rare beauty. Your joy and beauty are the only gifts that you can bring to God at night.
For your loved ones, declare, "Father here is your son/daughter, surrounded by a pillar of fire on a cloud of Light. Let him/her do Thy will at all times." Should they fall from the cloud, do not say, "That's just what I expected," for this prophesies their failure.
Divine Light as power is seeking to lift the world through you. You are responsible for everything and everyone about you, and everything in your place. Let the Light do the lifting. God is the One, and God is the majority of One when God is the One.
Declare, "I am ever free. I am the servant of God, and my earth is lifted. This week is my week of fulfillment."
Edna Lister sermon outline; May 11, 1947, Cleveland, Ohio. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13.
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." – 1 Corinthians 13.
Love is one of the great absolute principles with Wisdom and the Logos, the Word. They name the Emanations, which are forever the same and inexhaustible. Wisdom and Love are the ideal Father and Mother who plan and sustain all that is.
For the love of God, people left their homes and livelihoods and cross an ocean to obtain freedom to worship as they pleased. They conquered a continent using their heads, hearts, hands and feet. Religion was an all-the-time affair to them. Nowadays people worship on a part-time basis.
These are the two ways to worship: Worshiping in freedom gives God love and full-time service. Worshiping in bondage gives God only part-time service and love.
Part-time love creates faith, devotion and effort that are too soft. Since it is so lukewarm and indifferent, it finally devolves into a full-time belief in enemies.
Giving God your full-time service encourages you to live by soul all day, worshiping in the faith and love of God. The part-timers live by the contraction of self. The full-timers live by soul expansion under divine law.
Love agrees and adjusts without being soft, yet does not argue with the self or the world. Love's outstanding characteristics are that you can see it in the other person's eyes, feel it in their touch and hear it in their voice.
Love is aggressive, not only passive. It moves out from you to illumine and change the darkness it meets.
Without enough love, you are in bondage to imagined enemies. The walls are always falling in, collapsing. Naturally, every new freedom becomes a new bondage as you grow, expand and advance.
Hold your vision on the new goal, way out front. As you walk toward it, the walls of the goal recede because your vision advances, too. You are always filling the shell of another goal-mold.
Love represents freedom. Love must rejoice, and love is beauty. The years are beautiful to the eyes of love. People are altogether too hasty, too busy, too hurried and too tired. Stop a while, regather your inner sense of beautiful until you can again feel beautiful and speak and act beautifully.
Train yourself to hold onto, nourish and sustain this inner beauty of love and let your soul feed on love as a perfect daily diet. This is aggressive love, expanding love, outstanding love.
Resolve to mother your creations, to become enthralled with love. As you welcome more life, dare to be beautiful and ascend into greater love.
Edna Lister sermon outline; May 18, 1947, Cleveland, Ohio. Scripture: John 5:1-10.
"After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath." – John 5:1-10.
How can you have unshakable, unalterable faith? You make your sacrifice of self in three ways: Surrender to God, lift everyone and everything onto a cloud of Light, and obey law.
First you must surrender your self to your soul, never again allowing self to rule you. The gift of your sacrifice of self returns as soul vision to see the truth of reality.
Second, you must accept your personal responsibility to lift everyone and everything onto a cloud continent of Light for healing. You are like a ship equipped with lifelines that you can throw out to lift and to hold all those for whom you are responsible.
Third, you must become the law. If you act smugly, your family will itch to wipe that look off your face. You may not pose as a saint for before family, friends or the world.
If you are always being knocked about, you must admit that you are creating your own problems. You must become the law, but may not act like you know it all.
Follow the little Christ child by letting the Christed vibration precede you to clear the way. In consciousness, you must move from the subjective "I believe" to the conscious and objective "I know."
Constantly strive to reach super-conscious "I AM," to surrender to Oversoul. By this you become the supreme Oneness of Light and life, in which you are once again unconscious of being.
Soul consciousness simply acts and lives life silently, taking in credit. Soul is not self-conscious that it is doing, yet it simply does.
Edna Lister sermon outline; May 27, 1947, Cleveland, Ohio; August 4, 1957, Tacoma, Washington. Scriptures: Amos 5:6-15, Amos 5:21-27.
"Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, seek him that maketh the seven stars [Pleiades] and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name: That strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph." – Amos 5:6-15.
"I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Have ye offered unto Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your God, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts." – Amos 5:21-27.
The kingdom of Israel had become divided in consciousness and lost its power as a nation. They had fallen from worshiping the one God, Jehovah, and turned to false gods, setting up idolatrous altars throughout the land. The rich oppressed the poor and the people's desolation was great.
God called Amos, a shepherd of the tribe of Judah to prophesy to the people, to arouse them to turn away from their evil ways. If they would again seek God's good, El Shaddai Tsabaot, the Almighty God of Hosts would be with them. They might live as a nation.
This lesson is a challenge to change from old ways and habits of thinking and living. We must learn to live victoriously by the laws of God.
We know the universe is run by law, for there is every evidence of it. It expresses perfection in each part, and such perfection results only from perfect obedience to law.
Each soul is a universe within itself, and each learns to express perfection by knowing and obeying principles and laws. When you conform to and work with laws and principles, your expression of them is perfectly aligned with God's Plan.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus came and taught the laws of love, which, added to the laws of life given through Moses, created the new Christed vision for the world. Man is just now beginning to realize the fullness of this vision and how to use it in joy and happiness.
The Master taught three outstanding laws — the law of love, the law of faith and the law of praise through joy. When you learn how to work with love, faith and joy, to let them use you, they will work for you.
"Return to him who does you wrong your purest love, and he will cease from doing wrong; for love will purify the heart of him who is beloved as truly as it purifies the heart of him who loves." – Levi H. Dowling, The Aquarian Gospel 11:11.
Love is transforming power. The prefix "trans-" means "across, beyond." To transform is to take form in a different state or place.
As love heals a body or a soul, it changes its form into a higher state, it changes cells, flesh form and disposition. For fifteen minutes a day, practice becoming an expert in using the law of love.
Working at anything for fifteen minutes a day will make you an expert, if you stick to it. Becoming an expert in love is as easy as being an expert in criticism, doubt and worrying.
Practice loving the situation or condition you wish to change. Love the place you work, the job you do, the house you live in, your old car. Love your enemies, the opposing factor, your worst favorite.
Love, added to the creative power of thought, works wonders. This is how the law of love pays dividends.
The law of faith is, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1. Faith is the substance with which you create from the invisible to the visible.
Faith is the assurance of the things you hope for, your surety of God's omnipotence. Faith is how you know that substance is there and that God always says yes. Maintain spiritual contact by staying in the high place of consciousness. So, with that assurance of knowing, nothing can hold back your miracles.
Peter could walk on the storm-tossed waters as long as he looked up in consciousness toward the Master, and remained at one with him. When he let his mind turn to thoughts of the lashing waves, his doubt and fear caused him to sink. In his moment of need, he cried, "Save me, Lord," and regained his fearlessness of soul. By evicting the doubts from your thoughts, you can remember that whatsoever you ask, God will grant. You can maintain your spiritual contact because the law of faith works.
The law of joy is the key that opens the door to release Power. When your heart is filled with joy, you naturally express through praise and rejoicing.
Paul and Silas used prayer, praise and singing to set up a vibration that caused the prison walls to rock. This same Power will open doors before you to new opportunities and miracles of healing.
The prophet Amos represents conscience, the voice within that directs you to action when you let it speak. He acts as the conscience of the children of Israel when he warned and admonished them for following evil ways.
The voice of conscience acts as a teacher, presiding over your inner life. It constantly warns you when you slip, when your lines of love-Light are sagging. Yet you adulterate this voice of inner assurance when you cave in to fear and doubts. Then self-pity causes you to lose your joy.
By keeping your mind and heart attuned, ever looking up in consciousness, you remain aware and open to the inner voice. Conscience then directs and guides your choices and actions in the ways of right thinking, building of right pictures in imagination and right use of substance through emotions.
As you let conscience, which is God speaking within you, be your guide, you find your problems solved, your needs supplied. The inner voice of conscience establishes harmony, which alone brings happiness.
Remember that love is unquenchable fire, ever renewed from above. Faith is unconquerable. Joy is invincible. As you become faith, love and joy, you become the all-conquering sons and daughters of God.
Edna Lister lecture outline; May 25, 1947, Cleveland, Ohio. Scriptures: 2 Kings 17:5-12, 22-23.
"Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods, and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, for they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, You shall not do this thing." – 2 Kings 17:5-12.
"The children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day." – 2 Kings 17:22-23.
The Books of Kings tell the history of the children of Israel from the time when God chose Saul as their first king. Through their faith in His Power and obedience to His commands, they grew and became a strong nation.
Then as one king followed another, they gradually turned from worshiping Jehovah. They ceased to heed and obey the words given to them through the prophets, lost their standing among the nations, and became divided.
This scripture text from the second Book of Kings describes their disinheritance from God and their complete disintegration as a nation. Hoshea, the last king, came to the throne by slaying his predecessor.
During his reign, the Assyrians came in great numbers and after a long, hard siege captured the king and put him to death. They led the children of Israel away captive, to distant lands.
So ended the ten tribes, who never returned to their own land but were lost among the peoples of the East. This story is more than the history of a people. Metaphorically, it portrays the struggle of the human soul on the path back to God.
Through continued disobedience to law, Israel failed and was lost to the world as a nation. A nation is built of a group of individuals. Whatever qualities are essential for individual success, those same ingredients and abilities are necessary for a nation to succeed, too.
Three qualities are keys for success: First, you must know that God is all life. Second, you must know that God is divine love. Third, you must practice the principles of right living.
"God is all life" returns you to the foundation of truth, to the full realization that God is the unchanging principles of all life, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. God is all that is.
Omniscient God is all-knowing and all Wisdom. Omnipotent God is all-powerful, and there is no Power but God. Omnipresent God is everywhere evenly present and available, which means that God is in all, through all and as all. Further, God is the same in one place as He is in another.
Omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence form three streams that create the River of Life as it flows forth from the Godhead to become all that is. The one Mind cannot be divided on this — there is no life or power but the life and Power of God.
All that the Father has is yours to use, the only difference being in how you choose to use it. If you lift your spiritual consciousness to the Source, to that place where you are one with God, you tune into the all-life, all-power, all-knowing and it is then yours to use.
The Light fills your body until it is quickened and renewed in every cell, expressing as health. The Power flows into and through you to express as success in all your understanding. The all-knowing Mind fills your mind with divine Wisdom to solve any problems. Thus, you attain perfect balance in your life. There can be no failure.
God is divine love. The Source radiates that impartial love to all alike. Our Heavenly Father's love for all His children pours forth on us as all good. This is the love that can and will serve as the "leaven" of universal spiritual Breath.
Love is the pure essence of Being that binds together the whole human family. Love is the only power that dissolves opinions, prejudices, pride and intolerance among individuals or groups.
All understanding and justice operate in you as you lift your consciousness to accept God's love. When love fills your heart, you learn to become and express it. Love is the only binding power for good.
Finally, you must practice the principles of right living. God sent His only begotten Son to be the living expression of divine love, to show us the only true way to right living. This love naturally expresses itself as compassion, obedience, integrity, fearlessness, selflessness and humility.
Jesus' compassion was never softness, but perfect understanding of a soul's need and the willingness to help him help himself. He was perfectly obedient to the Father and all laws. His life's keynote was, "I do the will of my Father."
His integrity shows in his declaration of the law, "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." – Matthew 22:21. He stood in uprightness, meting out justice to all.
He showed his fearlessness in commanding the waves to be still. He always spoke the Word, knowing that God's Power is sufficient. Thus, he met each day's challenges unafraid.
He washed his disciples' feet. His humility showed in his teachings that no task is menial when you do everything to the glory of God. No one is too high or too low to serve. Jesus' selflessness shows in his complete sacrifice of self in service. Selfless sacrificial service is the only service acceptable to the Father.
As you develop these attributes within yourself, and really work at them until they become part of you, you become them. All barriers to success give way before you. You shall know what it is to live abundantly.
Hoshea, the name of the last king of Israel, means "to save." He was endowed with the ability to rally the people, to bring them back to God that they might be saved. But the Scripture record says that his faith in God was not strong enough.
Had he recognized God as the Source of all life and Power, and put that Power to work in his own life, he would have developed the qualities of a real leader. Then Israel, even at the last moment, would have survived. You must strive to live rightly, even as the Master did.
Remember that our Father has said, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" – Jeremiah 32:27.
No Power or life exists apart from God. The everlasting arms uphold us always, as we go forth, the conquering sons and daughters of God.
Edna Lister sermon outline; June 1, 1947, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: 2 Kings 18:1-36.
"Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is in the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field. And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my Lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? Have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not." – 2 Kings 18:1-36.
This passage from the Second Book of Kings is a story of outstanding faith and equally exceptional foolishness. Assyria represents the forces of intellect arrayed against the Light-as-Power of Jehovah, as embodied in Hezekiah.
Rabshakeh was Shalmaneser's military spokesman to Hezekiah of Judah, sent to warn and sow fear among the people of Judah. Intellect was attempting to convince Hezekiah that nothing God could do or be could stand against Shalmaneser of Assyria. God, as Judah, could not win.
Today, the fight continues between the intellect and God. Man is still spouting the intellectual faith of "I know" and "I think" against the Power of the faith of God. Ordinary faith in God is still letting intellect see what it believes and to scoff.
The faith of God represents three aspects of Power. First, God's faith is Power as Substance. Second, God's faith is your divine rod of Power, the life of your life. Finally, the faith of God is the highway between intellect and God's Power as Mind.
Faith is the first aspect of Power. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." – Hebrews 11:1. Faith is the evidence of Power, the substance of all things.
Second, faith as your rod of Power operates as though you were threading a sewing machine needle. If the thread breaks in the upper loop, you must string it again until you can thread the needle. You do not weep over the failure.
Faith as your highway to God is a road you create through prayer and speaking the Word. If you do so in fits and starts, your highway looks like sausage links held together by not much. When you use the self of creature soul to tie your links together, someone is always cutting you off — you let their selfishness tie off your links.
People say, "Why, I've had faith all my life." Perhaps you have said this. You must then ask, What kind of faith, lukewarm, constant or inconstant? Is yours the sausage-link variety, an inconsistent faith?
Or is your faith aggressive, positive, dynamic and always powerful? Power wins but opposition weakens until even a weak opposition wins.
A foolish and gullible person tells everything he knows, which is a great weakness. Strong silence gives self a metaphysical scrubbing to remove self's stains.
Faith as the flame of life within you makes you a creator. Faith is the unending, all-enduring golden stream of life, and faith is free. The faith of God is the heart of your heart, the soul of your soul and makes you gloriously victorious.
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Edna Miriam Lister1884 – 1971
The original Christian Pioneering Mystic,
Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.
References
Dowling, Levi H. The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Los Angeles: E.S. Dowling, 1908.
The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 1971.
The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV). Public Domain.
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 3rd ed. Springfield, Massachusetts, G. & C. Merriam Co., 1929.