THE MYSTERIES OF THE FOUR GOSPELS
Lesson Eight. Mark 16.
Unity Interpretation of
The Great Demonstration - Attaining Life in the Body
CHARLES and CORA FILLMORE
November 13, 1941
CHARLES FILLMORE: OPENING SONGS
The subject of our lesson today is "The Great Demonstration: Attaining Eternal Life In The Body." We are going to sing 1-5-5 ... 155 "Eternal Life Is HERE."
1. Eternal Life is here! Sustaining power!
A radiant light to me, a heavenly dower.
Eternal Life is here! O,what wondrous thot!
A mighty truth to me these words have taught.
2. Eternal Life is here! That life is wonderous
My life is cantered in the life of God.
Eternal Life is here. I rest in joy and peace
And as I live in God, all joys increase.
3. Eternal life is here! I've sown this precious seed,
Eternal life is is here! This life is full [unreadable]
And now I feel its power, in word and deed
The dawning light of Truth I clearly see.
Let's all join in the Lord's Prayer: (In unison)......Amen.
CORA FILLMORE: ANNOUNCEMENTS: MEDITATION:
Mrs Frangkiser has something to say. (Mrs.F.: Girl Scouts Cookie sale)
There will be no classes Thursday, November 20, on account of Thanksgiving Day. These classes will be made up at the end of the term, December 18. Other classes close the 12th. Consequently our next class in this auditorium will be two weeks from today. Our subject, as you know, is THE MYSTERIES OF THE FOUR GOSPELS. This is the eighth lesson in the course. Today our lesson is based on Mark — on the 16th Chapter of Mark:14 to 20. In the Bible we read:
16:14And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen. 16:15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16:16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. 16:17And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 16:18they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 16:19So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 16:20And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed.
We will say that the POSITIVE words in this Scripture are: "Them that believed". The negative words in the Scripture are: "Them that disbelieve". And the great objective of this lesson is to teach — to demonstrate — ETERNAL LIFE here and now — that's the great objective.
However, this Scripture reveals that after Jesus was crucified, and after he was risen, as Jesus' disciples sat at meat, he himself appeared before them in what we today would term the astral body. Jesus appeared to them in the astral body. Of course, we know that Jesus was in the astral body forty days after he was risen. In this Scripture we just read, Jesus descended before he took his place at the right hand of the Father. Jesus appeared to them in his astral body.
What is the meaning of the word "astral"? The word means: "Starry; it is the fluid in which the stars float and it is also the fluid in which we are supposed to exist right now." Modern Science would name this the "ether". Some scientists claim there is no ether. And now of course, perhaps this is correct if we look at it from a very high viewpoint: God-Mind is the one and only reality. If God-Mind is the one and only reality, then there is no other. However, the ether does exist as the very first manifestation of mind. The astral body we see is the psychical body, is it not? The astral body is the first manifestation of the spiritual body.
We can say the astral body is the "soul body", and that makes it very clear, because all Unity students — and we are all Unity students in this room — know what the soul is. We all know that the soul is really a complete thought organization of your individual identity. Your soul consists of the organized unit of all the thoughts we have ever allowed to pass through the mind. Your soul consists of the organized unit of all the thoughts you have ever allowed to pass through your mind. My soul consists of the organized unit of all the thoughts I have ever permitted to pass through my mind. To be sure, there has been a great redeeming work done through the power of the Word. But each one has his own thought-body, or astral body, the very first manifestation of this body.
But now what a glorious expression of organized thought-unit the soul of Jesus Christ must have been. Can you imagine? What a glorified thought-body Jesus must have possessed! Through his spiritual achievement, perhaps through that process we may define as alchemy he perfected his soul-consciousness, he wove his thoughts together in a most beautiful way, a most perfect way — wove them together without ever a break, without ever a flaw. He is our Great Example. Surely the radiant body of Jesus which appeared at first to the disciples was full of light, full of brilliance and full of power.
But now we find Jesus upbraided his disciples because of their unbelief! No doubt when they did see him in that glorified body they believed instantly. Then he commanded them: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel." How do we interpret that in our own consciousness? Does it mean that we are to go in every part of soul and body being and "preach" the redeeming spark of the word, to proclaim the truth; that the I Am within us must have hold of the right ideal — is that not true? In order to decree, the I Am must have hold of the right idea. In order to demonstrate, the I Am must have hold of the Life Idea. Life is Principle, is it not, in you and in me, inherent in being? And our I Am must have hold of that idea, of that principle.
We must truly be alive in Christ Jesus in order to glorify him!
Then it said: "These signs shall follow them that believe."
What is a "sign"? Can we say: "A sign is a distinctive mark by which anyone is thinking"? Can we say: "A sign is the fruit of our own thinking"?
What would happen if we had faith in Jesus Christ to do all things — if we had absolute faith? Where would that faith lead us? Would it not lead us into what we name the Fourth Dimensional Realm in which no doubt Jesus' disciples were functioning when they went into the silence with him? When we see ourselves — when we do enter into the kingdom of heaven we see ourselves complete, we see our demonstrations fully made. I think that is one point we should all take into consideration. When we fully penetrate the Fourth Dimension, we see our demonstrations complete; we see ourselves perfect, full of life, eternal; we see ourselves as Jesus Christ sees us.
And then again, when we enter this Fourth Dimension, it arms us with the power of the Word with which we can go forth and demonstrate, and with which to speak with new tongues, with new understanding, through which we can take up serpents — the serpents of sense — and redeem them. With such a consciousness, we can drink any deadly thing, any deadly poison and it will not harm us. We can lay our hands on the sick — sick thoughts in our own consciousness — and they shall recover. All this through the power of the WORD!
I often wonder why the Church doesn't teach the REEDEMING POWER OF THE WORD as Jesus Christ taught it. Why they don't really teach the Jesus Christ gospel. FAITH, we know, is a mighty, living dynamo when set into activity. Do we know this, and do we feel it? That faith itself is a mighty, living dynamo, when we really believe we have hold of the power of the word which demonstrates.
Just as a dynamo generates energy through action, through thinking and speaking, realizing truth, through faith, are our methods of creating energy; and our body temple is the vehicle acted upon by this doubled energy. Through faith, we think life into every function, every organ, every part of soul and body being. Through faith, we realize divine authority, divine illumination, and power, and strength.
Through faith, we resurrect inert dead thoughts within us, thus we do raise the dead, heal the sick, cast out demons. Drinking any deadly poison, it has no effect upon us when we are really in the Christ consciousness.
But now let us consider the very last part of this Scripture: "So the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God."
You know this has a deep metaphysical meaning, a deep metaphysical significance, doesn't it? Jesus demonstrated eternal life. And he could have continued to live right here among us in his redeemed body. But he preferred to return unto the Father — and why? Because by doing so, he more directly connected us with this great Source that in the beginning gave us being. And thus, through that wonderful demonstration of Jesus Christ, he bridged over a great gulf for us.
Of course, we know he sits at the right hand of God, and that he is our Elder Brother, he is our teacher, he is our helper; right in this class now, he is working to lead us into the Fourth Dimensional Realm where we see ourselves perfect; where we see all our demonstrations complete; where we see ourselves filled to overflowing with eternal life right here and now. And now can we, right now, enter into that consciousness?
Have we the ability, through faith, to penetrate into the Fourth Dimensional Realm into the Kingdom of the heavens; see ourselves as God sees us, spritual beings full of life eternal, armed with the power of the word, armed with the ability to raise the dead, to cast out demons, to redeem, to really do the works of Jesus Christ? With one accord, right now, let us realize we are penetrating into the Kingdom of the Heavens, the Fourth Dimensional Realm where Jesus expands in all his glory, where right now he is aiding us, each soul in this room, to enter more fully into perfection.
Hold the thought: "I HAVE FAITH IN GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST." Together please:(repeat) Now we are realizing this mighty faith is leading us into the Kingdom of the Heavens.
"I HAVE FAITH IN GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST TO MAKE ALIVE AND TO MAKE PERFECT SOUL AND BODY BEING."
Together (repeat). Let each soul here see itself perfect, clothed in a spiritual body, filled to overflowing with life eternal. Let's each one see ourselves healed, glorified, wholly redeemed. Amen.
LESSON: CHARLES FILLMORE:
The understanding of Jesus Christ is that of a realization of life and the ability of man to demonstrate life beyond and far above all other men of this race, and he gave to us a great Example of what man could do in overcoming death, the last enemy. We do not have to go into details of life and what it should be when he idealized it. We know full well we all want to continue to live and we abhor death. That's evidence enough that death doesn't belong to the creative mind of Being and was never intended as our inheritance. But we as a race, have brought it upon ourselves through the lack of understanding of the power of thought.
Now Jesus gave us not only instructions, but demonstrations. The lesson today is one of the most vital I think in the Bible in confirmation of his teachings. And there he tried in various ways to impress upon his followers — and we are his followers — to believe the doctrine he taught, and impressed upen them it was possible to raise the body, fill it so full of life it would overcome death; and he allowed himself to be crucified for that very purpose. And that these various experiences after his crucifixion in that same body, illustrate and demonstrate it is possible for man to overcome and rise above all this negative element that enters into the body. And we are told in the Scriptures, and the Scriptures always recite about his resurrection, that he first appeared to Mary Magdalene. And you all remember she saw him walking in the garden. She didn't know him. She thought he was the gardener. He spoke to her, then she recognized him.
Now it must be he was in the manifest, but not just exactly. She expected to go into the tomb and find a corpse. Instead of that, here was a man walking in the garden; and she ran away to tell the disciples, and they didn't believe, but they came running. And then we have these various appearances. He appeared to the Twelve. Paul says he appeared to him. He also appeared to five hundred at one time. Then we read again of this appearance to the Twelve when they were at meat. That is, they were eating a meal.
And here was the Great Command also. This Great Command was something that the followers of Jesus Christ could follow because it was a test of their faith in the following of him in this regeneration of the body so we shall measure up to eternal life.
He said unto them: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel" to — the whole creation — that means not only to preach it, to men and women, but nature itself — the whole creation shall be taught, and be thought about as being filled with this eternal life. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and they that disbelieve shall be condemned." And here we know how our faith is, and yet must exercise faith and build up faith.
"These signs shall come to them that believe. "In my name they shall cast out demons, speak new tongues, take up serpents, drink any deadly thing — that is, if they should drink any deadly thing — it shall in no wise hurt them; and they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. So the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord Jesus working with them, and confirming the word with signs that follow."
We wondered, after Jesus was received up into heaven, how he could continue to work with the disciples in their demonstrations, and confirmed by the signs following. Now we can see that this "heaven" is something omnipresent. Jesus was lifted up into heaven.
Again we read in the 24th chapter of Luke:
24:36And as they spake these things, he himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 24:37But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they beheld a spirit. 24:38And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and wherefore do questionings arise in your heart? 24:39See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having. 24:40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 24:41And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here anything to eat? 24:42And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish. 24:43And he took it, and ate before them. (Luke 24)
And again, you remember, he appeared to them and said to Thomas:
20:27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 20:28Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. (John 20:27-28)
We have these numerous attestations of the appearances of Jesus Christ in the physical body and we wonder what the difference was between that body and ours. The difference was that Jesus had, through the thirty-three years of his existence, been lifting up his physical body and making the realization it was one with this thought-body or this psychical body. There was only a separation in consciousness. We are told man was put out of his body because he was listening to sensation.
Now this separation between mind and body then again appears to belong to us, and we have not cultivated and we have not lifted ourselves out of it and made the unity of the Spirit with the cells, the Spiritual consciousness with the thought consciousness, the psychical, the astral, and made a unit with the cells of the body.
The fact is, we are filled with life, but we don't recognize it. The scientists are beginning to notice and are beginning to tell us about this "omnipresent life", And Professor Milliken says: "The atom has revealed it has resources and faculties so varied and so experienced that science has concluded that it is mind rather than the old mechanical matter."
Now that's a representative of science on universal relations. We can see that we must recognize that this body of ours is not a material thing, but it is mind. We are told everything comes from this one Mind and enters into that mind. You can feel the new activity of whatever our idea is. If we think about the going of Jesus into the heavens, always that has been taught, until we think of it as "sitting at the right hand of God" in a "far-away somewhere". The fact is, the absolute Truth isn't an "up" or a "down". Then it may be the meaning of this comment of Jesus is: There is no absolute "up" or "down". When we speak of the Ascension of Christ therefore, we don't mean he went up and up and up ... do we mean that, until he arrived no-one-knows-where? NO. We mean he withdrew his visible, local, tangible presence from the eyes of men. He went into the unseen world of Spiritual forces which are everywhere and forever effective. .... That's pretty good business, and is being accepted now by orthodox people about Jesus ascending into the heavens.
With us who are, we might say, beginners, we are all beginning to realize this wonderful power of the Spirit, this wonderful power of the Mind. Dr. Carol tells us that he has witnessed many cases of drops of blood (at work) so that the drops of blood might have (room) in which to flow. (Voice came indistinctly on these comments: reporter's note.) There we have an illustration through physical science.
We knew that there are mind forces in us that build the organism necessary.
Some of us say: "I have lost one of my fingers" or "I lost some of my internal organs. I had some operation and lost my appendix, and it isn't possible for God to build another." IT CERTAINLY IS. It surely IS possible for this God of the body. GOD IS the One Who builds whatever is necessary.
I know that is true in my own case because I am having rebuilt nerve tissues and muscles that the doctors said had absolutely decayed. Those are being rebuilt, and I have witnessed them in myself!!!
Now if that is true, this must be true in a larger way: We are in the Presence of, we might say, opposing forces. We think that there are, well, conditions that prevent our attaining this eternal Life. We think, "O well, the old way is the good way." Now don't let these negative forces come into your consciousness. Cast them out. CAST THEM OUT! Don't let your imagination, for example, run away from you. How easy it is to imagine things! IMAGINE THINGS ... that are going to happen!! How much time we spend in worry or fear that something is going to happen in the future to our friends or ourselves! I Don't give up to that thought.
Remember the testimony of the old man I have told you so often about? He said he was an old man; had lived a long time and seen a lot of trouble ... which had NEVER COME TO PASS! (Laughter) That's the way we are. We build up with this idea of something coming true. Don't let those thoughts come into our minds at all. They retard this development of the new man. You ARE really building the NEW MAN of perfection, or unity. What we are doing in the Regeneration following Jesus Christ, is unifying the mind-body with the substance-body; in other words, the flesh, "this corruption shall put on incorruption", this mortal shall put on immortality.
Jesus Christ demonstrated by his works that he had that SAME body. "I HAVE MY LIFE. ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE!" and I proclaim that until I FEEL this Life unified, until I feel new blood cells unify. The blood itself is infused with intelligence. Cooperate with that intelligence. Tell it "don't have a divided mind". So many of us have this divided mind. A divided mind won't get you anywhere.
It is like Dogwood (Laughter: A character in the morning paper comic strip: Times: Reporter's note). Dogwood's wife wouldn't let him kiss her in the kitchen any longer because she caught him peeking over her shoulder at the vittles on the stove. (Applause). That's an illustration of how we should be concentrating, unifying ourselves with this Mind, and this mind of flesh and the mind of body must be unified.
"THERE IS ONLY ONE LIFE. I AM FILLED WITH THAT ONE LIFE. I AM LIFTED UP". As you lift up the "I" remember Jesus said, "I, if I be lifted up shall draw all unto me." Concentrate your "I" upon Spiritual Life, Eternal Life; ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE. "ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE." I say that many times a day: "ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE." It isn't way off ever there in the heavens. It is HERE.
Jesus Christ ascended into the heavens to demonstrate for us and to us that we may LAY HOLD of GOD-LIFE and USE it in our life. THINK ABOUT this wondrous health of the Lord Jesus Christ FILLING you FULL of ETERNAL LIFE.
Father, we thank Thee.
CORA FILLMORE: Offertory:
Now we will have our offering. We cannot receive unless we give. We cannot give unless we receive. Here is an omnipresent law of GIVING AND RECEIVING. As we take our offering in our hands, we will bless it in the usual way. Together, please: DIVINE LOVE THROUGH ME BLESSES AND MULTIPLIES THIS OFFERING. (Three times) Blessing: Father, we thank Thee for the outpouring of Thy substance and we know that giver and receiver are blessed.
HEALING POOL
CHARLES: Now we are going into this consciousness that Eternal Life is the healing agent. It is right here. ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE. Doctors tell us no one is ever separated from his body until he gives up. You can, right in the midst of the most distressing prophesies of how things should turn out, DECLARE that
ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE.
That mind and that body are UNIFIED in life. Say that, any time or anywhere for yourself and for others to intensify and increase LIFE. We all NEED MORE LIFE. ... The CONSCIOUSNESS OF LIFE. What did Jesus Christ say: "If you abide in me and my word shall abide in you, you shall never see death." STRONG words. What conditions did he meet!! "I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE" All those words he spoke about life were included in this: IF YE ABIDE IN ME AND MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, YOU SHALL NEVER SEE DEATH. You don't believe in death. Life is here now giving us a body that doesn't die and go through the crucifixion of separation.
The let us in our Unity work today hold for the Presence and Power of ETERNAL LIFE. Jesus Christ is HERE ... never departed from us. "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall never see death." Believe that. Abide in that. As taught in Unity, let us take it as our key-note: ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE. That's all that's necessary! (A ripple of light laughter) Think about it. Let's all join in that thought. Speak that word aloud: ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE. Realize it silently. Again:(repeat) Aloud. Silently. Again (repeat) Silently. Now we are building up the LIFE CONSCIOUSNESS. LIFE is responding to our work — speaking the word of Jesus Christ: "I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE"; speaking in his presence; speaking in his power. "ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE." Speak that for yourself. Fill yourself with this Eternal Life, full of quickening Life; healing, quickening, restoring ETERNAL LIFE. Here it; speak it for yourself. Speak it from within: ETERNAL LIFE IS IN ME. Now for the names that have been handed in.
CORA: Please join in.
CHARLES (Interrupting): Speak it now:
ETERNAL LIFE IS IN YOU. ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE. ETERNAL LIFE IS EVERYWHERE!
This eternal life as manifested in Jesus Christ; this eternal life as manifest in me. We have asked for healing: Eternal Life is manifested ... in you — everyone of us. Speak that word aloud now for all these names that have been read: Speak it aloud:(repeat) Silently. You are charged with Eternal Life. New if you have friends, relatives, anybody anywhere that want health and eternal life, speak their names silently. Speak the word LIFE for them: ETERNAL LIFE IS MANIFEST IN YOU.
CORA: We have requests for prosperity, freedom, overcoming various conditions. Please for a moment speak the healing word for these loved ones, for abundance, for illumination for freedom.
CHARLES: ASK WHATEVER YE WILL IN MY NAME AND IT SHALL BE DONE. Speak in the name of Jesus Christ and asking Jesus Christ will fulfill the law in everyone. Every need shall be supplied. We are all going forth with that thought of ETERNAL LIFE IN ME IS REGENERATING MY HEALTH AND LIFTING UP THE BODY. Let's rise please.
BENEDICTION. Let part of your thought every day be upon: THIS ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE, in the name of Jesus Christ: (Repeat) Hold that for a while. ETERNAL LIFE IS HERE, IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST ... Speak it aloud: (Repeat in unison). Silently. Amen.
Transcribed by Mark Hicks on August 21, 2016.
