.." ~ ...c"' ",..\ ; ' r '~ ;;,~~'$,~':!' c--'~ r~ -

.'"".~,: ,:'; CHARLE3 FILLMORE/

J I:. SUN. 11 A. 1,!.

I!' JULY 6" 1919 ..

The lessen for our ccniider~ti0n this nor~in, i. tho Life ~nd W.rk ef the Church.

You dGu,btless tROW there ;ro two church.", the chu.rch Tisib~o ~nd the church invisibl~.

l{elf the church that "TO doziro :.bOT" ~ll to bolont to i. tha,t church inTilible" b$causo

it is elt;.blished in th$ r.esrt 3.Rd the aou.l. It is 8at'#~blis}1_cd in these pern~n~nt.

r."lna 0f ml,n'a boin", those re~lms th~t ~ndur8 from eTerl~stin~ to oYerl',sti~,. ~1&ny

by .pe&F.l~ think th~,t si:1ply joinin~ the church er,~~~iz~tic~ th~y are fulfillin, the l$.W.

1\ ing

But thole who h=.ve de'lv~d deep into th~ Mind ef B"i:.~, bocon~~no with it, knew that

tho church, the r8al church, ia tho church inTisibl$. l~ow we nu5t join this church

inTisible a5 the off&Frin~ of th$ Inri~i te Mind" children of Gsd, beC~tlaO el~ly the 50111

of God Day bo ita rl~J:lbera. Let UJ this 1:1ornin, roco:;l;iz8 thi. Wlenb~r8hip. Let ua .8k

th~ t:re~t universal Spirit th~t it In',y recoiTe U8., m=.ke V.S nembor. cf this church.

New thi. church ha,s ita forJ:la., ita cerer~.nie'" its underlyin: la.w8; and th. firat i. "-

baptilD., ., w~.hin, 5.lf"y ef th~ ihortcf.'1:IliII,a., the Mo-ca.lled .ins ef ED.n. At:\d i~' we

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lfou,ld join thia church we mu&t '.3k th_.t 'I'fe bo b..~tized" a.nd then 8.ffirll th*t lL'1ity with

the ~ro'Jt tmiTera"l church. S. in our Qpenin~ pr..yor let \;.a tlk~ a werd. :tJelT in ~iTin[

you ~~ word I don't 'ak y"u ~o f$llc'W oxl.ctly the ro~, Clf 'Word th"t I ~;i Te" but the~.

8.r~ but.. clus ju,st of the 1T~,y, poiYltin, the Tf3~Y to th~t ~r5--t ":r1iYer~3,1 Word, but thi8

-"frill be th.. iferd th~,t lYe will held in the Silen,ce. "I 8.$k tll~ b~ptiGm of the Holy Spirit

a.nd f1.1.1l neI1berahi~ in tha church of Christ. It "r ~,k the b~'Fti5!1 of tho Roly Spirit a.nd

ru.ll r,~r:b~r&r.ip iR th~ cr.u.rch of Chrigt."

S "'T i;'T.;C i;'.L""-",,, -'"

A 5tudy of tho church 6f Cririst, it. lifc and \'f0rk, i:1 icriethirl' too dee~ ~nd 1Tide

rer a.11 .::,rdir!..ry discec1rae. We cl.n only tou.ch her~ and thsre t'J:,~1t of the hich ~e8.k. tlf

this w~;nderf11.l inati tutiolt. YVca can e1'l.1y c.~ll Y6u~r a. ttention te th. donin5.nt r..ctor$ '"

tha.t enter ir,to tho church. !!evr te betin with, the church i8 b.th Ti.ibl$ a.nd iN.Tiaible.

~ocauae we ~,~ net~phYlic~l 8ff.prin~ of thia church d~oll ..cc'nti?~l.Usly u~~~ tt18

ilaTilible church tha.t p88plG a.rriTo a.t the cf:-mcluiion thlt w. i:;nore th~ viaiblo. New

~ UNiTY SCHOOL OF CHRISTIANITY

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I thl.t ia net tru$. The truth is th~t the hUl1~n rac.'h8.S u~ te tho present tir;,a 8.1Doat

whelly i,ner~d the church inYiaiblo. Th~y haT$ f.rr,~Q an inlti tv.ti&n ~nd D8.rkod ita

stepa of pre~r~~&, it& sxp$.n~i3n, ita ,rowth, by their doctri~ea 8.nd creod5, and horo

ths r;re~t church of Chri~t hl.5 i1$t 1fith Kl'ny liDit..ti~;n8. VIe, d.:j,icerninc .th~ t1nlimitad.

church, the ,r."t inviiJible church, would h~Ye it COIl$ iftt. oxpr~~lion. W. 1fctlld carry~*:t

out th~t $ft roI"eatcd prayer tMt "thy kin,don ccr.. in the 6$.rth aa it is iR he8.T~n.1I

l'{GW the the church inyiaibl. i~ i'n er;-nize..ohurch. It has ita cfficera) it.

ritu.lig~) it has aTerythin~ that tho Tilibls church h~., but it ia ~ re8.1 church.

N~'T ~e ~i~r.t recQunt the hiatory of the Chriati~n church ~nd ,say to you thi. is sTidence

of a Lif~, ~ FQrce, ~N I~telli,ence, ~ Ili~hty Pow~r b8.ck of the church.f -Jea~a Christ)

and wh~t Xlor~ do w~ w~rlt th~. thil inyiaible church that ha. ~cconplish~d a8 D~ny

1f(.;nderful tllil1~1 in th~ life of non? Well tm.t church hl-anlt 3.cbenpli~hed. all that its

F.und~r prephyci~d. It i~ fallin, short in 11=.ny re~l".ct~, ».nd. th-.t church is ~ pro-

,ressiY~ chv.rch. All institutions fer the 8piri tu~l ~j:d tho phyaic..l uplift of Xllln are

Frc,re~~iYe; they ~r.lf. The church of Je;uI Christ, YGU knew) be~..n ;t'ith 8!\G Dan, 8.~d

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.then four men) and then twelve men, and then three thous~,nd w.en, five thousand, and

millions. -V~hy, the growth of' the church of Jesu.s Christ is the most \vonderful thina''=>

in all the h_istory of the race. Kingdoms .h~.ve comej kingdoms r~ve gone. There h9.ve

, been revolutions and counter revolutions. There have been changes.. in every part of

the earth, and yet the church has never changed. Did you e"ler think why th~t w~s?

Why, Vl'i th all trle changes th~- t h~.ve taken place in the last four years the church r,.B.s!1't

changed. It sits calmly on its throne and witnesses ~ll-these phenominal transform~tions

of men, nRtions, races in ever~ w~y, Rnd there is n~ ch~.nge in the church now. The

reason of that is that pri:marily the church-is not an earthly institution. The church

was organized upon a spiritual foundation, although men have tried -in eve~ w~y to m~ke

it ~. temporal organization. They have said the church is founded upon Peter ~nd there.

are successors to Peter~ and only th9se who recognize that succession have the real

church. l\!ow Jesus Christ '~RS a metaph:isici~n. He taught in par~blesj he taught in

symbols) and he taught above all tr,ings ~bout the kingdom of' God. Ti{hen he disc_erned

.if

~ the gre~t spiritu~l truth that 1'.e was the Son of God, then he s~id'lupon this rock

will I build my church." ("upon this rock I will build my church." M~t. 16:18, Am. Rev.)

Now I ex~mined the Scripture in its origin~l Greek, not that I am a Greek schol~r, but

I r.~ve ~ book th~t gives the origin~l Greek ~nd ~ word for word tra~sl~tion of th~t,

~nd here is the tr~nsl~tion of th~t st~tement th~t Jesus Christ m~de to Peter, using

him RS a symbol. I seem to have lost that, but the st~tement was, "thou ~rt"-l~ow

"church" is defined in the Greek, tithe Lord's house,tI and Jesus s~id to Peter, "I s~y

\unto thee th~t thou ~rt Petros which means--rock ~nd upon this petr~,(which is the

Greek for rock) I will build my ekklesi~{Y,hich is tr~n6l~ted 'church'); ~nd the gates

of P~des sh~ll not prev~il ~gainst it." ii1ow we underst~nd that this church invisible,

which Jesus Christ established, is ~ re~l organization, that it is org~nized in vlh~t

might be termed the superior real~ls of the mind. We look at m~n as ~ physic~l ~nd

mental ~nd spiritus.l being. He org~nizes society from the physical viewpoint. He

organizes his mor~ls from the ment~l ~nd,the true 6piritu~1 org~niz~tion ~s they ~re

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est9.blished in Divine Mind, in the Christ Mind. In other words, there is ~ perfect

m~n mind, ~nd this perfect man mind in its org~niz~tion includes every possibility

th~t c~.n come to the mort~l so-c~lled m~n. In other words, we ~re children coming

into the greg.t church of Christ. Now JTOU might call th~t a church, or you cO1J.ld c~ll

it ~ great school, ~ school in which m~n is to le~rn the various dep~rtments of his

being, visible and invisible, bec~use it includes the body. Swedenborg touched upon

this church invisible. "lhen he described the grand m~n of the uni -'lerse'. He said that

there w~s a man who Yl~S ~s lsrge a.s the universe and th~.t the planets, the stars, ~nd .

the sun were but cells in t~t gr~nd m~n' s body. Novr '~e find in the metaphysic~l

liter~.ture it often refers to the cosn-iic man. T~t is expl~ined ~.s the soul m~n.

Then tl1ere is ~nother reference which is used spiri tu~.lly in its highest sense~ ~nd

that is the Christ nl~n, but vlhen th~t name Christ is ~entioned or spoken, -\vhy, we

look b~.ck two thousand ye~rs ~nd think ~lmost univers~lly of Jesus of l~~.zareth, but 11e

but represented in a me~sure this cosmic man, this univers~l m~n,this gr~nd m~n of the

UNITY SCHOOL OF CHRISTIANllYUNITY ARCHIVES

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. r e Now the life of that universal man flows in-and out of the spiritual manunJ.ve s .

in every one of us if we open ourselves to it. Now upon this rock foundation of spiritual-.

understanding or opening of the higher realms of mind is founded the church of Jesu_s Christ.

.Now those higher realms of the mind are in the interior lobes of the brain. This,you

s~e,is getting down to pr~ctical everyd~y affairs, somet!.ing that we c~n comprehend. .;

You lcnow t~-t with every new state of consciou~ness th~"t you .hp.,re you open some n~w lobe

in your brain, ~nd ~S t~t consciousness deepens in you ~nd you begin to feel the thrill

of ~ new life, Y;hy, it is the life of the church coming into yo~1.r very neYVe centers

~nd controlled by ~ scientific l~w, ~ l~v; est~blished fro~. the very found~tion of the

world. l'i!ow ho;( sr~ll Vie underst~nd II'.ore fully this supreme org~nization? How, in other

,\'fords, shall .'le-underst~nd ourselves better, for th~t is the sum tot~l of this unity

with the church of Christ. Vihen you join this chu.rch invisible you become ~ li:fe II':.ember.

And how long is your life? Some people s~y until you die". 1Jo, if you join the church

'~nd become a life member your life is from ~ge to ~ge, from to

In other words, you become immortal. Now th~t is the te~ching of Jesus Christ. Th~t

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will be the ultimate of Q.ll those who join. l~ow it h~s been demonstr~ted by one member.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth bec~me ~ member of the church of Christ, and he is our le~der.

But is he the only le~der? Did he fulfill ~ll of the l~w? V~ny he said not. He s~id

that he must go ~way in order th~t the Holy Spirit might come ~nd lead us into ~ll truth.

N~{ the hi&tory of the church is that, I mean the church visible, that it is foll~~ed by

men and '\7omen who be live in some leader, s orne one who h~.s had ~ reve la ti on, ~.nd knew

concept of wh~t~ W.hy the church invisible.. But th~t is ~ccounted Q. gre~-t discovery, or

_they ],~ve been- m~de s~.ints and their revel~tion has been promised the guide for me, but

this is ~lways limitation. We v{on't despise the revel~tion of any man. We have profited

~ the revel~tion of Je&us of lJ~z~reth, but is that the fulfillment of our destinies ~&

members of his church? No, indeed. We must become member; of the church invisible. Vie

must become members of this rock found~tion, this f~ith in spiritu~_l m~n. Th~t is the

f~ith upon which the church i8 built. Jesus ;aid ~g~-in and ~g~in, "a believe, believe,.

I..,' .ish~ve belJ.eve, only belJ.eve.' Now th~t word"belJ.ef'u i~ the origin~l,.e.t: f~ith, have f~ith,

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th ld k' 1. h f " b 1. f " d " f ' th " : ha.ve fa.ith. You know the mea.n1.ng 1.n e 0 ""ng 1.~ 0 e 1e ~.n a1. i'l'a.i

iynonymous, a.nd in rea.ding this Scripture we have to be c~reful to rea.d in the Spirit

to get Got the rea.l faith spirit, to l-:now that i t i~ the Spirit thl'.t quickenij the fle~h I

profiti nothing. IJow Jeius Christ iaid that this church that he founded on fa.ith, on

that spiritual diicerning fa.ith which, as I .a.y, lies dortnant in the brain lobes of

every one of u~, viaiting our viord to have expression into manifeitation, th~.t fa.ith is I

now become more a.nd more ~ctive in the minds of nen, but there are lav.s under which th~t

fa.ith i~ developed in every one of u. and under v:hich Vie come into a fuller con~ciousne~s

of the church. of tr.e Lord Je~ui Chriit. NO'if he ~~id to Peter, "the g"-tes of hell shall

not prevail ~gainit it." tJowwhAt does th~-t mean? The ga.tes of Ha.dei, that ii the

., " h 11 " " B 11 " ' toriginal. vie give ~ hard rendit1.on to tnat Greek word when we i~y e. e, 1.

;imply means t~_t it~te vihere there ii disorganizationjPr diiruptive forcei of the mind

torerresent hell or ~des, and we kno,... th£i.t you don't have to go"some place to find th~t.

And when Jeius Christ said tMt the gates of ~des should not prevGoil ~g;a.in~t hii church

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he meant tl~t there should be iuch a firm, positive organization of the factorQ of'the

thoughts and i7ordi of the great power th~t entered into the church which he W~i bringing

into expression that thp-t ~nfinite, Omnipresent, perfect Man whiQh was the type of every

ma.n, he me~nt that th~t should come into the consciousness of the memberi -of this church

inviiible until therewoula be no opening of the gates of the mind to tlus outer discord)

tl-Lis R~des, tbis mind revol\.ltion t}~t is const~-ntly going on in the mind of the r~.ce.

Now, t11enJ if you 1vould be ei:t:o.bliihed in the pe~.ce ~nd the pow~r ..nd the rll~stery ~.nd

thethe life v:hich ii in God ~.nd manifest through us ~s/perfect man idea, join the church of

the Lord Jesus Christ. And, having joined that church, be b~.ptized by the Spirit, you

--shall reap the re~rd of tl~t churchj you shall npve everything that is promised by

Jeius Christ to hi& followeri. And J'ou ask, "Why don't v.e have all these things?" "",ilLY

don It ,...e fulfill the la,'."?" "Ask ,..hatsoever ye y,ill in my name '-nd it shall be done."

("Askwh~t&oever yewill, ~nd it sh£i.ll be done unto you,ll Jno. 15:7, P.m. Rev.)

Why? Because ".e ha.ven It opened ourielves t~ ~ll the POS$ib~li t~es ~f this ChU.,:ch in- I

visible. 'Vie are members of two church~i. vfe have therrgan1.z~t10n 1n ~ w~y. ~~e ~

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1 '~f,'the teacheri ~-nd leaderi and our mindi are divided between this church invisible~ the

" -real church~ and this outer org~-nization, Q.nd when we h~.ve the outer organization taken

away entirely, Yes~ as a guiding factor in our li~lei, if you give v[~y to the organization~

if you look toward the teacher or the booki as your guides, why~ you are not-full memberi

of the church of Jeiu; Chri;t. You are but a beginner; you have not laid the rock

foundation of spiritu_al underitanding which JeiU& iaid would be one of 'the tests of his

members. Now Vie would hzve you iO fortified agQ,in;t the inflow, the open gate of this

mort~ I \vorld ~bout you th~t you ',ould stand ste~df~st amid;t the storm; the w~ves of

every ~dverse thought so they wouldn't mow you dO1m if you really Viere a member of the -

church of the Lord Jeius Christ. TrLen, "Thy don't you become ~- rnember? 'l/lel1, you s~,y,

"I ~m trying with ~ll my rJ.egrt, with all my mind~ and v..ith all my strength to be ~

member of tho-Lord Je~us Chrii:t."- If you are trying with ~ll these f~ctors of your

mind ~-nd your soul I ~.ssure you th~-t the Lord ii more ~-nd more giving you the ~scensionthe

of his church. If you go on in thi~ unfoldment of "mind of the Lord Je;u~ Christ in you

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becQ.uie you ~,f).ve tl'U".t Mind you will become ~ full member. lye ~re everyone, if' vie '#.re,

he~.ded right~ for our minds are lool:ing to*ard the mount~ we ~re everyone becoming !

more ~.nd more intensified into that membership into thii spiritu~l church. Now thii i~ 1

wh~-t \'Ie ask ~nd pr~,y for. This shou,ld be Otlr Q.spiration~ our ambi tion~ and -our only ~,,'

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desire tl~t we rt'.~y become more ~nd more fuller member~ of th~,t body of Christ. Every i!,Ione of us have ~ pl~,ce in thQt body of Chri5t, ~nd ~S we unfold our own &ou_1s~ as Y{e

open up tl1_is fourltof Wisdom vrithin Ui~ '.Ire "fill find that it iE li11ked v.rith tht& gre~t '

univer;g.l m~n~ this COSIrJ.ic m~.n~ this Christ m~n~ and th~t is the Lord. Th~t is the Lord

of D~vid '7hich Jeiui of l~~z~reth c~lled ~ttention to. He i,id that the Lord ~~s the Lord

of man' ~ mind ~ and th$,t the Lord exi ;ted before he. Thg. t L~rd W~-i from the beginning~

and that Lord ii in hii temple. You know th~t the church meani God'& body. Th~t i&

wh~t 'the church i~. It isn't a m~-n-m~de temple, but it i~ the body of m~n~ th~t is, the

church of God. Now in&te~d of looking out to some in~titution for your church, look

within~ look within your oy,-n body~ ~nd say, '~ny this ii the temple of the living God."

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I i 13i 'Your body," s~id Paul, "is the temp1~ of the living God.'t("Know ye not th~t your body i;

~temp1e of the Holy Spirit Yj11ich i~ in you., whichye have from God?" 1 CDr. 6:19, 1I.1n. Rev.)

.l~ow your body m~y go thl~ough crucifixion;; it m~y go through the opening of these g~tes

o.f hell if yov. hli'.ve ouffered the inflow, the influx ,of ~ world streg.m# ~ thought ~tre~m

.coming i',~y down, well ~ay, from your ~nce~tors, those that believe in old ~ge and all

tho5e things thlO-t m~.ke the body different .from vmat it is in the ~ight of the Lord Jesus#

the Christ. And how ~hall Vle overcome this? Cloie the gates of hell ag~.inst it; don't

vfhenbelieve in ance.try. Your only ance~try i~ God. Re~.ember th~t~YQU m~ke that ~ffirmation,

and you v,il1 open a new lobe ~omewhere in your brain# in your body. Say to your.e1ve~

ag~in and ~.gain every day, "Thi& body is the temple of the livip.g God, ~.nd I will tre~t

it as God'& temple. I# the sou1# go i.n ~nd out of thi~ temple of God ~nd I wor&hip in

thi& temple a~ I have heretofore wor5~.ipped in theie temples ~de by man." Now you know

th~t you c~.rJ. feel ~s you go into ~. holy p1~.ce where men h~ve &ent forth their thov.ght& of

Spirit you feel ~ peace# you feel ~ spiritu~l qu~lity. C~n't you feel that &~me &piritu~l

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pe~ce.Jth~t same spiritual qu~lity as you go into thi~ re~l temple, thi~ temple of the ~

.living God? Cert~in1y you c~n. And t~t .feeling, th~t gre~t pe~ce ~S we go into the

Silence i~ the beginning of the spiritv.~ll;>~pti~m. It is the fir~t initiation that you

c~n get into your member&hip ,vith thi& great cosmic m~n, this true m~n, th~t m~n who -

flows in ~nd out ~nd ~bout the re~.l member& of the church of Jesus Chri&t, ~nd this life and

thii ...vork of his church iQ going on tod~y ~S it never h~s before. There i~ ~ new inflo", , ~

nev, influx of this ipiritu~l consciou~nesi, ~nd the ppportunitiei now ~re gre~.ter th~n

ever to become rich in ~piritu~l re~lity;%ecome ~ rich member of thi~ church of the.A

Lord Je~ll. Christ. And Yfe ~sk you ~. ~n intelligent people, ~~ ~. thinking people, to

become more ~nd more identified vfith this spiritu~l church, tn~t you m~y re~p the rew~rd

of these promiie~. Tie ~~k you to clo&:e ~11 the g~te., ~ll tho~e open ~venue~ into

your mind th~.t come from the neg~.ti~e $ide of thought ~nd be po~itive in the- &piritu~l

.de~ire, bec~uie 'Vfe .h~ll ~ll be lifted up together if v,e ~re true to Truth, bec~u~e in

,this v,onderfu1 Book t~ught in th~t more wonderful Book, the Spirit in you# the Spirit in

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i ;;!'*jJ~~,' ,and I a.ik you in the n~e of the Lord Jesus Chriat, I -Q.ak 'you in"the n~e of'I "'..~t, -'..

: :Z:t;:cJeaus of Nazareth, who demonatra ted the perfect man, to become members of this church, -,\ "! .-, that you become perfect even aa your Father in heaven is perfect.

BLESSING oF THE OFFERING

The church of the Lord Je&ua Chri&t i& a very rich church. The Lord hold~ in the

'hollow of hi~ hand all the riche& of the world. Now we, a.~ the off~pring of' thi~ rich

church, hold in the hollow-of our ~-nd, _in Spirit and in Truth, -all the riche& of the

universe. We can pa$~ it out throu_gh our word until everybody receive~ it.

Thi$ mu&t come through an appreciation, a realization that the chu.rch and the riche~ of

the church ~re spiritual.

Now we thank the gre~t Giver of all good for thi& underst~nding of the law, ~nd we

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aak that we may put it more and more into expre3aion in our lj.ve;, th~t we may reilize

that thia \'lhich we have £0 freely offered _i~ but a ~ymbol pf that iriviaible Sub~tance

which grmva larger and larger and more ~nd more abunaant as we affirm our unity with it.

We thank thee for thia unitYj we th~nk thee fo~ thia fulnesa. AInen. f-

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UN1TY SCHOOL OF CHR'STlANllY

UNITY ARCHIVES