The Priest, the Sixth Degree of Resurrection

A priest is a "man who officiates in sacred offices. In primitive ages, the fathers of families, princes and kings were priests. Thus Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Melchizedek, Job, Isaac and Jacob offered their own sacrifices. In the days of Moses, the office of priest was restricted to the tribe of Levi, and the priesthood consisted of three orders, the high priest the priests, and the Levites, and the office was made hereditary in the family of Aaron. In the modern church, priest is a person who is set apart or consecrated to the ministry of the gospel; a man in orders or licensed to preach the gospel; a presbyter. In its most general sense, the word includes archbishops, bishops, patriarchs, and all subordinate orders of the clergy, duly approved and licensed according to the forms and rules of each respective denomination of Christians; as all these orders ’are ordained for men in things pertaining to God.’ In the United States, the word denotes any licensed minister of the gospel."—Noah Webster


“Every priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.”—Hebrews 5:1.


The term "priest" symbolizes service to God while on earth, and applies to both men and women. A priest is "a person having the authority to perform and administer religious rites, especially sacrificial rites." The Priest’s vow is "I vow to remain pure in heart, mind, and soul." The initiation is Resurrection, and the Priest’s key word is becoming. The Priestly faculty is that of will. The Priest works under the law of becoming (transmutation or sublimation) all the law he has learned. The Priest’s is the "lonely path" because you walk it alone as you string your lost pearls of wisdom, separate wheat from chaff, and keep only the good.

The corresponding Buddhist path is right conduct, which is balance and equilibrium. One reaches equanimity and becomes a teacher and protector when one leaves the pendulum of self and stands on the hub of the wheel of fate on one’s platform of destiny. The sixth great power of being is becoming invisible, to clothe yourself in supreme Light to become invisible to darkness. So called lost articles vanish when you are irritated, upset or blame another when they disappear. You cannot blame and invoke supreme Light. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.—Isaiah 30:15. You make things visible in the golden silence of your soul under the law of becoming.

The hallmarks of the Priest Degree are devoted surrender and service to God through dedicated service to your fellow man. Having climbed high enough in soul ascension to stand in the abyss to becoming, with one foot in heaven and the other still on earth, you part the veils of illusion for others to see the supernal Light from above. Glimpses of Light are forever the divine enticement to souls. Having dwelt in this Light for increasingly lengthy periods, the Priest ardently desires to share this illumination with all others. As a Master, the priest has already learned to dare, to do, and to remain silent about it. Therefore, the surrendered Priest "lets" his/her service speak all the words of the message.


“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer
went up to You, into Your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols
forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed.”—Jonah 2:7-9.


The Priest pays his vows: You pay your vows through service and by conquering self. You pay your vows every time you do what you have said you will do. You pay your vows when you love even one iota more than you did yesterday. You will really pay your vows when everything you feel, think, do and say is from the heart out, not just from the teeth out. You will really pay your vows when everything you hold in your heart is of the Light only.






Edna Lister on the Priest Degree

The Priest is untouched, protected, uncontaminated and surrounded by walls of silence. Drawn out of the world, he dwells at the storm’s center in the quiet sanctuary of the golden silence.

Peace is harmony with God, man, and within your own being. To be a peacemaker is to make peace, to create after a pattern for some original. Peace is an aspect of the original good. A peacemaker is a pacemaker. Pacemakers seldom receive outer credit, but the inner rewards are riches, honor, life. Peace crowns you with life, glory and honor.

The seventh attitude of the Priest is, Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.—Matthew 5:9. Seven is the priestly number. A priest is set apart, protected, uncontaminated, has conquered and attained mastery of self in the world. He ascends to live, teach and work in the "temple not made with hands," untouchable, with no selfishness. He no longer sees, hears or talks darkness, but always thinks and acknowledges the power of Light.

A Priest becomes a sanctuary to the world, and nothing can disturb their peace. He sees, hears, and speaks no ill, for he has become centered at the heart of being, the Godhead.

The individual heart of personality, the heart of the solar plexus, which is personal desire, must become intentional. The peacemaker reaches the place of becoming a priest, sees clearly that he must master peace, be untouchable, but not draw his robe aside. He can walk through mud, for it will not stick. A priest must accept anything that comes as his responsibility. Since he has the all-seeing eye, nothing can be hidden from him who has earned to right to know.


A peacemaker is a peace creator, one who can lift anything that comes to the heart of God and creates peace. He can make peace, no matter the original intention. A peacemaker is a pacesetter for the world. Creators come in two kinds, those who create after old formulas, and those who originate new formulas.—Edna Lister, The Beatitudes, January 19, 1935.


Celibacy is not drawing aside so that nothing in the world rubs off on you. Nothing can contaminate the soul unless you will and desire it to do so. The Holy Breath animating the soul will consume that which is unlike God when yu declare it to do so. Celibacy means purity, being as pure as a white Madonna lily, which will grow beautifully even in a barnyard. It converts everything near it into purity. Purity is in all, but not of the world. You may meet, mate, marry, and create from the high place of the Christ consciousness. Your task is to purify your approach to friendship, companionship, love. You may not demand that the other fellow be a Priest. A Priest never interferes, but receives confession and absolves, "Go and sin no more." Priests agree with God that all things are good and adjust to all in absolutely selfless expression. As the selfless servant of all the Power, you accept the divine will as your will.—Edna Lister, The Twentieth Degree, September 28, 1935.


The Priest’s duty is to teach that there are constant lessons in life. The Priest kneels only to God. He appeals to God to strengthen him in rectitude of intention, and to enable him to keep his vows, rightly. He no longer bows to man as his superior and would walk on his knees to God, if necessary. God gave man a head, to be erect, upright and majestic, a place to go, a place to receive.—Edna Lister, The Twentieth Degree, September 28, 1935.


The seventh path of the Priest is the lonely path of bridging the abyss from the self’s fate to the soul’s destiny. The Priest perfects his ability to think, but is also called the lonely one, for he must retreat into the golden silence. As a Priest, you perfect your ability to think retrospectively, to apply your experiences to today’s problems and challenges. You must achieve balance through agreeing and adjusting to life, work, family, friends and experiences. This path requires a minimum of twenty-one years to complete the experience in the invisible world when living on earth.—Edna Lister, The Divine Scale of Twelve: The Twelve Tribes of Israel, April 30, 1936.


Under the Priest Degree, your soul awakens to "the Awareness" of the Kingdom of God. Symbolically, this symbolizes the Resurrection of your soul’s God consciousness.—Edna Lister, Illumination and Realization, September 25, 1937.


Seven is the number of the soul’s destiny, the priestly number of tolerance and temperance. You must practice purity of heart, mind and purpose to reach the Priest’s ideal, its goal—God, and right use of His Power (righteousness).—Edna Lister, The Soul’s Numbers, January 11, 1938.


The Priest vows, "to remain pure in heart, mind and purpose."—Edna Lister, Vows, January 7, 1940.


Who makes a good steward in God’s house? One who is alert and ever watchful over the Father’s business. Who makes a good servant of God? One who fulfills all obligations under the command of service. Who makes a good student in any class? One who is attentive to the teachings and in harmony with the Master. Who makes the greatest gains? One who offers the greatest selfless, sacrificial service.—Edna Lister, Unpublished Papers, February 29, 1940.


Prove yourself to be the Priest who stands and sees only the perfection in the Light. Hold to that point of consciousness. That is the art, to hold it.—Edna Lister, Unpublished Papers, December 11, 1940.


Priestly vows are to protect all others, forgetting self in such service, to cover their transgressions while loving them as souls born of God, not seeing them as sons of men. You forget your own past dislikes, hates, delays, lukewarmness, and forgive your own transgressions while pressing on, to that state of grace in perfection.—Edna Lister, February 22, 1944.


Stop being a spectator in life and act as the Priest, responsible and trustworthy in every way.—Edna Lister, November 2, 1944.


The Priest’s goal is ascension through soul conquering. As a Priest, God charges that you stand on law.—Edna Lister, November 17, 1944.


Seven Degrees to transformation progress from self awareness to soul consciousness: The first three degrees, the Neophyte, Disciple, and Adept all practice varying degrees of self-control. The Mystic stands at the center point of balance, the fulcrum between self and soul. As a Mystic, you commune directly with God, needing no other intervening agency, creed or dogma. The final three degrees, the Master, Priest and Christos all deal with soul conquering through absolute responsibility, service and surrender of the self to the soul. You work on all seven degrees always.—Edna Lister, April 13, 1945.


The Christos, Priest and Master Degrees are responsible for maintaining the altar and its integrity. To do this, you must practice stringent personal integrity. You stand alone now, under the Priest’s full vows, in hooded anonymous silence. Be cautious of what you repeat to another. Always stop, look up in consciousness and wait. You always feel a hand of Light over your mouth, if you are to remain silent. You are free to speak about law, but not your personal experiences, which may recreate the already-conquered past.—Edna Lister, August 2, 1945.


The Priest is the lonely one, the protector, the shepherd of the flock. Through greater released power, you achieve freedom from personality to unify your life into the Priest Degree. The Priest reaches a high point, then looks back, never wanting to err again. The Priest is the only degree in which you may look backward legally in review, but with no recreation.—Edna Lister, September 10, 1946.


"The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.—Psalm 110:4. For He testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."—Hebrews 7:17. The responsibilities of the Priest include this sacred vow: I lift my brother. I believe in the hereafter. My spirit, substance and soul are consecrated to God. I live all Thy commandments. I have forgiven all men. I have begged forgiveness of my soul. I have led the weary up the hill. I have borne all life from earth to eternity. I have passed the crossroads. I have dried the tears of the sorrowful. I have offered the cup of cold water, which is spirit and Light, to the thirsty. I have brought little children unto God. I have restored the faith in others. I have held out the Light to the world. God be with them and have mercy on me, Your overindulged child of earth. Here is my heart. Here is my mind. Here is my soul. Once more, I surrender my all to become the servant of all Power.—Edna Lister, September 10, 1946.


The figure-eight treatment: Pray first — your prayers should always be a love message to your Father. The figure-eight is a combination of the magnetic currents of earth arising through the feet, and the etheric currents flowing down from above to meet at the solar plexus center. These currents form two spheres of Light, an energy circuit that flows throughout the body and appears as a figure-eight. Think this figure-eight treatment before zipping yourself in Light. Afterward say,

"In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, let my body be a living oblation and sacrifice before the altar. I declare that every force in my body that I have misused is completely sublimated by lifting the creative fire. I declare a sublimation in which there is no darkness. I declare that my body will be completely renewed and all centers revitalized. I am the high priest/priestess of my temple. Depart from me all ye forces which seek to disturb the harmony of my life. I drop a curtain of Light between me and thee. In the name of love, it is finished."


Lifting the creative fire burns away the silver cord, which coils back into the soul records witin the brain’s neurons.—Edna Lister, July 30, 1948.


Seven is the number of sacrifice, or the number of the Priest, that is, the priestly number. A Priest is no good to God unless he gives up self at all hours. Everyone is a priest in his own right. The number twenty-seven symbolizes a Priest (7) who is agreeing and adjusting (2).—Edna Lister, Three Steps to Healing, April 12, 1950.


The Seven Degrees of Ascension, on which you are climbing, include the Neophyte, Disciple, Adept, Mystic, Master, Priest and Christos. You can enter the major Seven Degrees only through seven lesser degrees under each. An illiterate Neophyte can be living a Christos life. Thus, you pass through 49 Degrees from Neophyte to reach Christos, just as earning a doctorate requires having passed all the lesser courses of study. Events happen to you with no apparent rhyme or reason when you are taking the final three Christos Degrees, which include the Ten Commandments on the emotional, mental and spiritual levels. Desire for perfection takes you through the final degrees. The minute it comes hard, remember the law of correspondence, “As above, so below.” You cannot return home until you have learned your lessons. You receive credit on your report card for the good you have done. Initiation is right where you are now. The tragedy is that not everyone accepts that the kingdom of heaven is open to all believers, not just a select few.—Edna Lister, June 14, 1951.


The priest faces his people as a line of protection, with his back to the Light, the altar. He draws the people toward him and to the Light in which he stands.—Edna Lister, June 11, 1951.


We call the Priest the "lonely one," the thinker. Here, no longer do you merely fulfill your duties, but regard every action as a phase of service. After having lived up to your best, you vow to pay your vows and usually reach the burning sands of the desert. Many turn back here, yet all must cross, eventually. You receive credit in every initiation, but not when you grumble and cry to others. You come through burning sands while sheltering beneath the o’ershadoing wings, held in the everlasting arms.—Edna Lister, The Be-Attitudes, June 12, 1951.


There are certain places where no evil may exist, the altar in a house of worship, for example. If individuals insist on making them evil, they will fall because of the low vibration. When priests of a temple use the devotional substance of their people to gain more power, the pillars of the temple will fall, because they pull them down. We establish lines of Light to all places of subversive manifestation and focus Light on wrong uses, and wherever it is needed.—Edna Lister, September 14, 1952.


You can speak the Word and have a miracle only when you act as the Priest. Then man’s "impossible" becomes God’s "possible."—Edna Lister, Two Miracles of Increase, March 11, 1956.


A Priest speaks the Word for miracles in three stages. First, you seek, search and find the Power to act, to do for you and through you. Second, you step onto the newly opened path and reach up in stature to grasp this Power. Finally, you receive the reward in growth of consciousness and expansion of your horizons, which leads to increased extended vision to see around corners.—Edna Lister, Two Miracles of Increase, March 11, 1956.


When you fail to live the vows of a Priest, you must earn all lesser degrees again. The Priest holds spiritually to his original vision of service, offering prayers for others, and living within the framework of a spiritual life for Christ.—Edna Lister, April 14, 1956.


To be a Priest, you must hold your highest point of poise and surrender as you walk through the outer pressures of life. Only then can the Light move in and possess you. Outer pressures are everything through which you walk. Unless you surrender self, you constantly push 14.7 pounds of pressure per square inch. You must become as light as Light itself. This is ascension. This is what you must become.—Edna Lister, September 5, 1957.


The Priest serves God by ministering to the world, seeing all as good through the mystic eye at the brow center. As a Priest, you are responsible for the full Resurrection of soul from self.—Edna Lister, Conquering Space, October 15, 1957.


The Degrees of Priest and Christos are only spoken of by mystics, not by initiates of the lesser degrees, who know nothing about them. The sign of a true mediator is that she is fully aware of and conversant with the initiations of Resurrection and Ascension.—Edna Lister, May 8, 1958.


You must gestate your soul life constantly, then you become the Priest, and tie your earth to heaven. You may pray alone but you will not have the same quick action as when you pray with a group.—Edna Lister, June 12, 1958.


A Priest is a spiritual mediator. To be so, you must give up idle words and cleanse your subconscious. Never claim "I have learned that," or law will challenge you immediately.—Edna Lister, A Charted Heaven, October 21, 1958.


The Priest Degree is associated with the seventh Commandment and Beatitude: "Thou shalt not commit adultery."—Exodus 20:14. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."—Matthew 5:9.


You adulterate Mind, Substance and Power by separating them through force. You defile your creative faculties with idle words, negative thinking, wild imagination and wrong desires such as revenge, resentment, hatred or jealousy. You adulterate your vibration when you say, "I am tired." Light moves on a joy vibration only. Any adulteration of Light misuses substance. Since you exhale while speaking negatively, the misused breath returns to you a hundredfold. If you adulterate even one law, another may catch you, stumbling. For instance, you may do everything right for a month, yet if you miss one point, to family it is as though you had never done anything right. You adulterate your relationship with God by making demands of the Light, not using "let" as your open sesame. When you live by creature soul urges, you close the door to rational soul and Oversoul. To be the perfect Priest means living a pure life without adulterating soul or the principles of Mind, Substance or Power. The Priest reviews the past to garner all wisdom from experience and goes forward always. He stands, worships God and lets the Power move through under the principle of nonresistance.—Edna Lister, Ten Commandments and Beatitudes, November 4, 1958.


The Priest gathers all good from experience, then forges ahead. The brow center of the mystic eye rules soul seeing. You must learn from the experience to be able to see what you must do next. The Priest vows to remain pure in heart, mind and purpose. The initiation is to stand fast in the hour of temptation. Love is the only ingredient that makes you strong enough to hold onto your crown.—Edna Lister, Ten Plagues on Egypt, December 2, 1958.


The Priest acts as a creator, creating harmony, balance and equilibrium through the action of agreement and adjustment. In his practice of Resurrection, the Priest rises into the Light and transforms his cross into a ladder of Ascension. Personal desire and will become Love and Wisdom, which is the second marriage of the Lamb. The Priest learns to live by soul conquering, the sixth law of expression, to practice full surrender of all self and to live by the soul. The Priest Degree rules the brow center and the first to eighth cranial nerves, which innervate eyes, nose, ears, mouth, teeth and face (note the relation to the physical senses). The Priest Degree also rules the pituitary, called the master gland because it controls the function of many other glands. The brow center is the mystical "third eye," and it can cause fascination with color, tone and number. Here you attain consecrated service as a Priest.—Edna Lister, The Pioneering Mystic, May 5, 1959.


You invoke the fire of Spirit as Light to fill your Oversoul star under the consecrated vibration of the Priest Degree. As the Oversoul’s "seat of thinking," the star rests just above the head. Its Light shines through three windows of the soul, which are open to the yellow, blue and red rays. The rays recombine to form the white Light of the Christ that strikes the optic chiasm of the thalamus and enters the pineal and pituitary. Light then descends the spine to different parts of the body as healing rays. This is how you open the three windows of the soul to New Jerusalem.—Edna Lister, Transfiguration, Resurrection and Ascension, May 19, 1959.


Every time you conquer even a small point, you gain credits for a degree ahead, a little at a time. Credit is the source of your strength. For instance, the Priest’s work degrees begin with opening the windows of the soul at the brow center and end with entering the Oversoul star. From here you are supposed to use your faculties to thinking. You finish the Priest Degree there.—Edna Lister, The Kabbalistic Four Worlds, May 26, 1959.


The Priest works under the law of becoming (transmutation or sublimation) all the law he has learned. The Priest’s is the "lonely path" because you walk it alone as you string your lost pearls of wisdom, separate wheat from chaff and keep only the good. Resurrection is the Mystic Brotherhood initiation. You must resurrect the emotional life of love, and the mental life of wisdom. To do this, apply a just appraisal in three steps: Surrender, praise and lifting. You surrender self under the laws of forgiveness. Praise all previous good. You lift all to the Father, knowing that He does the work. As you resurrect yourself from old ways of thinking and emotions, you move into eternal life as the principles of Wisdom and Love. Balance, equilibrium and equanimity come from standing on the hub of the wheel. You become a teacher and protector when you leave the pendulum of self and stand on the hub of the wheel. The sixth great power of being is becoming invisible, to clothe yourself in supreme Light to become invisible to darkness. So called lost articles vanish when you are irritated, upset or blame another when they disappear. You cannot blame and invoke supreme Light. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.—Isaiah 30:15. You make things visible in the golden silence of your soul under the law of becoming.—Edna Lister, Eight Great Powers of Being, June 23, 1959.


The Buddhist path contains the six attributes of the Priest: First, face life without running from self or others. Second, bridle the tongue, the will and imagination. Third, synthesize the five senses into apperception. Fourth, seek full use of your mystic eyes and ears. Fifth, translate life’s experiences into soul ascension. Sixth, balance love and wisdom, expressing in the world as compassion.—Edna Lister, Eight Great Powers of Being, June 23, 1959.

A Priest, living by the laws of character, must be masterful. Resurrection, the Priest’s initiation, is the union of personal I am with God’s universal I AM that gives your Christed crowning. "I AM loves you" invokes the full Power of God.—Edna Lister, Is it Right to Ask for Myself, June 14, 1960.


The Priest surrenders self and overcomes all sense of martyrdom and self-pity, and accepts even unjust blame. You act protectively toward your "flock," and offer God exalted prayer for all those who are on your lines of light.—Edna Lister, Heaven: A Place to Fill, April 10, 1962.


The Priest faces the three temptations on the misuse of Mind, Power and Substance on the physical, emotional and mental levels. You begin a postgraduate course in conquering to overcome completely, not just a little bit here and there. How quickly you stop ascending when you allow unpleasant surprise or pain to upset your high vibration of burning desire. Slipping is so easy when you let pain, hurts or fears occupy your consciousness. The Priest is regularly initiated on sentimentality, which earns a kick in the teeth. Sloppy sentimentality differs from firm, brisk love. You1 cannot travel with grief either, but must rise above it. You may not taint your faculty of thinking with wayward imagination that causes it to slide into selfish thinking and emotionalism. The great lesson for the Priest is to conquer by comprehension, which makes God’s substance available for your every need. "This is good!" is the Priest’s decree.—Edna Lister, Heaven: A Place to Fill, April 10, 1962.


Instant obedience is the greatest virtue we have ever had on earth. When you establish your identity with God, you wear the Breastplate of the High Priest. The higher and farther you go, the greater the blows of jealousy of the masses to tear you apart. All they can see is a place or ability they covet.—Edna Lister, December 3, 1962.


Age thirty-five to forty-two is the life stage of the Priest. This is the creative cycle in which you reach fulfillment. Ideally, the glands and plexus centers open and begin to function at age thirty-five. The rational soul descends and another third of the Oversoul enters. If the individual has lived a very spiritual life, he begins another period of agreeing with God and adjusting to man. Family life and work become heavier responsibilities and you must agree and adjust. The Light of your Oversoul star, your storehouse of spiritual substance, is stamped with your name and number. When you reach age forty-two, you draw on the substance that your mode of living at age twenty-eight released into your earthly body. You are responsible for the soul substance that descends. Many people "lose" God by age thirty-five. Some destroy themselves with this great power. They lose soul vision, have accidents, early heart attacks or strokes.—Edna Lister, Seven Stages of Unfolding From Concentration to Comprehension, December 3, 1963.


God must trust your faithfulness, for the action of your life releases more Power than all the saintly temples of earth combined — monks, priests, nuns and ministers and those who do not touch earth. It is high time that you live in a manner that equals your vows of responsibility on earth. Watch. Wait upon the Lord in the high place constantly. Set a guard at the portals of your mind to receive suggestions of responsibility. Forget them not.—Edna Lister, April 23, 1967.


You must keep your vows of the protecting Priest. This means nothing of self, but to listen, lift and love all others. You will find this easy to do when you have truly surrendered to be the servant of the Power, instead of the self.—Edna Lister, The First Full Descent of the Oversoul, June 8, 1971.


The Priest is called the lonely one, the thinker who has time for meditation and being alone. He looks into the past, learns from it, and travels on, leaving behind all but the lessons learned and integrated.—Edna Lister, Undated Papers, 1933-1971.

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The Priest Degree in the New Testament

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.—Hebrews 4:12-16.


For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.—Hebrews 5:1-10.

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The Priest Degree in Other Sacred Writings

I am a priest of the Lord, and to Him I do priestly service: and to Him I offer the sacrifice of His thought. For His thought is not like the thought of the world nor the thought of the flesh, nor like them that serve carnally. The sacrifice of the Lord is righteousness, and purity of heart and lips. Present your reins [kidney function] before Him blamelessly: and let not thy heart do violence to heart, nor thy soul to soul. Thou shalt not acquire a stranger by the price of thy silver, neither shalt thou seek to devour thy neighbour, Neither shalt thou deprive him of the covering of his nakedness. But put on the grace of the Lord without stint; and come into His Paradise and make thee a garland from its tree, And put it on thy head and be glad; and recline on His rest, and glory shall go before thee, And thou shalt receive of His kindness and of His grace; and thou shalt be flourishing in truth in the praise of His holiness. Praise and honour be to His name. Hallelujah.—Ode of Solomon 20:1-9.

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Edna Miriam Lister
1884 – 1971
The original Christian Pioneering Mystic,
Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.


Edna Lister


Etymology of priest: Old English preost, shortened from the older Germanic form prestar, Old Frisian prestere, from Vulgar Latin prester "priest," from Late Latin presbyter "elder," from Greek presbyteros, "an elder."


The Priest is the sixth initiatory degree of ascension.


Philadelphia: The Priest’s Church
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—Revelation 3:7-13.


References

Harper, Douglas. Etymology Online

The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV), Public Domain.

The Nag Hammadi Library. James M. Robinson, editor. San Francisco, Harper and Row, 1981.

The Oxford English Dictionary: Compact Edition 2 vols. E.S.C. Weiner, ed. Oxford University Press, 1971.


Related Topics

Purity

Service

Surrender