Edna Lister on the Parable of the Hidden Treasure

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." – Matthew 13:44-44.

"Jesus said: The kingdom is like a man who had in his field a [hidden] treasure, of which he knew nothing. And [after] he died he left it to his [son. The] son also did not know; he took the field and sold it. The man who bought it came (and) as he was ploughing [found] the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished." – Gospel of Thomas Saying 109.

Buried Treasure

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for October 5, 1947. Scripture: Matthew 13:44.

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." – Matthew 13:44.

Is your treasure hidden or is your treasure buried? While the treasure was hidden in the field, it did no good to or for anyone. When the man found it, he had to own it. He had to buy the field before he could dig it up.

Just so, you must buy the Kingdom of Heaven at a great price, the price of giving up all self.

Once you have bought the field – heavenly knowledge and wisdom – if you bury this beautiful treasure again, say to keep it safe, it will do no good. Many people spend everything they have to buy the field, then bury what they receive, never using the love on others, never using faith about their family or their problems, never using wisdom in planning their actions, never applying truth to a problem.

Which kind of person are you? Have you bought the field? Have you paid the great price? Do you own the land? Or have you never paid for the field, but just know it is there to buy someday? Have you buried this treasure again? If you use your heavenly treasure, it will increase.

From Halley's Comet to Spaceships

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for January 29, 1956. Scripture: Matthew 13:44-46.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." – Matthew 13:44-46.

We are surprised at the past fifty years of progress: From railroad mail to airmail, transatlantic phone lines to radio phones from air, radios with earphones to hi-fidelity stereo, palm leaf fans to air conditioning, red flannel underwear to nylon undies, television, sun lamps, zippers, and wristwatches.

We are surprised that Halley's comet returns every seventy-six years [it will next appear in 2061]. We will be surprised at spaceships, man-made stations that orbit earth [International Space Station].

Facilities to gather the sun's energy for fuel, foods that we cook by electronic impulses [microwave ovens], and medical miracles that will lengthen and strengthen our lives will amaze us. People in offices and laboratories everywhere are planning all these and much more.

We have seen all this, and still doubt God's miracles, still stand around wondering, putting it off. Where are we? Spiritually, we are still in the horse and buggy dimension. You accept jet planes, but refuse to sell all that you have for the treasure you buried in your super-conscious "field" of divine Mind before you came to earth.

Super-conscious mind is the I AM consciousness of Oneness with God, not just thinking about it, not just hoping for it, but actually becoming God consciousness day and night. People sell out for the idea of "God and" instead of "God as my life."

I AM consciousness opens all the worlds of the seven dimensions, within and above. Sell your neglect, lukewarmness, doubts and fears to attain this treasure.

Do you dare to declare now to everything that comes, "This is good. I love it. I need it." Do you dare to say to the adversary, "You are right," without stopping to consider emotional hurts, or who is right or wrong? You can declare, "This is good. You are right. I am joy. God is my all."

These declarations unlock the doors and set I AM free now. The I AM consciousness of soul is your pearl of great price. It opens all doors above to release the same Power that fuels the sun. You run on the same energy that science seeks to harness.

Each dimension holds a treasure chest of glories. Each dimension is added illumination, which you can enter only through "I AM." You open the first four doors to new dimensions with "This is good. You are right."

Yet the last three dimensions open only to joy. Go upstairs to your tower room and put the key of joy into the lock. Why hesitate? Why hold back? It's only one step up in consciousness to freedom.

Then, instead of being a "go-getter," you become a "go-giver" of love, compassion and understanding. Jesus knew what heaven is like. He outlined how to live in it now. To live for the "joy thereof " is the key: Two words, "joy thereof," are your jet engines.

"This is good. You are right. I AM joy. God is all."

Many Pearls, Many Treasures 1

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for November 25, 1962. Scripture: Matthew 13:44-50.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." – Matthew 13:44-50.

This Scripture contains three succinct parables – first, a treasure, second, a pearl and third, a net. The treasure is the truth. You hide it in the field of heart and soul, and do not talk about it. The treasure of truth is summed in the declaration, "I AM the Way." To find the Way is to give up everything else in joy to own the whole "field." The "field" is the soul, the mind, the heart, the body and its affairs.

To buy the "field," you must walk the way of surrender of self. The treasure is a way of life. The "pearl" is "I AM the truth." Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?" Truth is a state of being, a quality of the soul. The soul is truth. Truth is the action of the soul as honor, loyalty and integrity. Truth is purity.

To gain the field and the pearl, you must sell something, or make an exchange. You cannot give away your assets, or you will have nothing left. To sell implies that you will receive full value.

The "net" is different. It is an act, and this is a choice. Even after surrendering, something else remains for you to do. You must make a just appraisal. A just appraisal is in itself a constant choice. You must constantly choose to give up earth's tinsel for the gold of Spirit.

A "net" is "I AM the life." The "sea" represents life and the world of men. You use a net to catch and to hold. You store your good catch in vessels, but cast away the "bad."

You do this under a "just appraisal." You cast the wicked into fire to be purified. No one can just sit in a corner, for you must cast your net, meaning that you must go into the world.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." – John 14:6. I AM is your point of contact with God. You must accept your soul identity with God because He rules your life. "The way" refers to imagination. "The truth" is your thinking. "The life" is your desire. These are your creative tools, and you must use them as one.

If your desires, thinking and imagination are in conflict, nothing ever comes together, no miracles are "added" to your life. You must sell all self for the way, and all little ideas for the large truth.

Cast your net into the sea to lift all good for nourishment, and cast the bad into fire. Discard opinions and old prejudices and patterns of thinking and emoting. Stop, look and listen to allow divine Mind a chance to act, to express each action with truth. How much truth do you need and want? Will you be satisfied with just a little, just enough to get by on? How much is enough?

Lift all conflicts between self and soul into harmony. Your secret weapons are your creative tools – desires, thinking and imagination working together as one. Steadfast right thinking invokes limitless power. Vivid imagination builds a strong mold. Burning desire compresses substance into visibility.

Remain vigilant. Every time you add a new law, you start a self-conflict. You must own yourself. No one, nothing out there can own you unless you permit it. To allow any power outside to touch or to rule you is stupid and detrimental.

You must give up the world to own yourself. Sell all you have to learn the way, the truth and the life. If you don't own yourself how can you give yourself up? Become God's Way. Express God's truth. Become invisible life, a triumph of strength and victory.

Ascend in consciousness, into your higher octave on your proper chord of life. Stop crowding someone else. Stop straddling the abyss between self and soul.

Many Pearls, Many Treasures 2

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated November 25, 1962. Scribes: Ruth Johnson and Irene White. Scripture: Matthew 13:44-50.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." – Matthew 13:44-50.

I plan to write a book on parables. In the first parable, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, in the second parable, like a pearl, and in the third parable, like a net.

When I chose to give these three parables after twenty years, I knew that a new era had begun. After every passage that says, "it shall come to pass," it later says, "and it came to pass." As a prophet gives a prophecy, so the Bible later records its verification.

In analyzing what treasure is, I saw, "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life." Jesus gave us the interpretation of each law, and life verifies that the connection is there. The "treasure hidden in a field" is related to "I AM the Way," as Jesus said. You've found your way of life, and follow that path of soul undeviatingly.

The man who found the treasure hid it deeper. Advertising the treasure hampers you, and it's what ails the world. You must hold a new truth within yourself, live it and become an ensample of it. It becomes the way of life that you choose.

Some people cry about their nerves, anxiety, stress or tension, but God made all nerves to struggle and react the same way. What are you doing with them? You have an equal right to use this God-given substance, but need the intestinal fortitude to do something about it. Those who suffer for years with nervous tension enjoy it. Those who devote themselves to truth admit no failures, only victories. Some are slower or lazier.

A prayer for a miracle sends a line to Source, the returning Light touches you, and you have your victory. What you believe when you have found new way of life, a new truth, is up to you. Hide it in your field, which is your mind. Don't talk about it, become it.

In the second parable, a man sold all his small pearls to buy a "pearl of great price." This relates to Jesus saying, "I AM the truth." The one great Truth of God has many facets, all of which are perfect. When have you sold all the conscious and subconscious ideas you have gleaned from the world for one great truth? You must cast away any less-than-perfect ideas for the truth of soul.

You cast your dragnet into the sea of life every day. Eventually, you learn to keep the good, and cast evil into the refiner's fires for purging. This parable relates to "I AM the life." Being on earth forces you to be in the world of men with its continual cross-vibrations. This includes conquering of emotions, achieving I AM consciousness, and being able to make just appraisals in life.

The first two parables deal with the soul and its inner workings, the third deals with the way you cast your net into the sea of life. You must live your life in contact with people. Keep the good you gain through experience and cast the bad into eternal fire, which means to give the darkness to the Father to be purged of evil in His fire of love and truth.

This is the secret of life, your secret weapon for protection. Be aware and alert. Make a just appraisal. You must know what things in the world are evil and consciously cast them into fire of truth. Do this instead of criticizing, judging, or condemning.

That you "have treasure" means you have found the creators' way of life. You have a pearl of great price, truth. I AM consciousness is your point of contact between these three creative tools, imagination, thinking, and desires, the way for I AM to rule you through desire mated with will.

I AM must rule the emotions before you can make a just appraisal. You can have a steadfast twenty-four-hour shift, controlled by the I AM, and you need a burning desire to use your creative tools.

The Bible says there will be wars and rumors and wars, but God would not destroy us. Where is the faith of those who fear God's plan?

You see, experience, make a just appraisal, cast out all that is superfluous, but keep the one pearl, the Truth of God. Stop, look, listen and let God turn on the Light switch of "the way" to see the kingdom of protection. This is the principle of protection.

Thinking invokes the high Power, direct from God, the Source of all Power. You each have a direct communication line to God. Use it. Imagination turned up is vision, which creates molds stronger than steel. They even hold when you turn to look at darkness. Fathers hold Light around molds to protect them for a time, while you are faithful to Light.

Your emotional life is subject to one great law. Can you sell something you do not own? It is time to begin to own yourself. You do not own yourself if you blame people, the government, nor if you give yourself to negativity, hurts, doubts, hatreds.

God makes His enemies footstools to those who declare it good. There is one Power, the power of your own good, the power of your own soul. Declare, "Thank You, Father, because You cleanse this darkness, and please return Substance to him, to fill him with all good." Let your Light so shine in dark places that they become Light. Yet the Light in your eyes is a rebuke, so others may resent you. It is only natural.

You can see the offertory ram in the bushes if you watch for it. Own yourself first so nothing on the outer can disturb you. Have compassion for the foolish ones. Move into a higher octave on your chord of life. Get back on your own chord and tone, and you'll know that the glory of the Father possesses you.

To be fully filled with Love of God is a creative thing. Love your fellow man, and praise God. As you express God's likeness, you become as perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Your imagination turns upward to soul vision. Your thinking climbs up to wisdom. Your emotions ascend to a burning desire to become, to walk in the way, to express the truth, to live the life.

Your Treasure House 1

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for October 23, 1966. Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, 20, Isaiah 45:2-3, Matthew 6:19-21 and Matthew 13:44.

"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. Any church is a House of the Lord, a house made not with hands. The shocking statements made by agnostic and atheistic professors and ministers are causing an uproar today. Professors ridicule the sacraments such as baptism and communion, while some ministers proclaim that God is dead.

Jesus spoke of the church when he said, "I am the vine. Ye are the branches." The church is founded on the "rock of faith" as a living organism. Men have now reduced it to a mechanism, rattling itself to death.

The House of the Lord, the church, is not dependent on the U.N., NATO or Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Nor is it dependent on any other man-made bishop or arrangement. The church has survived countless decadent and collapsing civilizations. The church has an eternal destiny. No words of man can change this.

Of course, the church looks awkward to agnostics, ungraceful, positioned as they are with one foot on earth and the other in heaven. Yet if you pull that one foot from heaven, what remains? Nothingness and such tripe as "God is dead." The theologians are dying like dinosaurs, not God. The church today must refurnish itself, and make Christ live.

No one wants to hear another atheist "newscaster" issuing hourly bulletins. People really want an answer that only Jesus the Christ gives, not slogans or double-talk. They want an answer from the oracles of God.

Just what are the furnishings of the House of the Lord? For 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. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 5:1-5.

In this "earthly house" you groan. The body is your personal temple of the living God, and the tabernacle is the same. Your temple has four parts. The outer physical sheath is subject to outer laws, ills, aches, pains, broken bones, germs and many viruses. Yet God has equipped you to conquer physical life. You earnestly desire to be clothed with your "heavenly house," which is the molecular desire body. You cannot see the desire body, for molecules are invisible until brought together into cells.

Unless this invisible heavenly house clothes you, you are naked, vulnerable to viruses and germs. Your heavenly house confers immunity. Ascension of consciousness, to be aware of and to dwell in the higher levels of being, is the only way to become immortal.

Your next house is the atomic vehicle, the body of your mental life. The atoms themselves form the storehouse of your heavenly manna. Each ascending heavenly body enables you to make higher contact with God. The fire body, built of electrons, houses the divine fire to which you surrender to burn out the dross of the lesser houses, or bodies.

The fifth chapter of the Second Letter to Corinthians, the first five verses, deal with these protective heavenly bodies. In the second five verses, it deals with the Spirit and soul of the descended soul dwelling in this House of the Lord.

"Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." – 2 Corinthians 5:6-11.

This passage speaks of a "soul flight," or that highest point of contemplative comprehension where earth fades out of your awareness. The difference between meditation and contemplation is significant. Contemplation begins with the prefix "con," meaning contra or against. Contemplation means "to peruse carefully, to direct, hold, connect and conclude." Meditation is a static condition that leads to inertia.

When you contemplate, you experience more and more life because divine Mind is acting on your mental equipment and brain cells. Divine Mind acts directly on your memory cells. Contemplation is an exercise that makes your memory vital. You labor to learn how and practice being fully conscious and "present" in the House of the Lord, or you remain "absent" from God consciousness.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." – 2 Corinthians 5:10. The tenth verse refers to the law of cause and effect, action and reaction, which creates soul debts. This verse deals with the "furnishings" in your treasure house.

Your stored-up treasures penetrate and permeate each body or house you have. What are they? Desires, thinking and imagination. Throw out the old to make room and refurnish your house.

You do have help in doing this: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." – Matthew 6:19-21.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." – Matthew 13:44.

Your new treasure house furnishings depend on your choice today. Lukewarmness lengthens the time it takes into delay. Indifference and lukewarmness are the fundamental causes of all delay. Rapturous love, devotion and sacrifice of self shorten the time it takes to see the miracles in your life.

Our society is now going through the initiations of universal Fatherhood and Motherhood. A single spoken Word now releases greater Power than ever. I call down the immunity and protection of my heavenly house. I make today as beautiful as I can for my God. I rejoice and know that my Father does the work. I call down heavenly houses to refurnish every church. Light shall heal ministers as they step into their pulpits. Evil has run its course!

The only way to furnish the outer churches with the House of the Lord is to call down the heavenly body of the Christ Light. The only way to furnish the house, the physical sheath in which you dwell, is to call down your "heavenly body."

Hear ye, O My People: I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. – Isaiah 45:2-3.

Your Treasure House 2

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated October 23, 1966. Scribes: Elizabeth Barnes, Ruth Johnson and Irene White. Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, 20, Isaiah 45:2-3, Matthew 6:19-21 and Matthew 13:44.

"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 House of the Lord has always been the name for all churches and temples. Yet, in this hour, when those trained to furnish the house of Lord should make it a glory and power for good, they make it a mock. Agnostic ministers have stripped religion of sacraments, furnished its houses with the darkness of intellect, and are demoting God. People waver in their faith and ask if the churches are doomed.

Everyone who lives by the Golden Rule is building up what others are trying to tear down. The church has not run its course, but the worldly ways have worn out. Most Christians stand with one foot planted in heaven and the other on earth. Hedonism may satiate the body, but the soul hungers more greatly than ever.

Here is a picture of a church founded upon rock to make it stable and lasting. God is not dying of fossilized ideas, but the theologians are. Just as the house of the Lord has withstood decadent nations and civilizations, every church shall become a house of the Lord. We declare that no matter where a minister steps into the pulpit, he will step into a shaft of Light and receive a shock as Paul did on the road to Damascus.

The first five verses in this text from the Second Letter to Corinthians talk about a house, like the houses we live in. The rest describes those who dwell in them, and what happens to them. "For we know that if our earthly house, this tabernacle [tent], is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." – 2 Corinthians 5:1. We have outgrown our earthly houses and yearn for God's.

"For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life." – 2 Corinthians 5:2-3. He who stands naked is unprotected by Light, so he groans, aches and fears, as he listens to propaganda.

"Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee" refers to sublimation, which means to live by Spirit. Declaring, "I am the strength of the living God. I am protective Power," brings the miracles.

Heaven's house exists in the molecular grade of substance. It comes forth under right living. Man is sloughing off cells and the outer physical sheath. The tabernacle is your fire, mental and desire bodies combined. Physical organs that have been removed shall become visible again because man is ascending his vibration.

The mental body is atomic. Death consists of the atoms collapsing. You can resuscitate a drowned person only if atoms of his lungs have not collapsed. The fire body can take Light from the Source. Lightning is a lowered vibration of Power from the Source. Atomic power is greater than the power of lightning. In this age you are privileged to live in a tabernacle that is a fitting habitation for the soul. If you call forth heavenly a body in your tabernacle, you will be immune to all negativity, germs, and contagious disease.

"While we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight." – 2 Corinthians 5:6. Many would rather be absent from the body and be present with the Lord. Sometimes people get sick or commit suicide at this point.

You build your own heaven or hell. You pay your debts according to what you have done to your body and you pay the debt on your original creation.

When you call the House of Lord down into your tabernacle, which is living by Light, you plant both feet in heaven, which eventually consumes all obstacles on the outer. When you try to please your family on earth, you straddle the fence, with one foot here and one there. When you are up in consciousness, the subconscious mind takes care of details as it was designed to do.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." – Matthew 6:19-21. Heaven is your treasure house.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." – Matthew 13:44. The practice of living with both feet in heaven comes under the great principle of comprehension, which is high contemplation, not meditation. Contemplation is study, to struggle toward the common ground of knowledge, to illumination. Meditation leads to inertia, a static condition.

Step into the Light and contemplate the Wisdom of God in action, so you will no longer be naked. No virus, no allergy or disease can touch you, no "same old" fear. This shortens time. Meditation delays time.

Some who meditate just go to sleep. Yet not everyone becomes inert during meditation. Some ascend in consciousness to contemplative meditation. You can be healed in meditation, then recreate the same ills until your beautiful desire body becomes ill again.

To contemplate in Light is a memory cure. Any "sleeping" memory cells awaken because the fire of the living God is not static; it consumes any block and recreates perfection. Finally you come to point where you sell all that you have for the pearl of great price. The treasures in your storehouse are desire, thinking, and imagination.

You can choose to accelerate time through creative faith. Make your faith the overall creative faith it is meant to be. You shall do the "greater works" because the needs are greater now. Divine fire shall burn out dross. Let it take over and move through your heavenly house and consume any darkness.

In psychiatric treatment, most practitioners tickle the devil to death by talking around the evil and darkness while they avoid dealing with it. Psychiatrists need to add in the life of God. They do magnificent work, but do not go high enough.

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. – Isaiah 45:2-3. This is your choice. Unless you call on your heavenly bodies, you do live in a dark place.

Touch us, O God, and make us potent and powerful in Thy Light. Top ↑