Edna Lister created this sermon outline for October 12, 1947. Scripture: Matthew 13:45-46.

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 13:45-46.

What is a prince? A prince differs from most other men because he has been born to a heritage of great outer responsibility. He has been raised and trained to be reliable, dependable, loyal to his land and people. A prince has been raised to be responsible for all his own words and actions at all times.

A prince is taught to smile, no matter what he feels personally. He is never to complain to or about his subjects, family, friends, business associates or staff. He may never be found wanting, lest they lose confidence in him as a ruler.

Many people want too much at once – yet choosing just one great and beautiful pearl at a time is best. Take just one great law and live it, day by day until you become it. When you truly learn obedience to one law, you will have learned how to be obedient to all laws.

This is how the one great law you choose to make yours eventually expands to include all other laws, for truth contains all that is. Unquenchable love and unconquerable faith go hand in hand with invincible praise and irresistible joy.

Give all that you have for these four pearls, which together form the pearl of great price. You will find that no price is too great.

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."

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.

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.