Spiritual Protection

Preface by Linda Mihalic

We now live in an era of agnostic and atheistic secular humanism. Religion has devolved from the worship of God, living a moral life guided by soul principles, obedience to divine law and love for the Creator, His Son, and love for one's fellow man. As the result of an ardent multiple generation-spanning campaign by forces of evil, today's religions have been polarized into toxic extremes that have largely abandoned the thoughtful, God-loving followers of the principles taught by Jesus the Christ.


“Man is not the measure of all things – God is.”


Unfortunately, for those who refuse to accept divine law, such polarization is essential to their comprehension of reality. You cannot find the Son of God in either the country club atmosphere of the ultra liberal, "socially concerned" multicultural mainstream Christian, or in the intolerant splintered factions intent on reliving the harsh and rigid practices common to the Medieval Catholic Church while they expect everyone else to do so also. Followers of the authentic Jesus Christ are under attack today by atheists, secular humanists, and by the very leadership of the Christian sects in which they grew to adulthood.

Our Lord Jesus Christ's nature and teachings remain unchanged: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." – Hebrews 13:8. God's law remains unchanged and is neither obsolete nor open to any selective reinterpretation; as Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." – Matthew 5:18.

The violence, immorality and societal brainwashing that we see today have a profound negative effect on the soul. Therefore, we must accept that the instructions we have received in Scripture regarding spiritual protection are more important now than ever before. As with all spiritual practices, protection of your living soul must begin at the top, in other words, at the spiritual level, and flow down through the mental, emotional and physical levels of your life.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." – John 14:6. No other way home to God exists. All other paths lead to heartache and delay through error, sin and increased soul debts.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." – 1 Peter 5:8-9.





























Edna Lister on Spiritual Protection

If you are living by the law and pouring out enough love, others cannot go beyond a certain point to take advantage of you or to gain revenge. Pour out love twenty-four hours a day. That melts their hardness of heart. The love you pour forth is your protection, not the love you demand, but the love you give. The love you pour out prospers you. – Edna Lister, Sermon on the Mount, January 31, 1933.


When you release Power, you have released your own protection. A wall of Light then surrounds you. – Edna Lister, Control Over Outer Influences and Powers, September 23, 1934.


Your only full protection comes through "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." – Matthew 6:10. – Edna Lister, The Power of Spirit, December 1, 1934.


Place a pillar of protective fire around all those whom you love. Send out your boys and girls protected by a pillar of fire. Tell them, "You are surrounded in Light. Nothing can ever hurt you or touch you if you remain walled in Light." Let this fire fill you and your dreams to vitalize, quicken and accelerate their fruition. God's pillar of fire makes you invincible. You have such thick armor of Light that no darkness can penetrate it. – Edna Lister, The Pillar of Fire, June 3, 1937.


You may open or close all kinds of doors to your home, to love, to friends or to children. Keep your doors open to Light, but closed to the world for protection. – Edna Lister, The Open Door to Success, October 24, 1937.


God's law is your protection and is why Power, made in heaven, may be released on earth. See a cone of Light covering anyone entering your office or home, for their protection, and yours. – Edna Lister, January 2, 1939.


"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." – Philippians 4:7. God's peace, which "passeth all understanding," is a golden protection, an armor of pure Light, the life of God, the Source.

Plan your life after our Lord and Master's pattern, and allow the white Wings of the Holy Spirit to nestle around your head as full and divine protection from all error. – Edna Lister, September 15, 1939.


Peace be unto you a high protection. Let it be your shield to hide you from the darts of the world. In no way can enemies o'ertake you. In no way will you be left alone in time of stress. – Edna Lister, March 10, 1940.


Peace be unto you an armor and a protection at all times. – Edna Lister, November 3, 1940.


God protects His own, forever, and no one ever is allowed to suffer anything beyond paying his own broken laws. – Edna Lister, October 14, 1941.


Wear Light like a beautiful new garment, a magnetic robe of protection. Declare that magnetic walls of Light surround all nations. – Edna Lister, The Way of Surrender, December 10, 1942.


You will be amazed at how Light protects you when you let the law of life use you. – Edna Lister, The Way of Surrender, June 14, 1950.


The higher you ascend, the more thoroughly you must protect yourself from the darts of enemies. – Edna Lister, Jesus, the Man of God, December 5, 1954.


Before you leave home or the office, set your subconscious like an alarm clock to fill your destination as a radiant sun center of Light. Step through the door into a sphere of Light, a sheath of protection around you. Use this treatment for your family and everyone you meet, for it involves your creative tools, your thinking mind, imagination and desires. – Edna Lister, Jesus, the Ascended God, December 19, 1954.


If you are girded, shod and mantled in Light, nothing can touch you. Tolerance and understanding are your sandals, and rapture is your mantle. Cross your arms across your solar plexus, with your thumbs in the inner joint at the elbows, to create a magnetic wall to protect you from the arrows that fly by day. – Edna Lister, Familiar Guests, November 10, 1957.


To protect and keep your own life inviolate, just pour out love with no demands. Declare, "I love you just where you are." A black cloud permeates one who rages, and only love can penetrate it. "I love you where you are now" pierces rage. – Edna Lister, What Money Cannot Buy, December 1, 1957.


I see God as my shield and buckler, my protection, my protector. I see Him as a sphere and walls of Light around my home, office and loved ones, sheathed in fire. I see walls of fire protecting them from enemies. I see God as the Lord, the law, whom I obey, worship and serve. I see whatever He sends me as good. – Edna Lister, As I See God, June 1, 1958.


Self is your seat of subconscious premonitions and protective warnings. Maintain a sphere of Light around yourself to dissolve dark clouds. A premonition means that it is time to get busy and pray. – Edna Lister, Realization, May 3, 1959.


"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" instantly when anything comes. At this one moment of looking up in consciousness, the Source opens. Light descends as a bomb of Light, Love and Power to blast the evil or obstacle from your path. It really is this easy to look up in consciousness, to lift "it" up onto a cloud continent of Light, to invoke the bomb of Light that defends and protects. The Light fills your auric sheath with the rays of repulsion, which become your protection, absorbing evil and darkness, leaving you free. Nothing blocks the rays radiating from you in every direction. – Edna Lister, I Am the Life, October 18, 1959.


Nothing can separate you from God. This is your glory, your assurance, your confidence that God is over all. His everlasting arms are beneath you, our nation and the world, and His almighty o'ershadowing wings cover everything and everyone in protection. – Edna Lister, Here and Hereafter, November 14, 1960.


Praising God forms a shaft of Light, direct from the Source, over your head, the same Light that protected Daniel in the lions' den. – Edna Lister, The Ladder of Faith, December 3, 1960.


The law of the love of God invokes the laws of repulsion and protection. Hate draws evil things to you, but when you love, you stand serenely confident and nothing of evil can touch you. – Edna Lister, Your Contact with Cosmic Power, October 8, 1961.


To protect your home and family, draw a sphere of fire around your home and place a curtain of Light on each door and window so Light heals anyone who enters. Place Light around everyone who enters your home so they cannot deplete you. If they become restless under the Power, they will soon leave. See a whirling pillar of Light in the center of your bedroom, Cherubim and Seraphim at the head and foot of your bed, and Light to form your garment of protective substance. – Edna Lister, Heaven, a Place to Fill, April 10, 1962.


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. Giving God the husks of darkness is your secret weapon for protection. Be aware and alert. Make a just appraisal. You must know how to discern the evil in the world and consciously cast it into fire of truth. Do this instead of criticizing, judging, or condemning. – Edna Lister, Many Treasures, November 25, 1962.


For instant rescue, ask for a channel of fire from the Source. The price is full surrender of self in an instant, with no stubborn willfulness. – Edna Lister, July 6, 1963.


Guardian angels are protectors, lest you dash your foot against a stone. To gain their full protection, you must give up earth's "that's impossible" and accept God's "possible." Accepting is easy, but giving up is hard. – Edna Lister, What Are Angels? February 21, 1965.


Everyone has the same thin skin. Put a shield of mother blue around your loved ones to protect them. – Edna Lister, Your Life, Detriment or Glory, June 6, 1965.


Faith reaches up to its Source, and love bestows comprehension. Love moves forth, forms a sphere of Light around you, and this becomes your protection. No one can penetrate your sphere of Light unless you invite them in. Otherwise, your sphere produces rays of repulsion to keep them out. The requirements for this protection are your strong declarations, not weak mental statements. Declare, from burning desire, a carefully thought declaration, which you can see, and visualize doing the work. – Edna Lister, August 25, 1965.


"The Christ Light is my white raiment, my defense before the world, my protection from evil, or anything unlike God." – Edna Lister, Your White Raiment of Defense, June 5, 1966.


Nothing can prevent the world vibration from impinging on it. You are a receiving set open to every vibration every day, unless you have an identity anchored in God, and believe in the auric sphere of Light around you. By breathing deeply, you can keep your aura filled with condensed Light for protection. Unless you reach up your hands for the Power of God to fill your aura, you may be bedeviled by everyone's thoughts.

Invoke the Light and fill your aura as a protective sheath. Enough Light absorbs any and all darkness. When you follow the religion of Jesus, you are protected. Then you cannot be touched because anything that touches your aura is changed into Light. This is part of the hidden wisdom of religion, which has been on earth from the beginning. – Edna Lister, The Religion of Jesus, October 22, 1967.


When you pray and praise God, you expand your aura of lights and colors with greater Light, which protects you with rays of repulsion against darkness. – Edna Lister, Religion and the World, November 5, 1967.


Awareness is your greatest form of protection from the world. Be aware. Do not spend most of your time unaware, tearing down what you did while consciously aware. – Edna Lister, Awareness and Becoming Law, May 26, 1968.


Walk in an auric sheath of Light to protect yourself from illness, thoughts, and accidents. – Edna Lister, Awareness and Becoming Law, May 26, 1968.


With your every declaration of "Let there be Light," your sun center of Light grows larger, with rays of repulsion flowing from it to protect you. Nothing can come against you successfully. Evil is consumed by the glory of Light. – Edna Lister, Heavenly Mysteries Unveiled, October 20, 1968.


As you ascend, you put on the breastplate of the Lord. Its twelve stones represent the twelve soul virtues, which represent the stature of the Christ. The breastplate provides you with protection and power controls. The lights from the jewels rotate to shine on others and make them prisoners of the Light. – Edna Lister, The Rewards of Faith, Illumination and Comprehension, June 29, 1969.


Psalm 91 invokes complete protection from the outer world: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation." – Edna Lister, The Secret Place of the Most High, November 16, 1969.

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Love: The Highway

Edna Lister created this Bible study outline for November 2, 1930, San Francisco, California. Scripture: Romans 13.

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." – Romans 13.

Love, what is it? Do you know? Have you analyzed it? Most of what you know as love bears no real relation to it.

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." – Romans 13:8-10.

Love is the rock solid foundation on which you can stand steadfastly. Love is substance, and love is an action, active on the inner but latent and passive in the outer world until you consciously direct and control its activity.

Substance expresses as love, faith, will, and imagination. The One contains all, and all is contained within the One. You and I are based in and upon love. One Mind, one Substance and one Power, all act together as one Love. Yet people are always using or misusing love as sensation and emotion.

The seven higher aspects of love include love of God, love of humanity, love of country, love of service, love of wisdom, love of harmony and love of peace. These aspects are Godlike, altruistic, and unselfish, asking, "What can I give?" They confer an impersonal sense of greatness and soul expansion.

The seven lower aspects of love include love of life, love of freedom, love of one's mate, mother love, love of sensation, love of pleasure and love of things. A self-centered love is personal and selfish in its nature, always asking, "What am I getting?" The feeling of love,[1] but not love itself, is rooted in sensation, the physical body, and the subconscious mind.

Altruism enters the seven lower aspects of love through mother love and laying one's life down for a friend. Selfishness enters the seven higher aspects of love through soul taints on personal aggrandizement and power. Children and friends can prompt you to supreme sacrifice or selfishness.

The love you give is your active use of love, and must be impersonal and selfless. How can you love this way? "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness." – Matthew 6:33.

God is not asking you to give up your personality, but the selfishness that may be associated with personality. You may give freely, but may never ask for or demand love.

If you seek first the kingdom, God adds everything you need to you. When you are balanced in such selfless giving and receiving, you find soul freedom.

The supreme trinity of principle is Wisdom, Love and Selflessness. The supreme trinity of personality is the Father, the Mother and the Son. Trinities of opposites also exist, ignorance, intolerance and selfishness, for example. You can color and dilute the complete perfection of God's love by using it negatively. Selfish or self-centered love cannot create or manifest a vibration of perfect love.

Love contains seven qualities — purity, humility, compassion, empathy, sincerity, loyalty and gratitude. To be pure in heart refers to purity in heart, motive or purpose. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." – Psalm 66:18.

The Master spoke compassionately when he said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" – Matthew 23:37.

Empathy takes the hand of one who is in need, to help hold him up and cheer him on when times are hard. Sincerity never excuses its actions or qualifies or justifies the self.

Loyalty is speaking the Word of praise and commendation, not condemnation. Gratitude is the offspring of love and selflessness, a soul quality that you must awaken. Base your praise and thankfulness on gratitude.

Godlike love is both action and substance. If God were not active as substance, where would you be? Love is the active flame of life within you.

Love acts, and it must have an outlet and something to do. Saints unwittingly practice negating the will of God because their passive love of God produces no action or greater consciousness.

Love is a fire that burns and consumes that which is unlike itself. It must feed on something, and unless you provide it fuel by sacrificing self, it will burn up the body.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." – Romans 13:9-10.

You cannot will this love that fulfills law to yourself, or force it. The only way to attract love is by loving, by sending love out to do some work. The love you send out gathers more love to itself and returns increased in quantity. So, give, give, give more to receive more.

As you pour out love, expand your prayer workroom to hold greater creations. Then, as the love vibration returns to you, it brings added gifts. More love substance fills your outer body sheath with love.

Love sweeps away all barriers because nothing can stand before it and remain an obstacle. Love melts, dissolves and absorbs everything negative between you and God, every condition or work of man.

Love is how you come into your divine heritage. This love does fulfill the law. Declare, "The love of God, love of wisdom, love of service, love of humanity, love of country, love of harmony and love of peace brings freedom, and the dominion of God's Power supplies all my needs."

Endnote

1^ The feeling of love: Oxytocin, the so-called "love hormone," is a neurohypophysial hormone produced by the hypothalamus and stored and secreted by the posterior pituitary gland.

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The Ambassador (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for April 26, 1936, Buffalo, New York. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20.

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." – Ephesians 6:10-20.

You put on the whole armor of God in six steps. First, gird your loins with truth. Second, put on the breastplate of righteousness. Third, shod your feet, which represent your understanding, with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Fourth, take up the shield of faith to receive and guard against fiery darts. Fifth, place the helmet of salvation on your head. Finally, you wield the sword of Spirit, two-edged with Love and Wisdom, whose hilt is the Word of God.

As a representative of the Light, you are an ambassador in bonds, under bonds to Jesus Christ. He is responsible to Father to bring you back home to the Father. As he is under bonds to the Father, you are under a bond to him.

An ambassador is a plenipotentiary, a person invested with full power to act with free will on behalf of the monarch or government that has sent him. The word plenipotentiary is a combination of full and potent, and implies plenitude and completeness.

No matter the conditions of your service, you can offer prayers for the Elect everywhere in all perseverance and supplication. God has created you to serve His Power and to speak the Word for Him, as His emissary.

Open your mouth boldly to share your comprehension of the Gospel. Speak boldly as you ought to speak.

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Edna Lister created this sermon outline for April 19, 1942, Buffalo, New York. Scripture: Ephesians 6:13-20.

To "stand" enables you to withstand any assault. You put on the whole armor of God in six steps: Girding your loins with truth, putting on the breastplate of righteousness, putting the gospel of peace on your feet, holding the shield of faith, wearing the helmet of salvation, and carrying the sword of Spirit.

To stand means to withstand, and requires that you understand. Girding your loins with truth creates a circle of Light around you. The loins hold the liver and the spleen, metaphysically representing sincerity, and patience and loyalty. Without patience, you cannot know peace. Truth always stands the test of time. Anything that is not truth will fall of its own weight.

The breastplate of righteousness covers the lungs, which metaphysically represent the right use (righteousness) of inspiration. A gospel is infallibly true. The gospel of peace, with which you shod your feet, is understanding. The shield of faith provides protection for all the figurative "cities" in the Promised Land, the stomach, heart and lungs.

The helmet of salvation covers your head, and provides protection to the soul, which you must "save" from the lower, outer influences. Salvation includes being saved from your own low desires, faulty thinking and wild imagination.

The sword of Spirit, which is the Word of God, is double-edged with love and wisdom. Its hilt, or handle, is selflessness.

You use the sword of Spirit to divide asunder and to pierce. Thus, it must be made of Wisdom and Love in balance. You dare not use it indiscriminately, or you cut off your supply, the Source of Life, and your own lifeline.

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Rewards for Service (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for June 11, 1944, Cleveland, Ohio. Scriptures: Genesis 3:22-24, Ephesians 6:1-18.

"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." – Genesis 3:22-24.

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." – Ephesians 6:1-18.

The flaming sword of Genesis, and the sword of Spirit, described in Ephesians, are the same. The flaming sword "turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life," the way of obedience to law.

When you serve the Lord, you are strong in the Power of His might, not your puny efforts. By donning and wearing the armor of God daily, you protect yourself with God's truth, righteousness, peace, faith and salvation. Thus, you earn the crown of salvation.

You are all children of the Father of Wisdom and the Mother of Love. As the servants of poise and Power, you are the parents to peace and patience. The poor little self sees nothing ahead to give it a clue, but the soul wields the flaming sword, which is the Word of God, to speak the truth.

The flaming sword of Spirit gives you the power to comprehend God and to understand people. The Cherubim stand in the east, at the point of the rising sun. The term "Cherubim" implies both feminine and masculine, symbolizing the pituitary gland and pineal body, which the Holy Spirit uses.

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Rewards for Service (b)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for July 15, 1951, and also used it July 8, 1951, Buffalo, New York. Scripture: Ephesians 6:13-20.

This text tells us that we must put on the whole armor of God, not one-half, one-fourth or 90 percent, but all of it. We do so in six steps.

The first of our six steps in protection is to "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth." – Ephesians 6:14. You must gird your loins and surrender to be the servants of the full Power of God. "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." – Matthew 20:27. Your surrender must be complete as you stand still and know principle.

Your second step is to put on the breastplate of righteousness, which has twelve stones that refract twelve light rays. When you pray, white Light moves through the chromatic scale of the color rays, and the needed ray shines forth for healing. To succeed, you must "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness." – Matthew 6:33.

The third step is having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. As a peacemaker, you become a pacemaker, setting the ascension pace. "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him." – Matthew 5:25. To make peace, you must give, give, give of understanding, sympathy and compassion.

The fourth step is using the shield of truth. "What is that to thee? Follow thou me." – John 21:22. Recognize the darkness only to lift it, without making judgments. When you are judgmental, you put on a "robe of death."

The fifth step is wearing the helmet of salvation. The helmet protects your soul faculties of intuition and illumination. "Abstain from all appearance of evil." – 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Avoid speaking even one word that could betray your soul, make your path dark, or break vows. You are not asked to call the garbage itself good, but to declare it good for gathering to burn and eliminate.

The sixth step is raising the sword of Spirit. You grasp the sword after hearing truth, after "girding up" your loins. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." – Romans 13:10. As Jesus commanded, love your enemies and your neighbor as you love your self.

You wear no armor between the first and sixth steps, between girding your loins and lifting your sword. You cannot move sideways, forward or backward. You just ascend in consciousness, into that timeless, infinite place of now.

Now you are an ambassador in bonds, in the place of love. Because you have sought the kingdom, "all things else are added." As God's loving servant, you find it easy to agree, to love, and to mind your own business. Thus, you stand perfectly armored, in complete, surrendered, unconquerable faith.

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Rewards for Service (c)

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated July 15, 1951, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribe: Ruth Johnson. Scripture: Ephesians 6:12-20.

These verses tell you not to rest yourself to death. "Having done all" means 100 percent, not 90, 50 or 25 percent. Weep if you must, but weep up to God. Ascend to the "high place" in consciousness before you put on your armor, or you might fail to cover some part of you that needs healing.

You put on the protective armor of God in six creative steps. First, you gird your loins, which hold the sacrum, splenic and the navel centers, below the heart. The "land of Egypt," the place of "darkness for three days," is the body's heaviest portion, which is why you veil and cover it.

No entity can possess a person from the crown of the head, the soul's mode of ingress and egress, even God cannot. How you exercise your God-given gift of free choice determines what can possess you at the navel.

Three sets of groin muscles hold the abdomen in place. Gird your loins with truth, your protection, breathe deeply to uplift the muscles, and become an ascending creator walking earth in a godly way, as though you owned earth. Truth is Light, the Power and glory of the living God.

"Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." – Matthew 20:27. He who would be the greatest before God in Power, love, joy and wealth must surrender to become the servant of all Power. However, this does not mean you should be a doormat.

You wear the glorious breastplate of righteousness over the electronic fire body heart center, so its twelve stones protect you. Declare, "This is good" first, not the worldly retort, "I called it good after I remembered truth."

Light pours through the breastplate in twelve healing rays when you declare it good. You need not know which jewel flashes Light to heal, since the whole process is automatic once you declare it good.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness." – Matthew 6:33, for God has a direct line of Light to you. No matter what happens, stand quietly and know that God's hand is on that line.

The feet represent understanding and you must protect them with soul virtues. "Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace" means that you live by the great law of peace, Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him – Matthew 5:25.

A peacemaker is a pacemaker, who gives, gives, gives of understanding, compassion, graciousness, loveliness, tenderness, mercy, love, and all other virtues and soul glories.

You push against 14.7 pounds per square inch of air pressure with every step you take. Unconquerable faith, a shield of Light, goes on your left arm, the spiritual side, to meet all resistance, while you remember the law, "What is that to thee? Follow thou me." – John 21:22.

You can conquer only through your soul's burning desire spontaneously welling up. If you use force once to meet resistance, you must use it again. Recognize darkness and negativity only to lift, without making unrighteous judgments.

The head is your golden bowl. You can live without your arms or legs, but not without your head. The helmet of salvation protects your thoughts, the "high place" of the mysteries. God bestows your credits as intuition and illumination when you love Him and magnify His name.

The law is to "Abstain from all appearance of evil." – 1 Thessalonians 5:22, which includes avoiding idle words that would cause you to break your vows. No one asks you to call the garbage another spews good, but to gather and dispose of it. Call the other fellow "good," and his mess is good to lift.

"The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" is the sword of supreme love, for love fulfills the law. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." – Romans 13:10.

First, love your neighbor as you love yourself, which is living by graciousness, loveliness, tenderness, mercy and compassion to attain soul freedom. Then only can you love your enemy as you love your self.

Finally, the brilliance of your sword is so great that you cannot see or even consider darkness since you have entered the dimension of love and Light that transcends time and space. Love moves through your ears, eyes, our being to pay the greatest dividends.

In reality, you only need to take steps one and six, girding your loins and picking up your sword of Light for the rest of your armor to fall into place. Yet to do so, you cannot move sideways, forward or back, but up into that timeless, limitless place in the now.

To surrender to the heavenly fire of faith unconquerable holds you as an "ambassador in bonds," and anchors you so closely to Light that glory floods your soul. You find it easy to forget self, to agree, to love, to see only beauty, to mind your own business, being "simple minded" to darkness.

Dwell in love, fully armored, declaring the world and all in it "good" and "very good." Speak the Word to heal.

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Wearing Your Armor (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for November 15, 1953, Cleveland, Ohio. Scripture: Ephesians 6:13-20.

To put on the whole armor of God is to take six steps in protection – truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and Spirit, the Word of God. This forms the whole aura, the protective rainbow auric sphere around you.

First, gird your loins with truth. The loins cover the symbolic Land of Egypt, the area between the ribs and the hip joints, over the liver and the spleen, which represent sincerity and loyalty. You must hear, accept and become truth.

Wear the breastplate of righteousness, which symbolizes right action, such as casting your net on the right side of the boat, the right or the material side on the outer. The breastplate has twelve stones, the carriers for the color rays in action, to protect your solar plexus, stomach, heart and lungs.

The stones direct Light as harmony, poise, tone and color. The heart represents the Promised Land of love, assimilation, understanding, and substance.

Shod your feet with the gospel of peace. How? Feet represent understanding. ascend in consciousness into the high place of Power. When Power mates with poise, they produce peace and patience. Poise, acting in harmony, sets the twelve tones and colors into action for integration and wholeness.

The Gospel of Luke, the tenth chapter, describes how Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs, to spread the gospel of peace. Their feet were shod with new sandals, peace on the right foot and patience on the left.

Faith is the shield of the fire of love. Faith is the fire that burns a pathway through the old expressions as it cleanses the platter for the new.

You wear the shield on the left arm, the spiritual side, leaving your right hand free to act in the world. You put off the robe of death, unrighteous judgment.

The helmet of salvation protects the golden bowl, which houses the twenty-two lotus centers in the higher creative center, which include the pituitary gland and pineal body. When intuition and illumination open, the mental body lotus centers whirl and condense the Light above the head into "wings of glory." This completely protects and anchors you in the Source.

You hold the sword of Spirit in the right hand, as pure Light going forth. By your works, others know you. "Not I but the Father does the work."

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit," and having done all, you stand as an ambassador of Light, going forth in action. An ambassador must be good, knowing, wise, kind, gracious, alert and interested in people. He holds to just one idea, perseverance.

Why spend half your life defending opinions and prejudices? No more fighting for dead issues. You can't afford to sag at your soul seams. God has bonded you and trusts you with Power. Yet, just asking for respect, place and position is not enough. You must love enough.

Whether it is a grain of mustard seed or a lily bulb, any seed has only one idea. One Word includes the whole armor, love.

Let me "open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." I AM an ambassador of Light, bonded to hold to truth, to stand.

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Wearing Your Armor (b)

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated November 15, 1953, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribe: Ruth Johnson. Scripture: Ephesians 6:13-20.

The metaphor of armor is intriguing. Ephesians 6 says that the whole armor consists of truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and Spirit, so this armor must be composed of Light.

Unless you stand in Light, you see cloudiness or darkness on the outer. We need a new interpretation of Light.

Psychologists and metaphysicians too often want to drag heaven down to earth. Psychologists usually tell their patients to "talk it out" until they have endlessly recreated their problems. Many metaphysicians tell their clients to pray for peace, a husband, money or a new job instead of doing something about what is keeping them stuck in the same old place in consciousness.

As a creator, you definitely must be interested in outer interpretation because someone must be interested enough for everyone else. Interest is the only way to draw the outer to the inner. Light has no value unless someone is interested in it.

You can understand the outer manifestation of universal Light substance only by comprehending the Kabbalistic Paths on the Tree of Life that tie earth to heaven. This text offers the perfect way to lighten your earth and integrate it with heaven.

The girdle of Hippolyta (the mythical Amazon Queen whose girdle Hercules stole) girds your loins and protects the abdomen. You must gird your loins with truth because the body's most vulnerable part lies between the rib cage and the pelvis, which we call the Land of Egypt.

Why is truth related to Egypt? The abdomen holds the liver and the spleen, which represent sincerity and loyalty, and truth must contact both to create sincerity and loyalty.

Loyalty to principle is honor, and you cannot act dishonorably toward one of God's creations when you are loyal to principle, just as God cannot change His principles to suit outer situations. You have nothing to fear when you give your loyalty to God as principle. You honor Him as personality, but are loyal to God as principle.

The breastplate of righteousness holds twelve jewels of Light. The stones represent the Zodiacal signs and correspond to the notes of the chromatic scale[1] in music.

When you are high in soul consciousness, the breastplate's lights brighten and shine to meet the needs of all who come to you. The breastplate converts Light into physical harmony, like a battery charger.

"I-me-my-mine" will plague you at the throat center until you extend the breastplate's influence to protect against the "fiery darts of the wicked," which are usually your own idle words.

The heavenly Lights overhead change and release a new portion of soul debt every two hours. Wearing your breastplate, you meet your share of debts with Light, not suffering as the Light strikes your crystallization.

Think of the breastplate of righteousness as the right-use-ness of law in action. It covers the heart center, from the shoulders to the solar plexus, which includes your seat of timing, the heart, lungs and stomach.

You must synchronize your heartbeat, respiration, and rate of assimilation in the stomach or you become ill. The breastplate of righteousness attunes your timing until you express harmony.

Shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Jesus sent his disciples without shoes or money, but shod them with the gospel of peace. The Master gives you magic sandals, like snowshoes, to clear your path through the thorns and thickets.

Peace and patience are the offspring of poise and power. Poise is able to stand in harmony. Power fills you when you stand poised in the crown center, to beget peace for your right foot and patience for your left foot.

Hold the shield of faith on your left arm, your spiritual side, to protect your spiritual clarity. It covers you from the ankles up, and when you think "shield," it instantly consumes the wicked darts. The shield is faith, which is the fire that consumes. Your Father uses it to release atomic energy as Power through you.

Love is pure Light as faith when it operates as consuming fire under the Mother's blue ray. The Son's red ray rules faith when it operates as Power to energize. The Father's answer to a question posed "in full faith, believing" comes to you on His yellow ray. Faith as white Light contains all color rays.

The Greeks called Athena, their goddess of wisdom and defensive warfare, the guardian of heroes. A myth says that she sprang fully armed from Zeus's head after he swallowed her mother, Metis, the original goddess of wisdom. In other words, Athena was begotten of wisdom and might.

Athena lent her armor, famous for its protective magical powers, to Perseus, to slay Medusa Gorgon. Athena's heavy helmet represents beauty in bondage to materiality, just as you snuff a candle to put out its light.

The true helmet of salvation consists of Light. You have twenty-two mental body lotus centers in your head. Five stems, like a maidenhair fern, arise from the pineal body and pituitary gland to create it. They sprout from your "growing pains," the agonies you experience while you surrender self.

The sword of Spirit is edged in Wisdom and Love, and its handle is Selflessness. St. Paul says, "and having done all, stand," which means that when you have lifted enough, released enough Light as Power, joy and love, the miracle is in your hand. This requires perseverance, which the dictionary defines as "the steadfast, tenacious pursuit of a goal."

Perseverance is maintaining a state of grace until it becomes a state of glory, which describes living in your higher creative center, opening your mental body lotus centers. You can persevere, stand and pray as you grasp your sword in selfless joy.

Lose no time waiting to pray later. If you say, "I have prayed" when someone tells you to pray, you rebuff an offer of a miracle: "No thanks. I already have one."

This is the age of growth: "Yes. I shall pray again," not stagnation: "Oh, I've already prayed for that." The stench of your ruined creations is just as obnoxious as a spoiled casserole. To persevere in prayer, ascend and remain where poise is, at the fount of Power.

"I am an ambassador in bonds, that in it I may speak boldly." – Ephesians 6:20. We are all ambassadors in bonds and must persist constantly, holding but one idea, of living in that higher creative center, the Garden of Eden.

God pays your passage into outer expression, and you are born on earth. Nothing limits your ascension, but you must earn your ticket home. You pay your return fare by gathering the pearls of wisdom you laid aside during your original descent to earth. Atomic energy then fuels the whirling sun centers in your fire body.

Wear your armor. Ye are gods because girding your loins in absolute truth is the Way of Ascension. We are supermen and superwomen.

What is your desire? What do you believe? Free will is wisdom in action as desire, and the soul's aspiration to love.

An "ambassador in bonds" of and to Light cannot be weak, but must speak boldly as he ought to. Become a Chalice of Light.

Endnote

1^ The chromatic scale is "a scale which proceeds by semitones; a scale is chromatic when the seven diatonic notes are interspersed with five inflected notes." The chromatic scale starting on A is: A, A-sharp, B, C, C-sharp, D, D-sharp, E, F, F-sharp, G, G-sharp, A. (To go down the scale, use flats instead: A, A-flat, G, G-flat, F, E, E-flat, D, D-flat, C, B, B-flat, A). The chromatic scale is said to give music "color."

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The Ambassador (b)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for October 16, 1955, Tacoma, Washington. Scripture: Ephesians 6:13-20.

St. Paul says, "Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand," then "having done all, stand." To "stand" means to be unmoved and remain steadfast. He emphasized standing because fears and doubts enter after you have done all that you know how to do.

Then he describes how to put the armor on, which includes six steps to protection: Gird your loins with truth, wear the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, use the shield of faith, wear the helmet of salvation, and take up the sword of Spirit.

The truth that you use to gird your loins is sincerity, and loyalty to God. The sword of Spirit carries the vibration of the Word.

The feet represent understanding, and you must cover them with a "preparation" for peace, but what? Let your desire ascend to mate with will in the Oversoul's place of poise, then Power descends as peace. The only way to prepare for peace is to become a child of poise and Power.

Faith is your shield, which you carry on your left arm and hand, to take in Power from above. It forms a shield of Light before you, protecting you from anything the world can produce.

Salvation means "to be saved from," and you wear the helmet to protect the head when you open yourself to the Light. Light whirls down from your Oversoul star to fill you with intuition and illumination as you watch, work and wait. This is how you condense divine substance within your aura to fill your prayer molds.

Wield the sword of Spirit in your right hand, which gives out the Power from above. "By their works, you shall know them" means works, not words and talk.

Having done all, which includes "praying always with all prayer," you stand, "watching with all perseverance" for what you do want.

The bond you share as a creator with God empowers an ambassador of Light. God's bond is a guarantee that you increase with every breath you draw. You have no more time to waste with fighting, opinions, or prejudices. God bonds you because He trusts you to wear your armor.

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Soul Integration (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for December 8, 1957, Cleveland, Ohio. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20.

Integration is "the complete addition of all parts, combining parts into a whole," a sense of wholeness. You must put on the whole armor of God to be whole. If your armor is incomplete, you have no protection; you are unable to stand or withstand. To stand and to withstand is mentioned three times in this passage. Having done all you are to stand. What is this all?

The armor of God protects you against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. This can mean different things in different times and places. For instance, it could mean espionage, sabotage, Communist dictators and other enemies to freedom.

This text lists six distinct things to do. First, gird your loins with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the preparation of peace, hold the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation and carry the sword of Spirit.

Gird your loins with truth: You are vulnerable to blows between the ribs and hips. The loins include the liver and the spleen. The liver symbolizes sincerity, and the spleen represents loyalty and patience. You defend both by surrendering to be the servant of all Power. Draw the abdominal muscles in for strength. If these muscles sag, your body and soul sag at the seams. You are then tired, weary and need rest.

Put on the breastplate of righteousness. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness." – Matthew 6:33. You must pay obedience to your high soul vision. You cannot have your credits above and below, inner and outer. The breastplate of righteousness covers the stomach, heart, and lungs. These organs must have a common rhythm for health.

Your loins support the stomach, heart, and lungs. When you keep them girded, you have no fallen [prolapsed] organs. Look up in consciousness, hold all your lines of Light up to God and become the law.

Shod your feet with the preparation of gospel of peace: To prepare the way for the gospel is to learn law, agree with law and to obey law. The ankles represent flexibility in your stance, and the feet symbolize understanding. The left foot signifies peace, the right foot patience. Desire lifted, and mated to will becomes the Christ consciousness results in peace and patience. Burning feet result from irritation and impatience. The cure is to agree with the adversary, because you need peace.

Hold the shield of faith to protect the loins, and lights of the breastplate. The spiritual side is the left arm and hand. Unconquerable faith is magical strength. "What is that to thee? Follow thou me?" – John 21:22 means making no harsh judgments or criticism.

Put on the helmet of salvation. Salvation means to be saved from, and the way to prepare for this is to avoid the appearance of evil. The Oversoul's intuition and illumination faculties are covered and protected.

God does not ask you to call evil wrong, but good. "This is good to lift." The wrong person is good to lift. The wrong thing is good to lift. This is good to gather up for burning, and consuming. Declare, "Let the soul of you come forth now."

Avoid using any word that shows that self is dragging the Christed Oversoul consciousness down, or breaking vows. "I AM" leads you in protection for the golden bowl.

Carry the sword of Spirit. "By their fruits shall ye know them." – Matthew 7:20. The world knows you not by your words, but by your works. Hold the sword in our right hand, which gives out. All individual substance goes forth. This sword cuts the not-truth from our truth, which is the way of comprehension.

You are an ambassador in bonds for the mysteries of God. The priests of Israel were bonded to God and went into the Holy of Holies to renew their Light.

The breastplate had twelve stones, one each for the tribes, and the stones were glowing, shining when the high priest emerged from the Holy of Holies. All twelve stones carried messages from God.

If the priest was disobedient, no lights shone on the breastplate. A decadent priest always blamed the people. If a person needed healing, the glow of certain lights became a ray. As the rays of the breastplate shone on him, he was healed.

Different rays shone on a person who was lying, for example. Such a one, when called in front of the high priest, put on his own "robe of death." The lights covered him in black if he had broken a law. If the person was innocent, the lights turned white. The people, not knowing this, marveled at the high priest.

The lights of your breastplate become rays of repulsion against evil when you seek to become the twelve virtues of every gate in New Jerusalem. You put the breastplate on in the first Rebirth, when you are reborn of Spirit. The lights become twelve rays of repulsion when you stand steadfast, straightforward, not backwards, or sideways.

When you face the Light of God, the Light you push forth is so great in quality that no earthly matter can stop its flow. You can stand and withstand because evil cannot move against the breastplate.

God gives you the gift of twelve rays of the conqueror. Declare, "I AM now an ambassador of Light, bonded to God."

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Soul Integration (b)

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated December 8, 1957, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribe: Ruth Johnson. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20.

Integration is "joining all parts together for perfect wholeness." You must integrate yourself to ascend to God because He wants every unit of His Creation back home.

Like the prodigal son, your desires send you forth on the path to gain experience. Young people are eager to experience varied phases of education in college and new aspects of social life. Yet no earthly school can touch the wisdom you find in the College of Ascension in the Mental Realm.

The burned child dreads the fire of experience, but God uses those hard experiences for your own good. He uses your self-interest to draw you home, no matter what angle of it you express.

The harder you seek, the closer you get, because God reels in the line and pulls you to Him. As as wife, mother, husband or father, you must send out enough love in prayer to lift your loved ones' load of spiritual debt.

To integrate your scattered parts, you must put on the whole armor of God. Four times these verses say to stand, not to sit or lie down but to stand, to face the Light as it permeates and flows through you. To withstand requires that you stand with God.

Putting on the spiritual armor involves six steps: Gird your loins, put on the breastplate of righteousness, cover your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, carry the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, and carry the sword of Spirit, the Word of God.

The loins represent the Land of Egypt, the abdomen. Most of your physical weariness results from forgetting to gird your loins, and the physical result is a pot-bellied profile.

Unless you tighten the abdominal muscles, the internal organs, including the heart, sag and pull on the spine. You droop emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually if your loins sag.

When you let your consciousness sink, it closes the thousand petaled crown lotus that enfolds the brain nerves and endocrine glands, and closes out the River of Life until only a dead, dried out stump remains.

To gird means to bind up, to hold up, to look up and to lift up. The only way is to look up in surrender and become the servant of all Power.

You must live up to your highest vision of righteousness to wear the breastplate. It descends over your girded loins and covers the stomach, heart and lungs, which should work together in rhythm.

Its twelve stones focus rays of Light that can keep you from taking in others' negative emotions, yet the protection our breastplate provides depends on what you choose to do. You must be reborn every hour.

Stop excusing your idle words. You meant them or you would not have said them. Power flows in and refills you when you lift your lines of responsibility and Light.

Cover your left foot with peace, and put patience on the right. Desire ascends and mates with will to become Oversoul's "I AM" consciousness, begetting intuition and illumination. They create the great gift of poise, which is love and wisdom in equal measure. Peace and patience are the firstborn twins of poise and Power.

Wear your shield on the spiritual left arm, leaving the worldly right arm free for action. The shield covers you from head to toe so faith can uphold you, protect the physical body and the emotional-mental life. Give unconquerable faith a free rein to use you to the greatness of its capacity.

The crown lotus opens as you consciously carry your shield, and their Light becomes your helmet of salvation. Athena and Aphrodite, the Greek goddesses of wisdom and love, wore helmets. A halo appears when your lotus petals open. The helmet of salvation saves you from intellectual crystallization and opens you to intuition and illumination.

Hold the two-edged sword of truth in your right hand. Spirit is God's universal substance, and the sword shines with that Spirit as you separate the sheep of Light from the dark goats in life.

Good thoughts are sheep, but negative thoughts smell like goats. Sever the idle words from your life, gird your loins and lift everything to a cloud continent of Light.

Integration gathers your scattered parts and harmonizes them with God to ascend and be at one with Him. Do you want to be an ambassador in bonds and stand against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places? Stand under the Light and let it use you as God's ambassador in bonds.

At night, count how often you thought of self versus remembering and loving God. Send out enough love in prayer to lift your loved ones' load of spiritual debts. Recognize their flaws in love, but do not be soft.

Telling a secret to a weak person, who is like a sieve, tempts him, and you take the blame. Do not burden people beyond what they can carry. You may not expect another to do what he is unable to do. Yet, a just and loving appraisal to lift into the Light is not an unrighteous judgment.

Declare, "This is good to lift. I put it in the consuming fire to free another of God's children. Let Power move through me as an ambassador of Light to overcome all darkness."

The Power of God consumes all darkness. We really are one great family marching home to God.

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God Is Safe and Dependable (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for June 5, 1960, Cleveland, Ohio. Scriptures: Ephesians 6:10-20 and Acts 2:1-4.

Pentecost is the celebration of two events. It is the Jewish harvest festival, Shavuot, when people bring the first fruits of bounty to the temple. It is also the anniversary of God giving the law to Moses at Mount Sinai.

Pentecost occurs exactly fifty days after the offering given on the second day of the Passover. It is fitting that the descent of the Holy Ghost should have come on such as day of thanksgiving and devotion.

The disciples and followers were "with one accord in one place," in harmony. They were giving thanks for a bountiful harvest that fulfilled their belief in a safe and dependable God.

It seems fitting to unfold how to reach this place of complete confidence and trust in God. The secret is to put on the whole armor of God — not half, not part, but the whole armor – to withstand and having done all, to stand.

The important thing is to stand, not to cut down your lines by faltering or growing weary. To stand unmoved and steadfast after you have done all you know how to do, with no doubt, no fear, no looking back — this is good.

Now take six steps to protect yourself: Gird your loins with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, and take up the sword of Spirit.

Since these are six ways of protection for standing, there must be six laws that govern the six ways. First, gird your loins with truth. Truth is all principle as one. The loins are a particularly vulnerable place in the body, between the ribs and the hips, across the lower Land of Egypt.

The Land of Egypt covers the abdomen, between the hips and the breastbone. From the navel, the umbilical line or diaphragm, to the hip joints is the lower Land of Egypt. From the diaphragm to the breastbone is the upper Land of Egypt.

To gird the loins, place a band of Light around lower Egypt, to include the sacrum nerve plexus at the base of the spine. This band of Light is truth, the name of all fundamental principles. It upholds the liver, spleen and gallbladder.

The liver represents sincerity, the spleen patience and loyalty, and the gall bladder symbolizes unity. Bile, the gall bladder secretion, consists of many waste toxins the body can form from food, fatigue and negative emotional and mental states.

Symbolically, bile represents the poison of untruths. Only truth, a blend of all principles, can mix into a beneficent all-healing product. Truth stands the test of time, but lies and insincerity fall of their own weight.

To gird your loins, invoke the law, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you." – Luke 12:31.

Put on the breastplate of righteousness to cover the stomach, heart and lungs. Righteousness means to be law-abiding, upright, and applying the highest vision to all you do.

The lungs represent inspiration and aspiration. The heart represents right action. The stomach represents assimilation of all new ideas. Its center is the solar plexus.

The second law, which goes with putting on the breastplate, is, "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him." – Matthew 5:25.

Unless your stomach, heart and lungs work together in harmony, equilibrium and balance, which equals coordination, you have no health in you.

Shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace to understand and to stand under the Light. To gain complete understanding, walk as peace.

You have no enemies or adversaries because you obey the third law: "What is that to thee? Follow thou me." – John 21:22. You are busy, minding your own business.

The fourth step is taking up the shield of faith. Faith unconquerable is your protection from the world vibrations.

The left hand receives from Spirit. You hold a special light of protection over the left arm. You can move it up, down or sideways to protect yourself.

The fourth law is to "Abstain from all appearance of evil." – 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Faith is the substance of your words, idle or wise. We say, "By their works and words, ye shall know them." ["By their fruits ye shall know them." – Matthew 7:20.]

The fifth step is to put on the helmet of salvation, which provides protection for the golden bowl, the head. The soul faculties, seated in the head, are protected by the Light whirling down through Oversoul's "I AM" consciousness, which forms a helmet of Light all around the head.

The helmet saves you from the four winds of criticism, condemnation, opinion and prejudice. God does not ask you to love evil or wrong-doing, but you are supposed to gather up the associated life sparks to be burned and consumed.

The fifth law is, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me." – John 12:32. When you cover the transgressions of evil, put them in a blinding Light. The world always sees the truth, given enough Light. Sometimes the evil one sees the error of his ways.

The sixth step is to take up the sword of Spirit. Hold the sword in the right hand, which gives of Spirit, when you love enough. The sword is the Word of God, whose servant you become when you declare the sixth law, "This is good." [See Genesis 1.]

The world can tell if you are a true "ambassador in bonds" because your breastplate shines. At Pentecost, the flames of the Holy Spirit set all twelve jewels aflame.

The Pentecost flames touch you as the Holy Spirit descends on your devotion, your rejoicing, your "believing to see." When the breastplate is dull, you have slipped back into old habits.

You may speak boldly as an ambassador. You can easily persevere because you are "bonded" in the Light, and stand safe and secure.

The very fact that you are bonded tells you that God is dependable now. Your understanding is your guarantee of God's faithfulness.

The Legend of the Breastplate of Righteousness: The breastplate of righteousness covers the solar plexus, the stomach, heart and lungs. The high priest wore one with twelve stones in the chromatic colors, representing twelve rays of light.

The high priest entered the Holy of Holies, and came out to the people with the twelve lights of the breastplate shining. The combination of the twelve lights carried the message from God, which the high priest spoke in authority.

One or more lights would shine from the breastplate on the person needing help. If the priest was disobedient or used force by speaking from self, no light shone and the stone of the breastplate remained dull.

When someone stood before the high priest with a tale or falsehood, a stone on the breastplate either sent light to the person or lost its glow. The stones reflected whatever the witness was thinking, as well as his speech.

A lying witness put on his own "robe of death" and condemned himself. Only the high priest knew this. Therefore, the judgment of the breastplate remained a mystery because the people never knew how the priests could tell they were lying.

Each of the Elect has his or her own breastplate. The stones of the breastplate always hold some glow when you wear it as part of the whole armor of God.

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God Is Safe and Dependable (b)

This Edna Lister created this sermon transcript is dated June 5, 1960, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribes: Ruth Johnson and Irene White. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20.

Today is Pentecost Sunday, a celebration of thankful gratitude for the past and the future. Pentecost is a Christian festival, called Whitsunday, held the seventh Sunday after Easter to celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit to the apostles in Jerusalem.

Pentecost coincides with the Jewish festival of harvest, which they call Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. Seven weeks after the second day of Passover, they brought thank offerings to the temple in gratitude for the Passover, and to celebrate Moses receiving the law for Israel on Mount Sinai.

Pentecost is a thank offering for a bountiful harvest in faith, for believing to see, and harvesting the seeds you planted long ago. Pentecost is a day of devotion and gratitude, of expressing complete faith in what is to come.

This sermon topic of the whole armor of God is perfect for Pentecost because it describes a God of past and present safety, who is dependable for the future. We celebrate Pentecost under true ascension laws, in gratitude with all faiths, Jews, Catholics and Protestants. No separation can exist in faith.

Paul defines two ways to ascend in the sixth chapter of Ephesians. First, he describes a preparatory period where you learn to "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."

Second, "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood." – Ephesians 6:11-12. Principalities, powers, world rulers of darkness and spiritual hosts of wickedness in high places still beset us today. To "put on the whole armor of God" means to stand with God on the inner and spiritually visualize the ways of protection.

You clothe yourself in the armor of Light that you "may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." It is not enough just to open an umbrella. Unless you become this whole armor, it cannot protect you. This text describes six ways to protect yourself as you ascend.

The loins are vulnerable, and a pulled groin muscle is severely painful. The loins contain the liver, which represents sincerity, the spleen, which represents patience and loyalty, and the gall bladder, which represents unity.

Your body sends every physical toxin to one of these organs for cleansing. Unity establishes harmony among them, but insincerity, anger or bitterness upset them.

Gird your loins in truth so they will not sag and drag you down the pole in consciousness. The land of Egypt extends from the thighs to the diaphragm, above the navel.

You gird your loins, to protect your stomach, which represents assimilation with God's principles of being, including faith. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and see yourself as wearing a girdle of Light over the land of Egypt.

The Promised Land extends from the diaphragm to the clavicles, the collarbones. The breastplate represents righteousness as a state of consciousness in action, which is the application of your highest vision, to send the Spirit of the Lord into the world before you.

The breastplate covers the stomach, heart, and lungs. It also protects the epigastric nerve plexus, which controls and coordinates these organs into righteousness, the right use of law.

The lungs symbolize high spiritual inspiration and aspiration, as well as physical respiration. The stomach represents your assimilation of new ideas. The heart symbolizes courage and honorable action.

If your assimilation of ideas, action and inspiration disagrees, it causes trouble with the stomach, heart and the lungs. All parts of you must agree and adjust, and conflict prevents coordination. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." – Matthew 6:33.

Aaron's breastplate had twelve stones, called Urim and Thummim, or lights and virtues [also called lights and perfections, and revelation and truth]. Each petition ignited a light in one stone, if the petitioner told the truth, or the lights of the breastplate dimmed.

The lights descended as rays from great Councils when the Israelites worked under law and obedience. The high priest entered the tabernacle to pray, and some could see the breastplate glow when he stepped forth. If the response was negative, no Light shone.

The breastplate you wear is the Light going before you to clear the way and open the right doors to let God's Power do the work. Move all the way up in consciousness, into the kingdom of heaven.

Keep yourself cleansed so all Power can move through you. You can always visualize yourself a step higher, one step at a time. Too many people live by, "I let go and let God sometimes, then I let go and let me."

Cover your feet, which represent understanding, with the preparation of the gospel of peace. You cannot find or live in peace without understanding, which ends all inner conflict.

Adversaries will beset you until you obey the law of "What is that to thee? Follow thou me." – John 21:22. Lift the results of evil. Lift your loved ones. Lift government employees and politicians into the Light. "Follow thou me" means to follow law. You need not love what people do. Lift them, and declare that Light is the result of their action.

Step aside and let Power do the work. See the Light, not the need, or no healing can come. When Light fully armors you, Power will move through your spoken Word and do the work. "The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." – John 14:10.

You hold the shield of faith with the left hand, which signifies faith protecting the spiritual side. It provides ten thousandfold more protection than the right hand. The right hand of execution says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." – 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Up goes the shield of faith, which is the Substance of Light, to provide protection from self and others, especially from idle word creations.

The helmet of salvation protects the golden bowl, the head. Whirling Light descends through the golden bowl to protect the pineal body and pituitary gland, which are parts of the higher creative center.

Light motivates the Oversoul super-conscious mind, and it adds soul substance. Integrate this with "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." – John 12:32.

You give others your soul substance when you live under the four winds of criticism, opinions, prejudices and condemnation. This cyclone of force shuts off your salvation and closes doors. Most people have only peeked at the kingdom, never seen it.

For example, a bookkeeper is accountable for all month-end figures. Everyone's work depends on the numbers they generate, so they come under pressures from every sort of conflict. The four worldly winds in the figures tear off bits of their soul substance. They may even lock shreds of their soul substance in the safe with the books overnight.

Enter the Gates of Light to the kingdom of heaven, be lifted up, and stay there. Let the Father do the work, without using your own soul substance.

The two-edged "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" is Love and Wisdom balanced. Together, they open the way to pour enough love substance to heal anything completely.

If you lift and nothing happens, take another step, raise your sword of Spirit and declare, "This is good." This is the only way to cut through negativity to heal. The truth protects you, if you definitely hold to your inner harmony, and remember to wear your armor.

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit … that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that in it I may speak boldly." – Ephesians 6:18-20. This directive applies to each in his own way. Never forget that you are an ambassador in bonds to God.

God's abundance will always pay your bond, but prepare yourself, put on the armor, and stand on the crossbar to immolate the self-will. God's promises move into fulfillment on your declaration, "This is good. Now is the good, high time to be saved from all darkness."

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The Key to Right Action

This Edna Lister created this sermon transcript is dated October 1, 1961, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribe: Irene White. Scripture: Matthew 5:39-48.

"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." – Matthew 5:39-48.

Do you know the true magnificence of Jesus' teachings? His entire theme was on right living and right action, which frees the soul from bondage to the little self to become part of the greatness of God again. He foretells the triumph of Light in the conflict with darkness, as the little self and soul become one.

The one keyword of this Christed Age is integration, and you must unite your rational soul and Oversoul to become one. Jesus' immortal Sermon on the Mount provides all the necessary laws to overcome every negative emotion and action, and places great emphasis on giving.

The power of nonresistance is now running the universe in equilibrium, harmony and balance. Nonresistance is the one great law of life that will lead you straight back to God. Nonresistance means to stand up and become an adult. It grants the fortitude to stand and face whatever comes from the outer, without flinching, fearing or moving. Stand serenely confident, waiting upon the Lord under the Light, and the waves of life's ocean of experience cannot hurt you.

Whom do you want to be right now? Your nonresistance must be from the toes up, as the royal attitude of a creator with God. Give consciously of what is inside you, what you have now, without willfulness or resentment.

Nonresistance is God in action. Integrate your will and desire into the key that opens all doors, and you can if you stand serenely poised, immovable, and irresistible.

God created you with two switchboards, one for dealing with the world and its constant conflict, the other a master switchboard, given you as a creator. You can choose which one you use.

When you use the low "little self" instinctive creature switchboard, you tune in the world's conflicts. When you begin to ascend in consciousness, you use the master switchboard.

First you turn a switch to close out noises of earth, which includes the patter or cursing voices of those who let themselves go. Your desire to ignore them turns a switch on a divine instrument panel, and closes out their noise.

Your desire of intention forms a sheath of Light around you to close out, to ban the noises of earth from your aura. Otherwise, the first blow strikes, then seven more blows because it circles earth seven times before it quells. If you react with an attitude of "I'm hurt," you turn the switch off, and must start again.

The second dimensional switch closes out sound waves when you turn it, and you have ascended consciousness. Agreeing and adjusting is easier from here.

The third dimensional switch is marvelous. It closes out thought waves, world thoughts, and builds a fiery sheath of protection around you as you stand still and wait upon the Lord.

The fourth dimensional switch is love, the substance of the sheath surrounding you. Turn this key and God's Power moves through you.

God gave you this fiery body, created in His image and likeness, a celestial, spiritual body, protective and divine. It fits into the space around you. The sun stands still for you, divine Mind puts the right words on your lips, Light lifts old ideas, and the situation opens.

Do not blame anyone else when you leave a detail unattended. Learn to turn your switches to high, enter the golden silence, and close out all outer confusion.

Finally, you know the silken smoothness of God's Power and cannot bear to lose your contact with it. God Himself opens the master switches to His omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience for you.

To turn the fourth dimensional key, you must love your service to God. Suffering it or just liking and enjoying it is not enough. You do not get much if you set your heat on simmer. Nonresistance stands in stable perfection, and absorbs everything of earth within its Light.

The Father sent Jesus to show us this. Ascend, God-high, and stop acting like a worm crawling in the dust. Every moment can be a thrilling ecstasy, because a miracle has flowed through you.

Batter down the barriers of self. Every time you say, "Father, I love You," a miracle happens on earth. When you need a miracle that much, you will have it. Someone else's prayer may be your miracle, and your prayers can supply miracles for others.

Turn on the master switch, say prayers for one person, take care of him, and he has a miracle. "Take care of him, Father" is your prayer.

If you can think of half a dozen people to pray for at once, God can think of a thousand. You will never run out of people and situations for which to pray.

Declare, "My Father in heaven is the Source of all perfect glory, love and joy." Move to where all His glory and perfection move through you.

What do you want? The master key is love. No man can steal your keys or block your access to the divine instrument panel.

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What Is Compassion? (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for May 6, 1962, Cleveland, Ohio. Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-20.

The dictionary defines compassion as "the sorrow or pity aroused when another is suffering." You need to know the difference between sentimental sympathy and brisk lifting, loving compassion. Compassion can only come with and through understanding. Through your identity with God comes your compassion for men. Your compassion can never be greater than your comprehension of God.

This chapter sums up four necessary laws for your obedience. The difficulty lies in the fact that you need to discipline yourself. Success comes through the soul training the self, by making yourself learn these laws and to remain vigilant until you obey them unconsciously. You must become these laws. You cannot do anything else.

An actor or performer trains for stage presence: You must command your breathing and focus your attention to create the perfect poise that fills the stage with your "presence." That presence is an indefinable something that magnetizes the viewer and listener.

First, you must honor the Father and Mother as personality and principle within yourself. You must be obedient to them.

Second, fathers and mothers must not provoke their children to wrath. Apply more discipline of soul to remain calm and confident. Walk softly and speak gently to follow Christ.

Third, be obedient to overlords, masters and bosses. You are not asked to like your superiors, but to obey and follow instructions. These people are your teachers.

Fourth, do not offer merely eye-service or lip-service as man-pleasers, but be a servant of Christ. Both master and servant are menial to God, of one substance, having one Master. Masters must do the same. Do not point out another's mistakes, but let law pin back his ears.

As you obey these four necessary rules, you awaken fully in three steps, three prerequisites – desire, decision and action. They are the only way to learn to hold fast to law at all times.

Paul gives it thus, "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." – Ephesians 6:11-12.

You may wrestle with the powers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, but you must ignore it. You cannot afford to create more darkness by paying attention to it, which is like paying homage to it.

You can conquer by putting on the whole armor of God. First, gird your loins with truth. The loins cover the liver and spleen. Healing is knowing the truth. To acknowledge this means to live the truth, which is your cure.

Second, put on the breastplate of righteousness, which focuses twelve rays of Light. Righteousness is the right use of high soul vision.

Always keep your imagination turned upward to protect your lungs, heart and stomach. No vibration of evil from the world can penetrate your breastplate.

Third, shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The feet represent understanding, which is your preparation to accept. The gospel of peace permits no irritation, anger, revenge, etc.

Fourth, wear the shield of faith over your left arm. See darkness and discord to lift only. Ignore what is false or evil. Never repeat another's idle words. Faith in God is your shield of protection from idle words.

Fifth, put on the helmet of salvation. When you are "crowned with glory," which is an aureole of Light, it absorbs darkness. You are then untouchable, with opened lotus centers.

The Greek-style helmet of Athena, with its prominent nose-piece, blinds the mystic eye. Thus, it closes out illumination with opinions and prejudices because it permits no contact with the Holy Ghost.

Sixth, bear the sword of Spirit, which is two-edged in love and wisdom. The hilt is the Word of God, which is a vibration that goes forth on your declarations.

Now your thinking, desire and imagination begin to act as one to function as your creative powers of soul. Desire is the source of your decisions and actions. Desire becomes the tool of vision and mind. Your soul vision and the Christ mind in you must work together to make decisions.

Desire begins to burn into a flame. Now you can choose. Whatever plan God has for you, you can decide with logic, reason, discretion, discrimination and discernment. This is how to remain in obedience to first four laws.

Help God by using all your faculties, plus common sense. Sometimes one plan stands out brilliantly because your past love has already burned away all obstacles and interference.

Action is to do something. Your action is to read about it, think about it, talk about it, wonder about it, ponder over it. Then you get up and get busy. Any small action is good. If you have decided on the wrong plan, God acts by taking it away or He stops you. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Each person is a special servant of God's will. Declare, "I am an ambassador in bonds. God is my bondsman." He wants you and can use you if you are interested now.

Hold to these four laws. Keep wearing your armor of Light. Fulfill your new covenant with God to be used. Desire more life and more confidence. Make your decision always to hold.

Your action is to ascend in consciousness, to reach for the stars, to let faith possess you. When you are faith in action, you are unconquerable.

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What Is Compassion? (b)

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated May 6, 1962, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribes: Ruth Johnson, Irene White, Virginia Whitehead. Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-20.

This chapter of the Epistle to Ephesians describes the whole armor of God. Paul is our greatest ensample of a repentant sinner. Paul confessed his past errors and witnessed to the truth. He was prolific and frank in his writing.

In his Letter to Philippians, he writes, "Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better."

Paul desired to be with Christ, but knew he still had work to do here. In Ephesians, Paul boils it down to this: You could ascend, conquer everything earth can produce, if you obey the four most sacrificial of laws governing the greatest difficulties in your relationships. First, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Love and Wisdom are your divine parents, and you must obey them.

Second, "Honor your father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth." If you do not honor your parents, you have no honor. You are a combination of the Father of Wisdom and the Mother of Love. Unless you honor Wisdom and Love, you are not honoring your high spiritual Parents. If you honor God's Love and Wisdom coming through you, you do not degrade it.

Third, "Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." If parents can discipline children without interjecting their own opinions, prejudices and horse and buggy emotions, they will not provoke their children. Further, parents anger their children when they do not live up to the ideals they preach. You have emotional and mental children, too, and your negativity provokes them to wrath. For instance, people degrade the Father-Mother principles when they dwell on political hatreds.

"Finally, Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." – Ephesians 6:5-8.

Serve your worldly masters as if you were serving Jesus. In turn, a worldly master should treat his employees as he would treat Jesus. The same law that governs servants and masters also covers all the menial tasks of life, like scrubbing floors. Where did the pail, brush and water come from?

From the Word came immense energy, which humanity has misused to create relentless wars. Now, we are dusting and scrubbing for God. All the leftover residue, the dust and ashes, will be added to the reserve supply of life sparks. Give this redeemed substance to the Master, as a servant. Do each thing as if you were handing it to him, kneeling at his feet. Do not be just a man-pleaser, but be a God-pleaser.

The whole armor of God is your protection. I could write an entire book on these metaphysical correspondences. To live completely in the Garden of Eden, you must cleanse and protect the Promised Land and the Land of Egypt.

Gird your loins with truth and cover them with Light to protect the liver and the spleen. The red corpuscles formed in the bone marrow and the liver meet in the spleen, to keep you healthy.

The breastplate of righteousness includes the right use of these four laws. The breastplate covers and protects the stomach, heart and lungs, and its twelve stones direct rays of repulsion to protect you from the fiery darts of the wicked. Look at their grim faces and laugh inside. Smile and pay them no attention. If someone calls you names, ascend above the barbs.

The feet represent understanding, metaphysically. To protect your understanding, you must put on the preparation of the gospel of peace. You cannot have peace unless you understand the peace of God and your identity with Him as your Source.

If Love and Wisdom are your parents who rule you, then peace symbolizes the harmony among your phases of soul, creature, rational and Oversoul. When you have compassion for yourself, and your consciousness acts as one at all levels, you will know the gospel of peace and live it.

Wear the shield of faith on your left arm, which represents the inner kingdom. You can move it, so you can cover your solar plexus when you need protection.

The helmet of salvation protects the golden bowl. Your personal helmet of salvation is the awakened crown lotus center shining as your crown of glory and illumination.

Carry the sword of truth in your right hand. When you have become these six laws, you pick it up, and become as Jesus said, "Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." – Matthew 5:37.

The sword awakens your creative faculties until imagination becomes vision, until desire burns with a flame of glory and gives birth to decision and action. Your face tells the world all about you.

You leave yourself vulnerable if you misuse the sword of truth. When you are learning these things, you are sure to make more than one mistake in the world. Hold your sword flat side out, and negative people will remain quiet and go away.

As your Godlike faculties move into action, you can choose under logic, reason, discretion, discrimination and discernment. The Father will back any decisions that have burning desire behind them. He then adds Power to your Oversoul star to remove the obstacles from your path. He protects you by stopping you when continuing is unsafe.

It does no good to run around talking about your ideals and goals for the world to tear them down. Put your past ideals on a cloud of Light, but never relinquish them. Do something toward accomplishing your goals each day, if only thinking and praying about them. Just do one little thing along this path every day. God needs your creativity now.

I've had a College in mind for forty-two years. At first it was small, but now it is twenty miles square. I have put all the buildings on clouds of Light. One day this vision will come to pass.

Never let go of your vision. Walk toward it. Don't complain about people who block your way. Say, "You're no block, but part of the plan's greatness. You've made it greater." Act as if you have your glory now. Ignore the outer and see your vision.

The sword of truth and the shield of faith make you invisible before the world's negativity. People may accuse you of being proud. You are, because you know that of yourself you are nothing, but the Father does the work, and He works everything together for good.

"Father, we walk in Your Light. You are our illumination. Make us bold because we are ambassadors of Light to the masses, faithfully returning the bond to You."

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Love, Your Radar (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for November 17, 1963, Cleveland, Ohio. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20.

Protection means to defend or to guard. NORAD, the acronym for the North American Air Defense Command, is being built Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. The mountain is hollowed out to create huge rooms lined with hollow steel blocks surrounded with a rubber material to take the shocks.

The facility will house the greatest machines ever built, a computerized "Master Mind," which is to be a central command station that will coordinate all radar stations at once.

The stations are on the DEW Line [Distant Early Warning], from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to Greenland. [The DEW Line was a joint effort between the U.S. and Canada during the Cold War era.] The radar units and computers will serve as a warning system to instantly register the slightest disturbance in ground or atmosphere, giving location and incoming direction. In the ocean we have sonar radar, which registers movements and sounds in water.

Every ship, every station receiving signals will automatically register on the NORAD computers in Cheyenne Mountain. The listening dishes act like great fans, overlapping and constantly swinging to gather in sounds. All this has been man-made to act instantly.

God has sent you here with your very own NORAD station in your head. Like the little boy who, when asked where he got his beautiful eyes said, "Oh, they came with my head," your NORAD station comes with your head.

Your radar is alive to register everything around you. It is your protection, your protection, your defense and your guard. I have it, but how do I get it working? What is the master key to unlock this power? Love, of course.

Love unlocks the energy stored in your soul star, and releases it when you use the armor of God. The whole armor of God, described in Ephesians, the sixth chapter, outlines six ways to protect and to defend yourself. The eleventh and twelfth verses list what you must protect yourself from.

"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." – Ephesians 6:11-12.

This means that you can use the whole armor of God to treat all cross-vibrations, all dark, lesser suggestions and thoughts incoming from the world. What are you protecting? Your creative tools of desire, thinking, and imagination.

The first step is to gird your loins with truth. This places a band of Light, called the girdle of Aphrodite, over the liver, which represents sincerity, and the spleen, which symbolizes patience and loyalty. You must permit no outer vibration or suggestion of either insincerity or disloyalty to touch you.

The second step is guarding yourself with the breastplate of righteousness, which has twelve stones, twelve lights and colors arrayed like radar to meet any outer vibration. You face the world with your right use of high vision.

The third step is to shod your feet, which represent understanding, with the "preparation of the gospel of peace," which is spiritual understanding. You can have no peace when you are in conflict.

The fourth step in protection is taking up your shield of faith. Wearing it on your left arm, you move it in every direction. Faith is your protecting sheath of substance. Wisdom is the Light, Love the substance of faith, and the Logos/Word sends it forth. Thus, you may quench the fiery darts with your words.

Putting on the helmet of salvation is the fifth step of protection. You "take" the helmet of salvation by earning it as the reward for all else. This is your NORAD defense, and it came with your sixteen-petaled lotus. You must awaken every nerve of the thousand-petaled crown lotus all over your head. Nothing can shake your brain if these petals are awakened, because they are shock absorbers.

Then the white wings of the Christ descend and the fans of pharaoh open to protect the golden bowl. Headaches often result when conflict, internal or external, interferes with the life of the thousand petals.

The solar plexus meridian is your DEW line, of outer protection. It receives warnings from the outside, relays the premonitions to NORAD, if you lift them instantly. Push the This-Is-Good button, which directs the Power to the right place for protection, direct to the source of the darkness. "This is good" works faster than the mechanical brain can work.

The sixth step of protection is to hold the sword of Spirit, the balance of love and wisdom, up in your right hand. Thus, you bind darkness, and it cannot move.

Supplication is not begging, but means "Let it come. I am ready!" Give God all the credit. "Not I but the Father does the work. My Father worketh hitherto and I work."

Persevere in the face of difficulty. Move high, and allow no cross-vibration to touch you as criticism born of intolerance. Remember, anything of which you are intolerant of or criticize, you are just out of or are still in it.

He who has earned the right to know, knows that his own taints show. You may permit yourself no criticism or you brand yourself intolerant. Today, integration is pulling down three life waves. The first wave must release more love. The middle life wave is working to integrate the lower third life wave, even marrying among them.

Say, "Thank You, Father, that You have not chosen me for this third grade work. I gladly release Power to be used." Put them all in an actual sphere of Light, shaft of fire, sphere of fire and walls of fire. Give God the credit. Declare, "I AM become an ambassador in bonds. I AM a servant of Power."

"Father, the platform You have placed under me shall become an elevator, lifting me to the Source, where all the Power of God forms a radar of protection around me. God, the Source, is my NORAD, and instantly sends a call over my lines of Light and the Power surrounds me!"

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Love: Your Radar (b)

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated November 17, 1963, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribes: Irene White and Virginia Whitehead. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20.

The Bible is such a great textbook. It answers every need. You can open your textbook and always find a verse that shows you the way. How many of you use it? Make it a constant practice to go to the Bible for a verse to guide you through the day.

Protection means defense, a refuge and a guard. The Father above has prepared the way before you clearly for your guidance and protection. Our religion is a scientific study of the laws of principle, and the whole of what has been prepared for our glory and protection. God can restrain a certain element in the world only by a good constructive fear. He does see and hear everything, and takes care of you.

God is the reason to become moral, honorable, loyal. Recording angels write everything in the Book of Life. My mother trained me in this, and I grew up believing it. No mother should threaten her child about God, but give her children knowledge of a God of honor, love and protection.

A hollowed-out mountain in the Colorado Rockies serves as the headquarters for NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command. Cheyenne Mountain has many rooms of steel surrounded by a cushion of spongy rubber-like material that acts as a shock absorber. If a bomb struck it, the shock absorbers would lessen the blow.

NORAD houses a mechanical brain, a computer said to be the largest ever built on earth. The Distant Early Warning DEW line also registers radar, but NORAD registers every sonar and radar impulse from every ship, plane and installation on earth. Men built this mechanical warning system.

You come to earth with a God-given radar protection built into your head. The golden bowl is your protective radar equipment, the most magnificent device God could plan. You all came with this power of protection. Whether you respect it and develop brain cells for its use, or disrespect and misuse it, it determines what you get from life, where you are going.

Humanity is the microcosm. God is the macrocosm. Your radar is as great as your Father in heaven. If you do not believe this, you do not believe that the Father made you in His image and likeness. You reject God when you say, "I'm not ready," or "I'm too old for this."

How do you put your radar in action? Love is the answer, the love you have for God, whom you accept. Accept the fact of your protection, without indulging in anemic "thinking" and dawdling about accepting it.

God is more than a cold thought. Love for God opens your great Oversoul Star storehouse that contains all your creative substance. It is your safe deposit box at in God's bank. When you say, "Let it happen," your Star opens and you can draw on the substance it contains. No one can ever use your substance, for no one but you can touch it. Your love opens the vault door.

God has arranged this elaborate security for your protection. The sixth chapter of Ephesians expresses this perfectly, tells you to put on the whole armor of God, and having done all, to stand. The whole armor is God's loving protection that enables you to "withstand in the evil day."

Having done all you can, you stand, then stand some more until God gets tired of hearing your same petition, and answers you. If you can say, "I've done everything. What now?" — you do not believe God. When you believe God, you stand and wait.

"Gird up your loins" means to put a band of Light around your middle. The liver symbolizes sincerity, and the spleen represents patience and loyalty. These organs are the foundation of your physical health protection. Unless you gird your loins and stand protected by your sincerity and loyalty, you will be open to an outside vibration. You must remain loyal to your principles. Disloyalty to yourself is the primary cause of problems with the spleen. Stand on sincerity, for telling lies damages the liver.

"Put on the breastplate of righteousness," which has twelve stones. Each stone emits the white Light of the Christ in a different color. The white Light goes forth and, in the center of each stone, becomes the color necessary to shatter the evil before you.

"Let your feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Feet represent understanding, and you can understand all things peaceably and peacefully when you stand under the Light. No peace is possible for the world or individuals, save through understanding by standing under the Light.

Next, you put on the helmet of salvation. This is the tricky step, to awaken the crown lotus, which is your radar grid that warns of danger. The thousand-petal lotus at the crown of the atomic mental body forms the aura of lights, and is your protection from vibrations of the outside world. Each petal is a nerve end with a phosphorescent tip, which acts as a shock absorber to cushion the bumps and jars to your head.

Conflicts between self and soul about the positive and negative sides of a virtue will create headaches. If the faculties are crystallized, the person has trouble setting the lotus petals afire. The trick is to let soul consciousness direct and control, not self-consciousness.

You store all principles of Love and Wisdom in the sixteen-petaled lotus at the crown of your electronic spiritual body, and the whole process of Ascension works to awaken this lotus. Each petal represents a virtue, whose negative side you are conquering to make its positive side your own. For example, courage is yours when you conquer fear.

Radar rays move in every direction in straight lines to catch passing vibrations. You have protection at the solar plexus meridian, your DEW line (Distant Early Warning), which picks up every worldly vibration.

You put the shield of faith on your left arm. If you feel a premonition, declare, "This is good," which will trigger the Light from your Oversoul star. "This is good," starts the action from the Source itself to protect you, and returning rays of repulsion push something that could have happened away from you. "Let there be Light" will ascend it. This is your protection equipment.

Your ascending love triggers a vibration from the Source, which invokes protective rays of repulsion around your body. This shield of faith catches every vibration and diverts it directly to your protection station before it strikes your solar plexus.

The sword of Spirit is the double-edged sword of Love and Wisdom, and the Logos of the Christed One forms the crossbar below the handle. You carry the sword in your right hand, which denotes execution or action in the world. The sword quenches fire, goes direct to the heart of what is happening, and diverts evil, darkness and negativity.

Take no self-credit for what you do. Say, "Not I, but the Father does the work." The Power from above will take you to your goal. Most people just live by vibrations they pick up from the world. Yet you must extract yourself from the world and go to your crown lotus communication station to contact the Source.

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Making a supplication does not mean you are begging, but that you let the Power work. Say, "Let the Power go through. Father, here I am. Let the Power do everything the people of earth pray for." The main difficulty is that you do not persevere.

You cannot criticize the world of men and keep your armor of Light intact. When any outside world vibration hits your love radar, launch a This-Is-Good missile, and put walls of fire around them. Call down shafts of fire around your body, and everything that needs protection.

Too much political criticism is going around. He who knows law and has advanced, knows that each critic has most likely been the thing he is criticizing. Somewhere the critic has learned the lesson, but criticizes those who have not yet learned it.

Earth is home to three life waves, ascending creator gods, the sons and daughters of man, and creatures, so everyone has lived on the lower pole of a virtue, sometime. Yet you cannot criticize men, governments or events and remain invulnerable to outer evil.

It just does not matter to the creature, and the sons and daughters of man can be hypercritical intellectually. You, the ascending creators, can be tolerant of what the world criticizes to death.

"I am an ambassador in bonds." Your ambassadorship obliges you to declare "it" good and launch your missiles of Light when something evil hits your radar system. Declare walls of fire around evil. Call down shafts of fire on yourself and your family, and surround them with a wall of fire.

The fiery Light you invoke becomes rays of repulsion so that although "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." – Psalm 91:7. Declare that you love God enough. When you have invoked your protection, you know what to do and can stand to release more Power.

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Increasing Your Faith and Compassion (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for November 13, 1966, Cleveland, Ohio. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20.

You put on the whole armor of God in six steps: Gird your loins with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, and hold the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

The difficulty in past ages and most of all today is evangelism that has sought to reduce God to a size that fits within the limits of man's comprehension. They talk about faith, but have no idea what it is.

Evangelism is a neutral word meaning "the preaching of the gospel, a message of joy; missionary zeal, purpose, or activity." The evangelists' failure lies in their inability to explain what causes the joy of believing in faith.

A gospel message must begin at the Source, which is God, who is greater than His entire expanding universe. The old Biblical concept of God has been lost and destroyed.

The greatest thing about this concept is its idea of full sovereignty. What does modern man know about loyalty to a sovereign King? Today, man has been "personalized" in his views and attitudes toward living. He has completely lost the objective dimension of ultimate reality. [Edna Lister is describing secular humanism before the so-called intellectual elite named it.]

Television, movies and stories have developed a defense mechanism within man that is so strong that he fights loyalty to anything. He marries without a care because he can easily break his vows if he so chooses. Modern man has little or no faith in anything. Yet you can have no loyalty without faith in the object of your loyalty.

Our ancestors had faith in God and king. Even a savage has faith in his fetish, which may be only a stone with a hank of hair. Today, so called "independent" man is regressing to loyalty to his senses and "things," to drugs such as LSD, marijuana, heroin and alcohol.

Faith in God as your sovereign means admitting dependence on a Power, a Source greater than self. Jesus pictured God as a loving Father of all good. Children, whose parents have given them no identity with God as their Source, have no Father God. Thus, they flout the rule of their father in the home.

What are you to do? If you have faith, make your life a message of the one God, all powerful, a God of laws that work. You may not give permissive consent to the blasphemous doctrine of "no God" by remaining silent. Instead, stand for truth in the Light as an evangelist of Light. Do you believe that God above knows what He is doing? Faith is loving God enough to trust Him, and to stand on truth and know that He rules.

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." – Ephesians 6:13-17.

Do you love God enough to stand? Having your loins girt with truth means protecting the abdominal area, symbolically the Land of Egypt. Close out the old worldly vibrations. For example, you hear a lie, and if you allow it to live in your consciousness, it fastens a thread to you. When you repudiate a lie, you release the Light as Power to absorb it. When you have a premonition, you build a spiritual overpass above it and turn it into a miracle.

Wearing the breastplate of righteousness protects the body's trunk, the stomach, heart and lungs, which lie within the Land of Promise. Right protection means a state of righteousness, the right application or use of law in your personal life. You must give $10 worth of effort to an $8 an hour job, or you cannot expect a miracle. If you give $5 worth of work for a $7 an hour wage, you can expect only a flop.

The feet represent understanding. Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace means having more than faith, understanding, joy or poise. You have no complete protection or identity with God unless the Light descends all the way to your feet. "Let there be Light" puts on the preparation of peace, and you leave peace-filled footprints behind you. Anyone who steps into the same place will have healing and the answers to their prayers.

The shield of faith forms as the Light descends to your feet and draws the magnetic currents of earth up, protecting your body from shoulders to knees. This shield of Light moves from side to side as you move. It protects the Promised Land, the heart, lungs and stomach. If you feel ill, raise your shield.

The helmet of salvation is also made of Light and protects you from outside vibrations such as mental cacophony and hypnotic suggestions, like those in TV and radio advertising. Your helmet of Light protects your Garden of Eden, your head.

The helmet protects what we call the three windows of the soul. Faith rides the Light down to you, as a quality of soul, bounded by love on one side and joy on the other. Thus, you may choose to see the world through the lenses of love, faith and joy.

Love, faith and joy are three keys to the full kingdom of heaven. Faith is a straight key that fits the middle window that admits pure Light. No other key fits the lock of faith. Be straight, stand straight and face straight to find the straight way to ascend.

"And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." – Ephesians 6:19-20. The "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," is the Voice, speaking words of Light. Speak boldly, but not aggressively, using loving, kind and compassionate words.

How great is your faith? How broad, long, deep and high? Your words show the greatness of your faith, love and joy.

Jesus the Christ is your bondsman. How great is your protector's love and joy? Is yours that great, as well? Declare, "I am an ambassador in bonds of faith, love and joy, acting now as compassion."

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Increasing Your Faith and Compassion (b)

This Edna Lister sermon transcription is dated November 13, 1966, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribes: Elizabeth Barnes, Ruth Johnson, Irene White. Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20.

The evangelists and teachers of the Gospels, who degrade the idea of God and bring it down to fit the intelligence of common people, have caused the difficulty through all ages. This has broken out more virulently now than in past.

From Abraham on down, men have conceived that God is greater than all His creations. Although conscious evolution was beginning, human consciousness could not yet grasp principle; humanity still needed an idea of a God with personality.

They taught a sovereign God, and pictured a God like themselves. They took the first step down when they degraded God to the level of a man.

Osiris and Isis brought the universality of God that degenerated into animals as gods. Zoroaster brought eternal Light that degenerated into fire and sun worship. Man has always degraded the original idea given.

Jesus came and taught principle as faith and loyalty. He preached a God unlike man, but he brought it down to personality with the "Father" idea to make them understand.

The same groups who had originally demoted God reincarnated and degraded the Father idea of God and even their own fathers on earth. You need faith in a God who is greater than all creations, and you must be loyal to God have faith. Man has little faith nowadays and less loyalty.

Evangelists preach a message of joy, and teach of a God in whom you may have faith and to whom you may be loyal. Their message arouses what they term "joy." The best of them are leading people back to God's sovereignty and to giving their faith and loyalty to Him. Less appealing are those who forcefully proselytize using condemnation and fear.

The personalized man on the street repudiates the idea of bending the knee to God. Greater humility is needed. The great tragedy of the world is disobedience to law, which is principle.

I want a Father, one to whom I can go as a person. You could not know this out here so far from heaven if it wasn't like this at the Source. Thinking of God only as personality is imbalanced; you also need God as principle.

"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." – Ephesians 6:12.

To withstand evil is to be withdrawn from and untouched by evil. "Having done all, to stand," includes standing on principle at home and in the office. When you quietly stand without a smug look, you frustrate your enemies.

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness." – Ephesians 6:13-14.

The loins represent the land of Egypt (the abdomen), which contains the liver, spleen and colon. The liver represents sincerity, with which you protect truth. The spleen represents loyalty and patience; the large intestine and colon represent pride.

Be sincere, loyal to God and have pride in your standing, but if pride eats you up, it brings colitis. Protect the land of Egypt from world vibrations and opinions. You can, for example, fear a medical diagnosis so much that you cause physical difficulties to grow.

The breastplate of righteousness gives you the means to live by right use of law, day by day, up to your highest vision. It has twelve stones whose colors represent healing for endocrine glands and nerve plexus centers in the body. When you are in Light, the breastplate emits twelve rays of repulsion from the white Light of Christ to keep evil from you. These rays can offend those who are not conscious of taints. They see the taints in others, but the breastplate's rays show them their guilt.

The rays from the breastplate reveal the dangers on the path before you. Most people go through life with a dull breastplate that does not protect the Promised Land, which includes the stomach, heart and lungs.

"Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace." – Ephesians 6:15. Peace is a preparation, a combination. You cannot have peace without faith in God and loyalty to all Power, love, compassion and joy. The feet symbolize understanding, which can come only when you coat them with this preparation.

When you have shod yourself with the preparation of peace, salvation grows where you have walked. When another treads in your footsteps, he can have his miracle of healing, he receives the answer to prayer, and his problem is solved.

The whole armor of God is your protection. The credit for healing in the Book of Life goes to the one who had an open contact with God.

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." – Ephesians 6:16. The shield of faith is God in action.

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." – Hebrews 11:1. Faith is a combination of love, wisdom, and joy. When your faith is engaged, its current completes the circuit and causes an explosion of Light. Wear the shield on your left arm, and swing it from side to side, to protect yourself.

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." – Ephesians 6:17. The helmet of salvation is pure Light, sometimes in the form of an aura, a covering. It signifies sovereignty and the kingdom that you rule. It is the crown lotus, the thousand-petaled lotus at the ends of the cranial nerves, which protects the golden bowl. You earn the helmet by making a thousand days of burnt offerings. Only the Power of the living God and the vibration of faith can enter the helmet of salvation.

The sword of spirit is the Word of God. The tongue is a two-edged sword that you wield through your voice ("Her tone of voice cut me like a knife"), which is why you may permit no idle words. Words release the vibration of God. The tone of your voice is important. Words can flatter, even while your tone offends. Tone is more offensive than words because it comes from the subconscious and vibrates your real attitude.

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." – Ephesians 6:18-20.

Sanctimonious saints need your prayers more than evil people do. You can't do much about a holier-than-thou saint unless you use force, because he knows he's already perfect just the way he is. But you can affect the evil-doers by broadcasting positive messages of Light: "Name, you now stand in the Light, which is healing you."

Jesus paid your bond when he said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. Use my name." As an ambassador, you are in bonds under faith, loyalty, integrity, love, and joy.

Thus, the twelve rays of Christ Light shining through the breastplate become rays of repulsion toward evil. Stand with great faith to start the lights, and be alert about whether they will touch the other fellow saying, "Let there be Light," which is your sword of Spirit.

The person may blow up at first, but he will arise above time and space into the highest Light. He may be speechless, or make excuses for you. Yet living in love of God, you are expressing it as compassion. Again, use only the words of the sword of Spirit, "Let there be Light."

Wear the armor of God as part of you. It is always part of your soul's fire body, even when you are dull. Stand and declare that all those who are of Light choose to keep it shining and bright. Move from the "waiting room" of "I'm waiting for a miracle" into the delivery room of "I have it now."

Stand in the Light of righteousness and build bridges over errors, lies, gossip, and predictions of disaster. Whatever is out there, lights flash and it disappears. "Let there be Light" is the answer in every situation.

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From Earthbound Slavery to Winged Glory (a)

Edna Lister created this sermon outline for June 23, 1968, Cleveland, Ohio. Scriptures: Psalm 91, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." – 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.

We live in a world of change, which seems to be whirling ever faster. What ails the world today? You are called to be a layman. Because most people prefer all their information second-hand, "That's the pastor's business," is a common cry.

A desire to be Christian is only a beginning. Most folks end there and expect their minister to do everything else. They use their minister, pastor or leader as escalator on which to ride along, leaving them free, with no responsibility.

We are living in a brainwashed world. The original prayer treatment, making suggestions to a child at night while he sleeps, has grown into an enslaving practice of evil. The brainwashing continues from nations down to television commercials.

Brainwashing is creating confusion in man's mind, the latest being civil rights. Before the three assassinations [John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy], the word Christian had a different meaning.

Most people have a religion compartment in their daily living that is segregated from their other departments. Our life is a gift from God to every person on earth.

We must return to the invasion of earth by Jesus the Christ. Jesus' teachings disrupted the complacency of rulers. He came, changed history and gave men a new direction and control over their lives. They accepted divine forgiveness and eternal life as a gift from God.

Jesus called all men to be laymen. Jesus chose his disciples from among the laymen. The first Christian martyr was a layman, as was the first evangelist. St. Paul had been a tent maker thus, he was able to earn his living wherever he went.

We are supposed to hear the call to become laymen, to step up and out of our slavery to fears and doubts. When it comes to faith in Jesus the Christ, we must give him our service first, not to any worldly boss. We must do for God as if we were doing to Him. Christianity is everyone's business.

Through deliberate evasion of personal responsibility we have weakened our Christianity, allowing it to fade. Psalm 91 is a call to arms. The first two verses challenge our fears.

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." – Psalm 91:1-2.

Truth is a twelve pointed star on the breastplate of God. If we allow idle words and fear to enslave us, darkness steals our Light, leaving us in the half-dark. This makes us second-class Christians. Psalm 91 shows us our reward for dwelling in the Light.

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation." – Psalm 91.

You can be a slave to the doorbell, a phone call, a neighbor, the TV or newspaper headlines, or you can use your secret weapon. Christianity is based on faith in the declaration, "This is good. Let there be Light."

I am the most common layman in the world. My boss is the strongest, most powerful God overall. I am protected by my God. I am his beloved ward and protégé. I dwell within His walls of Light. Everything else fears His Light.

I hold this precious hour in my hands. God breathes the breath of life into it, fills it and expands it. I am expectant. I am triumphant because God has wiped away all chains of slavery. I no longer cheat myself of His full life. Truth is my shield.

Jesus' works live on. My present desire is to dwell in the house of the Lord. My prayer pattern is that I set my love on God, my ultimate goal. "Beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord," I am changed from glory to glory.

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From Earthbound Slavery to Winged Glory (b)

This Edna Lister sermon transcript is dated June 23, 1968, Cleveland, Ohio. Scribes: Elizabeth Barnes, Ruth Johnson, Florence Waldorf, Irene White. Scriptures: Psalm 91, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." – 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.

Two thousand years ago our planet was invaded from above. Jesus the Christ descended and his message disrupted the priesthood of the known world. He touched on all that was evil. He called on the laymen of the world, who heeded and accepted his message of divine forgiveness of God, and that they could become like the Father if they so desired.

The first martyr, Stephen, was a layman. Paul was a layman. Wherever he took the truth he worked at his trade, making tents. Paul had been well-educated, and comprehended Jesus' work and the miracles he performed. Paul wrote many letters, and his commentary of Jesus' message has reached down through the ages, and lasted through the centuries.

All the evangelists who followed Jesus, and later Paul and Peter, were laymen. For centuries laymen heeded. We have proven their truth. Knowledge of Jesus the Christ and Christianity have touched every country on earth.

Centuries later Jesus is still a most controversial figure. All the evil, the disobedience to law that we see today is directed exactly at the teachings of Jesus. Ritual had become a formality and ceremony by Jesus' time and became even more rigid after. Those who came to America first knelt in prayer when they touched our shore. Civil rights were their keynote: God created everyone free to worship as he chooses and equal in the sight of God.

Later, countries sent their worst, the dregs of society over here, and we have had to agree and adjust, to coordinate the good with the bad, the rich and poor. They marched to the Pacific coast, conquering as they went. When we reached the west coast, it, too, became overcrowded. My grandfather pushed on, north to Tacoma. Now we must agree and adjust with even greater numbers.

Ministers decided they could not do it all, so they again called on laymen to help. We are conquering and taking power from evil, though plenty remains.

Most people do not hear God's voice calling them. Some, of course, do. We have grown faster in material things than we have in brains. Religious life has not had brain power to use. The majority is unable to understand science. We have moved so quickly from red flannels and longies to nylons, from Victrolas we cranked to stereos, from horse drawn buggies to sports cars and jets.

They have taken ritual from the churches, which prevents the congregations from being open to spiritual o'ershadowing. "He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" refers to the higher creative center, the secret place.

You can reintroduce rejuvenating religion into your daily life. For instance, if you must take shots to go abroad, you can declare, "Pure spiritual Light touches this shot."

Electron charges coming through day and night permeate your brain cells. We live in a brainwashing period, subject to hearing constant propaganda and advertising messages. Yet you can close the outside vibrations from your home, and this includes your neighbors.

The soul records contain all your thoughts, words and actions. Place your misdeeds and those of others on a cloud of Light. Declare a shaft of Light descending to absorb them and wipe them from the memory of all. You are privileged to do this and it works.

Truth is your shield and buckler. When you call on the Almighty, the available God, countless legions of angels work for you. Ask for divine protection.

Put on the breastplate with twelve stones; each is a power to absorb poisons, idle words and curses. The Light can consume bacteria and viruses when you believe and declare it so. Lights from the breastplate's stones shoot to the person or situation and erase the individual's negative memories.

Your shield is your truth. Do not be a slave to headlines and the news. Put on your shield and direct Light to the story. Do not feed your subconscious from the world's garbage; turn Light inward to wipe it out. Rumors, news and gossip are the arrows that fly by day – know that your shield will stop them.

When life cuts off a dry branch, you cry out, not wanting to part with that which you no longer need. Read Psalm 91 daily, because it shows you where your taints are.

My prayer pattern is to put on the breastplate, the whole armor of God. The ultimate goal is to let the Power of the living God, which is using the United States, lead us to liberty and freedom. The poor, the hungry, the weak all have the right to qualify.

Behold, the glory of the Lord! Be changed into the same image, from glory to glory. This confounds your enemies, who cannot touch you when you are safe in the armor of God. Fill your home with the idea that you are growing from glory to glory.

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The Path of Destiny

This is the transcript of Edna Lister's final sermon for June 13, 1971, Cleveland, Ohio. She was gathered into the arms of the Father of Lights and passed to the other side August 3, 1971. Scribes: Elizabeth Barnes, Ruth Johnson, Linda Mihalic, Irene White, Ross and Virginia Whitehead. Scriptures: James 1:5-8, 17, Ephesians 6:10-20.

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." – James 1:5-8.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." – James 1:17.

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." – Ephesians 6:10-20.

It is peculiar yet fitting that our last Sunday together should be entitled "The Path of Destiny." Every soul coming to earth has freedom of choice about how to accept and use the Wisdom of God. However, you do not have free will, but free choice, which is how you let the Wisdom of God function through your brain centers and glands.

God gives every soul a fate line, which you can read in the face, palms and astrological chart. Everyone has this capacity, and anyone can learn to read what a face says. Your features tell the story of your past, and your fate line shows clearly in the palms of your hands.

Every soul has free choice in how he will use the Wisdom of God according to what he sees, feels and wants. God has given us the choice. You can accept your text, the Bible, the Begotten Son, or reject and follow the way of materialistic humanity.

The world has gone wrong on this point because so many have chosen to follow other men as their examples of proper behavior instead of Jesus as the first Begotten Son of God. People come to me, wanting to know how to function as the law, in obedience. Yet when they hear the laws, they say, "But Mary does this. How come she gets away with it?" Who are you following, Jesus the Christ or another person?

You can follow the fate line or step onto the Path of Destiny. When you follow the Begotten Son and step onto the Path of Destiny, you must put on your whole armor of God.

The sixth chapter of Ephesians says to put on the whole armor of God, but what is it? You are supposed to surrender to the Holy Spirit to receive an aura of pure Light, called nonresistance, which the Father sends.

You have the power to ask to be enfolded in the Light of Jesus the Christed One, in a special sphere of Light that the Father will send whenever you ask to enfold anyone who prays. You can withstand anything if you believe that Light divinely protects you from everything. Say, "Let the Light of Christ stand before me, enfolding and upholding me."

Always ask in the name of Christ. When you ask in the Lord's name, you can handle anything. Should something move in to destroy, you can declare, "Let there be Light," or just the name of Jesus the Christ, and deflect even bullets.

The "wiles of the devil" can be anything within or outside the self that does not follow the Way that Jesus the Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount. We are still in the process of needing to speak the Word to lift darkness from the world.

Imagine that a sphere of Light surrounds you. Invoke the Light, let it encircle you and say, "Let the Light encircle me. Let it enfold me. Let the Holy Spirit, the Power of God move through to expand and protect. This is good."

Let Light be your protector, "For we wrestle not against flesh, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers." You do not wrestle with flesh and blood anytime, anywhere. Call Light down on "principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the high places." To do this, you must envelop yourself in the whole armor of God, which consists of Light. All you need to do is to think an armor of inviolable Light around you, one that no man can touch.

The great law for this is to stand, hold, know and not to let go. Envelop yourself in Light from above, think of it surrounding you and know that it has armored you. Invoke the Light, then stand, hold and know. Do not let go. Gird your loins with truth and wear the breastplate of righteousness, which God gave to Moses and the prophets. According to the Bible, its twelve stones are actually twelve lights, the colors associated with the Zodiacal signs and the Tribes of Israel.

You can treat and pray for people. Do not treat by saying such things as, "Let the yellow ray go to this organ," or even mention the lights. Instead, reach up to the Light of God shining through your breastplate colors. "Father, please send Thy Light to take care of this." Undefiled Light then descends through the right jewel of your breastplate of faith, and glory energizes it as color to heal the corresponding organ, eyes, ears, heart, etc.

The breastplate is a shield of Light that releases all twelve colors you need for health, strength and Power. The colors represent eight great powers of being. If you wear the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith, glory and Light will shine through the jewels to touch whatever they need. This law works. The breastplate acts like a shield that covers the heart center from the diaphragm to the stomach, heart and lungs for purity of heart, mind and purpose. The stomach represents your ability to assimilate truth, to see beyond the appearance of things, and interpret what you see according to the principles governing reality.

Below this is the Land of Egypt, the navel center, the "seat of Satan," the fate line and the little self. When you descend in consciousness to live by self, when you look down, you open yourself to the outer world and all its evils, everything unlike the Master or the full Power of God. You have mere self-control in the Land of Egypt, not soul conquering. Stand above the chaotic world wash of mental vibrations, and put on your breastplate of righteousness. Then firmly plant your feet on your path of destiny, to enter the Promised Land and the Garden of Eden. Covering your feet with the gospel of peace is like getting new shoes. It puts you in a place of protection from anything that creeps and crawls into your life.

The whole armor of God includes protection wherever you walk, and prevents you from appearing in places where you ought not to be. Instead, you will find yourself in the right place, at the right time. You will be led on your own Path of Destiny. When you follow your Path of Destiny, the darts from men will strike your shield of faith, but will not touch you. Pay no attention to what people say. Others, who then say things about you, cannot hurt you.

When someone sends forth idle, negative dart-words, catch them on your shield, and declare that you are receiving Light. "You are using pure Light, and I accept it." Others give you their messes for lifting. In name-calling you can say, "I accept this and am sending it right back as pure Light. It cannot possibly hurt you." Think of all the criticism that governments receive. How many darts do people shoot, intended to ruin governments? Lift your shield of faith as pure Light, declare that all is being worked together for good, and it will be.

The preparation of the gospel is a protective sheath of Light from the Master. You are supposed to give to others the mystery of the Master's gospel of protective Light. Be an ambassador of that Light, which is the armor of God. Wear the armor of God, and be enfolded on your Path of Destiny.

As an ambassador of Light, Light uses you. What does it mean to say, "Light uses me"? Two verses in the Sermon on the Mount cover this: "Let your Light so shine" that you have a shiny face, and "If the Light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?"

"I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." – Ephesians 6:20. You choose what bonds you will bear. One kind keeps you out of jail, or you can be bonded in a position of power and responsibility. Bonds are guarantees or assurances of fidelity and trust. The bonds are there to remind you to raise your shield of faith to repel the darts of wickedness, to hold to righteousness that your twelve lights shine forth. This includes all the laws of the Path of Destiny, speaking no idle words, and speaking in the name of Jesus the Christ.

Say, "Thank Thee, Father, for sending Light through me, for all my miracles yesterday, today and tomorrow, for holding me in Your armor of Light." The one Light from above moves through the twelve lights of your breastplate when you speak, so use no idle words. Speak in the name of Jesus the Christ a thousand times a day.

How often do you praise and thank the Father for sending Light through you, for miracles, for holding you in your armor of Light? Praise God in devotion and thank Him for the new ideas. Pythagoras, when asked how often you must look up, lift your head to the Light and praise, told his students "A thousand times an hour," which means always.

Keep looking up in consciousness and lift. The gospel of peace will form a sheath about you. The breastplate of righteousness, which covers stomach, lungs and heart, will guarantee your purity of heart, mind and purpose. You will live a life of devotion to God first. You will know your path of destiny and not be pushed from it. Let the path of destiny be solid under your feet. The Sermon on the Mount, the first chapter of John, and today's text from Ephesians forms the path of destiny.

What is your choice? How much greater is your love for God today than it was yesterday? When you express your love for God in thanksgiving and praise, you receive the helmet of salvation. Declare, "Father, let Thy Light move through my helmet of salvation to open my glands for seeing and hearing, and to be able to speak the truth."

Stand unwavering while remembering that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." – James 1:17. Light cannot change, cannot turn from you, cannot leave you. Light puts you under the Master's bond, where he is. The full armor of God covers and protects. Declare, "Thank thee, Master, for holding onto me." Continue looking up in consciousness always. The Light you invoke comes through you and heals you. Look up a thousand times an hour. Say, "Master, you have never let me down. Praise God, praise God."

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The Armor of God in the New Testament

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. – Romans 13:12.


We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. – 2 Corinthians 6:1-10.


Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. – Ephesians 6:10-20.


But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10.

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Edna Miriam Lister
1884 –1971
The original Pioneering Mystic
minister, teacher, and author

Edna Lister


References

The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary: 2 volumes. E.S.C. Weiner, editor. Oxford University Press, 1971.

The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV).


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See The Armor of Light


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