Showing results by narrator "John Marino" in All Categories

When purpose is revealed, all falls into place. The revelation of purpose gives meaning to everything, and there is a purpose in this wonderful, vast creation of God. Paul said, "He has made known unto us... the mystery of His will, according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time." [Ephesians 1:9, 10] There is a plan behind it all.

This teaching is essentially a revelation of the Risen Christ. I am not speaking of the life of any man between his physical birth and death, but of the Christ who has risen in me and who rises in all. I have no mental image of a being outside of my life, or yours.

We have been talking about God's law and God's promise. God's law is conditional. You cannot be in one state and not suffer the consequences of not being in another state, and you and I are free to imagine any state in the world, and imagining that state we can occupy it. Occupying the state, we fertilize it; having fertilized it, it has its own appointed hour for fulfillment. Every vision has its own appointed hour it will flower; if it seems long, wait for it - it is sure and it will not be late.

Tonight's subject is Prophetic Blueprints. Now we could take it on this level, but I will not. To summarize it on this level, may I tell you: if you could conceive of an infinite might as a great computer, and if the imaginal activities of all of us -- every man, woman and child in the world -- make us free to change this activity at any moment in time, then you could predict the future for this level; for this level is the outpouring or out picturing of the imaginal activities of men, women, and children in this world.

The following treatise, Light on the Path, is a classic among occultists, and is the best guide known for those who have taken the first step on the Path of Attainment.

The belief in thought-transference prevailed from time immemorial. Passing over the legendary tales, and coming down to the time of recent history, we see many instances of the acceptance of this idea by the people of that old land of the strange and mysterious.

The greatest thing ever known—what is it? Surely the answer must be one that is absolutely universal, both in its nature and in the possibilities of its application. It must be one that can be accepted wholly and unreservedly, not only by a single individual, but by bodies of individuals, be they the originators of any particular school of ethics, the followers of any particular system of philosophy, or even the adherents of any great system of religion. It must be one so true in itself that it can be accepted by all men alike the world over.

We are told that because of an act of disobedience, man fell, thereby separating himself from God. But scripture tells us that God consigned all men to disobedience that he may have mercy upon them. So we see: the fall was a deliberate act, a plan for expansion, for greater existence, and an ultimate birth. Scholars consider the 82nd psalm as one of the most difficult of all the psalms to interpret, stating that although the idea may be perennial, its meaning has vanished.

Would you like to trade in your old car for a new model without any extra expense to yourself? Or would you like to refurnish your home? Wouldn't it be strange if your car or home could remodel themselves so that nothing about them could wear out? This sounds kind of fantastic, doesn't it? And yet, we are told that none of us is more than a year old physically, that our entire body is renewed every year.

"Where are you from?" This you will find in the 19th chapter of the Book of John. And the rabbi said to Pilate: "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, for he claims he is the Son of God." And their law would not allow that, for we know where this man is from, know all about him; and when Messiah appears no one will know where he is from. So his claim is false. When Messiah appears it will be mysteriously done. And yet we know exactly where this man is from.

If I told you who you really are, it would shock you, for in this world you can be frightened, limited, and filled with doubt; yet I tell you that you are God himself, the very one who created and sustains the universe. When you first hear this you will no doubt resist it and believe the one who makes this statement to be insane because the idea seems impossible. But I tell you: God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself.

God started with a wish, saying; "Let us make man in our image." And we are told that we will be perfect as our father is perfect, and holy as our father is holy. Therefore, whatever God was, when his work is completed, man must be. We are told to be imitators of God as dear children, so we must discover how he became us in order to imitate him. It seems God lives as one possessed by a dream.

Tonight’s subject is, "They Told What Had Happened" - "They Related Their Own Experience" is the better translation of that phrase in the 24th chapter of Luke. When I speak of "they told it", I am speaking of the evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

You might think that you are not really known, that not a thing is ever mentioned about you in any book ever written. But I want to tell you that the greatest book ever written is all about you. The Bible is your biography. It is also your autobiography, because you inspired it. It is you who dictated it, and it’s all about you - every word in it.

You know the story of Good Friday. A man is in a garden. It's night time. And one called Judas comes in search of him, seemingly to betray him. He comes into the garden, and it's dark, so he asks the simple question, "Where is Jesus?" Then the voice in the dark answered, "I am he."

We are told that when Jesus found Philip, he said, "Follow me."

Then Philip told Nathanael, "We have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets wrote."

Philip is one who is interested in the workings of the mind. Looking for one who is searching for the source of the phenomena of life, Jesus finds one in whom he can reveal himself.

Just as many other settings of the sayings and doings of the Lord existed prior to and alongside of the canonical Gospels, so were there, prior to and alongside of the subsequently selected or canonical Acts, many other narratives professing to record the doings and sayings of the Apostles and Disciples of the Lord.

Friends, the next voice you hear might be God's! Wouldn't it be wonderful if this were true? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could hear the Voice of God? And perhaps we can. Perhaps we all have heard the Voice of God but haven't recognized it.

If you awake in a dream and know exactly who is imagining it, you can control your dream. The same thing is true in this world. Become aware that it, too, is a dream. Awake! Remember who is imagining it, and control your day. Then one day you will completely awake to find yourself in that body which is the Lord Jesus Christ, to know that everything is your imagination pushed out.

Recently I read a book called Vanished Parts of Yesterday by Lord Frederick Hamilton. In it he tells the story of Catherine the Great - who, when she found the first violet of spring, ordered a sentry to be placed over it to protect it from being plucked. Forgetting to rescind the order, day and night, summer and winter, a sentry stood where 150 years ago, a violet bloomed. The new generation did not know why the sentry was there and he didn't either. It was simply a tradition!