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Tonight's subject is "He Wakes in Me". I should say, "He wakes in us." Who is he? The Lord Jesus Christ, who is crucified in us. He was never crucified on anything outside of man, and because he was crucified in us, he must rise in us. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is not I who live but Christ who lives in me. And if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his."

Tonight's title is the Family Portrait. Thirty-odd years ago, a play appeared on Broadway called The Family Portrait. It was a study of Jesus and starred Margaret Webster and Judith Anderson. They played the parts of Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother. The central figure - Jesus - never appeared on the stage, just as it should be. The brothers appeared, bringing the news of what he had said and the reactions of the crowd and the concern of the two Marys.

When our great scientist, Dr. Robert Millikan, was young and very poor, he set a goal for himself. Condensing his dream of greatness and security into a simple statement, he silently repeated the thought over and over again. This he did until the feelings of greatness and security crowded all other thoughts out of his consciousness. These are his words: "I have a lavish, steady, dependable income, consistent with integrity and mutual benefit."

The sun rises upon a terrible knowledge. Parelli is dead. A baby is in the hole. You hear the rumble. You feel earth moving. Fires are ignited. Culture, learning and reason are about to go up in smoke. It is a tale spun from the threads of history. In turns dark and humorous, in tones richly sensual, deeply spiritual, it is a mystery entered from many levels and must be solved before everything is incinerated.

During Good Friday, undoubtedly millions attend services and hear some portion of the last seven words of Christ; but I wonder how many of them know who he is and what the words really mean. I tell you: Jesus Christ is your awareness, your I Amness, who became as you are that you may be as he is. I want you to accept this literally, for it is true.

Those who experience the Christian mystery are charged with the responsibility of telling others. Their aim is the awakening of faith in God. For, as Paul, I ask the questions, "How can men call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how can they hear unless there is a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!'"

The book of Genesis is made up of three records called the J, P, and E manuscripts. Here, I will refer to the E manuscript, which begins with the 15th chapter of Genesis: "As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, 'Know for a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves there and they will be oppressed for four hundred years. After that they will come out with great possessions.' Abraham believed and it was accounted unto him for righteousness."

Jesus Christ is the true identity of everyone! His name, forever and ever, is I am. Therefore, when you say "I am", you are declaring your true identity. Do you believe that all things are possible to someone called Jesus Christ but not yourself? If you do it is because you do not know who you are!

God is the great artist, and there is no artistry so lovely as that which perfects itself in the making of its image. God has but one consuming objective, and that is to make you into his image, that you may reflect and radiate his glory. On this level, however, God exists as the human imagination, for the human imagination is the divine body called the Lord Jesus.

In the ninth chapter of the book of Mark, it is said, "All things are possible to him who believes", and in the 19th chapter of the book of Matthew we are told, "With God all things are possible". Here we see God equated with the believer. You believe you are a man or a woman. You believe you are here, but are you willing to believe you can go beyond what your reason and senses dictate? You do not have to limit your power of belief to what your reasonable mind dictates.

Concerning the law, I can only acquaint you with the law and leave you to your choice and its risk, but we have scripture for it - to tell it, regardless of what they do with the law. In the 18th chapter of the book of Matthew, you see these words: "If any two of you agree on Earth about any request that you must make, that request will be granted by my heavenly Father" (Matthew 18:19).

God's promise is true; he who promised it is faithful, and is being fulfilled in every being in this world and the unnumbered beings to come. The first statement of it, you find in Genesis 17. We are told on the surface that Abraham was 99 and he was promised an heir, a son. If you are familiar with the story, he had a son who was described as a "wild ass" in the 16th chapter. That one was born of a servant of the household of Abraham, born of Hagar, born of a slave; and the Lord said unto her: "You will have a son and his name will be Ishmael ("God hears").

I tell you a truth: There is nothing greater than your own wonderful human imagination! It is he who inspired Blake, Shakespeare, and Einstein, for there is only one spirit in the universe! "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." That one spirit is the human imagination! When Blake was asked what he thought of the divinity of Christ he answered: "Christ is the only God, but so am I and so are you." Don't think of Christ as someone greater than yourself. He is the only God, but so am I and so are you!

This subject is a mystery to be known only by revelation. It is a secret that has been kept hidden from the beginning of time. Where there is no mystery, where there is no end from the beginning, there is no challenge, no place for imagination, or any room for faith or hope. But when it pleased God, in the fullness of time, to make it known to his apostles, those whom he called and incorporated into his own risen body, they are sent to tell the story of the gospel of God.

In biblical language, a man's name reveals his character. His name is an expression of this essential nature of the bearer. As I have said in the past, these characters are not persons; they are eternal states, spiritual states, through which the immortal soul passes to awaken as God. To understand this subject, let us go back just for a moment. As you know, I have told you the Bible is God's plan, something to be understood only through revelation.

The evangelists of scripture, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are anonymous names of men who wrote salvation history. They introduced characters who never walked this Earth, but whose names are significant. In the book of John, we find the story of Nicodemus. Now, Nicodemus is not mentioned in any other part of the Bible, or in any historical records of the time; so we see Nicodemus was not introduced for some historical purpose. The word means "conqueror of the people; all victorious".

Sit quietly and ask yourself who you are, where you are, and what you are. Your answers will reveal your state of consciousness: your body of belief. Paul said, "We do not look to the outer things, but to the things unseen, for the outer things are transient, but the unseen things are eternal." Your beliefs, seen by the mystic, are personified. They form a state, which completely controls your behavior. Any modification within your body of belief will result in a change in your outer world.

The unknown author of the Book of Luke (like all the others) wrote only of his own experiences. Turning to his disciplined mind in self-contemplation, he is Jesus turning to his disciples and saying: "Scripture must be fulfilled in me. All that is written about me must be fulfilled." Beginning with Moses and the prophets, and the psalms he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they said to one another, "Did not our hearts burn while he opened to us the scriptures?"

Tonight you may find yourself in a terrestrial world like this one, and you feel just as real to yourself as you do here. And when you return with its memory, you may think it was a dream, but it was a vision. You are dreaming right now, for this world is the dream you and I agreed to complete. Its end will appear when we turn around through a series of visions.

When reading the Bible, always bear in mind that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, Peter, Paul, or any name appearing there are states of consciousness. The names only identify the states represented. If you see the characters as people, you misunderstand scripture, for the names are simply personifications of eternal states, which will be revealed to you, mortal man, in a series of divine revelations.