Click here to print PDF version
GEMs to Help YOU “WALK in the Spirit” — not in the flesh!
God Expressed Meekly/Mightily in you sparkle brightly in this PARTIAL SHARING of insights from Cobbey Crisler & others
as inspired by The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“Spirit”
for Sunday, August 6, 2023
(Cobbey Crisler’s insights are shared with the blessing of Janet Crisler janetcrisler7@gmail.com)
by Warren Huff, CedarS Executive Director Emeritus, warren@cedarscamps• 314-378-2574
ACCEPT the SPIRITUAL INSIGHT of the CHRIST & wipe out divisiveness & animosity!
Cobbey on John 4:24 (cit. B1) & his conversation with the woman at the well:
[Cobbey Crisler’s prelude to John 4:23, 24 (cit. B1):]
“John 4:20. The Samaritan woman said, “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain.” Boy, did that have a meaning. She’s pointing to the Samaritan temple, and guess who had destroyed it? The Jews. The Maccabean rulers had destroyed the Samaritan temple which was built to resemble the Jerusalem temple. It’s occupied territory. It’s a little difficult to dig in an area that Jordan still claims but Israel occupies.
It was destroyed by the Jews, so you can see the irony behind what the woman said, “Our fathers worshiped … “It’s past. It’s through. The Greek word that is used there is well in the past, “all wiped out.” We worshiped in this mountain, but the implication, guess who stopped us, or ruined the temple? Your fathers. We have a divisive thing. We, the Samaritans, worshiped here. You, the Jews, destroyed it. That’s the same thing that’s going on today in the same location.
John 4:21, “Jesus said, Woman.” this is his general address to womanhood, “Believe me. the hour cometh, ” still somewhat ahead, “when you won’t worry about geography in worshiping God. ··
John 4:23, ”The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. “Look at the definition of worship. “Worship is spiritual,” not structural, not geographical, not ritualistic. Why? Because worship of God can only properly be done by partaking of God’s own nature.
John 4:24 (cit. B1) tells us that “God is Spirit. Therefore, worshiping Spirit can only be done spiritually.” There’s no other way to do it. How basic. By the way, when you see “a Spirit” in there. It shouldn’t be there.
Listen to what God says about it. Notice the strong tenor of his words. To translate “God is a Spirit” is the most gross perversion of the meaning. “A Spirit” implies one of a class of “pneumata,” the Greek word for it. There is no trace, in the fourth gospel, of the vulgar conception of a multitude of spirits. “God is Spirit.” Mathematically one can only derive from Spirit included in it. Namely, spirituality is the derivation. Worship must be that.”
“John, The Beloved Disciple,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**
DISCOVER THE INDIVISIBLE NATURE OF GOD’S CREATION from the end of Genesis 1 (citation B2) in notes from Cobbey Crisler talks as transcribed by Warren):
[Cobbey said:] “Searching the scriptures does require scuba diving or at least snorkeling because there’s a need for both clear vision and inspiration.
Verse 26 Here in a book noted for its monotheism we find plural words relative to God. (“Let US make man in OUR likeness…”) Father-Mother (F-M) must be together indivisibly or we have more than one God. If there’s indivisibility in the original there must be indivisibility in the product.
Verse 27. To have Male-Female (M-F) in the product means that it’s in the original.
On IMAGE, Clemet of Alexandria wrote: “In our view, image of God is not an object of sense, but a mental object, perceived not by the senses, but by the mind.” But in Genesis 2:7 the mental model is dropped and in the material account of creation God forms man out of dust—the very OPPOSITE view.
This mimics the opposite view of male and female that is widely promoted in which sex promises us all satisfaction in physical unity—but does it deliver? The very definition of sex is division, not indivisibility. “The sensualist’s affections… and pleasures” would put one through lots of fitful, mental contortions that Mary Baker Eddy describes as “imaginary, whimsical, and unreal” (Science and Health, 241:8).
(Transcribed from notes taken by Warren Huff during several Cobbey Crisler talks from the margins of W’s Bible.)
“USE” D.I.A.L. (“Christ, … the Divine Image And Likeness…” (SH 332:11-13) TO SET YOU FREE to be the best version of YOU!
[Warren:] Since this week’s lesson defines us as “the image and likeness of God,” (cit. B2/Gen. 1:26; cit. S4/475:7-11; cit. S7/941) we have divine authority to feel the stress-free worth of being the very image and likeness – the reflection – of God!
- “The admission to one’s self that man is God’s own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 90:24–25)
- “The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit.” (citation S4/475:7-11, bold added)
Using D.I.A.L. as an acrostic for Divine Image And Likeness sheds new light on this old advertising message for Dial soap. It was adapted as a CedarS metaphysical theme message with a T-shirt version in the 1990s with this graphic riddle:
🍊 U 🙂 = (Orange) “AREN’T YOU GLAD
U uuu = YOU USE
D. I. A. L.? = D.I.A.L.? (the concept, not the soap)
P.S. “DON’T YOU WISH EVERYONE DID?” (…use their true DIAL identity)
was the tagline for this soap commercial.
REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE FLESH
AS THE CONTAINER OF YOUR INDIVIDUALITY!
Freedom from the flesh is Paul’s postlude to cit. B8, Rom 8:5+
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6, KJV)
[Warren] The Contemporary English Version (CEV) translates this citation as “People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace.”
[Warren] The Living Bible (TLB) renders these verses: “Those who let themselves be controlled by their lower natures live only to please themselves, but those who follow after the Holy Spirit find themselves doing those things that please God. 6 Following after the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace, but following after the old nature leads to death.”
Cobbey Crisler writes about how Paul continues to develop this theme in Romans 8:9
[Cobbey:] on Romans 8:9 “How many auditoriums would empty in ridicule if Paul stood before them today and announced, “You are not in the flesh”? That’s an invitation to laughter, isn’t it? “You are not in the flesh,” Paul said. Flesh is not the container, then, of our individuality. We [are encouraged to think that] we are [our bodies]. We’re proud of that “fact”. We have turned the glory into shame by thinking out from the basis of flesh. We suffer from the incurred problems of an evolution that traces itself back through dust-like levels, so that heredity becomes a problem in health. We take pride in those “designer-genes” that form our genetic code.
“In the Bible it’s a case of choosing between Genesis or genetics. Genesis (1:1, 25) has us in the beginning created by God with dominion and in God’s image. So, flesh cannot be part of that image. Where are we seeing ourselves? “Adam, where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9)
“Where are we instead of in the flesh according to Romans 8, Verse 9? We’re “in the spirit” That’s home, then. Do we really feel at home in the Spirit? To be inspired is to have Spirit within, literally, in Latin. Do we enjoy living in an inspired state? Everything else moves aside. Everything is subordinated to that inspiration. “we’re in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in us.” …
Romans 8:14, 16 (postlude bonus to cit. B8, NIV)
(More of Cobbey’s bonus verses from Romans 8)
“In Verse 19 would you agree with Paul that “the earnest expectation of the whole human race is waiting for this manifestation of the sons of God”? That it could be manifested, this sense of glory?
“Verse 21 mentions “the creature itself.” Look what is going to happen to the human body as the result of the evangelization of our mentality. As our mentality becomes more and more like God, the human body, “the creature itself, also shall be delivered.” There’s freedom, freedom from “every ill that flesh is heir to,” as Shakespeare says. “Delivered from the slavery,” literally in Greek, “the bondage of corruption,” “the slavery of decay into,” literally, “the freedom of the children of God.” The divine mode of being, as one dictionary says glory is, “into the freedom of the glory of the divine mode of being, of the divine nature, of the radiant thought of the children of God.”
“If (only) all our thoughts could be at the level of such radiance. We’ve seen light come out from a human expression. We’ve met people who radiate a sense of insight… That’s in the fleshly. That’s simply an outward manifestation of what’s going on within. More should be going on within. And we’re spending most of our time trying to dress the without.”
“Glory: Divine Nature in The Bible,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**
LIKE JESUS, STICK WITH THE ONLY REAL POWER,
THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT!
[Cobbey Crisler on Luke 4:14, cit. B9:] “When Jesus had finished 40 days in the wilderness [of “sheltering in place” (W.)], he “returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee” (Luke 4:14, cit. B9) Matthew adds (in chapter 4 verses 11, 23) that the result of Jesus overcoming his period of temptations in the wilderness was that “11…angels came and ministered unto him… 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues … and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”
[Cobbey Crisler adds in “The Book of Matthew…”:] “Here are human problems that had defied solution, and Jesus solved them all based on his concept of theology, namely the kingdom. Remember a kingdom is not chaos. It’s an ordered government of heaven and harmony at hand.”
Let us, like Jesus, as we come out of our wilderness, waiting experiences, stick with the only real power, the power of the Spirit! And, whenever right activity seems to be on “pause — wait on God…” (Science & Health, 323:10).
Cobbey Crisler on Luke 4:14, 40 (cit. B9)
[Cobbey:] “Luke indicates that he understands that this [Jesus’ period of temptations in the wilderness has been a power test for Jesus. In Verse 14 he uses that word, “Jesus returned” not in any form of power that Satan had tried to impose upon him [“to take personal power, political power, and priestly power”]. But rather, “in the power of the Spirit into Galilee”— [“in the law that relates man directly to God, the source of the only power there is.]
Cobbey Crisler on Luke 4.33-36 (cit. B9 continued)
“Luke 4:33, This first specific healing is the one of the unclean devil. Many of these healings require steps. There is a sequence in healing, in many cases, three specific phases that Jesus goes through before the healing occurs.
One asks the question, “Why? Couldn’t Jesus heal instantaneously?” We know he did. But look at the value for us in having the method that he used preserved step by step.”
“Luke the Researcher” by B. Cobbey Crisler
BONUS: “In Luke 4, Verse 40 as healing increases, we find that many healings occur, especially around the Sea of Galilee. Is it any more difficult for Jesus to heal collectively than it is individually? It doesn’t seem to take much more time, does it?
“Who does Jesus say is responsible for the healing? If God is responsible for the healing, does He love all His creation as instantly as he loves each individual part of His creation? Can that love reach collectively? Is it present collectively? If that’s the basis for Jesus healing, then we see that healing a multitude was just as normal and natural as breathing, and as healing an individual.
“What is the atmosphere there? If the Holy Ghost is there, then we all can breathe that same air simultaneously.
“The healings were apparently permanent. There was no standing in line. Jesus didn’t say, “All right, all the ears, eye, nose, and throat people over here.” He didn’t deal with them as a specialist would deal with them. He dealt with them as a general practitioner, as if he could be consulted and he could join with others in prayer and to be at-one with God, whether it was one individual or hundreds or thousands. Remember, he fed thousands from that same point of view.”
“Book of Luke: Luke the Researcher,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**
HEAR HEALING MUSIC INSPIRED by ideas in the lesson.
FIND ONENESS with God “as a humble ray of sunlight that is one with the sun.”
“Man’s oneness with the Father” is a central point in Jesus’ healing theology as Mary Baker Eddy states, “Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man’s oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him endless homage.” (18:3-5)
Below is a YouTube link to an inspiring song by a CedarS mom and award-winning Country Music artist, Cherie Brennan. It emphasizes the “I and my Father are one” mindset of Christ Jesus and mentioned in this week’s Bible Lesson citation S14/26:10-14 Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZMNlpZavkA
Or, on Watchfire Music by CedarS friend, Peter Link, — LISTEN TO A SAMPLE of “I and my Father are one” SUNG by Mindy Jostyn and BUY IT and the SHEET MUSIC for SOLOISTS at: https://watchfiremusic.com/shop/recordings/songs/i-and-my-father-are-one-2/
THOSE “SHORT” ON LOVE are in for a BIG SURPRISE
when CHRIST INVITES THEM to HOST HIM!
[W.] Luke 19—the only gospel that mentions of Zacchaeus—is not discussed by Cobbey Crisler, but YouTube has a short video for kids that’s lifelong in meaning for the childlike of all ages. No matter your past mistakes, get ready to feel God’s dear love for you!
“The cast of the Little Clay Bible tell the story of Zacchaeus, a wee little man who was short on love, but in for a big surprise when he meets Jesus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHXqI1-RA1c
GET INTO THE REALITY & GLOW OF SPIRIT’S INFINITE ALLNESS BY GETTING OUT OF THE UNREALTY OF A LIMITED, MATERIAL SHELL!
Cobbey on I Cor. 15:50 as a prelude/link to citation S23/21:9
[Cobbey Crisler:] “Another conclusion is coming through Paul’s receptivity. He presents two views, one with man within an egg origin, one out of an egg origin. A chicken takes 10,000 pecks to get out of its shell of limitation. Bible pioneers like Paul worked hard to get out of their limited, mortal shells and they communicated this to us. [Mary Baker Eddy says, “Mortals must emerge … They must peck open their shells with Christian Science…” (S&H 552:14, S6)
I Corinthians 15, verse 50 “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”
One might ask “Why are we trying to drag flesh along as if it’s a party?” [This relates to Mary Baker Eddy’s observation: “Being in sympathy with matter, the worldly man is at the beck and call of error, and will be attracted thitherward.” [S&H 21:25]
This lesson on Spirit finishes Section 4 with citation S23 and more from page 21:
“If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he is striving to enter in. He constantly turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last he finishes his course with joy.” (SH 21:9/cit. S23)
Cobbey concludes his course on the joy of God’s glory with this encouraging line:
“Take up your bed and walk—Mind suddenly takes on the glow of our original glory.”
Transcribed from notes in the margins of Warren’s Bible from a talk given by Cobbey Crisler
WHEN SIMULTANEOUS PROBLEMS ARISE, PRIORITIZE RECEPTIVITY & HEALING OVER RANK, LIKE JESUS DID.
Cobbey Crisler on Jesus’ time management of 2 urgent appeals: Mark 5:21 as prelude to Luke 8:41-55/cit. B13 that shows the healing Mindset of Christ Jesus that we strive to emulate so as to heal as he did.)
[Cobbey on the Luke version of this healing “double-header”:] “In this case we have something that might present a problem. Two people that need attention simultaneously. What do you do?… Here’s how Jesus deals with it. He is first summoned by a ruler of the synagogue with a great deal of human priority. Jairus has the rank and he asks first. He’s got a more urgent need. His daughter is on the verge of dying (Luke 8:41). But Jesus can’t even get to the location where this girl is because of the crush of people in the narrow lanes of the Palestinian villages. The Greek word for “thronged” is often used to describe how close these groups got to one another. Jesus was nearly suffocated by the crowd.
“Later the disciples rebuked Jesus, in Verse 45, for asking “Who touched me?” To them it was ridiculous. Everybody was touching him. The Greek verb that’s used is a verb that means what happens to grain kernels between two grinding stones. They were ground really together. The people were that crowded.
“What happens? The woman does not wish to delay Jesus’ mission, but she is at the absolutely desperate end of a rope. Here we find the receptivity. Blessed are those who are in this state. Happy are those because the state of mind can be changed.
“This radical change of thought was in the presence of the Christ-correction that Jesus was exercising in the mental realm. It’s going to be sufficient and the woman feels that it will help her. She’s lost all her money on physicians. [No health insurance…] Mark even tells us that she’s worse because of that choice. [Mark 5:26] All she does is touch the border of his garment. The issue of blood, the continuous hemorrhaging that had occurred for twelve years had kept her out of the temple, kept her out of worship and made her as unclean as the lepers. With all sorts of legislative rules around her, she herself could not be touched because it would make the individual who did it unclean. But we find that Jesus welcomed that dear woman from the standpoint of God’s welcome, because he said, “the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the father do.” (John 5:19).
“In Luke 8, Verse 48 he calls that lady, “Daughter.” Whose daughter? Certainly, not his. In fact, he lifts that word “daughter” entirely out of any sense of blood relationship. That was the woman’s problem. He lifts even her identity out of blood.
“Daughter, be of good comfort” (Verse 48). Look at how he’s addressing the thought of that woman. Not only the precious relationship to God, but the comfort. She hasn’t experienced that in twelve years. She’d lost all her money. She was about to be thrown on the society. There was nowhere to go when you were thrown on society. That may have happened to the woman who had been a sinner. Prostitution was the only open career for many women when they were simply thrown out and discarded from normal humanity. She could not get a living unless her family supported her, and there is no indication of that happening.
“Jesus refuses to allow that woman to walk away from the scene thinking that physical contact with his robe had anything to do with the healing. He says, again, “Your faith hath made you whole.” The word “whole” and the word “heal” in Anglo-Saxon have the identical root. It implies that disease is something less than wholeness, that it is a fragmentation of our being. Healing is the condition of being made whole.
“We understand that equation when Jesus said, “If your eye be single” Matthew 6:22), indivisible, not shared, no divisions in it and no double vision. It is single-mindedness and persistency, as we see Jesus requiring later in our book, which results in man being whole as God views him.
“The other half of the time crunch demand and Christ’s use of humor to clear out funerial thought. [Bonus from Warren:] See how to be chosen to stay in the room with a mindset worthy to witness Christ raising of the dead as in a Mark 5:21…42 reenactment–
[Cobbey continues on the Luke version of the second healing in this “double-header”:] “When Jesus goes to the raising of Jairus’ daughter, we don’t find any reason to bemoan the delay in getting there. Even though the news comes back that the daughter has died in the meantime (Verse 49). That is the human news. Jesus goes right in and clears the environment out (Verse 51). Notice, again, this must be telling us something about what is required in order to heal.
“The thought of death is so weighted down with its inevitability and grief that Jesus has to clear it out. Notice how he does so, incisively and brilliantly. He couldn’t clear them out while they were weeping. That was acceptable at a funeral. Jesus would have occupied the villain’s role.
“So, he simply tells them something that was an absolute fact to him, “That maid, right there that you see horizontal, no movement, no breath, no pulse, no anything, that little girl, she’s really not dead. That appearance that you see there is like sleep (Verse 52). And I am going to awaken her life.” All the paid mourners who were earning their salary for conducting a funeral service, and everybody else who had witnessed the tragedy associated with this little girl passing away laughed (Verse 53).
“Can you clear laughers out of funerals? There is certainly more justification from a social standpoint than with weepers. It also showed how deeply their grief had run. Forgetting every reason why they were there, they turned to laughing him to scorn. He put them all out.
“He went to the little girl, “Maid arise” (Verse 54). “Her spirit came again, she arose straightway” (Verse 55). And that beautiful practicality of Jesus, “Give her meat,” give her something to eat (Verse 55). What else would a twelve-year-old girl want anyway? It was also an announcement that everything was quite normal.”
“Luke, the Researcher,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**
LIKE JESUS, VIEW MATTER IN A RADICAL DIFFERENT WAY
AND SEVER ALL FLESHLY-ORIGIN CONNECTIONS.
Cobbey Crisler on John 6: 62 – 7:6 (verses on both sides of John 6:63, cit. B14)
[Cobbey:] John 6:62, “What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?” Nativity in the Spirit. There can’t be the magnetic pull back to earth if that connection has been severed or proved never to have been a real connection.
“In John 6:63 (citation B14) Jesus impinges upon what has been considered laws of physics because he views matter in a radical way. He makes the statement, “It is the spirit that quickeneth.” That is where you find life. So, if you want to talk about nativity anywhere, you better deal with origin and Spirit. “The flesh profiteth nothing.”
“You see how close one needs to be to Jesus in thought to understand what has been referred to as the Communion Supper. If he is accurate in saying, “the flesh profiteth nothing, “neither would symbolically eating it profit anything. So, it must not be the flesh he is talking about, but that great transformation that he is proving in his life to be possible to the Son of Man. John 1:14 refers to it as “the Word that was made flesh.” The Word connects us to Spirit, not flesh. Here is part of that Word underscoring the message that, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.”
“What happened in John 6:66? “Many walked right out,” as soon as he had this radical statement to say about matter.
John 6:67. Jesus had to turn to the twelve, and said, “Will you go away?”
“John 6:68. Peter had one of those classic remarks that he makes. It’s really a lovely one. He looks around to the alternatives and says, “Lord, where will we go? You have the words of eternal life.” [W. “the pearl of great price”] He got the message. The words of eternal life, not the flesh of eternal life. “You have the words of eternal life. ”
“Jesus’ brethren in John 7:3 try to persuade him to come out into the open, and hire a public relations firm. If you are what you think you are, then back it up in the world’s way.
John 7:5,“Neither did his brethren believe in him.”
John 7:6. He announces, “My time is not yet come.” There’s an indication in Jesus own thought that he knew there would be a prophetic hour which must be fulfilled. The ingredients were not there yet. So, he indicates, “My prophetic hour is not yet come. Your time is always ready. “They did not have a solid understanding of prophecy.”
“Book of John, A Walk with the Beloved Disciple,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**
THIS “LET-US DIET” IS PERFECT FOR EACH OF US TO “CHEW ON” AND FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO THINK AND LIVE WITHOUT STRIFE!
[Warren Huff:] Let us give thought & action to the following divine directives to memorize from citation S29. [As a memory aid, I think of this call to healthy action as our “Model Lettuce diet” or our “Excellent Let-us plan”]:
[Here’s some appetizer lettuce for us:] “Let us accept Science, relinquish all theories based on sense-testimony, give up imperfect models and illusive ideals; and so let us have one God, one Mind, and that one perfect, producing His own models of excellence.” (SH 249:1)
In the very next paragraph on page 249 of Science and Health: is this week’s featured citation S29, a favorite, “mixed-green” combo of mine: “Let-us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy.Let-us rejoice that we are subject to the divine “powers that be.” (Bold italics added for Let us)
Mary Baker Eddy uses the words “Let us” 28 times in Science and Health, and 67 times in her other writings—plus there are 40 more “Let us” combos in the Hymnal! So, you could chew on different blends of “let us” every day as it’s in season for you, and apply or dress them to best suit your taste and meet the needs of the day. (Consider LET as a key element in Hymn 519 by Andrew Brewis, and also LEAN and LOVE as featured in a recent Bible Lesson.)
Let-us joyously picture “… heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom” (SH 91:2) This spiritual sense vision will enable us to affirm together that God is in charge of our country and of our leaders and of the whole wide world and its manifestation of good. It’s uplifting to know that “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” The original version comes from a spiritual written in World War II by Obie Philpot, a Native American of the Cherokee tribe. It speaks of God as our creator and protector. You might also enjoy an add-on parade of soulful, prayer-filled voices of this message as started by Tyler Perry and his friends of color and ended by Mahalia Jackson. I found these YouTube video offerings inspiring.)
Mary Baker Eddy adds rich Bible-based connections to let us confidently affirm God’s control of “every event of our careers.” (Unity of Good, 3:28) She writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Understanding the control which Love held (holds) over all, …” we can feel safe in any pandemic as “…Daniel felt safe in the lions’ den” and can prove all viruses to be harmless, as “Paul proved the viper to be harmless.” (SH 514:26)
To round-out and wrap-up our “Model Let-us diet in every branch of government:” let-us affirm that “…the LORD is our judge [in charge of the judicial branch], the LORD is our lawgiver [in charge of the legislative branch], the LORD is our king [in charge of the executive branch], he will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22)
LET’S “LOVE INTO VIEW” & LEAN ON OUR PROMISED COMFORTER / “DEFENSE ATTORNEY” TO USHER IN EVEN “GREATER WORKS” FOR ALL MANKIND!
Cobbey Crisler on John 14:12-17 (citation B15+pre- & postludes)
[Cobbey Crisler:] “There are greater works, the ultimatum of the application of what Jesus had introduced to earth. So, when he’s talking about greater works being done, through what agency will these greater works come? We find the Comforter is introduced.
“In John 14:12 Jesus makes a prophecy. He makes a prophesy in impersonal terms… “There are greater works, the ultimatum of the application of what Jesus had introduced to earth. So, when he’s talking about greater works being done, through what agency will these greater works come? We find the Comforter is introduced.
John 14:16, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.”
[Cobbey continued:] “We should know enough about prophesy and have enough respect to realize that most of the prophets in the Bible, including Jesus, had a tremendous regard for prophesy. They knew that it had come from God, not from man. Similarly, we should know how to recognize the Comforter when the Comforter arrives… The word “comforter” is parakletos, sometimes called paraclete… translated “comforter” given by our King James Version. You will find, however, that The New English Bible does not use “comforter.” It uses “advocate.” You’ll also find that I John uses parakletos and the King James translator of that uses “advocate.”
“We should know that the word “advocate” is a technical word legally. It specifically means “defense attorney.” That has a lot of implications to it. By contrast the name “Satan” in Hebrew is a technical term for “prosecuting attorney.” There you have the battle joined in thought.
“The Comforter is to come and defend man. We can see all the ways that Jesus had introduced various defenses for man…
John 14:16, “that he may abide with you for ever.” Is there a provision for a third revelation? The Comforter is apparently the final one.
“John 14:17, “the Spirit of Truth.” Notice how that counters Jesus’ definition of the “devil.” What did he say about the truth? It was the recipe for freedom (John 3:8). So, it’s got something to do with that. But there is also a communications problem. The world “cannot receive.” It’s not going to be a popular arrival. “It doesn’t see him or know him.”
“But, we will know, “because it’s within.”
“John 14:26 picks up the description. “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.” There’s another part of the list, identified with the Holy Ghost in Luke 3:22, the dove descending is the symbol of it. The words “dove” and “ghost” are feminine in the Greek, and the comfort aspect also introduces the feminine concept.
“The role of the Comforter “will be sent by God in my name.” If one were to regard that literally, the Comforter’s name should at least have some recognizable aspect either relating to Jesus or to Christ. Another aspect of the Comforter is “he will teach you all things.”
“The role of teaching what? Is anything left out? “All things.” And at the same time, “it will bring everything back to human memory that Jesus said.”
“Book of John: A Walk with the Beloved Disciple”, by B. Cobbey Crisler**
“WE’VE ALL BEEN AWARE THAT THERE’S PLENTY OF ROOM FOR ‘GREATER WORKS’… COLLECTIVE DEMONSTRATIONS…IN GOVERNMENTS… NATIONS… THAT COULD BENEFIT FROM …THE TOUCH OF THE COMFORTER’S MINISTRIES OF DIVINE LOVE”? Christine Irby Williams on “greater works…” (cit. B15, John 14:12+)
[Warren:] Christine Irby Williams nicely tackled the tough question of what works could possibly be greater than what Jesus did in a wonderful pre-camp inspirational talk to CedarS staff in May 2013 as well as IN part of an inspirational address for the Christian Science Nurses conference at CedarS in September. [CedarS was delighted to again host over 120 C.S. Nurses from all over the world during the first week of September 2019 and to be hosting another such gathering in 2025.]
[Christine Irby Williams in a May 2013 CedarS Pre-camp inspirational talk said, in part:]
“Have you ever wondered what in the world Jesus meant by greater works? It does sound a little daunting. We read almost every week in the Bible Lesson something such as Jesus “went about…healing ALL manner of sickness and ALL manner of disease among the people.” He fed 5,000 men plus women and children with what had appeared to everyone else as a few loaves and fishes. He walked on water and suspended time and space. He raised to life a child who appeared to have just passed away, a young man who was on his way to be buried, and Lazarus, who had been in the grave four days already. And then, of course, he raised himself after the crucifixion, and he ascended. So, what could possibly be greater than any, much less all, of that? I’ve often wondered, and I’m still pondering his promise…
“There has been one particular area in which it’s likely that we’ve all been aware that there is plenty of room for “greater works,” and that is working together, or what might be called collective demonstration: in families, church work, any kind of organizational work—in a church context or otherwise, in neighborhoods, in governments of all sizes, in nations, among the people, and in the world at large. Would you agree with me that these are areas that could benefit from the light of Truth, the touch of the Comforter—the healing and saving ministries of divine Love? Might we be so bold as to think about tackling the environment? World peace? World hunger? If not, why not? If so, let’s get on with it! Let us “then up and be doing,” as our Hymn [#18] says!”
Christine shared more inspiration on this & other topics at the 2012 Fern Lodge Annual Meeting. First posted in Warren’s Met on “Christian Science” for 12-29-13
