Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for June 29, 2008
Release & Affirmation
Today we are talking about Release & Affirmation. Charles Fillmore writes in his book The Revealing Word that release or denial is "The mental process of erasing from consciousness the false beliefs of the sense mind. Denial clears away belief in evil as reality and thus makes room for the establishing of Truth. Carnal consciousness is made up of a multitude of false individual and race beliefs. Through denial we get rid of these shadows of reality. We cleanse the temple of the mind of these thieves and robbers of our good. In so doing, we make way for the planting of the seeds of Truth that will bring to us an ever-increasing supply of good."
And that affirmation is "A positive statement of Truth. By the use of affirmations we claim and appropriate that which is ours in Truth. The act of affirmation is the "yes" action of the mind; the act of affirming; the declaring of Truth; the mental movement that asserts confidently and persistently the Truth of Being in the face of all appearances to the contrary."
JOHN THE BAPTIST
If we look in the Bible at the story of John the Baptist we see that 'denial' is labeled as 'repentance.' Elizabeth, the mother of John, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were cousins. So Jesus and John were related. Elizabeth Sand Turner writes in her book Your Hope of Glory, "Metaphysically this tells us that the intellect in its highest state is closely connected with spiritual realization. It is perceiving the Christ and striving to prepare the consciousness to accept the divine idea." John was (Luke 1:17) "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
This is what denial (or release) does for our consciousness. It needs to be prepared before affirming the Truth. It needs to be cleared of false (or evil) ideas.
Mary and Elizabeth were pregnant at the same time, so the boys were about the same age. John lived the life of an ascetic in the wilderness. He studied the words of God and became convinced that the prophecies concerning a Messiah were about to be fulfilled. Little did he suspect that it was his cousin Jesus.
John became convinced that the Messiah was going to usher in the kingdom of heaven and redeem His people from all bondage. But, they must be prepared to receive and follow Him.
There was a lot of corruption, and hypocrisy in the religious leaders of the time – and John saw it as his duty to denounce these leaders and to proclaim the way of righteousness and holiness.
When John was about thirty years old he appeared on the banks of the Jordan and preached to the people just like the prophets that went before him did. The Jews were startled, yet drawn to him. There had been no prophetic voice for several hundred years.
They gathered and eagerly listened to the words of this man of God. Even his appearance was similar to the old prophets. It says in (Matthew 3:4) "John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey."
The main message of John's preaching was, (Matthew 3:2) "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." All the Jews were thrilled with his message that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand," for this meant that the Messiah was to come very soon. But they had selective hearing, for they didn't get the whole message.
He had to make it very clear to them that they were in drastic need of reforming and that they would not enter the kingdom of heaven without it. The illumined intellect understands that a change must take place in the individual before the kingdom can become a reality.
But as descendants of Abraham, the Jews thought they had the right to enter the kingdom of heaven to be set up by the Messiah. They weren't exactly prepared for John telling them that they had to repent. And they didn't like his analysis of the conditions brought about by their sins. But repentance, or denial, or release, is a necessary step in the realization of righteousness, and John demanded it of all of them
He said in, (Luke 3:8) "Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham."
To repent means to change our minds. In a spiritual sense repentance is the act of turning from materialism and reaching for spiritual things. We can't build a spiritual consciousness until we are willing to get rid of the beliefs and habits of thought that belong to the lower nature. John warned that only those who were willing to reform could receive the blessing of the coming kingdom. The choice was theirs to make and the time was now.
John baptized those willing to repent in the Jordan River. Charles Fillmore writes about this baptism in the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary. "Water baptism symbolizes a cleansing process, the letting go of error. It is the first step in the realization of Truth. It is the process of pouring into consciousness the dissolving power of the Word, which breaks up and washes away all thoughts of materiality… Water baptism indicates a letting-go attitude of thought, which is denial."
This was the physical representation of denial. But Unity teaches that water baptism is unnecessary. Denial is the mental process of cleaning out false thoughts from our mind by rejecting them. We deny anything that is not true of Spirit even though it may seem to be true in our earthly life.
An affirmation is a statement of Truth. We first make a denial of error and, then, we affirm that which is good and true. Denials erase errors from the mind and affirmations establish spiritual ideas. The water baptism of John represents denial. The spiritual baptism of Jesus represents affirmation.
John said, (Matthew 3:11) "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
JESUS HEALS THE YOUNG BOY
In scripture right after Jesus was on the mountain and was transfigured; he came down and joined his disciples. He found them surrounded by a crowd of anxious people. A man from a nearby village had brought his afflicted son to be healed.
When he learned that Jesus was away, he asked the apostles for help. They were unable to help, and when Jesus appeared, the father asked Him to heal the child.
Jesus said, (Mark 9:19-27) "Bring the child to me." And they brought the boy to him.
When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us."
Jesus said to him, "If you are able!--All things can be done for the one who believes."
Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!"
When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!"
After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand."
Jesus made it plain that the father's faith was necessary for the healing of this affliction of long duration. "All things can be done for the one who believes"
Through faith we open ourselves to the healing currents of life that await our acceptance but which cannot be utilized unless we believe. The father did believe in spiritual healing, because he brought his son to Jesus; yet, he knew that his faith was wavering, His heartfelt cry, "I believe; help my unbelief," was the reaching out for a greater faith and the unshakable assurance that Spirit is all-powerful and always ready to supply man's needs.
The apostles who had been unable to heal the child were puzzled and dismayed at their lack of power. Had they not gone forth "two by two" and done great works in His name?
When they were alone with Jesus they asked Him for an explanation of their failure in this instance. His reply was, (Mark 9:29) "This kind can come out only through prayer and fasting."
Prayer is a positive taking on of spiritual ideas from the Christ Mind; fasting in a spiritual sense is refraining from destructive thought. Jesus' explanation answers the question that comes to those of us who think that we have sufficient faith and who want to do the healing works of the Lord, but often fail.
This statement tells us that we have not yet given enough time to prayer or to denial and affirmation. The faithful practice of denial rejects the error thoughts in consciousness. The consistent practice of affirmations steadies the mind so that the power of God can move through us to heal even deep-rooted mental and physical ailments.
JESUS AND THE FIG TREE
Jesus and the apostles spent the nights during Holy Week, walking to Jerusalem each day, a distance of about four miles from Bethany.
On Monday morning, as Jesus and His companions set out for Jerusalem, He was hungry. (Matthew 21:18) "And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once."
The barren fig tree symbolizes unfruitful conditions in our life. All of us need to bring forth the fruits of our spiritual nature, just as it is the function of the fig tree to produce figs. When we discover that a certain state of mind is not constructive and is the parent of unwholesome conditions, it is our right to "curse" or deny it. By the power of the word spoken in faith, we can "wither" these sterile states of mind and their supporting negative appearances and thus be free of them.
The apostles were surprised to see the fig tree dying immediately, and Jesus said to them:
(Matthew 21:21-22) "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, "Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive."
So, throughout the New Testament you will find references to release and affirmation. We need to follow that example. First we need to clean up our consciousness. Weed out all the old beliefs that are not in harmony with Spirit. Get rid of every old idea that is not producing good fruit in your life.
Then plant only good affirmations in the fertile soil of your mind. Bless yourself with affirmations of Truth. Give yourself the gifts of God by affirming Health, Prosperity, Strength, Love, and Joy.
Then go out and live as God expects you to.
Let it be your way.
SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:17; Matthew 3; Luke 3:8; Mark 9:19-27; Mark 9:29; Matthew 21:18; Matthew 21:21-22
REFERENCE: The Revealing Word Charles Fillmore; Your Hope of Glory Elizabeth Sand Turner;
Metaphysical Bible Dictionary Charles Fillmore
--------------------
