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The Revealing Word
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[The Revealing Word]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
faculty, spiritual--An individualized center of God
consciousness. The twelve faculties or ideas in Divine Mind
are: faith, strength, wisdom or judgment, love, power,
imagination, understanding, will, order or law, zeal,
renunciation, and life. Man takes control of his faculties
through exercising the will.
There are two ways to develop the spiritual faculties:
through the evolutionary law of experience and trial (the
school of the twelve sons of Jacob); or by the direct power
of the Word, or the I AM (the purifying of the twelve
apostles of Jesus). The law of Moses and the experiences of
the Children of Israel under the old dispensation represent
the first; and the transforming power of the true Word, or
gospel of Jesus Christ, as set forth in the New Testament,
is the second. When Divine Mind is looked to as the one and
only guide, the faculties of man are developed in an
orderly manner through the power of the Word. "For sin
shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law,
but under grace" (Rom. 6:14).
faculties, awakened--Faculties of mind that have been
expanded until they function in harmony with Divine Mind.
failure--Inability, through a lack of power, to make a
demonstration. Seeming failure is often a steppingstone to
something higher.
faintheartedness--Uncourageous thoughts, lacking ability
and efficiency.
faith--The perceiving power of the mind linked with the
power to shape substance. Spiritual assurance; the power to
do the seemingly impossible. It is a magnetic power that
draws unto us our heart's desire from the invisible
spiritual substance. Faith is a deep inner knowing that
that which is sought is already ours for the taking.
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"Now faith is assurance of things hoped for" (Heb. 11:1).
A close analysis shows that faith is the foundation of all
that man does. Jesus spoke of a new condition for the
upliftment of the race. He called it the "kingdom of the
heavens." He said it must be built upon the foundation
typified by Peter (rock), who represents faith. This is
proof that faith is closely related to the enduring, firm.
unyielding forms of substance. The development of the faith
faculty is a key to spiritual realization. "According to
your faith be it done unto you" (Matt. 9:29).
Faith in God is the substance of existence. To have faith
in God is to have the faith of God. We must have faith in
God as our Father and source of all the good we desire.
Faith is more than mere belief. It is the very substance of
that which is believed. It works by love. Thoughts of
condemnation, enmity, and resistance must be released and
divine love declared; then faith will work unhindered.
Faith working in spiritual substance accomplishes all
things. This is the faith that co-operates with creative
law. When faith is exercised deep in spiritual
consciousness, it finds its abode; and under divine law,
without variation or disappointment, it brings results that
are seemingly miraculous.
faith, blind--An instinctive trust in a power higher than
ourselves. Because blind faith does not understand the
principles of Being, it is liable to discouragement and
disappointment.
faith, center of--The pineal gland, located in the middle
of the brain, is the center of faith in the body of man.
Concentration of thought on this center opens the mind of
man to spiritual faith.
faith compared with trust--Trust is a weaker brand of
faith, but better than mistrust. As a rule, persons who
merely trust the Lord do not understand divine law. If they
had understanding, they would affirm the presence
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and power of God until the very substance of Spirit would
appear in manifestation.
faith cure--Another name for spiritual healing.
faith, how cultivated--By studying the experiences of Peter
(the apostle representing faith), we obtain suggestions on
the development of this faculty. The vacillating allegiance
of Peter to Jesus illustrates the growth of faith in one
who has not developed this faculty. Faith is built up
through denial of all doubt and fear and continuous
affirmations of loyalty to the divine idea, the higher
self. One must have faith in one's spiritual capacity and
depend on it in the face of adverse appearances.
faith in oneself--The ground for man's faith in himself is
the truth that he is a son of God and, as such, he inherits
the divine nature. Man should have faith in himself because
he cannot be successful in any line without such faith.
faith, intellectual--The faith that has its seat of action
in the intellect only. Intellectual man has faith in his
art, in his science, or in his philosophy, which answers
his purpose for the time being.
faith of Jesus--Jesus did not claim an exclusive
supernatural power, which we usually accredit to Him. He
had explored the ether energy, which He called the "kingdom
of the heavens"; His understanding was beyond that of the
average man. However, He knew and said that other men could
do what He did if they would only have faith. He encouraged
His followers to take Him as a pattern for faith and to use
the power of thought and word. Divine healing is due to the
application of the same law that Jesus used. In most
instances, He demanded faith on the part of those He
healed; and with this faith as a point of mental and
spiritual contact, He released the latent energy in the
atomic structure of the ones in need of healing, and they
were restored to life and health. "He that believeth
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on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do" (John 14:12).
faith, prayer of--The act of mentally taking that which is
desired. Jesus said, "All things whatsoever ye pray and ask
for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them"
(Mark 11:24).
faith thinking--The most important power of man is the
original faith-thinking faculty. All of us have the
thinking faculty located in the head, from which we send
forth good, bad, and indifferent thoughts. If we are
educated and molded after the average pattern of the human
family, we may live a lifetime and never have an original
thought. The thinking faculty is supplied with the
second-hand ideas of our ancestors, the dominant beliefs of
the race, or the threadbare stock of the ordinary social
swim. This is not faith thinking. Faith thinking is done
only by one who has caught sight of the Truth of Being and
who feeds his thinking faculty on images generated in the
faith center. Faith thinking is not merely an intellectual
process based on reasoning. The faith thinker does not
compare, analyze, or draw conclusions from known premises.
He does not take appearances into consideration; he is not
biased by precedent. His thinking gives form, without cavil
or question, to ideas that come straight from the eternal
fount of wisdom. His perception impinges on the spiritual,
and he knows.
faith, understanding--Faith that functions from Principle.
It is based on knowledge of Truth. It understands the law
of mind action; therefore, it has great strength. To know
that certain causes produce certain results gives a bedrock
foundation for faith.
faithless generation--A generation that lacks the spiritual
faith and power to do the works Jesus would have it do,
such as healing the sick and making the blind to see.
fall--A retrogression in consciousness from the pristine
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Christ Mind to the personal and sense mind of the Adam man.
false claims--Those who make the indwelling Spirit of truth
their guide and authority will not be deceived by false
claims made either by other persons or by institutions. The
safe way is to trust the Spirit of truth continually for
protection from false beliefs.
family, the Christ--Jesus said: "Who is my mother and my
brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about
him, he saith, Behold my mother and my brethren! For
whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother,
and sister, and mother" (Mark 3:33-35).
family, the universal--If God is the Father of all, then
all men and women are brothers and sisters in a universal
family. In the Christ consciousness we are all one.
famine--Lack of faith in God's power to prosper.
fasting--Denial; abstinence from error thoughts, to the end
that we may meditate on Truth and incorporate it into our
consciousness of oneness with the Father.
fate--"That which is destined or decreed; appointed lot.
Fate suggests inevitability and immutability in strict use,
but usually carries no clear implication of whether it is
good or evil" (Webster). Man, through his thought, is
working out his own salvation; he is created in the image
and likeness of God and is finally to reach "the goal unto
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus"
(Phil. 3:14).
Father--God through His Holy Spirit is the Father.
Father and Son--The Father-Mind is the living Principle,
the Absolute, the Great Unlimited. The Son is the living
Word.
Father and Son, result of knowing both--When we are
quickened in spiritual understanding, we experience a
renewal of mind and a transformation of body. The
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mortal becomes immortal, the corruptible becomes
incorruptible. It is the resurrection into eternal life.
Father of lights--Source of profound understanding,
illumination, wisdom. Through our realization of and
meditation on spiritual illumination, we open the way for
these spiritual gifts to be showered upon us.
Father-Principle--The exact and immutable Principle of
Being, lying back of all existence as cause, and
approachable only along lines of perfect law. It is
omnipresent and is not subject to change or open to
argument.
Father's house, the--The Christ consciousness. It is the
center of man's consciousness and is made manifest to him
by mind processes alone.
favor of God--Good realized through faithful obedience; the
orderly unfoldment in mind and body that results from
meditation and prayer; a blessing that comes to us through
obedience to Spirit. The bringing about of an inner
spiritual strength, resulting in the development of all
parts of mind and body.
fear--"Painful emotion marked by alarm; dread; disquiet"
(Webster). Fear is one of the most subtle and destructive
errors that the carnal mind in man experiences. Fear is a
paralyzer of mental action; it weakens both mind and body.
Fear throws dust in our eyes and hides the mighty spiritual
forces that are always with us. Blessed are those who deny
ignorance and fear and affirm the presence and power of
Spirit.
fear, how to overcome--Fear is cast out by perfect love. To
know divine love is to be selfless, and to be selfless is
to be without fear. The God-conscious person is filled with
quietness and confidence.
fear of God--"Only fear Jehovah, and serve him in truth
with all your heart" (I Sam. 12:24). In this scriptural
passage the word fear is used with Webster's meaning: "Awe;
profound reverence, especially for the Supreme Being."
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fearfulness--State of mind that is full of fear.
Fearfulness is a parasite; it drives away divine guidance
and produces weakness of the heart.
feast--Appropriation in a large measure; that is, laying
hold of divine potentialities.
feast in Jerusalem--A receptive state of mind toward all
spiritual good. It is the realization of the unfailing
substance of Divine Mind. A great peace is there--"the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding (Phil.
4:7)--and a welling up of an indescribable substance that
fills the whole being with satisfaction.
feast, marriage--Conscious union between spirit or mind and
body in the silent influx of substance; the union of man
with Spirit. A thirsting for things of Spirit is necessary
before one can come to the spiritual marriage feast. Great
desire for the light and purity of Spirit is the power that
prepares man for this greatest of feasts. (see Matt.
22:1-15)
feast, Sabbath--The inflow of spiritual substance that we
realize when we enter the silence.
feeding the five thousand--In the universal Mind is a
substance that Jesus called the "Father," which is also the
seed of all visible substance. It is the only real
substance because it is unchangeable, while visible
substance is in constant transition.
An idea is purely spiritual and can be apprehended only by
the mind. It is never visible to the eye but can be sensed
by man through any of his spiritual functions. When the
attention has been centered on the idea of substance long
enough and strongly enough, a consciousness of substance is
generated; and, by the powers of the various faculties of
the mind in right relation, visible substance is formed. In
this way, Jesus brought into visibility the loaves and
fishes to feed the five thousand.
feeling--Feeling is external to thought; behind every
feeling or emotion there lies thought, which is its direct
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cause. To erase a feeling, a change of thought is required.
feet--Represent the phase of the understanding that
connects us with the outer or manifest world and reveals
the right relationship toward worldly conditions in
general. We can take possession of all substance that we
comprehend and understand, in the name of I AM. This is the
meaning of Josh. 1:3: "Every place that the sole of your
foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it, as I spake
unto Moses."
feet, washing of--The denial of materiality is illustrated
in Jesus' washing of the apostles' feet (John 13:5-10).
Even Peter (who represents faith) must be cleansed from
belief in the reality of material conditions. To wash
another's feet seems a menial thing, but in this humble way
Jesus taught and exemplified the willingness of divine love
to serve, so that man may be redeemed from the pride of the
flesh.
feminine--The divine feminine in man is the mother phase of
Being. God, through His Holy Spirit, is the Father.
field--Outside the house of God. "He that soweth the good
seed is the Son of man; and the field is the world" (Matt.
13:37-38).
fiery furnace--A state of mind in which one goes through a
purifying process, and evil and error are destroyed.
fire--Symbolizes cleansing and purification, but it is more
than a symbol. Material fire is the symbol, and the fire of
Spirit is the reality. The whole universe is alive with a
divine, living, spiritual energy that consumes all the
dross of sense and materiality. It is a fire that burns
eternally. Because this is true, some have assumed that
disobedient, sinful persons are to live forever in
everlasting torment. But if the fire is eternal, the dross
is not, and when the error is consumed the burning stops.
The fire consumes only when it meets anything unlike
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itself. In purified man it is manifested as his eternal
life.
fire of God--The Word of God in action. It burns out the
dross of negative consciousness and reveals the Christ.
fire, tongues of--Illumination of thought, in demonstration
of Spirit's presence and power.
firmament--Faith in mind power, a firm, unwavering place in
consciousness. The firmament in the midst of the waters is
an idea of confidence or faith in the invisible.
first-born--The "first-born" of every state of
consciousness is the personal I. When the flood of light
from the universal is let in through our declaration of the
one wisdom and one love, this I of every mortal state of
consciousness is slain, and there is a "great cry in Egypt;
for there was not a house where there was not one dead"
(Exod. 12:30).
fish--Represent ideas of multiplication and fecundity.
Accounts in which Jesus figures as a party to fish eating
are symbolical of the mental side of eating, which is the
appropriation of ideas.
The reason Jesus so often used fish to illustrate His
teaching is that He was a living demonstration of ideas,
and all that He did was in the realm of ideas rather than
in the realm of effects. Fish represent ideas in which
there is great possibility of increase; Jesus used these
ideas to represent the inexhaustible, everywhere present
abundance.
fishers of men--Spiritually quickened men who are strongly
fortified in Truth and able to help others to find the
light.
flame of fire--Light of understanding that flames up in the
heart, yet does not consume substance. (see burning bush)
flash of intelligence--The musical genius says he hears
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the music in a flash and is often at his wit's end to
transcribe it fast enough. Many an immortal poem or prose
work has been flashed from the mind of the author without
any apparent effort on his part. But if all the prayers and
mind efforts of literary geniuses were inquired into, it
would be found that there had been heroic mental effort
somewhere at some time. The realization of perfection takes
root in the mind and may come forth in a flash.
flesh--Mortal consciousness expressing itself through
appetite. It is overcome by denying that appetite is
physical and by affirming it to be spiritual.
flesh, carnal or sensual--A malformation of the substance
idea of Being. It must be transformed by right conception
of divine perfection before the mortal can put on the
immortal.
fleshpots of Egypt--The pleasures of sense.
flocks--Symbolical of thoughts. "Tend the flock of God
which is among you" (I Pet. 5:2).
food--A symbol of appropriation. Bread represents the
flesh; it is an outer form of the inner substance. (see
drink of the cup)
All food is primarily mental, and in the process of
digestion and assimilation it becomes part of the body
structure, making cells like itself in character. If we
wish to bring into manifestation the perfect spiritual
body, we should feed on words of Truth--foods that are
spiritual in character--avoiding all that carry with them
into the system a mental atmosphere of sensuality, fear, or
any other discord.
foods, solid--The deeper truths that require much study,
meditation, prayer, and concentration in order that they
may be appropriated and assimilated by the mind.
food, spiritual--Thoughts and words of Truth; the word of
God.
"food which perisheth"--The race consciousness
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strives for the things of sense, but one who has found the
real substance and source of supply proclaims, "Work not
for the food which perisheth, but for the food which
abideth unto eternal life" (John 6:27).
forces, creative--Active physical or mental forces, having
the capacity to produce or to create.
forehead--The seat of perception. The forehead is the
center of consciousness, which the understanding of Truth
seals; that is, it secretly unites the consciousness with
Christ.
forerunner of Spirit--As symbolized by John the Baptist,
the perception of Truth that prepares the way for Spirit
through a letting go of old concepts and beliefs.
forgiveness--A process of giving up the false for the true;
erasing sin and error from the mind and body. It is closely
related to repentance, which is a turning from belief in
sin to belief in God and righteousness. A sin is forgiven
when one ceases to sin, and true forgiveness is only
established through renewing the mind and body with
thoughts and words of Truth.
Forgiveness really means the giving up of something. When
you forgive yourself, you cease doing the things that you
should not do. Jesus said that man has power to forgive
sin. Sin is the falling short of divine law, and repentance
and forgiveness are the only means that man has of getting
out of sin and its effect and coming into harmony with the
law.
It is through forgiveness that true spiritual healing is
accomplished. Forgiveness removes the errors of the mind,
and bodily harmony results in consonance with divine law.
The law is Truth, and Truth is all that is good. There is
no power or no reality in sin. If sin were real and
enduring, like goodness and Truth, it could not be forgiven
but would hold its victim forever. When we enter into the
understanding of the real and the unreal, a great light
dawns on us, and we see what Jesus meant when He
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said, "The Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive
sins."
forgiveness, necessity of--Our first work in any
demonstration is to contact God; therefore, we must forgive
all men their transgressions. Through the divine law of
forgiveness we cleanse our mind so that the Father can
forgive us.
form--"The shape and structure of anything" (Webster). All
forms are manifestations of ideas. Back of the universe are
both the original creative idea and the cosmic rays that
form into earthly things.
fornication--Debasement of the spiritual nature, caused by
functioning in carnal consciousness.
fornication, abstaining from--Refusing to entertain mortal
tendencies and dwelling in spiritual consciousness.
forsaking all for Christ--Giving up everything pertaining
to the personal man, so that the Mind of Christ may be
perfectly incorporated into consciousness.
fourth dimension--A transcendent realm that Jesus called
the "kingdom of the heavens." Here one can discern the
trend of spiritual forces and see with the spiritual vision
of the Christ Mind.
The fourth dimension (which embraces and encompasses the
other three dimensions) is also realization, the doing away
with time and space and all conditions. The human mind,
with its limited reasoning faculties, is bound by time,
space, and conditions and can get no farther into the
spiritual than reason will take it, but when we go beyond
reason into the realm of realization, then we have attained
the consciousness of pure being, the fourth-dimension mind.
frankincense--"A fragrant gum resin" (Webster).
Metaphysically, it represents in man the transmutation of
the material consciousness into the spiritual.
freedom--The quality or state of being without thought or
restraint, bondage, limitation, or repression; having
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a sense of complete well-being. It is a result of
regulating one's life according to Principle, not according
to what anyone else may think or say.
We can never know the full meaning of freedom until we
abide in the Christ consciousness. Without prayer and
spiritual meditation there can be no concept of spiritual
freedom and, therefore, no demonstration of it. It is
gained only through spiritual development gained in long
hours of communion with God in the silence. Liberation from
bondage comes as we seek first the perfect Mind of Christ.
"If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free
indeed" (John 8:36).
free will--Man's inherent freedom to act as he determines.
There can be no perfect expression without perfect freedom
of will. If man determines to act in accord with divine
law, he builds harmony, health, happiness, and eternal
life, which is heaven.
fruitfulness--The rich consciousness man develops as the
result of high realizations of Truth.
fruit of the vine--The "fruit of the vine," which man
drinks anew in the Father's kingdom, is the consciousness
of spiritual life direct from the Fountainhead. (see Matt.
26:29)
fulfill--"To carry into effect; to realize or manifest
completely" (Webster). To fulfill the law of his being, man
must proclaim the true word and thought of unity with God.
fulfillment of righteousness--Attained through affirmation
of Truth and denial of error. As man dwells "in the secret
place of the Most High," "under the shadow of the Almighty"
(Psalms 91:1, 2), he will fulfill all righteousness.
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