Part 39 (1/2)

the premises whereof are not to be found in the Scriptures.

The Master's divine logic, as seen in our text, contradicts this inference,-these are his words: ”He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” That per- fect syllogism of Jesus has but one correct premise and [20]

conclusion, and it cannot fall to the ground beneath the stroke of unskilled swordsmen. He who never unsheathed his blade to try the edge of truth in Christian Science, is unequal to the conflict, and unfit to judge in the case; the shepherd's sling would slay this Goliath. I once be- [25]

lieved that the practice and teachings of Jesus relative to healing the sick, were spiritual abstractions, impractical and impossible to us; but deed, not creed, and practice more than theory, have given me a higher sense of Christianity. [30]

The ”I” will go to the Father when meekness, purity, and love, informed by divine Science, the Comforter,

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lead to the one G.o.d: then the ego is found not in [1]

matter but in Mind, for there is but one G.o.d, one Mind; and man will then claim no mind apart from G.o.d.

Idolatry, the supposition of the existence of many minds and more than one G.o.d, has repeated itself in all manner [5]

of subtleties through the entire centuries, saying as in the beginning, ”Believe in me, and I will make you as G.o.ds;” that is, I will give you a separate mind from G.o.d (good), named evil; and this so-called mind shall open your eyes and make you know evil, and thus become [10]

material, sensual, evil. But bear in mind that a serpent said that; therefore that saying came not from Mind, good, or Truth. G.o.d was not the author of it; hence the words of our Master: ”He is a liar, and the father of it;”

also, the character of the votaries to ”other G.o.ds” which [15]

sprung from it.

The sweet, sacred sense and permanence of man's unity with his Maker, in Science, illumines our present existence with the ever-presence and power of G.o.d, good.

It opens wide the portals of salvation from sin, sickness, [20]

and death. When the Life that is G.o.d, good, shall ap- pear, ”we shall be like Him;” we shall do the works of Christ, and, in the words of David, ”the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner,”

because the ”I” does go unto the Father, the ego does [25]

arise to spiritual recognition of being, and is exalted,- not through death, but Life, G.o.d understood.

_Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved._-ACTS xvi. 31.

The Scriptures require more than a simple admission [30]

and feeble acceptance of the truths they present; they

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require a living faith, that so incorporates their lessons [1]

into our lives that these truths become the motive-power of every act.

ur chosen text is one more frequently used than many others, perhaps, to exhort people to turn from sin [5]

and to strive after holiness; but we fear the full import of this text is not yet recognized. It means a _full_ salva- tion,-man saved from sin, sickness, and death; for, unless this be so, no man can be wholly fitted for heaven in the way which Jesus marked out and bade his followers [10]

pursue.

In order to comprehend the meaning of the text, let us see what it is to believe. It means more than an opinion entertained concerning Jesus as a man, as the Son of G.o.d, or as G.o.d; such an action of mind would be of no more [15]

help to save from sin, than would a belief in any historical event or person. But it does mean so to understand the beauty of holiness, the character and divinity which Jesus presented in his power to heal and to save, that it will compel us to pattern after both; in other words, to ”let [20]

this Mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

(Phil. ii. 5.)

Mortal man believes in, but does not understand life in, Christ. He believes there is another power or intelli- gence that rules over a kingdom of its own, that is both [25]

good and evil; yea, that is divided against itself, and there- fore cannot stand. This belief breaks the First Command- ment of G.o.d.

Let man abjure a theory that is in opposition to G.o.d, recognize G.o.d as omnipotent, having all-power; and, [30]

placing his trust in this grand Truth, and working from no other Principle, he can neither be sick nor forever a

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sinner. When wholly governed by the one perfect Mind, [1]