God the Preserver of Man

Transcription

1 Golden Text Numbers 6:24, 26 The Lord bless you, and keep you;... The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. Responsive Reading Psalms 34:7, 8 Isaiah 54:10 14, 17 7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! 10 For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, Says the Lord, who has mercy on you. 11 O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. 12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. 13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children. 14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you. 17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me, Says the Lord. 1 Psalms 121:8 Section 1 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. 2 Psalms 91:1 4 (to :), 10, 11 1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. This copy of a Weekly Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly is licensed for your own personal use and may not be distributed electronically or in print, except as described in the Copyright Terms and Conditions at. Christian Science Quarterly is a trademark owned by The Christian Science Publishing Society. Study references are from the Bible (King James Version) and the Christian Science textbook, with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. The Golden Text and Responsive Reading are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 3 Isaiah 40:10, Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. 4 Jeremiah 17:7, 8 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Section :5 6 In divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine 6 Principle of being :4 Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation. 6 As the apostle expressed it in words which he quoted with approbation from a classic poet: Father- Mother For we are also His offspring :8 All nature teaches God s 9 love to man, but man cannot love God supremely and set his whole affections on spiritual things, while loving the material or trusting in it more than in the spiritual. 4 78:28 Spirit blesses man, but man cannot tell whence it cometh. By it the sick are healed, the sorrowing are 30 comforted, and the sinning are reformed. These are the effects of one universal God, the invisible good dwelling in eternal Science :8 Spirit is symbolized by strength, presence, and power, 9 and also by holy thoughts, winged with Love. These angels of His presence, which have the holiest Seraphic charge, abound in the spiritual atmosphere of symbols 12 Mind, and consequently reproduce their own characteristics. Their individual forms we know not, but we do know that their natures are allied to God s nature; and 15 spiritual blessings, thus typified, are the externalized, yet subjective, states of faith and spiritual understanding. 6 vii:1 2 1 To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. 2

3 5 Psalms 116:1, 5, 6 Section 2 1 I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. 6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. 6 Genesis 21:9 21 Sarah 9 Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham s sight because of his son. 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. 14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer sheba. 15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. 7 Proverbs 3:5, 6 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Section :10 14 Abraham. Fidelity; faith in the divine Life and in the eternal Principle of being. 12 This patriarch illustrated the purpose of Love to create trust in good, and showed the life-preserving power of spiritual understanding. 8 70: The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. 3

4 9 259:6 (only), 26 6 In divine Science, man is the true image of God. Immortal 27 ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine 30 concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results : The footsteps of thought, rising above material standpoints, are slow, and portend a long night to the traveller; but the angels of His presence the spiritual 12 intuitions that tell us when the night is far spent, the day is at hand are our guardians in the gloom :9 Rise of thought 9 With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys. Angels 12 are God s representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real indi- 15 viduality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain angels unawares. Our angelic messengers 8 Mark 1:14 Jesus, 15 Section 3 14 Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 9 Mark 3:1 5 1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. 2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. 3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. 5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. 10 Mark 6:56 56 And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. 4

5 12 151:23 24, Section 3 The divine Mind that made man 24 maintains His own image and likeness. All that really exists is the divine Mind and 27 its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal :30 30 Sickness, sin, and death are not the fruits of Life. They are inharmonies which Truth destroys. Perfection does not animate imperfection. Inasmuch as God is 1 good and the fount of all being, He does not produce moral or physical deformity; therefore such deformity is 3 not real, but is illusion, the mirage of error. Divine Science reveals these grand facts. On their basis Jesus demonstrated Life, never 6 fearing nor obeying error in any form :16 25 Deformity and perfection Working out the rules of Science in practice, the author has re- 18 stored health in cases of both acute and chronic disease in their severest forms. Secretions have been changed, the structure has been renewed, shortened limbs have been 21 elongated, ankylosed joints have been made supple, and carious bones have been restored to healthy conditions. I have restored what is called the lost substance of lungs, and 24 healthy organizations have been established where disease was organic :20 Let Christian Science, 21 instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence dis- 24 cord with harmony :2 Look away from the body into Truth and Love, 3 the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these 6 into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts. 11 Luke 8:40 Section 4 Thoughts are things 40 And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him. 12 Luke 10: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 2013 The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. 5

6 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 13 Matthew 18:21, Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 14 I John 4:16 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 15 Psalms 119:159 quicken, quicken me, O Lord, according to thy lovingkindness. 165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them :30 Section 4 30 Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power :22 When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law of loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded; 24 whereas a belief in many ruling minds hinders man s normal drift towards the one Mind, one God, and leads human thought into opposite channels 27 where selfishness reigns :30 5 Redemption from selfishness 30 With 1 one Father, even God, the whole family of man would be brethren; and with one Mind and that God, or good, 3 the brotherhood of man would consist of Love and Truth, and have unity of Principle and spiritual power which constitute divine Science :15 In 15 In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant 18 of error, self-will, self-justification, and self-love, which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death :3 5, 10 3 Man understands spiritual existence in proportion as his treasures of Truth and Love are enlarged. Godward gravitation This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man s absorption into Deity 2013 The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. 6

7 12 and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent 15 peace. 16 Psalms 67:1, 2 Section 5 1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; 2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. 17 John 12:44 44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 18 Matthew 5:43 45 (to :) 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: 19 Luke 7: And a certain centurion s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. 3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: 5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: 7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick :18 Universal Section 5 18 Universal Love is the divine way in Christian Science : It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact 12 becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. 7

8 24 494:5 Is it not a species of infidelity to believe that so great 6 a work as the Messiah s was done for himself or for God, who needed no help from Jesus example to Inexhaustible divine Love preserve the eternal harmony? But mortals 9 did need this help, and Jesus pointed the way for them. Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demon- 12 strated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good :23 One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; con- 24 stitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, Love thy neighbor as thyself; annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, whatever is wrong in 27 social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed. 20 Psalms 16:1, 9 Section 6 1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 21 John 8:12 (to :) 12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: 22 John 14:11, 16, Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works sake. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 23 John 15:11 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full : :1 Section 6 Christians rejoice in secret beauty and bounty, hidden from the world, but known to God. 1 Jesus established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing. He taught 3 his followers that his religion had a divine Principle, which would cast out error and heal The Christ-mission 2013 The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. 8

9 both the sick and the sinning. He claimed no intelli- 6 gence, action, nor life separate from God. Despite the persecution this brought upon him, he used his divine power to save men both bodily and spiritually :25 The truths of immortal Mind sustain man, and they annihilate the fables of mortal mind, whose flimsy and gaudy 27 pretensions, like silly moths, singe their own wings and fall into dust :10 Through divine Science, Spirit, God, unites understanding to eternal harmony. The calm and exalted 12 thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress. Exalted thought 29 55: Truth s immortal idea is sweeping down the centuries, gathering beneath its wings the sick and sinning. My weary hope tries to realize that happy day, when man shall 18 recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as himself, when he shall realize God s omnipotence and the healing power of the divine Love in what it has done 21 and is doing for mankind. The promises will be fulfilled. The time for the reappearing of the divine healing is throughout all time; and whosoever layeth his earthly 24 all on the altar of divine Science, drinketh of Christ s cup now, and is endued with the spirit and power of Christian healing. 27 In the words of St. John: He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever. This Comforter I understand to be Divine Science The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. 9