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

[Page 198.]

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

man has no sinful thoughts and will have no desire to sin.

To arrive at this point of unity of Spirit, G.o.d, one must commence by turning away from material G.o.ds; denying [5]

material so-called laws and material sensation,-or mind in matter, in its varied forms of pleasure and pain. This must be done with the understanding that matter has no sense; thus it is that consciousness silences the mortal claim to life, substance, or mind in matter, with the words [10]

of Jesus: "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own." (John viii. 44.)

When tempted to sin, we should know that evil pro- ceedeth not from G.o.d, good, but is a false belief of the personal senses; and if we deny the claims of these senses [15]

and recognize man as governed by G.o.d, Spirit, not by material laws, the temptation will disappear.

On this Principle, disease also is treated and healed.

We know that man's body, as matter, has no power to govern itself; and a belief of disease is as much the prod- [20]

uct of mortal thought as sin is. All suffering is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of _both_ good and evil; of adherence to the "doubleminded" senses, to some belief, fear, theory, or bad deed, based on physical material law, so-called as opposed to good,-all of which is corrected [25]

alone by Science, divine Principle, and its spiritual laws.

Suffering is the supposition of another intelligence than G.o.d; a belief in self-existent evil, opposed to good; and in whatever seems to punish man for doing good,- by saying he has overworked, suffered from inclement [30]

weather, or violated a law of matter in doing good, there- fore he must suffer for it.

[Page 199.]

G.o.d does not reward benevolence and love with pen- [1]

alties; and because of this, we have the right to deny the supposed power of matter to do it, and to allege that only mortal, erring mind can claim to do thus, and dignify the result with the name of law: thence comes man's ability [5]

to annul his own erring mental law, and to hold himself amenable only to moral and spiritual law,-G.o.d's gov- ernment. By so doing, male and female come into their rightful heritage, "into the glorious liberty of the children of G.o.d." [10]

_Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities,_ _in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake._-2 COR.

xii. 10.

The miracles recorded in the Scriptures ill.u.s.trate the life of Jesus as nothing else can; but they cost him the [15]

hatred of the rabbis. The rulers sought the life of Jesus; they would extinguish whatever denied and defied their superst.i.tion. We learn somewhat of the qualities of the divine Mind through the human Jesus. The power of his transcendent goodness is manifest in the control it [20]

gave him over the qualities opposed to Spirit which mor- tals name matter.

The Principle of these marvellous works is divine; but the actor was human. This divine Principle is discerned in Christian Science, as we advance in the spiritual under- [25]

standing that all substance, Life, and intelligence are G.o.d. The so-called miracles contained in Holy Writ are neither supernatural nor preternatural; for G.o.d is good, and goodness is more natural than evil. The marvellous healing-power of goodness is the outflowing life of Chris- [30]

tianity, and it characterized and dated the Christian era.

[Page 200.]

It was the consummate naturalness of Truth in the [1]

mind of Jesus, that made his healing easy and instan- taneous. Jesus regarded good as the normal state of man, and evil as the abnormal; holiness, life, and health as the better representatives of G.o.d than sin, disease, and [5]

death. The master Metaphysician understood omnipo- tence to be All-power: because Spirit was to him All- in-all, matter was palpably an error of premise and conclusion, while G.o.d was the only substance, Life, and intelligence of man. [10]

The apostle Paul insists on the rare rule in Christian Science that we have chosen for a text; a rule that is sus- ceptible of proof, and is applicable to every stage and state of human existence. The divine Science of this rule is quite as remote from the general comprehension of man- [15]

kind as are the so-called miracles of our Master, and for the sole reason that it is their basis. The foundational facts of Christian Science are gathered from the supremacy of spiritual law and its antagonism to every supposed ma- terial law. Christians to-day should be able to say, with [20]

the sweet sincerity of the apostle, "I take pleasure in infirmities,"-I enjoy the touch of weakness, pain, and all suffering of the flesh, _because_ it compels me to seek the remedy for it, and to find happiness, apart from the per- sonal senses. The holy calm of Paul's well-tried hope [25]

met no obstacle or circ.u.mstances paramount to the tri- umph of a reasonable faith in the omnipotence of good, involved in its divine Principle, G.o.d: the so-called pains and pleasures of matter were alike unreal to Jesus; for he regarded matter as only a vagary of mortal belief, and sub- [30]

dued it with this understanding.

The abstract statement that all is Mind, supports the

[Page 201.]

entire wisdom of the text; and this statement receives [1]

the mortal scoff only because it meets the immortal de- mands of Truth. The Science of Paul's declaration re- solves the element misnamed matter into its original sin, or human will; that will which would oppose bringing the [5]

qualities of Spirit into subjection to Spirit. Sin brought death; and death is an element of matter, or material falsity, never of Spirit.

When Jesus reproduced his body after its burial, he revealed the myth or material falsity of evil; its power- [10]

lessness to destroy good, and the omnipotence of the Mind that knows this: he also showed forth the error and nothingness of supposed life in matter, and the great somethingness of the good we possess, which is of Spirit, and immortal. [15]

Understanding this, Paul took pleasure in infirmities, for it enabled him to triumph over them,-he declared that "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death;" he took pleasure in "reproaches" and "persecutions," because [20]

they were so many proofs that he had wrought the prob- lem of being beyond the common apprehension of sinners; he took pleasure in "necessities," for they tested and de- veloped latent power.

We protect our dwellings more securely after a robbery, [25]

and our jewels have been stolen; so, after losing those jewels of character,-temperance, virtue, and truth,- the young man is awakened to bar his door against further robberies.

Go to the bedside of pain, and there you can demon- [30]

strate the triumph of good that has pleasure in infirmities; because it ill.u.s.trates through the flesh the divine power

[Page 202.]

of Spirit, and reaches the basis of all supposed miracles; [1]

whereby the sweet harmonies of Christian Science are found to correct the discords of sense, and to lift man's being into the sunlight of Soul.

"The chamber where the good man meets his fate [5]

Is privileged beyond the walks of common life, Quite on the verge of heaven."

CHAPTER VII. POND AND PURPOSE.

[Page 203.]

Beloved Students:-In thanking you for your [1]

gift of the pretty pond contributed to Pleasant View, in Concord, New Hampshire, I make no distinction be- tween my students and your students; for here, thine becomes mine through grat.i.tude and affection. [5]