A magistrate sometimes remits the penalty, but this 11:6 may be no moral benefit to the criminal, and at best, it only saves the criminal from one form of punishment. The moral law, which has the 11:9 right to acquit or condemn, always demands rest.i.tu- tion before mortals can "go up higher." Broken law brings penalty in order to compel this progress.
Truth annihilates error
11:12 Mere legal pardon (and there is no other, for divine Principle never pardons our sins or mistakes till they are corrected) leaves the offender free to re- 11:15 peat the offence, if indeed, he has not already suffered sufficiently from vice to make him turn from it with loathing. Truth bestows no pardon upon error, but 11:18 wipes it out in the most effectual manner. Jesus suffered for our sins, not to annul the divine sentence for an in- dividual"s sin, but because sin brings inevitable suffering.
Desire for holiness
11:21 Pet.i.tions bring to mortals only the results of mor- tals" own faith. We know that a desire for holiness is requisite in order to gain holiness; but if we 11:24 desire holiness above all else, we shall sac- rifice everything for it. We must be willing to do this, that we may walk securely in the only practical road 11:27 to holiness. Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth, nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled with a fervent habitual 11:30 desire to know and do the will of G.o.d, will bring us into all Truth. Such a desire has little need of audible expression. It is best expressed in thought and in life.
Prayer for the sick
12:1 "The prayer of faith shall save the sick," says the Scripture. What is this healing prayer? A mere re- 12:3 quest that G.o.d will heal the sick has no power to gain more of the divine presence than is always at hand. The beneficial effect of 12:6 such prayer for the sick is on the human mind, mak- ing it act more powerfully on the body through a blind faith in G.o.d. This, however, is one belief casting out 12:9 another, - a belief in the unknown casting out a belief in sickness. It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human under- 12:12 standing of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and con- scientious protests of Truth, - of man"s likeness to 12:15 G.o.d and of man"s unity with Truth and Love.
Prayer to a corporeal G.o.d affects the sick like a drug, which has no efficacy of its own but borrows its 12:18 power from human faith and belief. The drug does nothing, because it has no intelligence. It is a mortal belief, not divine Principle or Love, which causes a 12:21 drug to be apparently either poisonous or sanative.
The common custom of praying for the recovery of the sick finds help in blind belief, whereas help should come 12:24 from the enlightened understanding. Changes in belief may go on indefinitely, but they are the merchandise of human thought and not the outgrowth of divine Science.
Love impartial and universal
12:27 Does Deity interpose in behalf of one worshipper, and not help another who offers the same measure of prayer? If the sick recover because they 12:30 pray or are prayed for audibly, only peti- tioners (_per se_ or by proxy) should get well. In divine Science, where prayers are mental, _all_ may avail them- 13:1 selves of G.o.d as "a very present help in trouble."
Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and 13:3 bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters."
Public exaggerations
In public prayer we often go beyond our convictions, 13:6 beyond the honest standpoint of fervent desire. If we are not secretly yearning and openly striv- ing for the accomplishment of all we ask, 13:9 our prayers are "vain repet.i.tions," such as the heathen use. If our pet.i.tions are sincere, we labor for what we ask; and our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward 13:12 us openly. Can the mere public expression of our de- sires increase them? Do we gain the omnipotent ear sooner by words than by thoughts? Even if prayer is 13:15 sincere, G.o.d knows our need before we tell Him or our fellow-beings about it. If we cherish the desire hon- estly and silently and humbly, G.o.d will bless it, and 13:18 we shall incur less risk of overwhelming our real wishes with a torrent of words.
Corporeal ignorance
If we pray to G.o.d as a corporeal person, this will 13:21 prevent us from relinquishing the human doubts and fears which attend such a belief, and so we cannot grasp the wonders wrought by infi- 13:24 nite, incorporeal Love, to whom all things are possible.
Because of human ignorance of the divine Principle, Love, the Father of all is represented as a corporeal 13:27 creator; hence men recognize themselves as merely physical, and are ignorant of man as G.o.d"s image or re- flection and of man"s eternal incorporeal existence. The 13:30 world of error is ignorant of the world of Truth, - blind to the reality of man"s existence, - for the world of sen- sation is not cognizant of life in Soul, not in body.
Bodily presence
14:1 If we are sensibly with the body and regard omnipo- tence as a corporeal, material person, whose ear we 14:3 would gain, we are not "absent from the body" and "present with the Lord" in the demonstration of Spirit. We cannot "serve two mas- 14:6 ters." To be "present with the Lord" is to have, not mere emotional ecstasy or faith, but the actual demon- stration and understanding of Life as revealed in 14:9 Christian Science. To be "with the Lord" is to be in obedience to the law of G.o.d, to be absolutely governed by divine Love,- by Spirit, not by matter.
Spiritualized consciousness
14:12 Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, - neither in nor of matter, - and the body will then utter no 14:15 complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well. Sorrow is turned into joy when the body is controlled by spir- 14:18 itual Life, Truth, and Love. Hence the hope of the promise Jesus bestows: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; ... because I 14:21 go unto my Father," - [because the Ego is absent from the body, and present with Truth and Love.] The Lord"s Prayer is the prayer of Soul, not of material 14:24 sense.
Entirely separate from the belief and dream of mate- rial living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual under- 14:27 standing and the consciousness of man"s dominion over the whole earth. This understanding casts out error and heals the sick, and with it you can speak 14:30 "as one having authority."
"When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father 15:1 which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."
Spiritual sanctuary
15:3 So spake Jesus. The closet typifies the sanctuary of Spirit, the door of which shuts out sinful sense but lets in Truth, Life, and Love. Closed to 15:6 error, it is open to Truth, and _vice versa_.
The Father in secret is unseen to the physical senses, but He knows all things and rewards according to 15:9 motives, not according to speech. To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent, 15:12 that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error.
Effectual invocation
In order to pray aright, we must enter into the 15:15 closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must 15:18 deny sin and plead G.o.d"s allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We 15:21 must "pray without ceasing." Such prayer is an- swered, in so far as we put our desires into practice.
The Master"s injunction is, that we pray in secret and 15:24 let our lives attest our sincerity.
Trustworthy beneficence
Christians rejoice in secret beauty and bounty, hidden from the world, but known to G.o.d. Self-forgetfulness, 15:27 purity, and affection are constant prayers.
Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and 15:30 they a.s.suredly call down infinite blessings. Trustworthi- ness is the foundation of enlightened faith. Without a fitness for holiness, we cannot receive holiness.
Loftiest adoration
16:1 A great sacrifice of material things must precede this advanced spiritual understanding. The highest prayer 16:3 is not one of faith merely; it is demonstra- tion. Such prayer heals sickness, and must destroy sin and death. It distinguishes between Truth 16:6 that is sinless and the falsity of sinful sense.
The prayer of Jesus Christ
Our Master taught his disciples one brief prayer, which we name after him the Lord"s Prayer. Our Mas- 16:9 ter said, "After this manner therefore pray ye," and then he gave that prayer which covers all human needs. There is indeed some doubt 16:12 among Bible scholars, whether the last line is not an addition to the prayer by a later copyist; but this does not affect the meaning of the prayer itself.
16:15 In the phrase, "Deliver us from evil," the original properly reads, "Deliver us from the evil one." This reading strengthens our scientific apprehension of the peti- 16:18 tion, for Christian Science teaches us that "the evil one," or one evil, is but another name for the first lie and all liars.
Only as we rise above all material sensuousness and 16:21 sin, can we reach the heaven-born aspiration and spir- itual consciousness, which is indicated in the Lord"s Prayer and which instantaneously heals the sick.
16:24 Here let me give what I understand to be the spir- itual sense of the Lord"s Prayer:
Our Father which art in heaven, 16:27 _Our Father-Mother G.o.d, all-harmonious_,
Hallowed be Thy name.
_Adorable One._
16:30 Thy kingdom come.
_Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present._
17:1 Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
_Enable us to know,- as in heaven, so on earth,- G.o.d is 17:3 omnipotent, supreme_.
Give us this day our daily bread; _Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;_
17:6 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
_And Love is reflected in love;_
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 17:9 evil; _And G.o.d leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death._
17:12 For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
_For G.o.d is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All._
CHAPTER II - ATONEMENT AND EUCHARIST
And they that are Christ"s have crucified the flesh with the affections and l.u.s.ts. - PAUL.