Sunday, November 10th, 2024 Roundtable
Jesus’ Prayer for all Mankind
This week’s Lesson Sermon Subject: Adam And Fallen Man
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Morning Prayers
One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in 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.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 340
Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love — the kingdom of heaven — reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 248
Daily Watch
205 — WATCH lest you spend all your days in striving to improve the old man, believing that he can be made fit to stand in the very presence of God. The purification of mortal mind and body merely represents the sacrifice we are called upon to make, in order that they may be eliminated, and the real man may appear.
Joseph Mann recorded Mrs. Eddy’s words to him as follows (Mary Baker Eddy, A Life Size Portrait, first edition, page 232): “You must get rid of the ‘old man,’ the old woman; you cannot make them better and keep them. You are not getting rid of the old man if you try to make him better. If you should succeed in making him better, he would stay with you. If you patch up the old and say it is good enough, you do not put it off, but keep it. If you try to make the old satisfactory, you are preparing to keep it, not to put it off.
These statements would not sound so revolutionary if Mrs. Eddy had said, “You must get rid of mortal mind; you cannot make it better and keep it, etc.”
Discussion points
The Way of Freedom by Kate Buck
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. — Matthew 6:24
The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page vii
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. — Proverbs 27:17
The Real Work of Church Work by Bicknell Young
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
May be made perfect in one – That their union may be complete. That there may be no jars, discords, or contentions. A machine is perfect or complete when it has all its parts and is in good order when there is no portion of it wanting. So the union of Christians, for which the Saviour prayed, would be complete or perfect if there were no controversies, no envyings, no contentions, and no heart-burnings and jealousies. It is worthy of remark here how entirely the union of his people occupied the mind of Jesus as he drew near to death. He saw the danger of strifes and contentions in the church. He knew the imperfections of even the best of men. He saw how prone they would be to passion and ambition; how ready to mistake love of sect or party for zeal for pure religion; how selfish and worldly men in the church might divide his followers, and produce unholy feeling and contention; and he saw, also, how much this would do to dishonor religion.
Hence, he took occasion, when he was about to die, to impress the importance of union on his disciples. By solemn admonition, and by most tender and affecting appeals to God in supplication, he showed his sense of the value of this union. He used the most sublime and impressive illustration; he adverted to the eternal union between the Father and himself; he reminded them of his love, and of the effect that their union would have on the world, to fix it more deeply in their hearts. The effect has shown the infinite wisdom of the Saviour. The contentions and strifes of Christians have shown his knowledge in foreseeing it. The effect of all this on religion has shown that he understood the value of union. Christians have contended long enough. It is time that they should hear the parting admonitions of their Redeemer, and go unitedly against their common foe. The world still lies in wickedness; and the friends of Jesus, bound by the cords of eternal love, should advance together against the common enemy, and spread the triumphs of the gospel around the globe. All that is needful now, under the blessing of God, to convince the world “that God sent the Lord Jesus, is that very union among all Christians for which he prayed;” and when that union of feeling, and purpose, and action shall take place, the task of sending the gospel to all nations will be soon accomplished, and the morning of the millennial glory will dawn upon the world.
from Barnes notes on the Bible on John 17 : 23
Matthew 5:43-45
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: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
It is interesting that our Leader said that the claim of politics was one of the imminent dangers confronting this century. I have known some Christian Scientists who have given themselves grave problems because they had too much political partisanship. They were primarily Republicans or Democrats and secondarily Christian Scientists. Do not let yourself be sidetracked or confused in this manner. Christ Jesus was never “in politics.” It was his work to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. When they talked to him about the political affairs of the day, he said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” They found it impossible to get him into political controversy. He was neither against Caesar nor for him, because he was one hundred percent for God, the true Governor of the universe.
No Big Power Veto — 1948 Association Address by Herbert Rieke
Little children, love one another — John
Are you accepting any of the Jehovistic concepts of God? Here is a good test question: What would make you supremely happy? If you ever get the answer, money, a better job, a husband or a wife, the position of first reader in a Christian Science church, or a Republican victory this fall, you can be sure that to that extent you are a Jehovah worshiper, for you are believing that material things and human circumstances are the happiness-maker or the heaven-creator in your experience. When you can honestly say, “God, divine Spirit, alone, makes me happy always, for He is the one and only Maker,” you are then on the right track and are worshiping God as He really is. If you find yourself begging God or pleading with Him to do something, you can be sure that you have reverted to worshiping Jehovah rather than the Lord Almighty.
No Big Power Veto — 1948 Association Address by Herbert Rieke
Here is the eighth lie: that a false sense of God environs and places you. The B i b l e reads: “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” Jehovah did not create your universe, your environment, or place. God, divine Love, creates your world and it is a perfect environment. You are placed in this divine perfection by God, the Almighty. We sometimes ask, “Why am I here anyway?” What do we mean by the word “here?” Do we mean a material mortal world? Then we are accepting this lie that Jehovah has placed us in mortality. The alert Christian Scientist knows that the only “here” is the omnipresence of God, spiritual perfection. It is Elohim, divine Love, who places us in this heavenly kingdom. Be alert on this subject and its relationship to your home, environment, position, family, relationships, etc. Our Leader says in Unity of Good, page 3: “He … guides every event of our careers.” You know, in the study of the subject of psychology one hears a great deal in regard to the part that heredity and environment plays upon an individual. Here is a phase of this same lie, that your environment determines who you are, what you can do, and what you will finally accomplish. Don’t you accept this lie that a false sense of environment has any influence over you whatsoever, either the environment of yesterday or today. God, divine Love, unfolds the good in your experience, for He has environed you in the kingdom of heaven.
No Big Power Veto — 1948 Association Address by Herbert Rieke
8. I Corinthians 15 : 22
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
The next error to be avoided is this: that the ground is cursed and is directed to bring forth thorns and thistles to choke out the supply of food for men. In order that we might be doing our best to help solve food problems of the world, let us deny this godless lie that the earth is ever cursed. God always blesses and never curses anything. There is no curse of drought, hurricane, flood, pestilence, seeds, untimely frost, abnormal heat or cold, in the one and only kingdom of God. Help yourself and all mankind by helping the agriculturist along this line.
No Big Power Veto — 1948 Association Address by Herbert Rieke
Don’t try to keep the feminine sex in bondage to the masculine. This is the thirty-second mistake. The Bible reads: “… and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” I wonder if any of you really appreciate how women were in bondage to men before the discovery of Christian Science. They did not even have the right to vote in America until 1919. … We can also be grateful that world thought is changing rapidly on this subject. During the past year women were given the vote franchise in Italy. I am sure that the example of Mary Baker Eddy has had much to do with the freedom that women are enjoying in the world today. May we hasten the time when there is a true and complete balance of the feminine quality of Love together with the masculine qualities of courage and strength in the experience of individuals, families, communities, and government. In that day there will be no more war.
No Big Power Veto — 1948 Association Address by Herbert Rieke
Here is the thirteenth lie – that animals, birds, etc., as well as man, are made from the ground or matter. Don’t believe it for one second. Trouble lies in this false belief of material creation. … What is your concept of all creatures? What names or natures do you attribute unto dogs, cats, bees, spiders, and snakes? Great naturalists have observed that animals behave themselves just as man expects them to; therefore, such naturalists as Sam Campbell can be friends with many animals which appear as enemies to ordinary folk. Some Christian Scientists are willing to grant that man is spiritual and perfect, but they still see animals as mortal and material. Be sure that you uplift your concept of all of God’s creatures and then they will never harm you. We need to be clear along these lines in regard to crops, gardens, etc.
No Big Power Veto — 1948 Association Address by Herbert Rieke
Final Readings
The Making of Civilization Causes Chemicalization
In the process of the appearing of real civilization, the old civilization chemicalized, and a new and higher civilization appeared. Real civilization has never failed, but the pretense of civilization has failed miserably. Nevertheless, a mere pretense of civilization is better than barbarism. Without civilization in some degree, we would have no Christianity and no Christian Science.
Someone may ask, “Is this chemicalization which is brought about by the revelation and demonstration of Christian Science so severe, that it is destroying civilization rather than redeeming it? Surely, we do not believe that the practical demonstration of Christian Science could produce harmful chemicalization, rather should we take the attitude, that we have the ability to care for any chemicalization that seems to be produced through the demonstration of Christian Science. And, if in our work, our thought takes on something of the grandeur of God, this true thought or Truth will take care of any situation that may arise.
Civilization will not be destroyed; government will not be destroyed; and the reason they will not be destroyed, but appear better unto their perfection, is because they are already Reality, they are already perfect and established in the Mind of God.
True civilization and true government cannot be imposed upon by any individual. Civilization and government are ideas of Mind, and must eventually spring from within. Our Science teaches that man, self-governed by divine Principle, is ideal government. This Mind of government is neither capitalistic nor communistic, but is exclusively and inclusively Christian. This real government seems quite remote, if we look to the testimony of the senses, but looking within, each one of us may establish divine government, and each one of us may exemplify divine government, and, in so doing, we hasten divine government for all mankind.
Only Christian Scientists understand the import of these days. With our pure thought, we are looking through and beyond the mists of war, which is merely an appearance of evil, and are glimpsing war’s underlying reality, a new and true civilization, a new and divine government.