Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 Part 34

Extract From A Sermon Delivered In Boston, January 18, 1885

TEXT: _The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman_ _took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened._-MATT.

xiii. 33.

Few people at present know aught of the Science of mental healing; and so many are obtruding upon the public attention their ignorance or false knowledge in the name of Science, that it behooves all clad in the s.h.i.+n- ing mail to keep bright their invincible armor; to keep [30]

[Page 172.]

their demonstrations modest, and their claims and lives [1]

steadfast in Truth.

Dispensing the Word charitably, but separating the tares from the wheat, let us declare the positive and the negative of metaphysical Science; what it is, and [5]

what it is not. Intrepid, self-oblivious Protestants in a higher sense than ever before, let us meet and defeat the claims of sense and sin, regardless of the bans or clans pouring in their fire upon us; and white-winged charity, brooding over all, shall cover with her feathers [10]

the veriest sinner.

Divine and unerring Mind measures man, until the three measures be accomplished, and he arrives at fulness of stature; for "the Lord G.o.d omnipotent reigneth." [15]

Science is divine: it is neither of human origin nor of human direction. That which is termed "natural science,"

the evidences whereof are taken in by the five personal senses, presents but a finite, feeble sense of the infinite law of G.o.d; which law is written on the heart, received [20]

through the affections, spiritually understood, and dem- onstrated in our lives.

This law of G.o.d is the Science of mental healing, spiritually discerned, understood, and obeyed.

Mental Science, and the five personal senses, are at [25]

war; and peace can only be declared on the side of im- mutable right,-the health, holiness, and immortality of man. To gain this scientific result, the first and funda- mental rule of Science must be understood and adhered to; namely, the oft-repeated declaration in Scripture [30]

that G.o.d is good; hence, good is omnipotent and omnipresent.

[Page 173.]

Ancient and modern philosophy, human reason, or [1]

man's theorems, misstate mental Science, its Principle and practice. The most enlightened sense herein sees nothing but a law of matter.

Who has ever learned of the schools that there is but [5]

one Mind, and that this is G.o.d, who healeth all our sick- ness and sins?

Who has ever learned from the schools, pagan phi- losophy, or scholastic theology, that Science is the law of Mind and not of matter, and that this law has no relation [10]

to, or recognition of, matter?

Mind is its own great cause and effect. Mind is G.o.d, omnipotent and omnipresent. What, then, of an oppo- site so-called science, which says that man is both matter and mind, that Mind is in matter? Can the infinite [15]

be within the finite? And must not man have preexisted in the All and Only? Does an evil mind exist without s.p.a.ce to occupy, power to act, or vanity to pretend that it is man?

If G.o.d is Mind and fills all s.p.a.ce, is everywhere, matter [20]

is nowhere and sin is obsolete. If Mind, G.o.d, is all-power and all-presence, man is not met by another power and presence, that-obstructing his intelligence- pains, fetters, and befools him. The perfection of man is intact; whence, then, is something besides Him that [25]

is not the counterpart but the counterfeit of man's creator?

Surely not from G.o.d, for He made man in His own likeness. Whence, then, is the atom or molecule called matter? Have attraction and cohesion formed it?

But are these forces laws of matter, or laws of [30]

Mind?

For matter to be matter, it must have been self-created.

[Page 174.]

Mind has no more power to evolve or to create matter [1]

than has good to produce evil. Matter is a misstatement of Mind; it is a lie, claiming to talk and disclaim against Truth; idolatry, having other G.o.ds; evil, having presence and power over omnipotence! [5]

Let us have a clearing up of abstractions. Let us come into the presence of Him who removeth all iniqui- ties, and healeth all our diseases. Let us attach our sense of Science to what touches the religious sentiment within man. Let us open our affections to the Principle that [10]

moves all in harmony,-from the falling of a sparrow to the rolling of a world. Above Arcturus and his sons, broader than the solar system and higher than the at- mosphere of our planet, is the Science of mental healing. [15]

What is the kingdom of heaven? The abode of Spirit, the realm of the real. No matter is there, no night is there-nothing that maketh or worketh a lie. Is this kingdom afar off? No: it is ever-present here. The first to declare against this kingdom is matter. Shall [20]

that be called heresy which pleads for Spirit-the All of G.o.d, and His omnipresence?

The kingdom of heaven is the reign of divine Science: it is a mental state. Jesus said it is within you, and taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come;" but he did [25]

not teach us to pray for death whereby to gain heaven.

We do not look into darkness for light. Death can never usher in the dawn of Science that reveals the spiritual facts of man's Life here and now.

The leaven which a woman took and hid in three [30]

measures of meal, is Divine Science; the Comforter; the Holy Ghost that leadeth into all Truth; the "still,

[Page 175.]

small voice" that breathes His presence and power, cast- [1]

ing out error and healing the sick. And woman, the spiritual idea, takes of the things of G.o.d and showeth them unto the creature, until the whole sense of being is leavened with Spirit. The three measures of meal [5]

may well be likened to the false sense of life, substance, and intelligence, which says, I am sustained by bread, matter, instead of Mind. The spiritual leaven of divine Science changes this false sense, giving better views of Life; saying, Man's Life is G.o.d; and when this shall [10]

appear, it shall be "the substance of things hoped for."

The measure of Life shall increase by every spiritual touch, even as the leaven expands the loaf. Man shall keep the feast of Life, not with the old leaven of the scribes and Pharisees, neither with "the leaven of malice [15]

and wickedness; but the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Thus it can be seen that the Science of mental healing must be understood. There are false Christs that would "deceive, if it were possible, the very elect," by inst.i.tut- [20]

ing matter and its methods in place of G.o.d, Mind. Their supposition is, that there are other minds than His; that one mind controls another; that one belief takes the place of another. But this ism of to-day has nothing to do with the Science of mental healing which acquaints [25]

us with G.o.d and reveals the one perfect Mind and His laws.

The attempt to mix matter and Mind, to work by means of both animal magnetism and divine power, is literally saying, Have we not in thy name cast out devils, [30]

and done many wonderful works?

But remember G.o.d in all thy ways, and thou shalt

[Page 176.]

find the truth that breaks the dream of sense, letting the [1]

harmony of Science that declares _Him_, come in with healing, and peace, and perfect love.

Sunday Services on July Fourth