Subject: Christ Escape
Golden text: Psalm 12:5-6 English Standard Version, copyright Crossway Bibles
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” 6 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
I Kings 17:1-16
Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
21st Century Science and Health, copyright by Cheryl Petersen
When human beings realize they no longer want to believe in physical suffering, they turn from the body to Spirit and call on divine sources outside of themselves.
Many years ago, I made a spiritual discovery, the scientific evidence of which has accumulated to prove that the divine Mind produces in us health, harmony, and spirituality. Gradually this evidence will gather momentum and clearness until it reaches its culmination of scientific statement and proof. Nothing is more depressing than to believe that there is a power opposite to God, or good. God never allows or gives strength to an opposing power used against divine self, against Life, health, harmony.
Every law of physics or the body supposed to govern people, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God. Unaware of our God-given rights, we allow unjust decisions and make excuses for imperfection. Our educational systems are biased, expounding homogeny and marketing a resignation to poor choices. Become aware metaphysically. Be no more willing to suffer the illusion that you are sick or that some disease is developing in the system, than you are willing to suffer by giving into sinful temptations as if sin is necessary.
Anything in the human mind is incomplete and therefore insensible. To the five physical senses, a person appears to be matter and mind united. Divine Science reveals our true identities as the idea of God. Science supports the fact that the physical senses are capricious and illusory. Divine Science shows that it is impossible for congealed atoms to be person even though interwoven with matter’s higher echelon called brain and misnamed mind. The genuine and total person, the spiritual idea of being is indestructible and eternal.
The human mind cannot legislate the times, conditions, and types of disease with which humans die. God is the lawmaker, but God is not the author of ruthless rules. In infinite Life and Love there is no sickness, no twisted good, no fatality. Scriptures declare that in the infinite God “we live and move and have our being.”[1]
Luke 4:16-18, 23-26, 31-32
[Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
23[Jesus] said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
31 And [Jesus] went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.
21st Century Science and Health
Darkness and doubt surround thought as long as it bases creation on physics, biology, time, or space. From a human standpoint, “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?”[2] Everything must be unchangeable Mind, or else everything must be changeable matter. Neither can produce the other. Mind is immortal.
No one knows if the first chicken was created as a chicken or if it came from an egg. What about the beginning of the universe? Did the big bang blow life into being? If so, who or what produced the big bang? Idolatrous philosophies, modern geology, synthetic biology, and all other material hypotheses deal with causation as contingent on matter, material energy, or time. Cause is also treated as necessarily apparent to the physical senses, even when the evidence to sustain their assumptions goes undiscovered. Mortal theories make friends of sin, sickness, and death; whereas the spiritual scientific facts of existence include no aspect of this depressing trio.
Human experience in mortal life starts from a cell and corresponds with that of Job, when he says, “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”[3] Mortals must break out of this mental cycle of thinking that material life is all-in-all. They must think outside of the box with divine Science and look to the infinite cosmos. Be aware though, that thought which escapes the box and has not yet been instructed by the Science of Truth and Love, may become wild with freedom and so be self-contradictory.
No remedy for depression, sin, and death comes from the bottom-up. The redeeming power is not in a cell, a physical force, chemicals, or human mind. Material energy is a materialization of mortal mind. The process of mortal mind is such that it manifests itself but is eventually urged to its furthest limits, only to return to its original stance.
Outside of divine Science all is unstable and hypothetical, the opposite of Truth, yet this false view of God and us defiantly demands a blessing.
Truth provides us with necessary evidence as we seek and prove the whole Christ.
Mark 12:35-44
As Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.
38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
21st Century Science and Health
If religious people accept church salaries and build churches, yet turn away the poor and stranger, they are shutting the door on progress. Let the stories of Jesus’ birth in a manger and death on a cross, deflate human arrogance and egotism. Gratification of the physical senses will numb the right hand and cause the left to let go of its grasp on the divine.
Jesus showed us a whip[4] is needed to drive tyranny and arrogant self-deception out of church. The strong cords of scientific demonstration, as twisted and wielded by Jesus, are still needed to purge churches of their vain traffic in worldly worship. Church should be made “a house of prayer for all nations,”[5] where humility and divine Science are welcome.
The belief and dream of mortal being is entirely separate from the Life divine. Immortal Life reveals spiritual understanding. Life reveals the consciousness of our dominion over that which is earthbound. Life reveals our ability to overcome error and heal the sick. God reveals the understanding to speak “as one who had authority.”[6]
Psalm 78:1-4
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
21st Century Science and Health
The recognition of Spirit and of infinity does not come all at once, but throughout eternity. Haba na haba, a Swahili phrase for little by little, or step by step, has relevance. Human beings do not change from error to truth in an instant.
What the physical senses tell us often reverses or rearranges the real Science of being. The shuffling assigns seeming authority to sin, sickness, and death. But the great facts of Life rightly understood, defeat this triad of errors, contradict their false witnesses, and reveal the power of heaven—the actual authority of harmony on earth.
Whoever opens the way in divine Science is a pioneer and stranger, marking out the path for generations yet unborn.
Through many generations, human beliefs reach diviner conceptions, and the immortal model of God’s revelation is finally seen as the only true conception of being.
Can we lose our rich inheritance and God’s gifts? No!
The Lord’s Prayer with a Christian Science interpretation (in italics) from 21st Century Science and Health:
Our Father in heaven,
Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,
Hallowed be Your name,
One sacred nature,
Your kingdom come,
Your government is come; You are ever-present,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Enable us to know—as in heaven, so on earth—God is omnipotent, supreme.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Give us grace for today; feed the famished intentions.
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 the evil one.
And God does not lead us into temptation, but delivers us from sin, disease, and death.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.[1]
For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.
[1] Acts 17:28
[2] Job 11:7
[3] Job 14:1
[4] John 2:15
[5] Isa. 56:7; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46
[6] Matt. 7:29
Christian Science Bible Lesson-Sermons 