Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures | Page 8

suffering as the result of sin, is the means 6:12 of destroying sin. Every
supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than its equivalent of pain,
until be- lief in material life and sin is destroyed. To reach 6:15 heaven,
the harmony of being, we must understand the divine Principle of being.

Mercy without partiality
"God is Love." More than this we cannot ask, 6:18 higher we cannot
look, farther we cannot go. To suppose that God forgives or punishes
sin according as His mercy is sought or un- 6:21 sought, is to
misunderstand Love and to make prayer the safety-valve for
wrong-doing. Divine severity
Jesus uncovered and rebuked sin before he cast it 6:24 out. Of a sick
woman he said that Satan had bound her, and to Peter he said, "Thou
art an of- fence unto me." He came teaching and 6:27 showing men
how to destroy sin, sickness, and death. He said of the fruitless tree, "[It]
is hewn down." It is believed by many that a certain magistrate, 6:30
who lived in the time of Jesus, left this record: "His rebuke is fearful."
The strong language of our Mas- ter confirms this description.
7:1 The only civil sentence which he had for error was, "Get thee
behind me, Satan." Still stronger evidence 7:3 that Jesus' reproof was
pointed and pungent is found in his own words,- showing the necessity
for such forcible utterance, when he cast out devils and healed 7:6 the
sick and sinning. The relinquishment of error de- prives material sense
of its false claims. Audible praying
Audible prayer is impressive; it gives momentary 7:9 solemnity and
elevation to thought. But does it pro- duce any lasting benefit? Looking
deeply into these things, we find that "a zeal . . . 7:12 not according to
knowledge" gives occasion for reac- tion unfavorable to spiritual
growth, sober resolve, and wholesome perception of God's
requirements. The mo- 7:15 tives for verbal prayer may embrace too
much love of applause to induce or encourage Christian sentiment.
Emotional utterances
Physical sensation, not Soul, produces material ec- 7:18 stasy and
emotion. If spiritual sense always guided men, there would grow out of
ecstatic mo- ments a higher experience and a better life 7:21 with more
devout self-abnegation and purity. A self- satisfied ventilation of
fervent sentiments never makes a Christian. God is not influenced by
man. The "di- 7:24 vine ear" is not an auditory nerve. It is the
all-hearing and all-knowing Mind, to whom each need of man is always
known and by whom it will be supplied. Danger from audible prayer
7:27 The danger from prayer is that it may lead us into temp- tation. By
it we may become involuntary hypocrites, ut- tering desires which are

not real and consoling 7:30 ourselves in the midst of sin with the
recollection that we have prayed over it or mean to ask for- giveness at
some later day. Hypocrisy is fatal to religion.
8:1 A wordy prayer may afford a quiet sense of self- justification,
though it makes the sinner a hypocrite. 8:3 We never need to despair of
an honest heart; but there is little hope for those who come only
spasmodi- cally face to face with their wickedness and then seek to 8:6
hide it. Their prayers are indexes which do not correspond with their
character. They hold secret fellowship with sin, and such externals are
spoken of by Jesus as "like 8:9 unto whited sepulchres . . . full . . . of all
uncleanness." Aspiration and love
If a man, though apparently fervent and prayerful, is impure and
therefore insincere, what must be the 8:12 comment upon him? If he
reached the loftiness of his prayer, there would be no occasion for
comment. If we feel the aspiration, hu- 8:15 mility, gratitude, and love
which our words express,- this God accepts; and it is wise not to try to
deceive ourselves or others, for "there is nothing covered that 8:18 shall
not be revealed." Professions and audible pray- ers are like charity in
one respect,- they "cover the multitude of sins." Praying for humility
with what- 8:21 ever fervency of expression does not always mean a
desire for it. If we turn away from the poor, we are not ready to receive
the reward of Him who blesses 8:24 the poor. We confess to having a
very wicked heart and ask that it may be laid bare before us, but do we
not already know more of this heart than we are 8:27 willing to have
our neighbor see? Searching the heart
We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and
purpose of the heart, for in this way 8:30 only can we learn what we
honestly are. If a friend informs us of