030817 – The pearl and the swinish element in human thought (Matt. 7:6)
Hymn 345
Thou living light of pentecostal glory,
Lo, wide we fling the sunless prison doors;
Thy cleansing fire repeats its ancient story
To purge and hallow us, the splendor pours.
Perfect and pure, ineffable in beauty,
Thy stainless radiance e’en to us impart,
Till in reflection finding all our duty,
We see the glory shine from heart to heart.
So all shall see where Thine effulgence gloweth,
Through purer lives of men, a countless host,
So all shall learn how God Himself bestoweth
His priceless pearl of gifts, the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Bible [NLT and KJV – noted]
Mark 3:13, 14
Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles.
Matt. 10:5-7, 11, 14
Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town. If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.
Matt. 7:6
Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
Matt. 8: 28-34
When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area. They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?” There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance. So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.” All right, go! Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.
Matt. 22:1-3, 5-7, 8-10, 14
Jesus . . . said, The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come . . . and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. “The king was furious, and . . . he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. For many are called, but few are chosen.
John 6:70-71
Jesus said, I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil. He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.
John 12:1-2, 3, 4-8
Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. … Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself. Jesus replied, Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.
Luke 22:3-5
Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, . . . and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted, and they promised to give him money.
John 13:1, 3-5, 10, 11, 12, 14, 21, 23, 25-27, 30
Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come . . . [and] that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. [Jesus said], you disciples are clean, but not all of you. For Jesus knew who would betray him. . . . After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me! So that disciple [whom Jesus loved] leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus responded, It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl. And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, Hurry and do what you’re going to do. So Judas left at once, going out into the night.
John 18:1-3 and Luke 22:47, 48, 54
After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples. The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove. . . . Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss. But Jesus said, Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? [Then] they arrested him.
Matt. 27:1, 3, 4
When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.
I John 3:20 [KJV]
If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
Matt. 18:21-22
Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Matt. 7:1
Do not judge others.
Matt. 5:44
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.
I John 4:9, 10-11
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world . . . to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES, by Mary Baker Eddy
SH 317:6-11
Whosoever lives most the life of Jesus in this age and declares best the power of Christian Science, will drink of his Master’s cup. Resistance to Truth will haunt his steps, and he will incur the hatred of sinners, till “wisdom is justified of her children.”
SH 224:19
Cold disdain, stubborn resistance, opposition from church, state laws, and the press, are still the harbingers of truth’s full-orbed appearing.
SH 272:3-18
The spiritual sense of truth must be gained before Truth can be understood. This sense is assimilated only as we are honest, unselfish, loving, and meek. In the soil of an “honest and good heart” the seed must be sown; else it beareth not much fruit, for the swinish element in human nature uproots it. Jesus said: “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.” The spiritual sense of the Scriptures brings out the scientific sense, and is the new tongue referred to in the last chapter of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus’ parable of “the sower” shows the care our Master took not to impart to dull ears and gross hearts the spiritual teachings which dulness and grossness could not accept. Reading the thoughts of the people, he said: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.”
SH 554:22-23
Jesus also said, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?”
SH 47:10-26
Judas conspired against Jesus. The world’s ingratitude and hatred towards that just man effected his betrayal. The traitor’s price was thirty pieces of silver and the smiles of the Pharisees. He chose his time, when the people were in doubt concerning Jesus’ teachings. A period was approaching which would reveal the infinite distance between Judas and his Master. Judas Iscariot knew this. He knew that the great goodness of that Master placed a gulf between Jesus and his betrayer, and this spiritual distance inflamed Judas’ envy. The greed for gold strengthened his ingratitude, and for a time quieted his remorse. He knew that the world generally loves a lie better than Truth; and so he plotted the betrayal of Jesus in order to raise himself in popular estimation. His dark plot fell to the ground, and the traitor fell with it.
SH 327:9-10
Evil is sometimes a man’s highest conception of right, until his grasp on good grows stronger.
SH 234:9
We should love our enemies and help them on the basis of the Golden Rule; but avoid casting pearls before those who trample them under foot, thereby robbing both themselves and others.
SH 329:26-7
If men understood their real spiritual source to be all blessedness, they would struggle for recourse to the spiritual and be at peace; but the deeper the error into which mortal mind is plunged, the more intense the opposition to spirituality, till error yields to Truth. Human resistance to divine Science weakens in proportion as mortals give up error for Truth and the understanding of being supersedes mere belief. Until the author of this book learned the vastness of Christian Science, the fixedness of mortal illusions, and the human hatred of Truth, she cherished sanguine hopes that Christian Science would meet with immediate and universal acceptance.
SH x:22
The divine Principle of healing is proved in the personal experience of any sincere seeker of Truth. Its purpose is good, and its practice is safer and more potent than that of any other sanitary method. The unbiased Christian thought is soonest touched by Truth, and convinced of it. Only those quarrel with her method who do not understand her meaning, or discerning the truth, come not to the light lest their works be reproved. No intellectual proficiency is requisite in the learner, but sound morals are most desirable.
SH 272:19-25
It is the spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life, in contrast with the results of the ghastly farce of material existence; it is chastity and purity, in contrast with the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity, which really attest the divine origin and operation of Christian Science.
SH 259:32-12
Deducing one’s conclusions as to man from imperfection instead of perfection, one can no more arrive at the true conception or understanding of man, and make himself like it, than the sculptor can perfect his outlines from an imperfect model, or the painter can depict the form and face of Jesus, while holding in thought the character of Judas. The conceptions of mortal, erring thought must give way to the ideal of all that is perfect and eternal. Through many generations human beliefs will be attaining diviner conceptions, and the immortal and perfect model of God’s creation will finally be seen as the only true conception of being.
SH 134:28
There is divine authority for believing in the superiority of spiritual power over material resistance.
SH vii:27-4
Since the author’s discovery of the might of Truth in the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live in obedience to its divine Principle.
SH 16:20
Only as we rise above all material sensuousness and sin, can we reach the heaven-born aspiration and spiritual consciousness, which is indicated in the Lord’s Prayer and which instantaneously heals the sick.
SH 323:19-24
When the sick or the sinning awake to realize their need of what they have not, they will be receptive of divine Science, which gravitates towards Soul and away from material sense, removes thought from the body, and elevates even mortal mind to the contemplation of something better than disease or sin.
SH 669:25-19 [FRUITAGE]
Through reading Science and Health and the illumination which followed, I was healed of ulceration of the stomach and kindred troubles, a restless sense of existence, agnosticism, etc. . . . The attending physician declared that I could live but a short time, . . . but the disease was dissipated into nothingness through Christian Science, which brought me peace. Like many others I had been seemingly lost in the sea of error, without a compass, yet earnestly and honestly seeking a haven. I had investigated all kinds of religions and philosophies that came under my notice, with the exception of Christian Science, which was not then deemed worthy of inquiry, and yet it held the very truth I was searching for — the light which “shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Three years of stubborn resistance to Truth, with increasing suffering, followed — then the light came, and with it a new experience. Now, after nine years of Christian Science experience, under severe tests, it can be truthfully said that it has not failed me in any hour of need. — J. F. J., Cincinnati, Ohio.
SH 570:14
Millions of unprejudiced minds — simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert — are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ’s name, and never fear the consequences. What if the old dragon should send forth a new flood to drown the Christ-idea? He can neither drown your voice with its roar, nor again sink the world into the deep waters of chaos and old night. In this age the earth will help the woman; the spiritual idea will be understood. Those ready for the blessing you impart will give thanks. The waters will be pacified, and Christ will command the wave.
Hymn 396
Ye messengers of Christ,
His sovereign voice obey;
Arise, and follow where he leads,
And peace attend your way.
The Master whom ye serve
Will needful strength bestow;
Depending on his promised aid,
With sacred courage go.
In vain shall evil strive,
And hell in vain oppose;
The cause is God’s and will prevail,
In spite of all His foes.
Hymn 40
Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Here health and peace are found, Life, Truth,and Love;
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow but Love can remove.
Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure;
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
Earth has no sorrow that Love cannot cure.
Here see the Bread of Life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above;
Come to the feast of love, come, ever knowing,
Earth has no sorrow but Love can remove.