Article January 20, 1917 Issue

Health Revealed

FRANCES THURBER SEAL

Mrs. Eddy has declared that the Sermon on the Mount is the essence of Christian Science (see Science and Health, p. 271), and the Master's first declaration in this marvelous discourse is that the "poor in spirit" are blessed because "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He goes on to tell his followers of the blessings which are realized in Truth by the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, and others, and ends this list of blessings by repeating "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This was the Master's earliest message to the children of men and is the foundation of the gospel teaching. The last message in the New Testament is given in the twenty-first and twenty-second chapters of Revelation, and is a description of the new heaven and the new earth which constitute the kingdom of heaven.

The phrase "kingdom of heaven" signifies the Messianic government on earth, or the reign of Truth in human consciousness. It is the kingdom which John the Baptist foresaw and which he told the people of his day was at hand. It is the kingdom which John the revelator saw would be established after the great chemicalization described by him as the battle of Armageddon, when the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles with which those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image were deceived. Mrs. Eddy says, "The beast and the false prophets are lust and hypocrisy" (Science and Health, p. 567). Lust here signifies material sense and its supposititious activity in all its forms.

As "Jesus was the highest human concept of the perfect man" (Science and Health, p. 482), so the kingdom of heaven is the highest human concept of the kingdom of God. A modern commentator who has perceived this writes: "Since the kingdom of heaven is the earthly sphere of the universal kingdom of God, the two have almost all things in common. For this reason many parables and other teachings are spoken of the kingdom of heaven in the gospel of Matthew and of the kingdom of God in the writings of Mark and Luke. It is the omissions which are significant. The parables of the wheat and the tares, and of the net, are not spoken of the kingdom of God. In that kingdom there are neither tares nor bad fish."

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
One Common Foe
January 20, 1917
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit