Article March 8, 1924 Issue

Eternal Life

SARAH EDITH WELTI

Nearly two thousand years ago, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master, said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." He taught the truth about God and man; he taught that God's Word is true, and that we must understand it if we would be saved from the experiences of disaster, disease, and death. Jesus always exhorted the sick whom he would heal to believe, not in his personality, but in the truth which he taught about God. He knew the truth, and he longed for those around him to know it too; and for this purpose he devoted himself to his mission, "that the world through him might be saved." The humble Nazarene proved that the kingdom of heaven is not afar off beyond the grave, but at hand. When he wanted to heal any one, he went not far afield to find the remedy; it was always where he was. He himself believed in one unchangeable Father, the Maker of heaven and earth, and that disease was not in accord with the Father's will. Therefore he instructed men to pray, "Thy will be done," knowing that the will of God is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever,"—the same to-day as when God pronounced everything "very good," as it is stated in the first chapter of the Holy Bible.

The Old Testament has not lost its value. It served Jesus for instruction; and it can serve us in a similar way. We have the advantage of having the New Testament also, proclaiming the sublime words and works of our Master and his apostles. Have we any excuse, therefore, for remaining ignorant of the truth? Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, made use of the instructions given by the Master. She was a close Bible student and an ardent believer in divine power; and she discovered that God's power could not be both good and evil, and therefore both creative and destructive, as she had been taught in former days. After her sudden recovery from the effects of a severe accident, which had been pronounced fatal by a physician, as the result of the truth dawning upon her consciousness, she retired from society for three years to study more closely the Scriptures. The truth then came to her with scientific certainty; and she began to heal the sick and save the sinner through the understanding and demonstration of the Mind of Christ. She realized the spiritual meaning of the words of Jesus, and knew what he meant when he said: "What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?... How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" We need the faith of unwavering expectation of good; for, as James tells us, our faith should never waver.

Our Leader writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the textbook of Christian Science (p. 207): "There is but one primal cause. Therefore there can be no effect from any other cause, and there can be no reality in aught which does not proceed from this great and only cause. Sin, sickness, disease, and death belong not to the Science of being. They are the errors, which presuppose the absence of Truth, Life, or Love." It is certain that Jesus knew this, or he could never have healed the sick and raised the dying to life. He taught the way to pray when he said, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." He proved by his works that life can never end; and especially so when he himself rose from the grave.

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