Article August 29, 1942 Issue

"Not of this world"

FRED YOULD

In the fourth chapter of Matthew's Gospel appears the episode of the temptation in which the devil—impersonal and incorporeal evil—takes Jesus "up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." The Master knew well that his cause of presenting and representing the healing and regenerating Christ, Truth, could not be advanced by means of human power or willful mental force; hence his unequivocal and forthright repudiation of evil's subtle aggressive mental suggestion, in these words: "Get thee hence, Satan." Then, as it were to remind both himself and all mankind of man's birthright of exclusive allegiance to his creator, he said, "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

It was obvious to the Nazarene that mortal mind's illusory dream of life and intelligence in matter uncovers its total ignorance of the universe of Love's creating, composed as it really if of countless harmonious, immortal, divine ideas, of which man is the highest idea, forever expressing his God-given dominion over all the earth. Today, as of yore, the voluble lying serpent, in belief, persists in tempting men and women to "fall down" and pay homage to temporal power, material possessions, and mere human accomplishments. Conversely, the demands of God are that men continually rise into a higher and holier consciousness of man's eternal sonship with divine Truth and Love, a permanent relationship which, when understood in the light of Christian Science, leads from victory to victory over every phase of evil, lack, disease, and disaster.

What a marked contrast there is between Satan's dubious pledge to give men the flimsy and pretentious glories of this world, with their deleterious mixture of sickness and health, pain and pleasure, good and evil, and God's gift to man of dominion, including the priceless heritage of reflecting every quality, attribute, and characteristic of divine Love. The kingdom of God, forever within reach of man's consciousness, is glorious. In its heavenly light, war, sin, disease, and all other destructive elements of the carnal mind are shown to be but bland denials of God's omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. Fortunately, however, ten thousand times ten thousand contradictions of divine Love's supremacy leave untouched the infinitude and continuity of good.

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