Article October 11, 1947 Issue

POWER BELONGS TO GOD

STANLEY M. SYDENHAM

In response to the question by James and John as to whether his desire was that they should command that fire should come down from heaven to consume the Samaritans, Christ Jesus replied (Luke 9: 55, 56): "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Throughout his earthly mission the Master endeavored to lift the thought of mankind above belief in material substance to the recognition and realization that substance is Spirit, good. His every act was based upon his understanding that good is the only power, and that good is infinitely available. To him, God, the Father, had nothing to do with destructive forces or elements.

By word this great Teacher revealed that materiality, sin, disease, and death are not known to, consented to, nor permitted by God. By deed he proved his words to be true. He rebuked the false sense of power to which Simon Peter yielded when he drew his sword and cut off the right ear of the servant of the high priest. Later he declared (John 18:36), "My kingdom is not of this world," and went on to explain that were his kingdom of this world, he would have used the world's weapons. In other words, he would have admitted the power of mortal mind. Repudiating Pilate's pseudo authority and claim to power, Jesus said to him (John 19:11), "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above," meaning by this that it was not any human power or force that compelled him to yield, but it was his understanding of divine power imparted to him from above, from God, that made him willing for the benefit of mankind to undergo the experience of the crucifixion and that led to the resurrection and final ascension above the belief of life in matter.

Through his teaching and works Jesus brought to light the ever-present Christ which loosens and casts off the shackles of the human mind and its beliefs in limitation. But Christianity, as Jesus taught it, became obscured about the year 325 a.d. Through the discovery of Christian Science the freedom of mankind received a tremendous impetus, which has steadily increased, until today the power of Truth is being felt all over the world.

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