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(Help and hindrance)
The Pharisees claimed to know and to teach the divine
will, but they only hindered the success of Jesus'
mission. Even many of his students stood
in his way. If the Master had not taken a
student and taught the unseen verities of God, he would
not have been crucified. The determination to hold Spirit
in the grasp of matter is the persecutor of Truth and
Love.
While respecting all that is good in the Church or out
of it, one's consecration to Christ is more on the ground
of demonstration than of profession. In conscience, we
cannot hold to beliefs outgrown; and by understanding
more of the divine Principle of the deathless Christ, we
are enabled to heal the sick and to triumph over sin.
(Misleading conceptions)
Neither the origin, the character, nor the work of
Jesus was generally understood. Not a single component
part of his nature did the material
world measure aright. Even his righteousness
and purity did not hinder men from saying: He
is a glutton and a friend of the impure, and Beelzebub is
his patron.
(Persecution prolonged)
Remember, thou Christian martyr, it is enough if
thou art found worthy to unloose the sandals of thy
Master's feet! To suppose that persecution
for righteousness' sake belongs to the past,
and that Christianity to-day is at peace with the world
because it is honored by sects and societies, is to mistake
the very nature of religion. Error repeats itself.
The trials encountered by prophet, disciple, and apostle,
"of whom the world was not worthy," await, in some
form, every pioneer of truth.
(Christian warfare)
There is too much animal courage in society and not
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