Meekness and Might

June 20, 2018
Hymns:136, 66,157
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The Bible
&
Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures
By Mary Baker Eddy

MATTHEW
5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

NUMBERS
12:3…the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.

ACTS
7:22 Moses…was mighty in words and in deeds.

EXODUS
3: 11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee;
13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:

SH 321:6-8
The Hebrew Lawgiver, slow of speech, despaired of making the people understand what should be revealed to him.

EXODUS
4:1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

SH 321:8-16
When, led by wisdom to cast down his rod, he saw it become a serpent, Moses fled before it; but wisdom bade him come back and handle the serpent, and then Moses’ fear departed. In this incident was seen the actuality of Science. Matter was shown to be a belief only. The serpent, evil, under wisdom’s bidding, was destroyed through understanding divine Science, and this proof was a staff upon which to lean.

DEUTERONOMY
34:10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,
11 In all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,
12 …and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.

SH 200:4
Moses advanced a nation to the worship of God in Spirit instead of matter, and illustrated the grand human capacities of being bestowed by immortal Mind.

SH 149:4-9
From beginning to end, the Scriptures are full of accounts of the triumph of Spirit, Mind, over matter. Moses proved the power of Mind by what men called miracles; so did Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha. The Christian era was ushered in with signs and wonders.

SH 4:3-5
What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.
I SAMUEL
17:38 And Saul armed David with his armour…
39…And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
50 So David …slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

ZEPHANIAH (New International)
2:3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility;
SH 1:1-4
The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love.

PSALMS
25:9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
37:5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth;

SH 382:22-23
“Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein.”

SH 272:3-5
The spiritual sense of truth must be gained before Truth can be understood. This sense is assimilated only as we are honest, unselfish, loving, and meek.

I SAMUEL (New English translation)
24:2 Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel…to find David and his men…
3 He came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave. Saul went into it to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave.
4 David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him whatever seems appropriate to you.’
6 He said to his men, “May the Lord keep me far away from doing such a thing to my lord, who is the Lord’s chosen one, by extending my hand against him…
7 …Then Saul left the cave and started down the road.
8 …David…called out after Saul, “My lord, O king!” When Saul looked behind him, David kneeled down and bowed with his face to the ground.
9 David said…, “Why do you pay attention when men say, ‘David is seeking to do you harm’?
10 Today your own eyes see how the Lord delivered you—this very day—into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I had pity on you and said, ‘I will not extend my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s chosen one.’
16 …Saul said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” Then Saul wept loudly.
17 …“You are more innocent than I, for you treated me well, even though I tried to harm you!
18…The Lord delivered me into your hand, but you did not kill me.
19 …May the Lord repay you with good this day for what you have done to me.

2 TIMOTHY (J.B. Phillips translation)
2: 24-26 the Lord’s servant must not be a man of strife: he must be kind to all, ready and able to teach: he must have patience and the ability gently to correct those who oppose his message. He must always bear in mind the possibility that God will give them a different outlook, and that they may come to know the truth. They may come to their senses and be rescued from the power of the devil by the servant of the Lord and set to work for God’s purposes.

TITUS (J.B. Phillips)
3: 1-2 …recognise the power of those who rule and bear authority…obey the laws of the state and be prepared to render whatever good service they can. They are not to speak evil of any man, they must not be argumentative but gentle, showing themselves agreeable to everybody.

Galatians (J.B. Phillips)
6:1 Even if a man should be detected in some sin, my brothers, the spiritual ones among you should quietly set him back on the right path, not with any feeling of superiority but being yourselves on guard against temptation.

SH 30:26-30
If we have triumphed sufficiently over the errors of material sense to allow Soul to hold the control, we shall loathe sin and rebuke it under every mask. Only in this way can we bless our enemies, though they may not so construe our words.

SH 242:15
Self-love is more opaque than a solid body. In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error, — self-will, self-justification, and self-love, —which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death.

SH 445:13-15
Teach the meekness and might of life “hid with Christ in God,” and there will be no desire for other healing methods.

PROVERBS
3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.

JAMES
1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

MATTHEW (J.B. Phillips)
27: 12-14 But while the chief priests and elders were making their accusations, he made no reply at all. So Pilate said to him, “Can you not hear the evidence they’re bringing against you?” And to the governor’s amazement, Jesus did not answer a single one of their accusations.

SH 48:17
Judas had the world’s weapons. Jesus had not one of them, and chose not the world’s means of defence. “He opened not his mouth.” The great demonstrator of Truth and Love was silent before envy and hate. Peter would have smitten the enemies of his Master, but Jesus forbade him, thus rebuking resentment or animal courage. He said: “Put up thy sword.”

PHILIPPIANS
2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

SH 596:3
The Judaic religion consisted mostly of rites and ceremonies. The motives and affections of a man were of little value, if only he appeared unto men to fast. The great Nazarene, as meek as he was mighty, rebuked the hypocrisy, which offered long petitions for blessings upon material methods, but cloaked the crime, latent in thought, which was ready to spring into action and crucify God’s anointed. The martyrdom of Jesus was the culminating sin of Pharisaism. It rent the veil of the temple. It revealed the false foundations and superstructures of superficial religion, tore from bigotry and superstition their coverings, and opened the sepulchre with divine Science, — immortality and Love.

SH 30:30
We cannot choose for ourselves, but must work out our salvation in the way Jesus taught. In meekness and might, he was found preaching the gospel to the poor. Pride and fear are unfit to bear the standard of Truth, and God will never place it in such hands.

SH 33:18
When the human element in him struggled with the divine, our great Teacher said: “Not my will, but Thine, be done!” — that is, Let not the flesh, but the Spirit, be represented in me. This is the new understanding of spiritual Love. It gives all for Christ, or Truth. It blesses its enemies, heals the sick, casts out error, raises the dead from trespasses and sins, and preaches the gospel to the poor, the meek in heart.

SH 38:21-4
Meekly our Master met the mockery of his unrecognized grandeur. Such indignities as he received, his followers will endure until Christianity’s last triumph.

SH 54:8-13, 17
Who is ready to follow his teaching and example? All must sooner or later plant themselves in Christ, the true idea of God. That he might liberally pour his dear-bought treasures into empty or sin-filled human storehouses, was the inspiration of Jesus’ intense human sacrifice.
His hearers understood neither his words nor his works. They would not accept his meek interpretation of life nor follow his example.

SH 270:22-24
The pride of priesthood is the prince of this world. It has nothing in Christ. Meekness and charity have divine authority.

COLOSSIANS (J.B. Phillips)
3:12-14 As, therefore, God’s picked representatives of the new humanity, purified and beloved of God himself, be merciful in action, kindly in heart, humble in mind. Accept life, and be most patient and tolerant with one another, always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone. Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you. And, above everything else, be truly loving, for love is the golden chain of all the virtues.

SUPPLEMENTAL READING
Unpublished paper by “Violet Hay” 1932
From “Violet Hay” By Peter J Hodgson

What would you consider one of the most important qualities manifested by Mrs. Eddy, in receiving and demonstrating God’s revelation to her of Christian Science? – a quality which characterized the life and teachings and demonstration of Christ Jesus, and which is absolutely necessary for us to possess and cultivate in order that we may be receptive to – able to ‘imbibe the spirit’ of – Christian Science?
Meekness.
What other quality does our Leader, time after time, couple meekness with?
Might.
The two qualities (meekness and might) are inseparable, but the first must come first.
…I have seen splendid people, splendid Christian Scientists – honest, unselfish, and to a degree loving, yet just needing that understanding and demonstration of the quality of meekness which would transform their intellectual apprehension of Truth into the assimilation of the spiritual sense, spiritual understanding of Truth, that is a very different thing.
Meekness must be cultivated and better understood as we progress…To attain selflessness means to get rid of self. What kind of self? A self apart from God. What is that? Is there such a thing? It is a personal sense of self apart from God. A personal sense is the opposite of spiritual sense A personal sense of anything is the opposite of the true idea. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation. Mind is omnipotence, all power. Mind’s ideas reflect this power. The power of the right idea means power and might for man.
… ‘He made himself of no reputation.’ (Philippians 2:7) …means that Jesus turned out of his consciousness, emptied himself, of all those things that go to make a mortal reputation…- a personal sense, personal willpower, etc. That is what everyone who would follow the Wayshower must do in his own consciousness – empty himself of everything that belongs to a personal sense of a self apart from God.
…In every direction of thought all sense of human resistance, even to evil, must be dropped, replaced by absolute reliance on the spiritual idea, the right idea of Truth…This does not mean…ignoring evil, but it means putting the responsibility where it belongs. ‘The government shall be upon His shoulders.’ It means that in Christian Science we have God’s angels. The spiritual ideas we need are ever at hand, and ever ready for us to make use of them on behalf of ourselves or to help others with, if we have dropped personal responsibility and human efforts, that are such a strain and burden to us until we learn to let go.