Loving our enemies

Wed., 11/25/16 readings, 2nd Church, Berkeley
SH Lev. 19:1, 2, 15, 16 (to 1st :), 17, 18 (to 1st :)
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. 15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: 17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself:
SH Matt. 22:34 1st when, 35-40
34 …when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
SH Matt. 5:43-48
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
SH Luke 4:33-35
33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
SH Matt. 13:36-43 (to 1st .)
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
SH Rom. 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
SH Gal. 5:14
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
SH 234:12-27, 31-3
We should love our enemies
and help them on the basis of the Golden
Rule; but avoid casting pearls before those who trample
them under foot, thereby robbing both themselves and
others.
If mortals would keep proper ward over mortal mind,
the brood of evils which infest it would be cleared out.
We must begin with this so-called mind and
empty it of sin and sickness, or sin and sick-
ness will never cease. The present codes of human
systems disappoint the weary searcher after a divine
theology, adequate to the right education of human
thought.
Sin and disease must be thought before they can be
manifested. You must control evil thoughts in the first
instance, or they will control you in the second.
Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more
harm than one’s belief permits. Evil thoughts, lusts, and
malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen,
from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected
lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defence.
SH 467:1-10
Question. – What are the demands of the Science of
Soul?
Answer. – The first demand of this Science is, “Thou
shalt have no other gods before me.” This me is Spirit.
Therefore the command means this: Thou shalt
have no intelligence, no life, no substance, no
truth, no love, but that which is spiritual. The second
is like unto it, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one
Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love.
SH 138:27-2
Our Master said to every follower: “Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature! . . .
Heal the sick! . . . Love thy neighbor as
thyself!” It was this theology of Jesus which
healed the sick and the sinning. It is his theology in this
book and the spiritual meaning of this theology, which
heals the sick and causes the wicked to “forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
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 48:25-27
Pale in the presence of his own momentous question,
“What is Truth,” Pilate was drawn into acquiescence
with the demands of Jesus’ enemies.
SH 50:26-18
The burden of that hour was terrible beyond human
conception. The distrust of mortal minds, disbelieving
the purpose of his mission, was a million
times sharper than the thorns which pierced
his flesh. The real cross, which Jesus bore up the hill
of grief, was the world’s hatred of Truth and Love. Not
the spear nor the material cross wrung from his faithful
lips the plaintive cry, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” It
was the possible loss of something more important than
human life which moved him, – the possible misappre-
hension of the sublimest influence of his career. This
dread added the drop of gall to his cup.
Jesus could have withdrawn himself from his enemies.
He had power to lay down a human sense of life for his
spiritual identity in the likeness of the divine;
but he allowed men to attempt the destruc-
tion of the mortal body in order that he might furnish
the proof of immortal life. Nothing could kill this Life
of man. Jesus could give his temporal life into his
enemies’ hands; but when his earth-mission was accom-
plished, his spiritual life, indestructible and eternal,
was found forever the same. He knew that matter had
no life and that real Life is God; therefore he could no
more be separated from his spiritual Life than God could
be extinguished.
SH 39:13-14
The Bible calls death an enemy, and Jesus
overcame death and the grave instead of yielding to them.
SH 266:13
Friends will betray and enemies will slander, until the
lesson is sufficient to exalt you; for “man’s extremity
is God’s opportunity.” The author has experienced the
foregoing prophecy and its blessings. Thus He teaches
mortals to lay down their fleshliness and gain spirituality.
This is done through self-abnegation. Universal Love
is the divine way in Christian Science.
SH 578:13
mine enemies: [LOVE] anointeth my head with oil; my cup
runneth over.


Lev. 19:1, 2, 15, 16 (to 1st :), 17, 18 (to :)
Matt. 22:34 when, 35-40
Matt. 5:43-48
Luke 4:33-35
Matt. 13:36-43 (to 1st .)
Rom. 8:28
Gal. 5:14
SH 234:12-27, 31-3
SH 467:1-10
SH 138:27-2
SH 33:18
SH 48:25-27
SH 50:26-18
SH 39:13-14
SH 266:13
SH 578:13

Hymns: 266, 180, 173

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