Bible Study from September 30th, 2023

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And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.: And the gates of it … And the gates (or, gate-towers) shall never be shut by day, for night shall not be there. The gates shall never be shut: all day they shall be open, and that day shall be for ever, for there shall be no night there. All that darkens — the sin that brings night on the soul; the sorrow that brings night on the heart — shall be banished for ever. In peace by day, the city gates will be open; nor can there be night when God the Almighty is the Sun. (Comp. Isaiah 60:11; Ezekiel 38:11.) Through its open gates they (i.e., men) will bring the glory and honour of the nations into her. As men find that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and that their strength is in Christ, …

— by Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, Revelation 21:25

And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day – It shall be constantly open, allowing free ingress and egress to all who reside there. The language is derived from Isaiah 60:11. See the notes on that place. Applied to the future state of the blessed, it would seem to mean, that while this will be their permanent abode, yet that the dwellers there will not be prisoners. The universe will be open to them. They will be permitted to go forth and visit every world, and survey the works of God in all parts of his dominions.

For there shall be no night there – It shall be all day; all unclouded splendor. When, therefore, it is said that the gates should not be “shut by day,” it means that they would never be shut. When it is said that there would be no night there, it is, undoubtedly, to be taken as meaning that there would be no literal darkness, and nothing of which night is the emblem: no calamity, no sorrow, no bereavement, no darkened windows on account of the loss of friends and kindred.

— by Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

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LAUS DEO!
Written on laying the corner-stone of The Mother Church
Laus Deo, it is done!
Rolled away from loving heart
Is a stone.
Lifted higher, we depart,
Having one.
Laus Deo, — on this rock (Heaven chiselled squarely good)
Stands His church, — God is Love, and understood
By His flock.
Laus Deo, night star-lit Slumbers not in God’s embrace;
Be awake;
Like this stone, be in thy place:
Stand, not sit.
Grave, silent, steadfast stone, Dirge and song and shoutings low
In thy heart
Dwell serene, — and sorrow? No,
It has none, Laus Deo!

— from Miscelaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy, page 399

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Those who accept Christian Science can truly say that for them “old things” have indeed passed away, because the spiritual sense of being has replaced material belief, but there are some of us who continue to carry in our consciousness an undercurrent of belief in sin, sickness, or sorrow. Some months ago a dear friend said to the writer that for two weeks she had been striving faithfully to shut out an undercurrent of grief from her thought.

The next day I went carefully to work to analyze my own consciousness, and was truly surprised to find that for a year and a half I had thought that I was doing well to carry a brave exterior and be ready with a kind word or a cheery smile, although there had not been one waking hour when I was not conscious of a heavy sense of sorrow underneath. It had in fact seemed loyalty to one who was gone to leave that sense undisturbed, sacred to the memory of the departed, and thus thought was being held down to a “baseless fabric” instead of building upon the true foundation, that of Truth and Love.

Then came a steadfast resolve that this hidden evil, this belief in sorrow and death, should be uncovered, and the secret thought held resolutely before the light of Spirit that had penetrated to the depths of human consciousness. The first question that naturally presented itself was, What is grief? There could be but one answer, namely, an illusion entertained respecting God and man. It was then clearly seen that grief has no power to undermine and bring chaos where the solid foundations of living faith and trust in good are laid. It was also seen that no earnest seeker for Truth would willingly harbor such a falsity, therefore it must be rooted out; and though the process may be slow, the error must be destroyed. Then a new song of happiness and harmony will rise from the depths of consciousness, where joy should reign forever! Joy because God is All.

The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, with tenderest love and patience, has brought us the understanding of Truth to destroy every ill that mortal mind would place upon us. With loving heart she gave us these lines (Poems, p. 22),—

Dear God! how great, how good Thou art —
To heal humanity’s sore heart;
To probe the wound, then pour the balm —
A life perfected, strong and calm.

As true meekness enters our hearts, we begin to gain an understanding of Jesus’ words, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you;” and again, “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

As we obey the demand of infinite Love as voiced by the prophet Micah, that is, do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, Truth will indeed probe every wound; and we shall begin to see as Mrs. Eddy saw when she wrote, in the same poem,—

‘Tis writ on earth, on leaf and flower:
Love hath one race, one realm, one power.

“Undercurrents” from Christian Science Sentinel, September 16, 1911, by Eloise I. Cooper

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Let your prayer be daily: reveal to me, Oh God, my secret faults, every error, every sin. Earnestly desire to know thyself, to have thy heart searched, to let thyself be humbled, and the man of God stand revealed. Never for one instant say, “Thank God, I am not as other men.” There is no I. If you are a personality, you are as other men; but if you are the idea of God, there is but one I, God.

“Daily Prayer” from Watches, Prayers, and Arguments by Mary Baker Eddy

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Article “If We Say, “I Want”” Collected Writings by Bicknell Young

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This sacred city, described in the Apocalypse (xxi. 16) as one that “lieth foursquare” and cometh “down from God, out of heaven,” represents the light and glory of divine Science. The builder and maker of this New Jerusalem is God, as we read in the book of Hebrews; and it is “a city which hath foundations.” The description is metaphoric. Spiritual teaching must always be by symbols. Did not Jesus illustrate the truths he taught by the mustard-seed and the prodigal? Taken in its allegorical sense, the description of the city as foursquare has a profound meaning. The four sides of our city are the Word, Christ, Christianity, and divine Science; “and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.” This city is wholly spiritual, as its four sides indicate.

— from Science and Health, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 575

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