The Makers of the Sermon          The Christian Science pulpits are now teaching of God in God’s way. The sermons from Sunday to Sunday in these pulpits are “undivorced from Truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses and authorized by Christ,” as the introductory note truly affirms. The word spoken by God through Paul for his day, is God’s word for this day. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” That the Christian Science sermons are after Christ is plain, since “The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers.”          The Maker of the Christian Science sermons is God, for He “made all that was made.” Humanly speaking, God’s agents do His work. As Christ Jesus said, “My Father worketh hitherto and I work.” The subjects for these sermons, as is quite well-known, were furnished by our Leader. These subjects cover the essentials of Christianity. As has been observed, they follow the order she was wont to employ in teaching her classes. These subjects are taken by the Bible Lesson committee, who at their regular meetings carefully prepare the sermons. As these discourses are made up wholly of passages from the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, they contain nothing of human opinion; they are devoid of man-made theories. They have no guesses at the future, no conjectures regarding the past, and no rudimentary exhortations about the present. They are free from sensationalism, and they make no effort to please the fancy or foster the pride of mortals.          Paul wrote the Church at Galatia that to which it were well the Church of Christendom should give earnest heed, “Do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Adapted to the present situation, this message reads, Christian Science sermons seek not to please men: for a preacher who seeks to please men is not the servant of Christ. The gospel preached from our pulpits is not after man, neither was it taught of man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.          These sermons contain the word of God unmixed with human error. They voice the eternal fact concerning the everlasting Truth. They set forth the realities of being, they inform, instruct, and enlighten concerning the verities of God and man. How do we prove these affirmations? By the test of Jesus: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” A sermon without fruits, without healing, is a barren fig-tree. Mere human opinion has no healing. It is the word of God which heals, for it is written, “He sent His word and healed them.” These sermons in more than four hundred Christian Science congregations have healed and are healing their thousands. As James says of faith, to the Church of his day, so God says to the Church of this day, “If it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works; shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”          Having considered the makers of the Christian Science Sermon, the next article will treat of the make-up of the Christian Science Sermon.   "The Makers of the Sermon" Christian Science Sentinel, March 2, 1899

 

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