1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,120 or contact us at mylibertybaptist.org or just 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,760 look us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,120 And so we're going to continue our series as we are looking at 8 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,920 world religions and cults this morning and we're going to move 9 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,320 into a new phase of our series. We've really spent quite a few 10 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:38,000 weeks looking at some major religions and cults that we have 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,000 a lot of interaction with, whether it be Islam or whether 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,560 it would be the Mormons or the Jehovah Witnesses or Judaism. 13 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,240 And we're going to move into some more what I would call 14 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,080 obscure world religions and cults. 15 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,040 Not necessarily obscure in the amount of adherence that they 16 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,200 have, because I think of some like Buddhism that we'll look at 17 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:57,920 that have a great many adherence. 18 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,480 But I would say more obscure in the sense of how much we would 19 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,160 come across it in our daily life and how much we would come 20 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,280 across someone that we would want to be able to witness to 21 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:08,800 them who are inherent of that group. 22 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,280 And so I really want us to over the next few weeks, week by 23 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,400 week, look at a different group and give you really a family 24 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,440 over view of what that group is all about. 25 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,280 And this morning we're going to look at one that, believe it or 26 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,040 not, you may not realize is actually very close to home and 27 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,960 that is Christian Science. And I've titled this message 28 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,080 Christian Science, neither Christian nor Science. 29 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,000 And you'll find out why that is here in just a moment. 30 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,800 You might be more familiar with Christian Science than you 31 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,920 actually realize. The Christian Science 32 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,200 headquarters is actually found in Boston. 33 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,080 It is right near Symphony Hall in downtown Boston is a large 34 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:47,760 structure that has a great deal of different things that are 35 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:49,560 inside. It's a tourist attraction, 36 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:52,680 believe it or not. There in Boston, you may be 37 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,840 familiar with the Christian Science reading rooms. 38 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,440 I'm not saying you've gone into one, but maybe you are in an 39 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,480 area where you've seen something that says a Christian Science 40 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,760 reading room and it looks empty inside because they usually are. 41 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,040 But you're wondering what is this all about? 42 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:07,760 There is the Christian Science Monitor. 43 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,080 It's a newspaper that has been published for some time, still 44 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,480 is published today that is well regarded by some circles. 45 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,520 And then you may be familiar with Mary Baker Eddie, and she 46 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,320 is the founder of Christian Science. 47 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,560 And even if you're not familiar with her, she has many 48 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,080 homesteads of places that she lived in the Northeast during 49 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,720 her life in the 1800s. And one of those places, believe 50 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:29,880 it or not, is actually in Stoughton. 51 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:35,000 If you are going to a Costco or Jordans or one of those places 52 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,320 over in Avon, if you cross right over the line into Stoughton, 53 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,960 one of the Mary Baker Eddie homesteads is there. 54 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,560 So just right, a few minutes from where we are standing or 55 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,120 sitting here this morning. So what is Christian Science? 56 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,360 As always, I like to be able to show you from the group's own 57 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,160 words to be able to get an understanding of who they are. 58 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:54,840 We have two videos for you this morning. 59 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,320 And the first is going to deal with those Christian Science 60 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,080 reading rooms and kind of give us a little bit of a start of an 61 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,600 understanding of who Christian Science is. 62 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:04,840 So if we could, let's go ahead and roll it. 63 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,800 This is where you can find versions of the Bible. 64 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,560 And the Bible obviously has helped many people. 65 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,480 When someone comes into the reading room, we're trying to 66 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,320 help them by sharing products and literature or just some 67 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,760 simple answers that help them go to God. 68 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:27,800 What a reading room provides is that staff there are. 69 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:33,360 More than helpful and they. Are providing an an atmosphere 70 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,120 of prayer that no other place offers. 71 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:43,360 The reading room offers a human face for people who want to ask 72 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,040 questions about Christian Science. 73 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,880 Christian Science is the law of God is the truth, and, and if 74 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,520 you're hungry for that truth wherever you're at and even in 75 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:54,480 the reading room. You got to get that truth. 76 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,800 Anybody who desires to learn how to heal the way Jesus did can 77 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,080 buy science and health or go to the reading room and study 78 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,400 science and health and learn how to do that. 79 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,560 It is the pastor and it is science and health that we're 80 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,640 emphasizing in our reading room. Then what else is in the reading 81 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:19,839 room is over 135 years of articles and testimonies of 82 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:24,040 healing, putting this into practice, showing how it makes a 83 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,560 difference. That is the support that a 84 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,480 reading room gives you. That is the support that a 85 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,880 librarian gives you, that you can just come in and ask all the 86 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,400 questions you have about God, about Christianity, about 87 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:40,840 Christian Science, and they'll give you an honest and loving 88 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,680 answer. And the staff, they show me a 89 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,800 lot of love and that is what I needed to see and to feel. 90 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,560 So, dear love, draw me into the Christian Science reading Room. 91 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,080 So if we're looking at that, it would seem like there's a lot of 92 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,040 answers to be able to be found at the Christian Science Reading 93 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,240 Room, a lot of it rooted in the word of God. 94 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:10,440 But then also mentioning as well this book that is called Science 95 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,000 and Health. And at first you read this, you 96 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,160 look at this and say, wow, they must be Christians just like we 97 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,920 are, with perhaps some sort of emphasis on science or some sort 98 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,200 of emphasis on the healing of the body. 99 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,880 But if there was 1 shot or one scene, if you would from what 100 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,680 you just read, that really would hammer home what Christian 101 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,880 Science is all about. It was that shot where there was 102 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,600 in the front of the shot the Bible, and then in the back the 103 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,320 book of Science and Health. And you saw that it was focused 104 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,320 in on the Bible at 1st and then it went out of focus and then 105 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,200 focused on the book in the back. And I would say that's exactly 106 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,440 what Christian Science is. There's a lot of talk about the 107 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,400 Bible. There's a lot of talk about 108 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,160 Christianity, there's a lot of talk about studying the Word of 109 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,560 God and the Word of God being inspired, but yet in the end, 110 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,680 it's really like all cults are not about the Bible. 111 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:09,840 It's about the one who has interpreted the Bible, has 112 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:13,840 written something of their own gospel, if you will, and then 113 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:16,360 that is the book that is emphasized. 114 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,040 We saw that with Jehovah Witnesses and the New World 115 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,280 Translation. We saw that with the Mormons, 116 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,880 with all of the different sacred books they have, and we see that 117 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,440 as well with Christian Science. Be not deceived. 118 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,800 It is neither Christian nor Science. 119 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,080 Now. Christian Science was begun by 120 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:36,400 Mary Baker Eddie, who pioneered new ideas about spirituality and 121 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,880 health and using the Bible as a hook to be able to draw people 122 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:43,800 into her line of thinking. She grew up as a 123 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,880 Congregationalist, so she grew up in New England with a fairly 124 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:52,880 orthodox view of the Bible, but then over time strayed from that 125 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,960 as she got away from the church and got away from biblical 126 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:59,280 teaching. She claimed that after a fall on 127 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:04,160 the ice in 1866 which left her with crippling injuries, she 128 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:09,080 rediscovered the secrets of faith healing from Jesus Christ, 129 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:13,160 and that those are what she put into the book Science and 130 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,320 Health. Now, interestingly enough, this 131 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,600 accident that took place in 1866, there was a Doctor Who 132 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,760 attended to her supposedly, and this doctor later signed an 133 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,800 affidavit saying that her injuries were not as she had 134 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,920 said that they were originally. So we would even see that this 135 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,480 is founded upon a lie and then built upon lies as time went on. 136 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,520 They say, why would someone even be involved in this? 137 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,760 Why would someone want to get involved in Christian Science 138 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:43,680 before we even go further here this morning? 139 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,480 And the answer is very simple. And the answer is when a group, 140 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,360 particularly a group like Christian Science, focuses on 141 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,280 healing, there are many people who are desperate for healing. 142 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,040 There are many people who deal with sicknesses, diseases and 143 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,040 other maladies who are just trying to find an answer. 144 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,480 And although we say it here today that the doctors are 145 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:06,640 practicing and they're practicing on us, you know what 146 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,400 I mean, that they don't often know what they're doing. 147 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,640 That was still true, if not even more so during Eddie, Mary Baker 148 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:14,480 Eddie's time. There were a lot of people 149 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:16,800 disillusioned and there were a lot of people looking for 150 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,080 answers and wanted to find those answers in something that still 151 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,440 called itself Christian. And so Mary Baker Eddie came 152 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:28,920 with this perfect mix of in her mind, the Bible, but then also 153 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,720 what healing was all about. But again, this was all based on 154 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:38,480 her own lies as well as very, very poor Bible interpretation. 155 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:43,679 So the result of what she had take place in her life in 1866, 156 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:48,760 as well as her studies that followed, led to in 1879, the 157 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,680 introduction of a system called Christian Science. 158 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,920 Now the book that we just talked about a few moments ago, the the 159 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,680 Christian Science, what I would call sacred texts, they don't 160 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,040 use that term, but I would use that term. 161 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,640 The science and health with key to the scriptures. 162 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:10,080 This is their sacred text. This is their Book of Mormon. 163 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,120 This is their Quran. This is the text that they look 164 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,280 to. They do not look to the Bible as 165 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:19,760 we look to the Bible, by the way, if they did, they wouldn't 166 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,360 believe what they believe, but they look to this book that you 167 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,640 have in front of you. Science and Health as the key it 168 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,120 is, is the pastor, it is the leader. 169 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,840 There is very little structural leadership as we would see it 170 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,880 traditionally, but it's all about making sure that you are 171 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,240 following the tenants that we'll see in just a moment the six 172 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,600 tenants that are found within the book of Science and Health. 173 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:47,120 Now, interestingly enough, much of her research that is compiled 174 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,000 that was put together to create this book was actually 175 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,560 plagiarized from a doctor in Maine that lived on the same 176 00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:57,640 time, and his name was Doctor Quimby. 177 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:02,320 Now, referring to this book, Mark Twain once said this. 178 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:06,680 Mark Twain said of this book, of all the strange and frantic and 179 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:10,560 incomprehensible and uninterpretable books which the 180 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:13,640 imagination of man has created, surely this one is a prize 181 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:15,920 example. Now let's be sure Mark Twain was 182 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,520 not a believer. Mark Twain had no testimony of 183 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:23,280 knowing Jesus Christ as his savior, but to have Mark Twain 184 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,720 to be able to say this about this book certainly gives us an 185 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,600 understanding of what it is. Now Mary Baker, Eddie, after 186 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,640 writing this book, Founding Christian Science, went on to 187 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:38,200 find found a college church, a publishing enterprise, as well 188 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,000 as the Christian Science Monitor newspaper. 189 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,080 Now, from the outside, as I mentioned, it would seem to some 190 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,760 that maybe don't know that Christian Science is just 191 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,000 another Christian denomination. Oh, there's Baptists and 192 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,240 Lutherans and Methodists and Pentecostals and Christian 193 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,120 Science, and again, they even mention themselves once again 194 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,120 how they are Christian. Isn't it odd that all of these 195 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,880 cults so desperately want people to believe that they're 196 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:03,480 Christians? Now, Jehovah Witness would 197 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:06,080 probably be the exception to that because they believe that 198 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,920 Christians are the apostates. We saw that going all the way 199 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,240 early back to the 1900s. But for the most part, you find 200 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,160 these cultists want to do that. Why? 201 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,760 Because they want to have you set off guard from their 202 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,520 message, meaning that you are just listening to another 203 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,000 Christian talk to them. So why wouldn't you listen? 204 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:25,960 We're Christians just like you are. 205 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,320 And that's really what the Church of Scientology, Church 206 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:31,680 Scientology, we're coming that next week. 207 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,480 But Christian Science would have you to believe. 208 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:38,560 It's just a denomination that puts emphasis on physical 209 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,680 healing. And after all, Jesus did healing 210 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:43,920 in the Gospels, So what could possibly be wrong with that? 211 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,840 However, this could not be further from the truth. 212 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:51,520 It's a religious system that redefines who God is, who Jesus 213 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:57,840 Christ is, who man is, what sin is, and really what reality is. 214 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,680 This is what Christian Science does, and it tries to use the 215 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:04,680 Bible as a cloak for its many heresies. 216 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:07,680 And so we want to recognize it for who it was. 217 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:12,080 Her church founded upon the belief that sickness and death 218 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:16,640 are not truly real. Now I'm going to run that by you 219 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:21,400 one more time. Sickness and death are not truly 220 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:26,240 real because matter itself is unnatural, according to this 221 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:28,280 view. Illness and suffering or 222 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:40,400 illusions, Illness, illness. I got water here. 223 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:44,560 I'm good. You didn't hear that. 224 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:48,200 That was just your imagination. And it was my imagination as my 225 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:50,360 lungs on the inside were trying to come out on the outside. 226 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:57,320 All right, illness and suffering are illusions caused by unbelief 227 00:12:57,320 --> 00:12:59,960 and a misunderstanding of God's true nature. 228 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:02,920 Christian Science is widely known today for its adherence. 229 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,840 Refusal for medication or medical care. 230 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,480 Now, I do want to stress that they are not required to refuse 231 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:12,800 medication. They're not required to refuse 232 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,160 medical care. That is not a requirement of the 233 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,120 church. However, it is something that is 234 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,840 heavily suggested and there are many who take them up on that. 235 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,680 Mary Baker Eddie taught that reality having been created by 236 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,600 God and therefore holy good could not include evil such as 237 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:33,960 poverty, suffering, or death. If God is good, then this evil 238 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,480 obviously is not real because God is the one who created 239 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:39,840 everything. And if evil is present, then 240 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,320 it's really not present. It's really within your own 241 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,400 mind. You say that they can't actually 242 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,280 believe that they truly do, and we'll look at that in the six 243 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:51,240 tenants in just a moment. Now here's the sobering issue 244 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:53,960 for Christian Science, one that they cannot get past. 245 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,560 On December 3rd, 1910, Mary Baker Eddie died. 246 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,040 And I say that not to. I'm not making fun, I'm not 247 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,320 mocking, but I'm just saying. The reality is Mary Baker Eddie 248 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:11,920 died of pneumonia in December 3rd, 1910, a physical illness 249 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,240 that ended her life. That is reality. 250 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,080 That is not something that is fake or forced. 251 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,120 That is what it is. And that in and of itself should 252 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,320 probably be the end of Christian Science, but yet there are 253 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,240 adherents that still continue with it to this day. 254 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,800 Now I mentioned just a few moments ago that there were six 255 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,640 tenants that are found in this book. 256 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,680 You say 6 tenants, is that like 6 people that live in an 257 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:36,960 apartment? No, not tenants. 258 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,920 All right, tenants, those are 6 beliefs if you will, 6 tenets 259 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,200 that are the foundation, the core of Christian Science. 260 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:50,000 Now, some of them even sound, as we have found with the cults, 261 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:51,920 very reasonable on their surface. 262 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,880 Some of them sound like maybe this is something I could be a 263 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:57,560 part of if you just listen to it at face value. 264 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,800 But we're going to find that all six crumble with even the 265 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,800 lightest pressure applied to them like a House of Cards 266 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,520 because none of them are based on the word of God. 267 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,800 Now, to be able to help illustrate that, I have another 268 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,080 video I want to show you here in just a moment with several 269 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,240 people talking about Christian Science and their faith in it. 270 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,200 And I think it will help you give some background as we go 271 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,720 into these six tenants. So if we could, let's show that 272 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,040 second video. I'm very grateful for Christian 273 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,520 Science. I've witnessed hundreds, 274 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,840 literally, of healings in my life as a Christian Scientist. 275 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,160 What I love about Christian Science is the way that it 276 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:40,680 defines God. It's God is not this guy up in 277 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:45,680 the sky or anything that you can kind of put a box around. 278 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,880 God is love. God is life. 279 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,920 God is truth, mind, soul, principle, spirit. 280 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:59,880 And defining God that way makes everything so different in our 281 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:01,920 human experience in the way we go about things. 282 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,880 And so I love that aspect of Christian Science. 283 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,040 I go to church all the time and I love it so much. 284 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,320 Before then, I had, I'd been spiritual, but you know, there 285 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,920 was always something missing and I and I found it when I came to 286 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,920 the Christian Science Church. One of the things I love about 287 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:23,440 Christian Science is that it, it tells people that they don't 288 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:28,400 have to go along with what the world or the, or the carnal 289 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,880 thought expects is, has to happen. 290 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,640 You know, you don't have to always pick up the script, 291 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,200 whether it's the, you know, having a disease and having to 292 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,760 go through all the stages of suffering or, or, you know, an 293 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:45,720 expectation of contagion that we were allowed to say, no, no, 294 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:50,400 that's not God's plan for me. So I don't have to suffer with 295 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:51,760 it. I don't have to go through it 296 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,960 and Christian Science really kind of has taught me to to 297 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,720 really pray every day to stay close to God, keep listening. 298 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:06,760 I really start my days with, dear Father, how can I serve you 299 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,440 today? How can I glorify you today? 300 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,800 To me, Christian Science is a way of life and you live it 301 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,599 daily and it's about your relationship with God and 302 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:21,359 understanding that you're made in God's image and likeness and 303 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,480 that God loves you dearly. The practicality of Christian 304 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,280 Science is that it's not just to go to church on Sunday 305 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,280 situation, it's how are we living our lives? 306 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,960 How are we thinking? How are we growing in our love 307 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:46,400 for God and our understanding of our dominion as his expression 308 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,400 and reflection? And that's what makes Christian 309 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:55,360 Science vital and practical, something we live every day. 310 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,560 I'm really happy that I've had Christian Science in my life and 311 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,840 that I've been able to call practitioners when I had a 312 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,520 challenge and specifically in this instance and in others 313 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,360 where to the medical community, there's nothing they can do 314 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,200 about it. But you're expected to have a 315 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:15,920 three month healing time and a long wait where Christian 316 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,640 Science and God's help and and God is our father and mother 317 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:25,920 taking care of us steps in and the healing is instantaneous. 318 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,280 Misses Eddie said that she's the founder of Christian Science, 319 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:32,520 that actually the healing of sickness is the smallest part of 320 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:39,640 Christian Science. The the real dogma or creed or 321 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:43,680 purpose or mission, I would say, of Christian Science is to, in 322 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:48,560 her words, restore primitive Christianity and it's lost 323 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,160 element of healing. I mean, it is what Jesus was all 324 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,560 about and we're just trying to follow him. 325 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,480 It's amazing to me because at one point in my life I had been 326 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,640 homeless, living on the streets, doing drugs, anything you can 327 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,680 imagine. So now I have one of the most 328 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,800 comfortable existences I could have ever imagined. 329 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:14,680 I'm the person that I always thought I would have been when I 330 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,080 was young, and I'm more than that now because of Christian 331 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,840 Science and science, health and science and health with Key to 332 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,280 the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy. 333 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:29,680 And even though I felt love through all those times, I feel 334 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,240 so much more love now. I feel eternal love all 335 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:37,400 surrounding me at all times and life has turned out better than 336 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:38,440 I could have ever imagined. A. 337 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,240 Lot that we could say about what was just taking place. 338 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:49,080 But if you get nothing else from what we study today, understand 339 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:54,880 this that Christian Science is the most miserable and failed 340 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,840 line of thinking and religion the world has ever known. 341 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:00,880 You say, well, how would you say that? 342 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:02,600 Now understand what I what I mean. 343 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,240 Just a moment. Any line of thinking or theology 344 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,560 that is contrary to the word of God will send someone straight 345 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,320 to hell. I think we all agree with that. 346 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,680 Amen. But I would also say this. 347 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,040 This is a line of thinking that says that sickness is really 348 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:23,120 just in your mind, that sickness is not part of reality 349 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:26,720 whatsoever. And so every adherent who has 350 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:30,320 ever been part of Christian Science has shown what a failure 351 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:34,240 it is by dying. And so in that thought process, 352 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,000 we're not just talking about their eternal soul, which would 353 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:40,800 go straight to hell, but also the fact that they are teaching 354 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,920 that really you should be able to overcome these things. 355 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,880 And no one ever has, including the founder. 356 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,440 And that ought to be enough to cause someone to say, I don't 357 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,640 want to be a part of this. But yet everyone looking for 358 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:57,440 that hope of healing, looking for that hope of something that 359 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,680 Christianity can't offer, something that Jesus was 360 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,160 offering, but it's not available today, has that twisted into 361 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,760 their mind to the place where they believe that Christian 362 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,520 Science can have the answer. So we ask ourselves, what are 363 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,720 these six tenets here this morning? 364 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,440 And these come again from the book of Science and Health with 365 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,960 key to the Scripture, sometimes just called Science and Health 366 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:22,440 from the Christian Science written by Mary Baker Eddie #1 367 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,200 as adherence of truth, we take the inspired word of the Bible 368 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:28,520 as our sufficient guide to eternal life. 369 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,680 Now you listen to that, You say, hey, at least they start at #1 370 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:32,840 right? I mean, that's good. 371 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:35,440 But you have to always understand when it comes to 372 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:39,040 these types of tenets or statements from the cults or 373 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,240 from world religions, it's not what they say, but it's often 374 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,240 what's lying beneath what they say. 375 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,760 And it was even alluded to there just a few moments ago on the 376 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,880 video. It sounds good. 377 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,080 It sounds like something that we would agree with, that the word 378 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,360 of God is inspired, but yet when they're using the term 379 00:21:56,360 --> 00:21:59,720 inspiration, they would use the term of inspiration much 380 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:03,080 differently than we would. They treat inspiration as 381 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,480 someone who's inspired when they create a great work of art, 382 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,800 someone who's inspired when they achieve a great feat. 383 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,480 Well, they were inspired to do those types of things. 384 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,600 And that type of inspiration is a very real thing that we're 385 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,000 inspired within ourselves to write a poem, to be inspired to 386 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:25,360 write a song, to be inspired to do something great on a football 387 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:28,520 field or a basketball court. There can be that type of 388 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,360 inspiration. But that is not the kind of 389 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:34,440 inspiration that the Bible teaches comes from God. 390 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,200 When it comes to the Scriptures, Paul did not just have it well 391 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,520 up within himself to write something really good. 392 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,040 And that's how we got the epistles. 393 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:45,880 No, no, that's not what it says at all. 394 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,720 In fact, Second Timothy 316, boy, you've heard this a lot 395 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,600 around here, but it barely repeating. 396 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:56,440 Again, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's 397 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,640 profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 398 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,200 instruction and righteousness. Because it comes from God, it is 399 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,640 perfect. Because it comes from God. 400 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,680 It is truly inspired. Not as man is inspired. 401 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,880 That's a good one, Ralph, as it is within ourselves. 402 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,840 But no, it's inspired because it comes from God. 403 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,720 They believe it's inspired, but not infallible, but we believe 404 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,680 that is the inspired and infallible word of God, that 405 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,840 when we look at this, this isn't just some thoughts from Moses, 406 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,360 some thoughts from David, some thoughts from Solomon, some 407 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:32,720 thoughts from Peter, some thoughts from Paul, and they 408 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:34,520 were good. They're better than most men's 409 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:35,760 thoughts. No, no, that's not what we're 410 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,080 talking about. These are the very words of God, 411 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,840 and those men were inspired to be able to write that to which 412 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,080 we have and has been preserved for us today. 413 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,840 So we reject #1 and be honest with you #1 was probably the 414 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,360 1:00 we'd be the closest to, but yet we reject that 415 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:54,880 wholeheartedly because what lies underneath the surface is not 416 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:56,920 true. If they truly believe that this 417 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,840 book was inspired as God said it, they wouldn't need any other 418 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,480 book. They wouldn't need any other 419 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,680 teaching. So number one is rejected out of 420 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:11,600 hand #2 we acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God. 421 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,960 We acknowledge His Son, one Christ the Holy Ghost or divine 422 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,520 Comforter and man in God's image and likeness. 423 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,480 Again, this sounds good. Maybe not as good as #1 but 424 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,520 there is something that sounds good about it. 425 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,000 But yet Christian Science teaches that the God of the 426 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,440 Bible is not God. Did some of you catch what one 427 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:37,000 woman mentioned about God being the heavenly Father and Mother? 428 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:39,760 Well, you don't find that in the Word of God. 429 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,360 You don't find it anywhere in the Word of God, Father and 430 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:47,120 Mother of all. They teach that that Godfather 431 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:50,280 and Mother of all is completely good and holy spiritual, and 432 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,080 that all of God's creation, including the true nature of 433 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,920 every person, is flawless and is the flawless spiritual likeness 434 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,280 of the divine. Meaning that really you are 435 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,600 perfect as well, and that anything that you believe that 436 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,440 is unperfect is really not real and you have to purge your mind 437 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:12,040 of these unreal thoughts. These are not anything that is 438 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,000 close to reality. They would teach that Jesus is a 439 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,720 great prophet, but they would not teach that Jesus is God. 440 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,760 They have high regard for Jesus in their own mind. 441 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,080 I would say that anything other than calling Jesus who he is, is 442 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,880 not having high regard for him, but within their own thoughts, 443 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:31,440 they have very high regard for him, but do not believe that He 444 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,880 is God. And so again, we do reject #2 445 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,880 out of hand as well #3 we acknowledge God's forgiveness of 446 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,440 sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding 447 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,600 that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is 448 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,720 punished so long as the belief lasts. 449 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:51,760 So there's several problems here. 450 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:54,640 Number one, forgiveness is redefined. 451 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,880 God does not forgive sin just by pardoning guilt. 452 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:06,800 Sin is forgiven only in their mind, let me say God in their 453 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,960 mind, God is not the partner of guilt. 454 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,760 Sin is not forgiven as it's eliminated. 455 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:14,640 I'm I'm reading this wrong, I'm sorry. 456 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:20,080 The the idea is, is that in their mind, forgiveness, as we 457 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,040 would understand through Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus 458 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,400 Christ is something that is not necessary. 459 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,560 There is no judicial or declarative forgiveness. 460 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:33,360 The idea that God declares us to be saved, that God declares us 461 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:35,640 to be forgiven. This is not part really. 462 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:40,000 The forgiveness is found within you, that you have the sin 463 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,960 removed from you. It's not treated as a moral 464 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,240 offense. It's not rebellion against God. 465 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:49,000 It's a mistaken belief. It's a false perception and 466 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,920 guilt before God is effectively denied again, evil is declared 467 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,400 unreal. It has no actual existence. 468 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,440 The illusion is just corrected by knowledge. 469 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,720 In fact, I watched another video just a few days ago where there 470 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:03,960 was a woman who said something along these lines. 471 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,960 We really can't know what sin is. 472 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:08,920 In fact, she put it this way, it it's a hard call. 473 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,800 It's a hard call to make. And I thought it is a hard call 474 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,200 to make if you're defining what sin, if you are the one that 475 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:19,480 wants to decide what sin is, well, sure, it's a very hard 476 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,600 call to make. But if we have the word of God 477 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,000 which tells us what sin is and what transgression is, it's 478 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,840 actually pretty simple when we understand what the word of God 479 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:29,920 says, that is completely different. 480 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,720 Well, the Word of God teaches something much different. 481 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:36,320 Forgiveness is an act of God, not an act of self. 482 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:40,200 First, John 19 If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to 483 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,960 forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all 484 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,080 unrighteousness. Evil is not a construct of the 485 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,600 mind. Evil is real. 486 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,080 Isaiah 5 verse 20. Woe unto them. 487 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,040 They call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light 488 00:27:55,040 --> 00:28:00,280 and light for darkness. So we reject #3 as well #4 We 489 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,320 acknowledge Jesus's atonement as the evidence of divine 490 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,640 efficacious love unfolding man's unity with God through Jesus 491 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:11,160 Christ the way shower. And we acknowledge that man is 492 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,360 saved through Christ, through truth, life and love, as 493 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:17,640 demonstrated by the Galilean prophet in the healing of the 494 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,360 sick and overcoming sin and death. 495 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,160 Once again, atonement is now redefined. 496 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:25,400 Jesus death is no longer the payment for sin. 497 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,400 He's the wayfinder. He's just showing us the way. 498 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,560 He was the healer. He brought people healing, and 499 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,800 He will show you the way to bring you healing as well. 500 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,480 Sin is minimized or completely denied. 501 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:39,760 Again, it is considered an illusion. 502 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,760 So there is really no real need for forgiveness. 503 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,400 And salvation is really just enlightenment. 504 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,960 It is understanding the truth nature of the cosmos is 505 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:50,800 understanding the true nature of reality. 506 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,320 Salvation is not salvation as the Bible teaches. 507 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,320 Because of that, the cross is merely symbolic. 508 00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:59,800 There was nothing that actually took place there other than, 509 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,480 again, Jesus showing us the way of someone who did something 510 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,440 good. But Christ's suffering is not 511 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,520 necessary for salvation. The blood of Christ is not 512 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:13,520 necessary for salvation, and he is just reduced to some type of 513 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,320 moral example. Jesus did great things and and 514 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,560 we could do great things too if we follow his wayfinding 515 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:23,520 example. But yet again, the Bible teaches 516 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,080 much differently. First Corinthians 15, verse 3 517 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,640 Before I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also 518 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,600 received, how that Christ died for our sins according to 519 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:33,200 scriptures. That ought to end it right 520 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,360 there, shouldn't it? According to the Scriptures 521 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,920 meaning this. It's the whole teaching of the 522 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,080 Word of God that this is what Jesus did, that all of the word 523 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,440 of God leads up to that moment, and then after that moment, the 524 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,520 word of God continues to teach and reiterate that which Jesus 525 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,640 Christ did. Hebrews 922 And almost all 526 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,760 things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding 527 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,120 of blood is no remission. It's very clear that this is not 528 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,840 just something that Jesus did to show us a better way, but rather 529 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,520 that the cross of Christ was necessary. 530 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,080 The blood of Christ was necessary for our salvation. 531 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:13,120 So we reject #4 as well #5 we acknowledge that the crucifixion 532 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:16,640 of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith, to 533 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:21,080 understand eternal life, even the allness of soul, spirit, and 534 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,960 the nothingness of matter. There it is, the nothingness of 535 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:26,680 matter. It's not really real. 536 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,200 The reality that you see is not real. 537 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,160 The evil that you see is not real. 538 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,360 The sickness that you're feeling is not real. 539 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,200 Now, if you're like me, you wonder how could somebody 540 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,200 believe this? How could somebody possibly even 541 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:43,080 think that this could be truth? But yet again, as I mentioned 542 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:46,440 before, perhaps you're sick, perhaps you are searching, 543 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:49,200 perhaps you are hearing a testimony of somebody. 544 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,960 You go into a reading room and you see all of these books that 545 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,760 have all of these testimonies, supposedly of people who've been 546 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,080 helped and healed. And perhaps you're desperate to 547 00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:59,040 be able to find something that's true. 548 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,040 And by the time you get to some of these thoughts, you're too 549 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,280 far deep and you're too far in. And so you have to accept that's 550 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:07,640 true because you've accepted everything else before it. 551 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,720 That's true as well. Christian Science says Jesus 552 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,080 death and resurrection primarily help people uplift faith to 553 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:16,560 understand eternal life. That was really what the death, 554 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,680 burial, resurrection of Christ was about is to help people 555 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,000 uplift them and understand eternal life. 556 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,280 But First Corinthians 15 verses 3:00 and 4:00, and we just read 557 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,560 verse 3, but we'll read it again. 558 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:32,920 I've delivered unto you first that all that which I've 559 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,760 received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the 560 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,960 Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again 561 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,200 the third day, that all of that was spiritually necessary. 562 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,080 You can't take First Corinthians chapter 15, which talks of the 563 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:47,880 resurrection, that if the resurrection is not the 564 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,840 resurrection as it has been taught, then the gospel all 565 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,560 unravels from what it is. And we know that is not the 566 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:55,440 case. Christian Science suggests that 567 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,920 understanding matter as unreal helps grasp eternal life as well 568 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:02,080 as physical healing. But you can go to the beginning 569 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:04,920 of the Bible, Genesis 11. In the beginning, what did God 570 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:06,920 create? In the beginning, God created 571 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,440 the heaven and the earth. But what do we find from that? 572 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,440 It affirms the creation of time, space, and matter, that He 573 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,040 created all those things. And again, God does not lay out 574 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:19,680 the foundation for the beginning of the word of God for why He 575 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:21,120 is. It's just the expectation that 576 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,280 you know He is. And that's given to us right at 577 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,400 the beginning, and that he created time, space, and matter. 578 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:31,640 And if matter was truly nothing, if it was, then the crucifixion 579 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:34,080 itself would have no real consequences. 580 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,720 But yet Christian Science affirms the historical 581 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,680 crucifixion and resurrection and it denies the reality of matter. 582 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,440 At the same time, this leads to a contradiction. 583 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:46,680 They rely on physical events historically, but yet teach 584 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,080 matter is unreal. So the question is, which is it? 585 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,560 And again it leaves us wanting number six. 586 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:56,040 And then finally, and we solemnly promise to watch and 587 00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,440 pray for that mind to be in US, which also was in Christ Jesus, 588 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:03,880 to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, and to be 589 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,280 mercifully just and pure. Now again, this is good. 590 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,400 This is Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. 591 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:12,000 But the problem is, practically speaking, they don't believe. 592 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,680 They don't believe that this is the way to live. 593 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,160 The New Testament teaches that the mind of Christ is given to 594 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:21,880 believers through salvation with Christ. 595 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,560 And the Holy Spirit helps us to be able to have the mind of 596 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,720 Christ. They say this is all about your 597 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,960 human effort, that if you continue to do, then you can do 598 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:34,560 this. Listen on your own. 599 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,800 You can't have the mind of Christ on your own. 600 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,000 You and I, we give into the flesh on your own. 601 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:42,880 You and I, we live for ourselves. 602 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,160 It is only through salvation that we become new creatures. 603 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:48,320 And then it's through the help of the Spirit that we 604 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,040 continually become the sanctification of our lives, the 605 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:55,440 practical sanctification, every day trying to be closer to 606 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:57,440 Christ. It is not human effort. 607 00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,320 It is not enlightened perception. 608 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:03,720 It is all about the fact that we have Christ in us, the hope of 609 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,840 glory, and he is the one that helps us to be able to be more 610 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,120 like Him on our own. We're in trouble. 611 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:13,000 So what do they practically believe when we get down to it? 612 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:14,400 I'll give you these very quickly. 613 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:16,920 What do they practically believe when it comes to the doctrine of 614 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:18,800 God? That God is not personal. 615 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:23,120 He is defined as divine mind, principle, or spirit, and He 616 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:25,560 does not act in history or relate personally. 617 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:30,760 That He's just kind of this life force, if you will, but not 618 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:33,280 really God in the way that the Bible teaches. 619 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,679 But the Bible teaches God's personal, relational acts in 620 00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:40,199 creation and in redemption. What do they teach about the 621 00:34:40,199 --> 00:34:43,000 doctrine of matter? And reality matters? 622 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:44,679 An illusion. The physical world does not 623 00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:46,280 exist the way that we think it does. 624 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,719 And pain and sickness and even death are errors of the mind. 625 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,360 And again, if they truly believe that it is the most failed 626 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,480 belief system this world has ever seen because every adherent 627 00:34:56,639 --> 00:35:00,320 has died and no one should be part of this group. 628 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:04,960 But yet they still have those who believe physical healing in 629 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,360 their implication comes from correcting wrong thinking and 630 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:12,360 never from medical treatment. The doctrine of sin Sin is not 631 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,920 real the way that the Bible teaches about sin. 632 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:21,080 Sin is ignorance or false belief and there is no reckoning with a 633 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:23,040 holy God. That is not something that is 634 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:27,000 part of their belief system. The doctrine of Christ and Jesus 635 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:30,520 that Jesus was a man who demonstrated the Christ 636 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,160 principle, but he was not Christ. 637 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:37,640 He was an idea more than a person and Jesus is not God 638 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:40,880 Incarnate This so that means there's no substitutionary 639 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:42,800 atonement. The cross is example. 640 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,920 It's not a sacrifice. Again, we reject that out of 641 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:51,480 him. The doctrine of salvation which 642 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,400 is not on there, that should be the next one right there. 643 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:59,080 The doctrine of salvation is not salvation as we would know it. 644 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:00,960 It's just awakening to spiritual truth. 645 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:04,440 Your eyes have been enlightened. There is no need for repentance. 646 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,720 There is no need for faith. There is no need to turn to 647 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:10,360 Christ. It's really about you just 648 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,560 learning more about life and understanding. 649 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:16,000 And you can achieve Christ's healing as he healed. 650 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,160 But again, that is taking the healing and ignoring the message 651 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:23,160 as we saw from Matthew chapter 4 last week when Jesus was 652 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:24,360 healing. Christ is healer. 653 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:26,440 And I do find it interesting that we're looking at this at 654 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:28,920 the same time. If Christ is healer, why was he 655 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:31,440 healing? Because he was teaching and 656 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:33,880 preaching. It authenticated the messenger. 657 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,720 It authenticated the message. That's what healer feeling was 658 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,000 always about. It is not what we see here. 659 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,640 And I'll be honest with you, this is a short list of the 660 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,440 practical beliefs of which they hold an error from the Word of 661 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:48,240 God. Now, we didn't start with a 662 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:49,920 text, but we're going to end with a text. 663 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,600 And it's one that we have read before and it does seem to fit 664 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,280 with many of the cults and religions that we look at. 665 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:59,360 But turn to Galatians chapter #1 and this is where we'll close 666 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:01,760 this morning. Galatians chapter #1. 667 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,960 The people of Galatia, Galatia was not a church. 668 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,760 It was a region and there were churches that were all 669 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,360 throughout the region and this was a letter that was circulated 670 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:21,920 to all of those churches. They were dealing with false 671 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:26,320 doctrine typically or rather specifically the Judaizers, 672 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,760 those who were teaching that there were works that were 673 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,640 needed after salvation. And Paul addresses this head on 674 00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:36,320 and it says in verse 6, I marvel that you are so soon removed 675 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:40,160 from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another 676 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,160 gospel. You say there's more than one 677 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,040 gospel. Well, look at what it says next 678 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:46,160 verse. It's really not another but 679 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:49,880 there's some that will trouble you and would pervert the gospel 680 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:55,080 of Christ to pervert and it's very real definition to to 681 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:56,280 change. That's what it is. 682 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:59,520 It's changing that which is natural and turning it into 683 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,560 something that is unnatural. It's perverting the gospel of 684 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:05,040 Christ. But the we or an Angel from 685 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,520 heaven preach any other gospel unto you then that which had 686 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:10,720 preached unto you. Let him be accursed. 687 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:13,960 We could not accept. I'm not suggesting we should add 688 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:15,800 to the word of God. You've been here long enough to 689 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:19,400 know we don't want to do that. But we could in theory say, but 690 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:24,560 the we, or an Angel from heaven, or Mary Baker, Eddie, preach any 691 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:26,760 other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you. 692 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:30,080 Let him be accursed. Let her be accursed. 693 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,080 This is another gospel. Oh, there's everything right 694 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:33,440 there. All right. 695 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:34,680 Found it. I put him in the wrong order. 696 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:35,440 All right. Thank you. 697 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:42,080 For do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? 698 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,480 For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of 699 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:46,440 Christ. But I certify you, brethren, 700 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,880 that the gospel which was preached of me is not after who? 701 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:53,640 Not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was 702 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:56,760 I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. 703 00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:00,760 And these types of groups like Mary Baker, Eddie will say the 704 00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:03,520 church and they just take Christianity and use it as a 705 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,880 whole, that churches have got away from that which was taught 706 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,920 by the apostles. We heard that certainly with 707 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,280 Jehovah witnesses. We've heard that certainly with 708 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:15,960 the Mormons, the church again whole, as they would call it, 709 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:19,600 has gotten away from the truth of Apostolic times. 710 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:24,280 And it took someone to be able to come and to be able to get 711 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:26,120 the church back on the right track. 712 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:30,040 Whether it's Charles Tays Russell or whether it was a 713 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:34,840 Joseph Smith or a Brigham Young or a Mary Baker Eddie, they were 714 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,840 the ones that are bringing the purity of the gospel back to the 715 00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:40,960 people. But I see right here that really 716 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:42,840 the gospel really doesn't come after man. 717 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:45,640 It comes from God. That's where it comes from. 718 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:49,000 And if we can trace our lineage and we can trace our origin to a 719 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,160 man or a woman, then we don't have much of A gospel. 720 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:54,720 Now, I'll give you this and we'll be done. 721 00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:59,080 I mentioned to you that Mary Baker Eddie died in 1910 and 722 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:00,280 she's actually buried in Cambridge. 723 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:03,280 That's where her body remains today. 724 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:06,360 Interestingly enough, there was a story, there's people that are 725 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,920 on either side of whether this story is true, and I can't tell 726 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,640 you definitively that it is true, but it's illustrative 727 00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:14,680 either way. Whether it's true or not that 728 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:18,000 after Mary Baker Eddie died, when they placed her in a 729 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,280 temporary crypt, a temporary vault, there was actually a 730 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,800 telephone line that was strung into the crypt and that was 731 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:27,600 active there. You talk about 1910, We're not 732 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:28,840 talking about a lot of telephone lines. 733 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:31,560 Back then that were available, but back then they were real 734 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:33,480 wires, you know, because that's the way it worked. 735 00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:36,640 And there was a line supposedly that went right into her crypt 736 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,600 because they were afraid or they were curious if she would come 737 00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:42,800 back to life again. Whether it's true or not, the 738 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:46,040 fact of the matter is Mary Baker Eddie is still there today. 739 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:50,920 That Mary Baker Eddie's own teachings may very well have led 740 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:53,960 to her death dying of pneumonia. Now, people died of pneumonia 741 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:56,640 certainly a lot more commonly then than they do now. 742 00:40:56,920 --> 00:41:02,400 But the point is this is that she had the knowledge to be able 743 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,160 to bring herself healing, and she hasn't and didn't. 744 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,040 And no one who has ever believed in Christian Science has ever 745 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:12,800 been able to bring themselves the ultimate healing of being 746 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:16,040 able to live and not die. It makes you wonder why someone 747 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,760 would actually hold to this line of doctrine. 748 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:20,880 So I hope it's been a good introduction to you today. 749 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:24,000 Certainly convoluted in a lot of ways, there's no doubt about it. 750 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:27,680 But understand that it has very little, if anything, to do with 751 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,360 Christianity other than just borrowing a few of our concepts 752 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:33,600 and borrowing our Bible, but not truly teaching what the Bible 753 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:36,440 says about any of those things. By God's grace, next week we're 754 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:38,000 actually going to look to something that has a very 755 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,320 similar name, but it's completely different, and that 756 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,440 is Scientology. So if you can get a hold of Tom 757 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:45,200 Cruise, let him know and we'll be teaching on Scientology next 758 00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:45,840 week. All right. 759 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:49,360 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 760 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,280 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 761 00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:55,760 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 762 00:41:55,760 --> 00:42:00,360 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 763 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:05,160 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 764 00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:08,000 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 765 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:09,200 grow in His Word.