"THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT"

WHEN Christ Jesus spoke of the establishment of his church on the rock, he used the Greek word petra. According to an accepted authority, this word means a mass of rock. The context indicates that he was teaching a great spiritual truth concerning the perpetuity of the mission of the Christ, and he was alert to catch a gleam of this spiritual comprehension in his disciple Peter. His spiritual teachings and their resultant healing works must be perpetuated for all ages and peoples. The church he established must be the means of carrying forward this sublime purpose.

A study of the words and deeds of our Master shows that he taught one infinite God, the Father; one Christ, the Son of God; one heaven, which is within spiritual consciousness; and that he founded one church, through which these teachings were to be elucidated and demonstrated. In the book of Revelation we are told that the Revelator saw "one like unto the Son of man" in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, which symbolized the seven churches. Our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, in her Message to The Mother Church for 1900 (p. 14), speaks of this portrayal of "seven churches, the full number of days named in the creation, which signifies a complete time or number of whatever is spoken of in the Scriptures."

Being a spiritual idea, Church exists in Mind, and hence is permanent, indivisible, universal. In this Church the one God alone is worshiped and adored; His will alone is done; His law is supreme; His Word, the teacher and preacher. In this Church health and harmony reign; peace and love abide; the purity and perfection of being are expressed; divine wisdom, spiritual substance, and heavenly order operate without interruption or resistance. The door of this Church is Christly humility, gratitude, and praise. It is filled with God's ideas, coöperating in eternal, celestial perfection.

Christ Jesus lived and labored to bring something of this true idea of Church into human consciousness and experience. He understood that God is Spirit and must be worshiped spiritually. His spiritual comprehension enabled him to discern the gulf between material ways and means and the genuine worship which is acceptable to God. With this spiritual understanding he purged the temple and "overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves." He taught no creed, but relied for guidance on the Word of God. His baptism was a spiritual cleansing from all worldliness; his spiritual communion a heart-searching desire for more at-onement with God through better reflection of the divine nature.

Throughout the Christian era this Church never has been wholly lost to human experience, but the world has sadly missed its healing power. The complete mission of the church, as established by our Master, must be revived. It must again be made available to humanity for its emancipation from disease and sin. In our age, divine Love prepared a spiritually-minded woman, Mary Baker Eddy, to accomplish this great work; and she was faithful and obedient to her God-appointed task. Early in the consciousness of this divinely inspired woman glowed a beam of spiritual light, which was later destined to shine in full effulgence in her spiritual discovery, Christian Science. Through her illumined consciousness a wonderful light was shed on the Bible. The Christ was revealed to her with healing and transforming power. She experienced this healing herself and demonstrated it for others. She understood Christ Jesus and perceived how he performed his healing works. She comprehended his sayings and fulfilled them. With an understanding heart, she obeyed and worshiped God. She was divinely guided and protected in founding her church on the Rock, Christ; and she called it The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist.

The healing works of The Mother Church are divine proofs that it is fulfilling the mission the Master intended. This healing power and its fruits are evidence that the Christ is in the midst of it. Mrs. Eddy wrote, "No longer are we of the church militant, but of the church triumphant" (Pulpit and Press, p. 3). Throughout her writings she shows the members of this church how to experience harmony and freedom. She shows them how to demonstrate the unreality of evil, the perfectibility of man, and the allness of God.

With tender compassion The Mother Church calls all who are longing to be free from the yoke of materiality. Its door is open to all who thirst for the water of Life, to all who are yearning for health and love. It feeds the hungering with the Word of God, so that they hunger no more, except for spiritual food; it calls the sinner to awake and learn "the beauty of holiness;" it beckons the invalid with promise of healing; it inspires the thinker, rewards the seeker, rouses the sleeper, uplifts the downtrodden, soothes the sorrowing, and brings to light the celestial city, where Love reigns.

Only those may unite with this church who are being spiritually regenerated. The spiritual birth begun and in a measure accomplished in consciousness indicates fitness for membership. This is expressed in reliance upon spiritual law to sustain, upon spiritual means for healing, and in a whole-hearted effort to continue to know man as spiritual. The ability to heal the sick through Christian Science is likewise a sign of worthiness for membership. The unfoldment of divine reality within consciousness takes outward expression in church membership. It indicates that one has reached the place where one's daily life is yielding to spiritual law, and that one is in some measure ready to help in the healing ministry. Membership in this church is a great help to the normal development of the student. The combined efforts of all true seekers for Truth shed brighter light on the path of all who walk therein. We need the protection The Mother Church affords, the sweet association of its members, and the opportunity to serve humanity which it bestows.

Every department of this church is essential to the whole. They coordinate with one another, support one another, and together cover the wide range of human needs. A survey of the various activities of The Mother Church shows that divine wisdom alone could have brought it forth. The underlying purpose of every department is to heal and reform mankind. The vision of Joel seems prophetic of the members of this church: "And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed." To a member of The Mother Church who was meditating on these words came a vision in which it seemed as if she were standing outside a wonderful structure whose foundation rested on the earth and whose top reached the skies. It was recognized as the true Church, and her first impulse was to enter; but no door could be found, no opening through which entrance might be gained. She saw, as it were, a motley throng all about trying to get inside: some, throwing great bombs at the walls; others, trying to pick their way inside; and still others hurling themselves against the walls with great force, but all to no avail. Then she thought, My heart is already within. That instant she felt herself within those great white walls of light. She saw the splendor, heard the praises, felt the welcome. Those within were wondrously free and happy, and she joined in the praise. The glorious white light spread out before her, and she realized that to those who once enter there is no outside.

The blessings of unity with The Mother Church await all who obey and demonstrate the teachings of Christian Science. This Science reveals the new heaven and new earth as spiritual and harmonious, and as ever present. It shows the true spiritual status of man. It unfolds the Christ in consciousness, and will continue to do so until perfection appears. In her poem "Christ and Christmas" does not Mrs. Eddy reveal a view of the church triumphant in these words: