Wednesday, September 18th, 2019 Testimony Meeting

Romans 12:17(​to​ 1st .),18, 20 (​to​ drink), 21

17 ​Recompense to no man evil for evil.
18 ​If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
20 ​Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink:
21 ​Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Genesis 37:3, 5-6,8, 12-13 (​to​ .), 14(​to​ 1st .),18(​to ​1st ,)(they)-20, 22 (​to​ 3rd ,)​, 23(​to coat)(of)-24(​to ​:),25 (​to​ Gilead), 28, 31-32(​to​ : ),34(​to​ 1st ,)(and)36

3 ​Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
5 ​And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
6 ​And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
8 ​And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
12 ​And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 ​And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them.
14 ​And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again.
18 ​And when they saw him afar off, they conspired against him to slay him.
19 ​And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20 ​Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
22 ​And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness,
23 ​And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat of many colours that was on him;
24 ​And they took him, and cast him into a pit:
25 ​And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead
28 ​Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
31 ​And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
32 ​And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found:
34 ​And Jacob rent his clothes, and mourned for his son many days.

Genesis 39:2

2 ​And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Genesis 50:7,15-17(​ to​ ;)(And)-19, 21(…And)

7 ​And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
15 ​And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
16 ​And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17 ​So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
18 ​And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19 ​And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
21 …​And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

43:11-27, 32- 44:4

Jesus’ last proof was the highest, the most convincing, the most profitable to his students. The malignity of brutal persecutors, the treason and suicide of his betrayer, were overruled by divine Love to the glorification of the man and of the true idea of God, which Jesus’ persecutors had mocked and tried to slay. The final demonstration of the truth which Jesus taught, and for which he was crucified, opened a new era for the world. Those who slew him to stay his influence perpetuated and extended it. Jesus rose higher in demonstration because of the cup of bitterness he drank. Human law had condemned him, but he was demonstrating divine Science.

Out of reach of the barbarity of his enemies, he was acting under spiritual law in defiance of matter and mortality, and that spiritual law sustained him. The divine must overcome the human at every point. Love must triumph over hate. Truth and Life must seal the victory over error and death, before the thorns can be laid aside for a crown, the benediction follow, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and the supremacy of Spirit be demonstrated.

48:17-24

Judas had the world’s weapons. Jesus had not one of them, and chose not the world’s means of defence. “He opened not his mouth.” The great demonstrator of Truth and Love was silent before envy and hate. Peter would have smitten the enemies of his Master, but Jesus forbade him, thus rebuking resentment or animal courage. He said: “Put up thy sword.”

266:28-267:13

The spirit of lies is abroad. Because Truth has spoken aloud, error, running to and fro in the earth, is screaming, to make itself heard above Truth’s voice. The audible and inaudible wail of evil never harms Scientists, steadfast in their consciousness of the nothingness of wrong and the supremacy of right. Our worst enemies are the best friends to our growth.

Charity students, for whom I have sacrificed the most time, — those whose chief aim is to injure me, — have caused me to exercise most patience. When they report me as “hating those whom I do not love,” let them remember that there never was a time when I saw an opportunity really to help them and failed to improve it; and this, too, when I knew they were secretly striving to injure me.

223:25-224:32

There is immense wisdom in the old proverb, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.” Hannah More said, “If I wished to punish my enemy, I should make him hate somebody.” To punish ourselves for others’ faults, is superlative folly. The mental arrow shot from another’s bow is practically harmless, unless our own thought barbs it. It is our pride that makes another’s criticism rankle, our self-will that makes another’s deed offensive, our egotism that feels hurt by another’s self-assertion. Well may we feel wounded by our own faults; but we can hardly afford to be miserable for the faults of others. A courtier told Constantine that a mob had broken the head of his statue with stones. The emperor lifted his hands to his head, saying: “It is very surprising, but I don’t feel hurt in the least.”

We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless action and reaction upon each other of these different atoms. Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it, — determined not to be offended when no wrong is meant, nor even when it is, unless the offense be against God.

Nothing short of our own errors should offend us. He who can wilfully attempt to injure another, is an object of pity rather than of resentment; while it is a question in my mind, whether there is enough of a flatterer, a fool, or a liar, to offend a whole-souled woman.