Responsive Reading: Psalm 95 : 1-6

1.     O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

2.     Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

3.     For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4.     In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

5.     The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

6.     O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

1. Psalm 51 : 1-4

1     Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2     Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3     For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4     Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

2. Jonah 1 : 1-4, 10, 12, 15, 17

1     Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2     Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

3     But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

4     But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

10     Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

12     And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

15     So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

17     Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

3. Jonah 2 : 1, 9 (I will pay), 10

1     Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly,

9     I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

10     And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

4. Jonah 3 : 3 (to 1st .), 4-6, 10

3     So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.

4     And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

5     So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6     For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

10     And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

5. Isaiah 52 : 7-10

7     How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

8     Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.

9     Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

10     The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

6. Matthew 28 : 18 (Jesus came) only

18     Jesus came …

7. Luke 15 : 2-10

2     And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

3     And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

4     What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5     And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6     And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7     I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

8     Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

9     And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

10     Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

8. Psalm 51: 9-17

9     Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10     Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11     Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12     Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13     Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14     Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15     O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16     For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17     The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

1. 327 : 12-13 (to 2nd .)

The way to escape the misery of sin is to cease sinning. There is no other way.

2. 5 : 3-21, 29-16

Sorrow for wrong-doing is but one step towards reform and the very easiest step. The next and great step required by wisdom is the test of our sincerity, — namely, reformation. To this end we are placed under the stress of circumstances. Temptation bids us repeat the offence, and woe comes in return for what is done. So it will ever be, till we learn that there is no discount in the law of justice and that we must pay "the uttermost farthing." The measure ye mete "shall be measured to you again," and it will be full "and running over."

Saints and sinners get their full award, but not always in this world. The followers of Christ drank his cup. Ingratitude and persecution filled it to the brim; but God pours the riches of His love into the understanding and affections, giving us strength according to our day. Sinners flourish "like a green bay tree;" but, looking farther, the Psalmist could see their end, — the destruction of sin through suffering.

An apostle says that the Son of God [Christ] came to "destroy the works of the devil." We should follow our divine Exemplar, and seek the destruction of all evil works, error and disease included. We cannot escape the penalty due for sin. The Scriptures say, that if we deny Christ, “he also will deny us."

Divine Love corrects and governs man. Men may pardon, but this divine Principle alone reforms the sinner. God is not separate from the wisdom He bestows. The talents He gives we must improve. Calling on Him to forgive our work badly done or left undone, implies the vain supposition that we have nothing to do but to ask pardon, and that afterwards we shall be free to repeat the offence.

To cause suffering as the result of sin, is the means of destroying sin. Every supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than its equivalent of pain, until belief in material life and sin is destroyed. To reach heaven, the harmony of being, we must understand the divine Principle of being.

3. 22 : 11-22, 30-4

"Work out your own salvation," is the demand of Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. "Occupy till I come!" Wait for your reward, and "be not weary in well doing." If your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a sluggard in the race.

When the smoke of battle clears away, you will discern the good you have done, and receive according to your deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver us from temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.

Justice requires reformation of the sinner. Mercy cancels the debt only when justice approves. Revenge is inadmissible. Wrath which is only appeased is not destroyed, but partially indulged. Wisdom and Love may require many sacrifices of self to save us from sin. One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin. 

4. 404 : 10-16, 19-21 next page

Lust, malice, and all sorts of evil are diseased beliefs, and you can destroy them only by destroying the wicked motives which produce them. If the evil is over in the repentant mortal mind, while its effects still remain on the individual, you can remove this disorder as God's law is fulfilled and reformation cancels the crime. The healthy sinner is the hardened sinner.

This conviction, that there is no real pleasure in sin, is one of the most important points in the theology of Christian Science. Arouse the sinner to this new and true view of sin, show him that sin confers no pleasure, and this knowledge strengthens his moral courage and increases his ability to master evil and to love good.

Healing the sick and reforming the sinner are one and the same thing in Christian Science. Both cures require the same method and are inseparable in Truth. Hatred, envy, dishonesty, fear, and so forth, make a man sick, and neither material medicine nor Mind can help him permanently, even in body, unless it makes him better mentally, and so delivers him from his destroyers. The basic error is mortal mind. Hatred inflames the brutal propensities. The indulgence of evil motives and aims makes any man, who is above the lowest type of manhood, a hopeless sufferer.

Christian Science commands man to master the propensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, to conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with honesty. Choke these errors in their early stages, if you would not cherish an army of conspirators against health, happiness, and success. They will deliver you to the judge, the arbiter of truth against error. The judge will deliver you to justice, and the sentence of the moral law will be executed upon mortal mind and body. Both will be manacled until the last farthing is paid, — until you have balanced your account with God. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The good man finally can overcome his fear of sin. This is sin's necessity, — to destroy itself. Immortal man demonstrates the government of God, good, in which is no power to sin.

5. 339 : 1 (The)-4

The destruction of sin is the divine method of pardon. Divine Life destroys death, Truth destroys error, and Love destroys hate. Being destroyed, sin needs no other form of forgiveness.