Responsive Reading: I Corinthians 2 : 9, 10, 12-14

9.     As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

10.     But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.

12.     Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

13.     Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14.     But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1. Isaiah 60 : 1-4 (to 1st :)

1     Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

2     For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3     And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

4     Lift up thine eyes round about, and see:

2. II Kings 6 : 8-17

8     Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

9     And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.

10     And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.

11     Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?

12     And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

13     And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

14     Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

15     And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

16     And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

17     And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

3. Isaiah 17 : 7, 8

7     At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8     And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

4. Matthew 13 : 1-3 (to 1st ,), 10-17

1     The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2     And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3     And he spake many things unto them in parables,

10     And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

11     He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

12     For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

13     Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14     And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15     For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

16     But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

17     For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

5. Luke 10: 21

21     In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

6. Galatians 6 : 7-9

7     Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8     For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9     And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

7. I John 2 : 15-17

15     Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16     For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17     And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1. 335 : 7 (Spirit)-15

Spirit, God, has created all in and of Himself. Spirit never created matter. There is nothing in Spirit out of which matter could be made, for, as the Bible declares, without the Logos, the Æon or Word of God, "was not anything made that was made." Spirit is the only substance, the in-visible and indivisible infinite God. Things spiritual and eternal are substantial. Things material and temporal are insubstantial.

2. 292 : 13-26

Matter is the primitive belief of mortal mind, because this so-called mind has no cognizance of Spirit. To mortal mind, matter is substantial, and evil is real. The so-called senses of mortals are material. Hence the so-called life of mortals is dependent on matter.

Explaining the origin of material man and mortal mind, Jesus said: "Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father, the devil [evil], and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

3. 591 : 8-10 (to ;), 12 (the opposite of Truth) only

Matter. Mythology; mortality; another name for mortal mind; illusion; intelligence, substance, and life in non-intelligence and mortality; … the opposite of Truth;

4. 38 : 24-32

Jesus mapped out the path for others. He unveiled the Christ, the spiritual idea of divine Love. To those buried in the belief of sin and self, living only for pleasure or the gratification of the senses, he said in substance: Having eyes ye see not, and having ears ye hear not; lest ye should understand and be converted, and I might heal you. He taught that the material senses shut out Truth and its healing power.

5. 284 : 15-18, 21-23, 28-32

Can Deity be known through the material senses? Can the material senses, which receive no direct evidence of Spirit, give correct testimony as to spiritual life, truth, and love?

The physical senses can obtain no proof of God. They can neither see Spirit through the eye nor hear it through the ear, nor can they feel, taste, or smell Spirit.

According to Christian Science, the only real senses of man are spiritual, emanating from divine Mind. Thought passes from God to man, but neither sensation nor report goes from material body to Mind. The intercommunication is always from God to His idea, man.

6. 209 : 31-32

Spiritual sense is a conscious, constant capacity to understand God.

7. 210 : 5-10

The Principle and proof of Christianity are discerned by spiritual sense. They are set forth in Jesus' demonstrations, which show — by his healing the sick, casting out evils, and destroying death, "the last enemy that shall be destroyed," — his disregard of matter and its so-called laws.

8. 294 : 9-18

The belief that matter thinks, sees, or feels is not more real than the belief that matter enjoys and suffers. This mortal belief, misnamed man, is error, saying: “Matter has intelligence and sensation. Nerves feel. Brain thinks and sins. The stomach can make a man cross. Injury can cripple and matter can kill man." This verdict of the so-called material senses victimizes mortals, taught, as they are by physiology and pathology, to revere false testimony, even the errors that are destroyed by Truth through spiritual sense and Science.

9. 122 : 1-14

The evidence of the physical senses often reverses the real Science of being, and so creates a reign of discord, — assigning seeming power to sin, sickness, and death; but the great facts of Life, rightly understood, defeat this triad of errors, contradict their false witnesses, and reveal the kingdom of heaven, — the actual reign of harmony on earth. The material senses' reversal of the Science of Soul was practically exposed nineteen hundred years ago by the demonstrations of Jesus; yet these so-called senses still make mortal mind tributary to mortal body, and ordain certain sections of matter, such as brain and nerves, as the seats of pain and pleasure, from which matter reports to this so-called mind its status of happiness or misery.

10. 120 : 7-9, 15-24

Science reverses the false testimony of the physical senses, and by this reversal mortals arrive at the fundamental facts of being.

Health is not a condition of matter, but of Mind; nor can the material senses bear reliable testimony on the subject of health. The Science of Mind-healing shows it to be impossible for aught but Mind to testify truly or to exhibit the real status of man. Therefore the divine Principle of Science, reversing the testimony of the physical senses, reveals man as harmoniously existent in Truth, which is the only basis of health; and thus Science denies all disease, heals the sick, overthrows false evidence, and refutes materialistic logic.

11. 84 : 19-23

To understand that Mind is infinite, not bounded by corporeality, not dependent upon the ear and eye for sound or sight nor upon muscles and bones for locomotion, is a step towards the Mind-science by which we discern man's nature and existence.

12. 227 : 5 (the)-13, 24-29

…the claims of the enslaving senses must be denied and superseded. The law of the divine Mind must end human bondage, or mortals will continue unaware of man's inalienable rights and in subjection to hopeless slavery, because some public teachers permit an ignorance of divine power, — an ignorance that is the foundation of continued bondage and of human suffering.

Citizens of the world, accept the "glorious liberty of the children of God," and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being.

13. 393 : 8-15

Mind is the master of the corporeal senses, and can conquer sickness, sin, and death. Exercise this God-given authority. Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.