Responsive Reading: Psalm 16 : 1, 5, 7-11

1.     Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

5.     The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

7.     I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

8.     I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9.     Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

10.     For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

11.     Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

1. Proverbs 6 : 20-23

20     My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

21     Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

22     When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

23     For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

2. Micah 6 : 8

8     He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

3. Matthew 28 : 18 (to 2nd ,)

18     And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,

4. Luke 16 : 19-31

19     There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

20     And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

21     And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22     And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23     And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24     And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

25     But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

26     And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

27     Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

28     For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

29     Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

30     And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

31     And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

5. Matthew 13 : 1, 3 (to 2nd ,), 47, 48

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

3     And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,

47     Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

48     Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

6. James 1 : 2-6 (to 1st .), 12

2     My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3     Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4     But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

5     If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6     But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.

12     Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

7. Ephesians 2 : 1, 2, 4-10

1     And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2     Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

4     But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5     Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6     And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7     That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8     For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9     Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10     For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

8. Philippians 2 : 12 (my beloved)-16 (to ;)

12     … my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13     For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

14     Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

15     That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

16     Holding forth the word of life;

9. I Thessalonians 5 : 8, 9, 21

8     But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

9     For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

21     Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

1. 246 : 27-31

Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.

2. 495 : 25-31

Question. — How can I progress most rapidly in the understanding of Christian Science?

Answer. — Study thoroughly the letter and imbibe the spirit. Adhere to the divine Principle of Christian Science and follow the behests of God, abiding steadfastly in wisdom, Truth, and Love.

3. 4 : 3-5

What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.

4. 296 : 4-9, 14-21

Progress is born of experience. It is the ripening of mortal man, through which the mortal is dropped for the immortal. Either here or hereafter, suffering or Science must destroy all illusions regarding life and mind, and regenerate material sense and self.

The so-called pleasures and pains of matter perish, and they must go out under the blaze of Truth, spiritual sense, and the actuality of being. Mortal belief must lose all satisfaction in error and sin in order to part with them.

Whether mortals will learn this sooner or later, and how long they will suffer the pangs of destruction, depends upon the tenacity of error.

5. 213 : 11-12

Every step towards goodness is a departure from materiality, and is a tendency towards God, Spirit.

6. 550 : 5-14

God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as men. God cannot become finite, and be limited within material bounds. Spirit cannot become matter, nor can Spirit be developed through its opposite. Of what avail is it to investigate what is miscalled material life, which ends, even as it begins, in nameless nothingness? The true sense of being and its eternal perfection should appear now, even as it will hereafter.

7. 324 : 4-18

The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

Unless the harmony and immortality of man are becoming more apparent, we are not gaining the true idea of God; and the body will reflect what governs it, whether it be Truth or error, understanding or belief, Spirit or matter. Therefore “acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace.” Be watchful, sober, and vigilant. The way is straight and narrow, which leads to the understanding that God is the only Life. It is a warfare with the flesh, in which we must conquer sin, sickness, and death, either here or hereafter, — certainly before we can reach the goal of Spirit, or life in God.

8. 492 : 7-12

Being is holiness, harmony, immortality. It is already proved that a knowledge of this, even in small degree, will uplift the physical and moral standard of mortals, will increase longevity, will purify and elevate character. Thus progress will finally destroy all error, and bring immortality to light.

9. 22 : 11-27, 30-31

“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.

Final deliverance from error, whereby we rejoice in immortality, boundless freedom, and sinless sense, is not reached through paths of flowers nor by pinning one’s faith without works to another’s vicarious effort.

Justice requires reformation of the sinner. Mercy cancels the debt only when justice approves.

10. 428 : 32-10

It is a sin to believe that aught can overpower omnipotent and eternal Life, and this Life must be brought to light by the understanding that there is no death, as well as by other graces of Spirit. We must begin, however, with the more simple demonstrations of control, and the sooner we begin the better. The final demonstration takes time for its accomplishment. When walking, we are guided by the eye. We look before our feet, and if we are wise, we look beyond a single step in the line of spiritual advancement.

11. 291 : 12-18

Universal salvation rests on progression and probation, and is unattainable without them. Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of “the mind of the Lord,” as the Scripture says.

12. 427 : 29-6

The dream of death must be mastered by Mind here or hereafter. Thought will waken from its own material declaration, “I am dead,” to catch this trumpet-word of Truth, “There is no death, no inaction, diseased action, overaction, nor reaction.”

Life is real, and death is the illusion. A demonstration of the facts of Soul in Jesus’ way resolves the dark visions of material sense into harmony and immortality.

13. 74 : 10-12

When here or hereafter the belief of life in matter is extinct, the error which has held the belief dissolves with the belief, and never returns to the old condition.

14. 336 : 25 (God)-28, 29 (in)-30

God, the divine Principle of man, and man in God’s likeness are inseparable, harmonious, and eternal. The Science of being furnishes the rule of perfection, and brings immortality to light. … in the order of divine Science, God and man coexist and are eternal.