Responsive Reading: Isaiah 55 : 6, 7, 13  •  Psalm 103 : 8, 9  •  Jeremiah 31 : 3

6.     Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7.     Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

13.     Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

8.     The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

9.     He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

3.     The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

1. Matthew 4 : 23

23     And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

2. Matthew 5 : 1, 2

1     And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2     And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3. Matthew 6 : 9-13

9     After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10     Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11     Give us this day our daily bread.

12     And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13     And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

4. II Samuel 11 : 2-6, 14, 15, 26, 27

2     And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

3     And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

4     And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.

5     And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

6     And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.

14     And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

15     And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.

26     And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.

27     And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

5. II Samuel 12 : 1-7, 13, 15 (the child) (to ,), 15 (was), 19 (when David) (to :), 22, 24

1     And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

2     The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

3     But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

4     And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

5     And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:

6     And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

7     And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

13     And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

15     …the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, … was very sick.

19     …when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead:

22     And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

24     And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him.

6. Psalm 51 : 1-12

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.

5     Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6     Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7     Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8     Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

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.

7. Hebrews 8 : 12

12     For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

1. 35 : 30 (to .)

The design of Love is to reform the sinner.

2. 497 : 9 (We)-12

We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.

3. 405 : 22-24

It were better to be exposed to every plague on earth than to endure the cumulative effects of a guilty conscience.

4. 404 : 12-16

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.

5. 19 : 17-28

Every pang of repentance and suffering, every effort for reform, every good thought and deed, will help us to understand Jesus' atonement for sin and aid its efficacy; but if the sinner continues to pray and repent, sin and be sorry, he has little part in the atonement, — in the at-one-ment with God, — for he lacks the practical repentance, which reforms the heart and enables man to do the will of wisdom. Those who cannot demonstrate, at least in part, the divine Principle of the teachings and practice of our Master have no part in God. If living in disobedience to Him, we ought to feel no security, although God is good.

6. 242 : 1-20

Through repentance, spiritual baptism, and regeneration, mortals put off their material beliefs and false individuality. It is only a question of time when "they shall all know Me [God], from the least of them unto the greatest." Denial of the claims of matter is a great step towards the joys of Spirit, towards human freedom and the final triumph over the body.

There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way. It is to know no other reality — to have no other consciousness of life — than good, God and His reflection, and to rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses.

Self-love is more opaque than a solid body. In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error, — self-will, self-justification, and self-love, — which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death.

7. 405 : 5-21

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.

8. 316 : 3-11

The real man being linked by Science to his Maker, mortals need only turn from sin and lose sight of mortal selfhood to find Christ, the real man and his relation to God, and to recognize the divine sonship. Christ, Truth, was demonstrated through Jesus to prove the power of Spirit over the flesh, — to show that Truth is made manifest by its effects upon the human mind and body, healing sickness and destroying sin.

9. 522 : 29-1

Does Life, Truth, and Love produce death, error, and hatred? Does the creator condemn His own creation? Does the unerring Principle of divine law change or repent? It cannot be so.

10. 5 : 3-11

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."

11. 6 : 3 (Divine)-5, 11-22

Divine Love corrects and governs man. Men may pardon, but this divine Principle alone reforms the sinner.

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.

"God is Love." More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go. To suppose that God forgives or punishes sin according as His mercy is sought or unsought, is to misunderstand Love and to make prayer the safety-valve for wrong-doing.

12. 357 : 1-5

In common justice, we must admit that God will not punish man for doing what He created man capable of doing, and knew from the outset that man would do. God is "of purer eyes than to behold evil."

13. 16 : 27, 29, 31

Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,

Adorable One.

Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.

14. 17 : 2-3, 5, 7, 10-11, 14-15

Enable us to know, — as in heaven, so on earth, — God is omnipotent, supreme.

Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

And Love is reflected in love;

And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.

15. 23 : 10 (eventually)

…eventually both sin and suffering will fall at the feet of everlasting Love.