Responsive Reading: Proverbs 8 : 1, 17, 21  •  II Corinthians 5 : 5-7  •  Ephesians 2 : 6-8

1.     Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?

17.     I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

21.     That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

5.     Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

6.     Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

7.     (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

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.

1. Hebrews 11 : 1-11, 32-34

1     Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2     For by it the elders obtained a good report.

3     Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

4     By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

5     By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

6     But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

7     By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

8     By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

9     By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

10     For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11     Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

32     And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

33     Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

34     Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

2. Hosea 12 : 6, 8 (I am) (to :)

6     Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

8     I am become rich, I have found me out substance:

3. Luke 7 : 2, 3, 6-10

2     And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

3     And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.

6     Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:

7     Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

8     For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

9     When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

10     And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

4. John 1 : 43-51

43     The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.

44     Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45     Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

46     And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

47     Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

48     Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

49     Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

50     Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

51     And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

5. Matthew 21 : 16 (And Jesus) only, 17 (went)-22

16     And Jesus

17 ...went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

18     Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

19     And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

20     And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

21     Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

22     And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

6. Romans 5 : 1, 2

1     Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2     By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

1. 1 : 1-4

The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love.

2. 279 : 3-5

A New Testament writer plainly describes faith, a quality of mind, as "the substance of things hoped for."

3. 468 : 17 (Substance)-24

Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay. Truth, Life, and Love are substance, as the Scriptures use this word in Hebrews: "The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Spirit, the synonym of Mind, Soul, or God, is the only real substance. The spiritual universe, including individual man, is a compound idea, reflecting the divine substance of Spirit.

4. 297 : 20 (Faith)-31

Faith is higher and more spiritual than belief. It is a chrysalis state of human thought, in which spiritual evidence, contradicting the testimony of material sense, begins to appear, and Truth, the ever-present, is becoming understood. Human thoughts have their degrees of comparison. Some thoughts are better than others. A belief in Truth is better than a belief in error, but no mortal testimony is founded on the divine rock. Mortal testimony can be shaken. Until belief becomes faith, and faith becomes spiritual understanding, human thought has little relation to the actual or divine.

5. 286 : 6-8

The understanding of Truth gives full faith in Truth, and spiritual understanding is better than all burnt offerings.

6. 145 : 32-12

Our Master's first article of faith propounded to his students was healing, and he proved his faith by his works. The ancient Christians were healers. Why has this element of Christianity been lost? Because our systems of religion are governed more or less by our systems of medicine. The first idolatry was faith in matter. The schools have rendered faith in drugs the fashion, rather than faith in Deity. By trusting matter to destroy its own discord, health and harmony have been sacrificed. Such systems are barren of the vitality of spiritual power, by which material sense is made the servant of Science and religion becomes Christlike.

7. 173 : 12-16

Neither the substance nor the manifestation of Spirit is obtainable through matter. Spirit is positive. Matter is Spirit's contrary, the absence of Spirit. For positive Spirit to pass through a negative condition would be Spirit's destruction.

8. 184 : 16-21 (to ,)

Controlled by the divine intelligence, man is harmonious and eternal. Whatever is governed by a false belief is discordant and mortal. We say man suffers from the effects of cold, heat, fatigue. This is human belief, not the truth of being, for matter cannot suffer. Mortal mind alone suffers,

9. 107 : 10-14

Through Christian Science, religion and medicine are inspired with a diviner nature and essence; fresh pinions are given to faith and understanding, and thoughts acquaint themselves intelligently with God.

10. 29 : 7-11

Christian experience teaches faith in the right and disbelief in the wrong. It bids us work the more earnestly in times of persecution, because then our labor is more needed. Great is the reward of self-sacrifice, though we may never receive it in this world.

11. x : 22-21

The divine Principle of healing is proved in the personal experience of any sincere seeker of Truth. Its purpose is good, and its practice is safer and more potent than that of any other sanitary method. The unbiased Christian thought is soonest touched by Truth, and convinced of it. Only those quarrel with her method who do not understand her meaning, or discerning the truth, come not to the light lest their works be reproved. No intellectual proficiency is requisite in the learner, but sound morals are most desirable.

Many imagine that the phenomena of physical healing in Christian Science present only a phase of the action of the human mind, which action in some unexplained way results in the cure of disease. On the contrary, Christian Science rationally explains that all other pathological methods are the fruits of human faith in matter, faith in the workings, not of Spirit, but of the fleshly mind which must yield to Science.

The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural. They are the sign of Immanuel, or "God with us," — a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime,

To preach deliverance to the captives [of sense],

And recovering of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty them that are bruised.

12. 516 : 4-8

The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere.

13. 252 : 7-14

When false human beliefs learn even a little of their own falsity, they begin to disappear. A knowledge of error and of its operations must precede that understanding of Truth which destroys error, until the entire mortal, material error finally disappears, and the eternal verity, man created by and of Spirit, is understood and recognized as the true likeness of his Maker.

14. 368 : 14-19

When we come to have more faith in the truth of being than we have in error, more faith in Spirit than in matter, more faith in living than in dying, more faith in God than in man, then no material suppositions can prevent us from healing the sick and destroying error.