First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Ex. 19:1, 17 (to ;)
1In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
17And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God;
- Ex. 20:1, 2, 16, 18-20
1And God spake all these words, saying,
2I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
18¶ And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
- Gen. 27:1-5 (to 1st .), 17-19, 23, 24, 41 (to :)
1And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.
2And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
3Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
4And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
5And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son.
17And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18¶ And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
19And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
23And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.
24And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.
41¶ And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him:
- Ps. 15:1-3, 5 2nd He
1Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
2He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
3He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
5 ... He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
- Ps. 101:2 (to 1st .), 3 (to :), 5 (to :), 7
2I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way.
... 3I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:
... 5Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off:
... 7He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
- Acts 5:1-5 a
1a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
- Prov. 8:1-4 (to ;), 5 (to understand), 6-9
1Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
2She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
3She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
4Unto you, O men, I call;
... 5O ye simple, understand
... 6Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.
7For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.
9They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
- Zech. 8:16, 17, 19 therefore
16¶ These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.
19therefore love the truth and peace.
- John 8:1, 2, 12-14 (to 2nd ;), 15, 16, 31, 32, 44-47 (to :)
1Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
12¶ Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
13The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
14Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go;
... 15Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
16And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
... 31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
44Ye are of your father the devil, 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.
45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
46Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
47He that is of God heareth God’s words:
- Matt. 23:1-6, 14 (to :), 23, 28
1Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
3All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
14Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer:
... 23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
... 28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
- Ex. 23:1, 2 (to ;), 7 (to ;), 8
1Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
2¶ Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil;
7Keep thee far from a false matter;
8¶ And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
- Eph. 4:1-3, 15, 25 (to :), 29, 31
1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
... 15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
... 25Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour:
... 29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
... 31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker
- SH 445:19-21, 24
Christian Science silences human will, quiets fear with Truth and Love, and illustrates the unlabored motion 21Divine energyof the divine energy in healing the sick. ... The human will which maketh and worketh a lie, hiding the divine Principle of harmony, is destructive to health, and is the cause of disease rather than its cure.
- SH 370:2
To be immortal, we must forsake the 3No healing in sinmortal sense of things, turn from the lie of false belief to Truth, and gather the facts of being from the divine Mind. The body improves under the 6same regimen which spiritualizes the thought; and if health is not made manifest under this regimen, this proves that fear is governing the body. This is the law 9of cause and effect, or like producing like.
- SH 252:7-20
When false human beliefs learn even a little of their own falsity, they begin to disappear. A knowledge of 9Eternal man recognizederror and of its operations must precede that understanding of Truth which destroys error, until the entire mortal, material error finally disappears, 12and the eternal verity, man created by and of Spirit, is understood and recognized as the true likeness of his Maker.
15 The false evidence of material sense contrasts strikingly with the testimony of Spirit. Material sense lifts its voice with the arrogance of reality and says:
18 I am wholly dishonest, and no man knoweth it. I can cheat, lie, commit adultery, rob, murder, and I elude Testimony of sensedetection by smooth-tongued villainy.
- SH 177:19
- SH 318:9-10, 12-17
The material senses originate and support all that is material, untrue, selfish, or debased. ... We must silence this lie of material sense with the truth of spiritual sense. We must cause the error to cease that brought the belief of sin and death 15and would efface the pure sense of omnipotence.
Is the sick man sinful above all others? No! but so far as he is discordant, he is not the image of God.
- SH 405:5-9, 19-29
Christian Science commands man to master the pro-6pensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, Mental conspiratorsto conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with hon-9esty. ... This is sin’s necessity, — to destroy itself. Im-mortal man demonstrates the government of God, good, 21in which is no power to sin.
It were better to be exposed to every plague on earth than to endure the cumulative effects of a guilty con-24Cumulative repentancescience. The abiding consciousness of wrong-doing tends to destroy the ability to do right. If sin is not regretted and is not lessening, then it is 27hastening on to physical and moral doom. You are con-quered by the moral penalties you incur and the ills they bring.
- SH 418:28-29
- SH 447:32-3
- SH 542:5
Though error hides 6behind a lie and excuses guilt, error cannot forever be concealed. Truth, through her eternal laws, unveils error. Truth causes sin to betray itself, and sets upon 9error the mark of the beast. Even the disposition to excuse guilt or to conceal it is punished. The avoidance of justice and the denial of truth tend to perpetuate sin, 12invoke crime, jeopardize self-control, and mock divine mercy.
- SH 450:1
450:1 There is a large class of thinkers whose bigotry and conceit twist every fact to suit themselves. Their creed 3Three classes of neophytesteaches belief in a mysterious, supernatural God, and in a natural, all-powerful devil. An -other class, still more unfortunate, are so depraved that 6they appear to be innocent. They utter a falsehood, while looking you blandly in the face, and they never fail to stab their benefactor in the back. A third class 9of thinkers build with solid masonry. They are sincere, generous, noble, and are therefore open to the approach and recognition of Truth. To teach Christian Science 12to such as these is no task. They do not incline long-ingly to error, whine over the demands of Truth, nor play the traitor for place and power.
- SH 461:16-25, 31
If you believe that you are sick, should you say, “I am sick”? No, but you should tell your belief sometimes, 18if this be requisite to protect others. If you commit a crime, should you acknowledge to yourself that you are a criminal? Yes. Your responses should differ because 21of the different effects they produce. Usually to admit that you are sick, renders your case less curable, while to recognize your sin, aids in destroying it. Both sin and 24sickness are error, and Truth is their remedy. The truth regarding error is, that error is not true, hence it is unreal.
Systematic teaching and the student’s spiritual growth and experience in practice are requisite for a thorough 462 462:1comprehension of Christian Science. Some individu-als assimilate truth more readily than others, but any 3Rapidity of assimilationstudent, who adheres to the divine rules of Christian Science and imbibes the spirit of Christ, can demonstrate Christian Science, cast out 6error, heal the sick, and add continually to his store of spiritual understanding, potency, enlightenment, and success.
Hymn 382: “What is thy birthright, man, Child of the perfect One”
Hymn 416: “… For true means true to God above, To self, and to our fellow-man”
Hymn 144: “In atmosphere of Love divine, We live, and move, and breathe”
