First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Matt. 5:48
48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
- Gen. 1:1, 26 (to :), 27, 31 (to 1st .)
1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
26¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
... 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
- Gen. 17:1 I
I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
- Ps. 138:8 (to 1st :)
8The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me:
- Ps. 17:6 (to 2nd ,), 15 I
6I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me,
... I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
- Ps. 37:37
37Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
- Isa. 26:3, 4 (to 1st :)
3Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
4Trust ye in the Lord for ever:
- Matt. 4:23, 24 (to :)
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.
24And his fame went throughout all Syria:
- Matt. 5:1, 2, 13 (to :), 14, 16, 44, 46
1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
13¶ Ye are the salt of the earth:
... 14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
... 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
... 46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
- Matt. 9:20-22
20¶ And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
21For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
22But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
- Luke 6:40
40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
- II Cor. 3:2, 4-6 (to :)
2Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
... 4And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit:
- II Cor. 4:6, 7, 16
6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
... 16For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
- Eph. 4:1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13
1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
... 3Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
... 6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
... 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
- Heb. 13:20 (to 1st ,), 21 (to 1st .)
20Now the God of peace,
... 21Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.
- II Tim. 3:14-17 continue
continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
- I Pet. 5:6, 7, 10
6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
... 10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
- Deut. 18:13
13Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 259:11
- SH 336:25
XXIV. God, the divine Principle of man, and man in God’s likeness are inseparable, harmonious, and eternal. 27God the parent MindThe Science of being furnishes the rule of per-fection, and brings immortality to light. God and man are not the same, but in the order of divine Sci-30ence, God and man coexist and are eternal. God is the parent Mind, and man is God’s spiritual offspring.
- SH 337:10-11
- SH 475:7-15 (to ;)
The Fleshly factors unrealScriptures inform us that man is made in 9the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect; and be-12cause he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so under-stood in Christian Science. Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of 15God, including all right ideas;
- SH 470:21-24, 32
God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, Indestructible relationshipman, remains perfect. Man is the expression 24of God’s being.
The relations of God and man, divine Principle and 471 471:1idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine 3order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He cre-ates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history.
- SH 259:6-11, 15-18
In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted 9their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying.
If man was once perfect but has now lost his perfection, then mortals have never beheld in man the reflex image The divine image not lostof God. The lost image is no image. The 18true likeness cannot be lost in divine reflection.
- SH 476:32-5
Jesus beheld in Science the per-477477:1fect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour 3saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy.
- SH 72:17-23
Perfection is not expressed through imperfection. 18Spirit is not made manifest through matter, the anti-pode of Spirit. Error is not a convenient sieve through which truth can be strained.
21 God, good, being ever present, it follows in divine logic that evil, the suppositional opposite of good, is never Scientific phenomenapresent.
- SH 248:19-29
Do you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model? The world is holding 21it before your gaze continually. The result is that you are liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your life-work, and adopt into your experience the angular outline 24and deformity of matter models.
To remedy this, we must first turn our gaze in the right direction, and then walk that way. We must form perfect 27Perfect modelsmodels in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives.
- SH 249:1
- SH 295:5-8, 11
God creates and governs the universe, including man. 6The universe is filled with spiritual ideas, which He Mortals unlike immortals evolves, and they are obedient to the Mind that makes them. ... Mortals are not like immortals, 12created in God’s own image; but infinite Spirit being all, mortal consciousness will at last yield to the scientific fact and disappear, and the real sense of being, perfect and 15forever intact, will appear.
- SH 407:22 In
In Science, all Immortal memorybeing is eternal, spiritual, perfect, harmoni-24ous in every action. Let the perfect model be present in your thoughts instead of its demoralized op-posite. This spiritualization of thought lets in the light, 27and brings the divine Mind, Life not death, into your consciousness.
- SH 302:14
Continuing our definition of man, let us remember that 15harmonious and immortal man has existed forever, and Definition of manis always beyond and above the mortal illu-sion of any life, substance, and intelligence 18as existent in matter. This statement is based on fact, not fable. The Science of being reveals man as perfect, even as the Father is perfect, because the Soul, or Mind, 21of the spiritual man is God, the divine Principle of all being, and because this real man is governed by Soul instead of sense, by the law of Spirit, not by the so-called 24laws of matter.
- SH 253:32
The divine demand, “Be ye therefore perfect,” is sci-254254:1entific, and the human footsteps leading to perfection are indispensable. Individuals are consistent who, watching 3Patience and final perfectionand praying, can “run, and not be weary; . . . walk, and not faint,” who gain good rapidly and hold their position, or attain slowly and 6yield not to discouragement. God requires perfection, but not until the battle between Spirit and flesh is fought and the victory won. To stop eating, drinking, or being 9clothed materially before the spiritual facts of existence are gained step by step, is not legitimate. When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs 12our path. Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spir-itual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to con-tinue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of 15being, is doing much.
- SH 414:25
Hold these points strongly in view. Keep in mind the verity of being, — that man is 27the image and likeness of God, in whom all being is painless and permanent. Remember that man’s perfec-tion is real and unimpeachable, whereas imperfection is 30blameworthy, unreal, and is not brought about by divine Love.
- SH 467:9
It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact 12becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brother-hood of man will be established. Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide 15him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, hav-ing that Mind which was also in Christ.
- SH 325:13
When spiritual being is understood in all its perfection, continuity, and might, then shall man be found 15in God’s image. The absolute meaning of the apostolic words is this: Then shall man be found, in His likeness, perfect as the Father, indestructible in Life, “hid with 18Christ in God,” — with Truth in divine Love, where human sense hath not seen man.
- SH 276:19
- SH 428:22-23
- SH 304:14
Hymn 15: “As gold by fire is tested, Its purity shown forth”
Hymn 416: “Be true and list the voice within, Be true unto thy high ideal”
Hymn 553: “Our desire to heed God's calling LIfts us to a new design”