Responsive Reading: I John 3 : 11, 14, 16-18

11.     For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

14.     We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

16.     Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

17.     But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

18.     My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1. Galatians 5 : 14 (all)

14     …all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

2. Mark 1 : 14 (Jesus), 15

14     …Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

15     And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

3. Luke 5 : 17-25, 27-32

17     And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judæa, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

18     And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

19     And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

20     And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

21     And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

22     But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

23     Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

24     But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

25     And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

27     And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.

28     And he left all, rose up, and followed him.

29     And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.

30     But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?

31     And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

32     I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

4. Matthew 5 : 1, 2, 20 (except)-24

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,

20     …except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

21     Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22     But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

23     Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

24     Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

5. Romans 12 : 1, 9-18, 21

1     I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

9     Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

10     Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

11     Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12     Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

13     Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

14     Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

15     Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

16     Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

17     Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

18     If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

21     Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

6. I John 2 : 1-5, 8-10

1     My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

2     And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

3     And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

4     He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5     But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

8     Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

9     He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

10     He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

1. 496 : 6 (in)-8

…in Christian Science the first duty is to obey God, to have one Mind, and to love another as yourself.

2. 88 : 18-20

To love one's neighbor as one's self, is a divine idea; but this idea can never be seen, felt, nor understood through the physical senses.

3. 295 : 16-24

The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the window-pane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality — much error — in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.

4. 242 : 15-20

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.

5. 6 : 3-5, 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.

6. 290 : 16-32

If the change called death destroyed the belief in sin, sickness, and death, happiness would be won at the moment of dissolution, and be forever permanent; but this is not so. Perfection is gained only by perfection. They who are unrighteous shall be unrighteous still, until in divine Science Christ, Truth, removes all ignorance and sin.

The sin and error which possess us at the instant of death do not cease at that moment, but endure until the death of these errors. To be wholly spiritual, man must be sinless, and he becomes thus only when he reaches perfection. The murderer, though slain in the act, does not thereby forsake sin. He is no more spiritual for believing that his body died and learning that his cruel mind died not. His thoughts are no purer until evil is disarmed by good. His body is as material as his mind, and vice versa.

7. 291 : 1-11, 13-18

The suppositions that sin is pardoned while unforsaken, that happiness can be genuine in the midst of sin, that the so-called death of the body frees from sin, and that God's pardon is aught but the destruction of sin, — these are grave mistakes. We know that all will be changed "in the twinkling of an eye," when the last trump shall sound; but this last call of wisdom cannot come till mortals have already yielded to each lesser call in the growth of Christian character. Mortals need not fancy that belief in the experience of death will awaken them to glorified being.

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.

8. 404 : 29-11

Hatred, envy, dishonesty, fear, and so forth, make a man sick, and neither material medicine nor Mind can help him permanently, even in body, unless it makes him better mentally, and so delivers him from his destroyers. The basic error is mortal mind. Hatred inflames the brutal propensities. The indulgence of evil motives and aims makes any man, who is above the lowest type of manhood, a hopeless sufferer.

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.

9. 405 : 18-21

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.

10. 76 : 18-29

Suffering, sinning, dying beliefs are unreal. When divine Science is universally understood, they will have no power over man, for man is immortal and lives by divine authority.

The sinless joy, — the perfect harmony and immortality of Life, possessing unlimited divine beauty and goodness without a single bodily pleasure or pain, — constitutes the only veritable, indestructible man, whose being is spiritual. This state of existence is scientific and intact, — a perfection discernible only by those who have the final understanding of Christ in divine Science.

11. 410 : 4-7

"This is life eternal," says Jesus, —is, not shall be; and then he defines everlasting life as a present knowledge of his Father and of himself, — the knowledge of Love, Truth, and Life.

12. 426 : 29-32

Man is immortal, and the body cannot die, because matter has no life to surrender. The human concepts named matter, death, disease, sickness, and sin are all that can be destroyed.

13. 569 : 6-14

The Scripture, "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many," is literally fulfilled, when we are conscious of the supremacy of Truth, by which the nothingness of error is seen; and we know that the nothingness of error is in proportion to its wickedness. He that touches the hem of Christ's robe and masters his mortal beliefs, animality, and hate, rejoices in the proof of healing, — in a sweet and certain sense that God is Love.

14. 578 : 10-12, 16-18

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for [love] is with me; [love's] rod and [love's] staff they comfort me.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [love] for ever.