Responsive Reading: John 3 : 16-21, 36

16.     For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17.     For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18.     He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19.     And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20.     For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

21.     But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

36.     He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.

1. Psalm 145 : 1-5, 10-13

1     I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

2     Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

3     Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

4     One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

5     I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

10     All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.

11     They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;

12     To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

13     Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

2. John 12 : 44-50

44     Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.

45     And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.

46     I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

47     And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

48     He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

49     For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

50     And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

3. Luke 18 : 18-30

18     And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19     And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

20     Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

21     And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22     Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

23     And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24     And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

25     For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

26     And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

27     And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

28     Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.

29     And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,

30     Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

4. I Timothy 6 : 17-19

17     Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

18     That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;

19     Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

5. Romans 6 : 17 (God)-22

17     God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

18     Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

19     I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

20     For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

21     What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

22     But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

6. I Corinthians 15 : 50-57

50     Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

51     Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52     In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53     For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54     So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55     O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56     The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57     But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. 42 : 26 (in)-28

…in Christian Science the true man is governed by God — by good, not evil — and is therefore not a mortal but an immortal.

2. 295 : 5-15

God creates and governs the universe, including man. The universe is filled with spiritual ideas, which He evolves, and they are obedient to the Mind that makes them. Mortal mind would transform the spiritual into the material, and then recover man's original self in order to escape from the mortality of this error. Mortals are not like immortals, created 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 forever intact, will appear.

3. 190 : 14-20

Human birth, growth, maturity, and decay are as the grass springing from the soil with beautiful green blades, afterwards to wither and return to its native nothingness. This mortal seeming is temporal; it never merges into immortal being, but finally disappears, and immortal man, spiritual and eternal, is found to be the real man.

4. 476 : 1-5, 10-20, 28-32

Mortals are the counterfeits of immortals. They are the children of the wicked one, or the one evil, which declares that man begins in dust or as a material embryo. In divine Science, God and the real man are inseparable as divine Principle and idea.

Hence man is not mortal nor material. Mortals will disappear, and immortals, or the children of God, will appear as the only and eternal verities of man. Mortals are not fallen children of God. They never had a perfect state of being, which may subsequently be regained. They were, from the beginning of mortal history, "conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity." Mortality is finally swallowed up in immortality. Sin, sickness, and death must disappear to give place to the facts which belong to immortal man.

When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you;" that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal.

5. 296 : 4-13

Progress is born of experience. It is the ripening of mortal man, through which the mortal is dropped for the immortal. Either here or hereafter, suffering or Science must destroy all illusions regarding life and mind, and regenerate material sense and self. The old man with his deeds must be put off. Nothing sensual or sinful is immortal. The death of a false material sense and of sin, not the death of organic matter, is what reveals man and Life, harmonious, real, and eternal.

6. 496 : 20-27

"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law," — the law of mortal belief, at war with the facts of immortal Life, even with the spiritual law which says to the grave, "Where is thy victory?" But "when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

7. 247 : 10-18

Beauty, as well as truth, is eternal; but the beauty of material things passes away, fading and fleeting as mortal belief. Custom, education, and fashion form the transient standards of mortals. Immortality, exempt from age or decay, has a glory of its own, — the radiance of Soul. Immortal men and women are models of spiritual sense, drawn by perfect Mind and reflecting those higher conceptions of loveliness which transcend all material sense.

8. 428 : 22-29

The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man is, not shall be, perfect and immortal. We must hold forever the consciousness of existence, and sooner or later, through Christ and Christian Science, we must master sin and death. The evidence of man's immortality will become more apparent, as material beliefs are given up and the immortal facts of being are admitted.

9. 246 : 27-31

Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.

10. 495 : 14-24

When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony.

11. 76 : 22-31

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. Death can never hasten this state of existence, for death must be overcome, not submitted to, before immortality appears.

12. 288 : 27-28

Science reveals the glorious possibilities of immortal man, forever unlimited by the mortal senses.