Responsive Reading: Lamentations 3 : 22-26  •  Luke 16 : 10

22.     It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23.     They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24.     The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25.     The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26.     It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

10.     He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.

1. II Timothy 1 : 14

14     That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.

2. Acts 16 : 9, 10, 13-15

9     And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

10     And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

13     And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

14     And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

15     And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us

3. II Timothy 4 : 1-5 (to 1st ,), 7, 8

1     I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

2     Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

3     For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4     And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

5     But watch thou in all things,

7     I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

8     Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

4. Matthew 24 : 2 (to 1st ,)

2     And Jesus said unto them,

5. Matthew 25 : 14, 15, 19-24 (to 2nd ,), 25 (I), 26 (to 2nd ,), 28, 29

14     For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

15     And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

19     After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

20     And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

21     His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

22     He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

23     His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

24     Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord,

25     I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

26     His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant,

28     Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

29     For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

6. Revelation 19 : 1, 2 (to :), 5, 11, 16

1     And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

2     For true and righteous are his judgments:

5     And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

11     And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

16     And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND Lord OF Lords.

7. II Peter 1 : 2-4 (to ,)

2     Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3     According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4     Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.

1. 254 : 10-12

When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path.

2. 201 : 1-12

The best sermon ever preached is Truth practised and demonstrated by the destruction of sin, sickness, and death. Knowing this and knowing too that one affection would be supreme in us and take the lead in our lives, Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters."

We cannot build safely on false foundations. Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away and "all things are become new." Passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabundance of being is on the side of God, good.

3. x : 22-27

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.

4. 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.

5. 367 : 24-9

The infinite Truth of the Christ-cure has come to this age through a "still, small voice," through silent utterances and divine anointing which quicken and increase the beneficial effects of Christianity. I long to see the consummation of my hope, namely, the student's higher attainments in this line of light.

Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness, error, Truth's opposite, has no might. Evil is but the counterpoise of nothingness. The greatest wrong is but a supposititious opposite of the highest right. The confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal. Error is a coward before Truth. Divine Science insists that time will prove all this. Both truth and error have come nearer than ever before to the apprehension of mortals, and truth will become still clearer as error is self-destroyed.

6. 322 : 31 (It)-32 next page

It is easier to desire Truth than to rid one's self of error. Mortals may seek the understanding of Christian Science, but they will not be able to glean from Christian Science the facts of being without striving for them. This strife consists in the endeavor to forsake error of every kind and to possess no other consciousness but good.

Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we are helped onward in the march towards righteousness, peace, and purity, which are the landmarks of Science. Beholding the infinite tasks of truth, we pause, — wait on God. Then we push onward, until boundless thought walks enraptured, and conception unconfined is winged to reach the divine glory.

In order to apprehend more, we must put into practice what we already know. We must recollect that Truth is demonstrable when understood, and that good is not understood until demonstrated. If "faithful over a few things," we shall be made rulers over many; but the one unused talent decays and is lost. When the sick or the sinning awake to realize their need of what they have not, they will be receptive of divine Science, which gravitates towards Soul and away from material sense, removes thought from the body, and elevates even mortal mind to the contemplation of something better than disease or sin. The true idea of God gives the true understanding of Life and Love, robs the grave of victory, takes away all sin and the delusion that there are other minds, and destroys mortality.

The effects of Christian Science are not so much seen as felt. It is the "still, small voice" of Truth uttering itself. We are either turning away from this utterance, or we are listening to it and going up higher.

7. 372 : 26-32

In Christian Science, a denial of Truth is fatal, while a just acknowledgment of Truth and of what it has done for us is an effectual help. If pride, superstition, or any error prevents the honest recognition of benefits received, this will be a hindrance to the recovery of the sick and the success of the student.

8. 462 : 9-19

If the student goes away to practise Truth's teachings only in part, dividing his interests between God and mammon and substituting his own views for Truth, he will inevitably reap the error he sows. Whoever would demonstrate the healing of Christian Science must abide strictly by its rules, heed every statement, and advance from the rudiments laid down. There is nothing difficult nor toilsome in this task, when the way is pointed out; but self-denial, sincerity, Christianity, and persistence alone win the prize, as they usually do in every department of life.

9. 568 : 30-10 (to ;)

Self-abnegation, by which we lay down all for Truth, or Christ, in our warfare against error, is a rule in Christian Science. This rule clearly interprets God as divine Principle, — as Life, represented by the Father; as Truth, represented by the Son; as Love, represented by the Mother. Every mortal at some period, here or hereafter, must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a power opposed to God.

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;

10. 21 : 1-5, 9-14

If Truth is overcoming error in your daily walk and conversation, you can finally say, "I have fought a good fight ... I have kept the faith," because you are a better man. This is having our part in the at-one-ment with Truth and Love.

If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he is striving to enter in. He constantly turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last he finishes his course with joy.