January 24, 2018
Hymns: 135, 600, 465
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THE BIBLE
GENESIS
1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

ISAIAH (New Living Translation)

51:4 “Listen to Me, My people;
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
The earth will grow old like a garment,
But My salvation will be forever,
12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.
16 I have put My words in your mouth;
I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,…‘You are My people.’”

LUKE (King James Version)

24:1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 …behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5 And they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, and they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
8 And they remembered his words,
9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.
10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
11 And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.
13 And…two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus…
15 And…while they communed together…Jesus …drew near, and went with them.
16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.
29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled?…
39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

JOHN

20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And…he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve,… was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they

that have not seen, and yet have believed.
8:12 I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
51 … If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

JOHN (New English Translation)
17:3 Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
6 “I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world…
7 Now they understand that everything you have given me comes from you,
8 …because I have given them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
20 “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me…

I JOHN (J.B. Phillips Translation)
5:13 I have written like this to you who already believe in the name of God’s Son so that you may be quite sure that, here and now, you possess eternal life.

SCIENCE & HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
By Mary Baker Eddy

SH 589:16-18
Jesus. The highest human corporeal concept of the divine idea, rebuking and destroying error and bringing to light man’s immortality.

SH 24:27-2

The efficacy of the crucifixion lay in the practical affection and goodness it demonstrated for mankind. The truth had been lived among men; but until they saw that it enabled their Master to triumph over the grave, his own disciples could not admit such an event to be possible. After the resurrection, even the unbelieving Thomas was forced to acknowledge how complete was the great proof of Truth and Love.

SH 38:10-17

The educated belief that Soul is in the body causes mortals to regard death as a friend, as a stepping-stone out of mortality into immortality and bliss. The Bible calls death an enemy, and Jesus overcame death and the grave instead of yielding to them. He was “the way.” To him, therefore, death was not the threshold over which he must pass into living glory.

SH 306:13-19

If Life or Soul and its representative, man, unite for a period and then are separated as by a law of divorce to be brought together again at some uncertain future time and in a manner unknown, — and this is the general religious opinion of mankind, — we are left without a rational proof of immortality. But man cannot be separated for an instant from God, if man reflects God.

SH 598:21-30

“One day is with the Lord as a thousand years.” (II Peter iii. 8.)

One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity. This exalted view, obtained and retained when the Science of being is understood, would bridge over with life discerned spiritually the interval of death, and man would be in the full consciousness of his immortality and eternal harmony, where sin, sickness, and death are unknown.

SH 327:20-4

Our Lord and Master presented himself to his disciples after his resurrection from the grave, as the self-same Jesus whom they had loved before the tragedy on Calvary.

To the materialistic Thomas, looking for the ideal Savior in matter instead of in Spirit and to the testimony of the material senses and the body, more than to Soul, for an earnest of immortality, — to him Jesus furnished the proof that he was unchanged by the crucifixion. To this dull and doubting disciple Jesus remained a fleshly reality, so long as the Master remained an inhabitant of the earth. Nothing but a display of matter could make existence real to Thomas. For him to believe in matter was no task, but for him to conceive of the substantiality of Spirit —to know that nothing can efface Mind and immortality, in which Spirit reigns — was more difficult.

SH 324:7-18

Unless the harmony and immortality of man are becoming more apparent, we are not gaining the true idea of God; and the body will reflect what governs it, whether it be Truth or error, understanding or belief, Spirit or matter. Therefore “acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace.” Be watchful, sober, and vigilant. The way is straight and narrow, which leads to the understanding that God is the only Life. It is a warfare with the flesh, in which we must conquer sin, sickness, and death, either here or hereafter, — certainly before we can reach the goal of Spirit, or life in God.

SH 353:16-24

All the real is eternal. Perfection underlies reality. Without perfection, nothing is wholly real. All things will continue to disappear, until perfection appears, and reality is reached. We must give up the spectral at all points. We must not continue to admit the somethingness of superstition, but we must yield up all belief in it and be wise. When we learn that error is not real, we shall be ready for progress, “forgetting those things which are behind.”

SH 427:3-6

Life is real, and death is the illusion. A demonstration of the facts of Soul in Jesus’ way resolves the dark visions of material sense into harmony and immortality.

SH 476:21-27

Learn this, O mortal, and earnestly seek the spiritual status of man, which is outside of all material selfhood. Remember that the Scriptures say of mortal man: “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.”

SH 494:25-5

Which of these two theories concerning man are you ready to accept? One is the mortal testimony, changing, dying, unreal. The other is the eternal and real evidence, bearing Truth’s signet, its lap piled high with immortal fruits.

SH 521:5-12

All that is made is the work of God, and all is good. We leave this brief, glorious history of spiritual creation (as stated in the first chapter of Genesis) in the hands of God, not of man, in the keeping of Spirit, not matter, —joyfully acknowledging now and forever God’s supremacy, omnipotence, and omnipresence.

The harmony and immortality of man are intact.

SH 246:27-28

Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof.

ADDITIONAL READING
“ACCEPTING OUR IMMORTALITY”
By PAT PHILIP ADKINS
Christian Science Sentinel, April 1955

“…how can I accept…immortality as a present fact while material sense testimony submits such strong evidence to the contrary?” The following illustration may provide an answer. If a person faces the sun on a bright morning a long shadow is cast. As the day progresses, the shadow assumes new shapes…when the sun is directly overhead it disappears. If the individual persists in facing the sun he is unaware of the shadow or its condition. Even the moment the shadow disappears will remain unknown to him…no matter which way he faces, he can never force the sun to shine on the shadow.
…consider the sun as symbolic of Life, Spirit, or God and the individual facing the sun as representing human consciousness. If we seem to be conscious of the shadow of mortality, we are facing the wrong way, looking away from the fact that God, Life, is All-in-all. Any attempt on our part to outline the form of the shadow will be futile. Our only need is to turn around…change our viewpoint, identify ourselves with God, and we shall not be conscious of the shadows of mortality.