Wednesday meeting readings from First Church of Christ, Scientist, Asheville, April 13, 2016
- KJV Ps 49:3-4
- 3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. 4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
- KJV Matt 13:1, 3-14, 18-23
- 1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
- S&H 343:14
- Jesus strips all disguise from error, when his teachings
are fully understood. By parable and argument he ex-
plains the impossibility of good producing evil;
and he also scientifically demonstrates this great
fact, proving by what are wrongly called miracles, that
sin, sickness, and death are beliefs – illusive errors –
which he could and did destroy.
- S&H 272:13-27
- Jesus’ parable of “the sower” shows the care our
Master took not to impart to dull ears and gross hearts
the spiritual teachings which dulness and grossness could
not accept. Reading the thoughts of the people, he said:
“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast
ye your pearls before swine.”
It is the spiritualization of thought and Christianization
of daily life, in contrast with the results of the ghastly farce
of material existence; it is chastity and purity,
in contrast with the downward tendencies
and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity,
which really attest the divine origin and operation of Chris-
tian Science. The triumphs of Christian Science are re-
corded in the destruction of error and evil, from which are
propagated the dismal beliefs of sin, sickness, and death.
- S&H 407:26
- This spiritualization of thought lets in the light,
and brings the divine Mind, Life not death, into your
consciousness.
- S&H 83:13
- The scientific mani-
festation of power is from the divine nature
and is not supernatural, since Science is an
explication of nature. The belief that the universe, in-
cluding man, is governed in general by material laws, but
that occasionally Spirit sets aside these laws, – this be-
lief belittles omnipotent wisdom, and gives to matter the
precedence over Spirit.
- KJV Matt 13:33-35
- 33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. 34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: 35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
- KJV Hab 2:14
- 14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
- KJV II Cor 3:18
- 18 …we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD.
- S&H 117:24-5
- Evidence drawn from the five physical senses relates
solely to human reason; and because of opaci-
ty to the true light, human reason dimly re-
flects and feebly transmits Jesus’ works and words. Truth
is a revelation.
Jesus bade his disciples beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees, which he de-
fined as human doctrines. His parable of the
“leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures
of meal, till the whole was leavened,” impels the infer-
ence that the spiritual leaven signifies the Science of Christ
and its spiritual interpretation, – an inference far above
the merely ecclesiastical and formal applications of the
illustration.
- S&H 118:10-25
- Ages pass, but this leaven of Truth is ever at work. It
must destroy the entire mass of error, and so be eternally
glorified in man’s spiritual freedom.
In their spiritual significance, Science, Theology, and
Medicine are means of divine thought, which include spirit-
ual laws emanating from the invisible and in-
finite power and grace. The parable may
import that these spiritual laws, perverted by
a perverse material sense of law, are metaphysically pre-
sented as three measures of meal, – that is, three modes
of mortal thought. In all mortal forms of thought, dust
is dignified as the natural status of men and things, and
modes of material motion are honored with the name of
laws. This continues until the leaven of Spirit changes
the whole of mortal thought, as yeast changes the chemical
properties of meal.
- KJV Ps 91:9-11
- 9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
- KJV Mark 3:22-27
- 22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. 23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 27 No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
- KJV Mark 4:2 (to 1st parables), 26-29
- 2 And he taught them many things by parables, 26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
- S&H 229:15
- By universal consent, mortal belief has constituted
itself a law to bind mortals to sickness, sin, and death.
This customary belief is misnamed material
law, and the individual who upholds it is mis-
taken in theory and in practice. The so-called law of
mortal mind, conjectural and speculative, is made void
by the law of immortal Mind, and false law should be
trampled under foot.
- S&H 399:29-8
- Our Master asked: “How can one enter into a strong
man’s house and spoil his goods, except he first
bind the strong man?” In other words: How
can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called
mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When
disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear
of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thor-
oughly cured. Mortal mind is “the strong man,” which
must be held in subjection before its influence upon health
and morals can be removed. This error conquered, we
can despoil “the strong man” of his goods, – namely, of
sin and disease.
- S&H 539:8-26
- What can be the standard of good, of Spirit, of Life,
or of Truth, if they produce their opposites, such as evil,
matter, error, and death? God could never
impart an element of evil, and man possesses
nothing which he has not derived from God. How then
has man a basis for wrong-doing? Whence does he
obtain the propensity or power to do evil? Has Spirit
resigned to matter the government of the universe?
The Scriptures declare that God condemned this lie as
to man’s origin and character by condemning its symbol,
the serpent, to grovel beneath all the beasts
of the field. It is false to say that Truth and
error commingle in creation. In parable and argument,
this falsity is exposed by our Master as self-evidently
wrong. Disputing these points with the Pharisees and
arguing for the Science of creation, Jesus said: “Do men
gather grapes of thorns?” Paul asked: “What com-
munion hath light with darkness? And what concord
hath Christ with Belial?
- S&H 553:6
- Mortal thought must
obtain a better basis, get nearer the truth of being, or
health will never be universal, and harmony will never
become the standard of man.
- S&H 264:13
- As mortals gain more correct views of God and man,
multitudinous objects of creation, which before were
invisible, will become visible. When we
realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of
matter, this understanding will expand into self-com-
pleteness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other
consciousness.
Ps 49:3-4
Matt 13:1, 3-14, 18-23
343:14
272:13-27
407:26
83:13
Matt 13:33-35
Hab 2:14
II Cor 3:18
117:24-5
118:10-25
Ps 91:9-11
Mark 3:22-27
Mark 4:2 (to parables), 26-29
229:15
399:29-8
539:8-26
553:6
264:13
Matt 13:1, 3-14, 18-23
343:14
272:13-27
407:26
83:13
Matt 13:33-35
Hab 2:14
II Cor 3:18
117:24-5
118:10-25
Ps 91:9-11
Mark 3:22-27
Mark 4:2 (to parables), 26-29
229:15
399:29-8
539:8-26
553:6
264:13
97…He that goeth forth with weeping
450…O house of God, built on a firm foundation
308…Shepherd, show me how to go
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