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2. Subject, Golden Text, and Responsive Reading

3. Lesson Sermon — The Bible

4. Lesson Sermon — Science and Health

5. The Daily Duties

6. About the preparation of this lesson

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Subject — Probation After Death

GOLDEN TEXT: I Corinthians 15 : 26

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

RESPONSIVE READING: Isaiah 25 : 6-8 • Romans 13 : 11, 12 • I Corinthians 15 : 20, 25

6.     And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

7.     And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

8.     He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

11.     Now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

12.     The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

20.     Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

25.     For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Lesson Sermon

The Bible

1. Psalm 37 : 3-6, 35-37

3     Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

4     Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

5     Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

6     And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

35     I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

36     Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

37     Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

2. John 10 : 23-29

23     And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.

24     Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25     Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.

26     But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27     My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28     And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29     My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

3. John 8 : 31, 32, 51

31     Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32     And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

51     Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

4. Luke 7 : 11-16

11     And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.

12     Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.

13     And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

14     And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.

15     And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.

16     And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.

5. Mark 8 : 34-36

34     And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

35     For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

36     For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

6. Mark 9 : 1

1     And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

7. Romans 8 : 28, 31, 35, 37-39

28     And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

31     What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

35     Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

37     Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38     For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39     Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

8. Revelation 1 : 1

1     The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

9. Revelation 20 : 1-6

1     And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2     And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3     And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

4     And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5     But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6     Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Science and Health

1. 470 : 21-24, 32-5

God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect. Man is the expression of God's being.

The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history.

2. 476 : 4-5

In divine Science, God and the real man are inseparable as divine Principle and idea.

3. 487 : 3-6, 27-29

Life is deathless. Life is the origin and ultimate of man, never attainable through death, but gained by walking in the pathway of Truth both before and after that which is called death.

The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality.

4. 429 : 31-12

Jesus said (John viii. 51), "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." That statement is not confined to spiritual life, but includes all the phenomena of existence. Jesus demonstrated this, healing the dying and raising the dead. Mortal mind must part with error, must put off itself with its deeds, and immortal manhood, the Christ ideal, will appear. Faith should enlarge its borders and strengthen its base by resting upon Spirit instead of matter. When man gives up his belief in death, he will advance more rapidly towards God, Life, and Love. Belief in sickness and death, as certainly as belief in sin, tends to shut out the true sense of Life and health. When will mankind wake to this great fact in Science?

5. 42 : 5-8

The universal belief in death is of no advantage. It cannot make Life or Truth apparent. Death will be found at length to be a mortal dream, which comes in darkness and disappears with the light.

6. 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.

7. 409 : 27-3

We have no right to say that life depends on matter now, but will not depend on it after death. We cannot spend our days here in ignorance of the Science of Life, and expect to find beyond the grave a reward for this ignorance. Death will not make us harmonious and immortal as a recompense for ignorance. If here we give no heed to Christian Science, which is spiritual and eternal, we shall not be ready for spiritual Life hereafter.

8. 290 : 23-27

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.

9. 291 : 12-18

Universal salvation rests on progression and probation, and is unattainable without them. 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.

10. 76 : 32-18

The recognition of Spirit and of infinity comes not suddenly here or hereafter. The pious Polycarp said: "I cannot turn at once from good to evil." Neither do other mortals accomplish the change from error to truth at a single bound.

Existence continues to be a belief of corporeal sense until the Science of being is reached. Error brings its own self-destruction both here and hereafter, for mortal mind creates its own physical conditions. Death will occur on the next plane of existence as on this, until the spiritual understanding of Life is reached. Then, and not until then, will it be demonstrated that "the second death hath no power."

The period required for this dream of material life, embracing its so-called pleasures and pains, to vanish from consciousness, "knoweth no man ... neither the Son, but the Father." This period will be of longer or shorter duration according to the tenacity of error.

11. 427 : 17-21, 29-2

If man is never to overcome death, why do the Scriptures say, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"? The tenor of the Word shows that we shall obtain the victory over death in proportion as we overcome sin.

The dream of death must be mastered by Mind here or hereafter. Thought will waken from its own material declaration, "I am dead," to catch this trumpet-word of Truth, "There is no death, no inaction, diseased action, overaction, nor reaction."

12. 428 : 6-14

Man's privilege at this supreme moment is to prove the words of our Master: "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." To divest thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear, — this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep away the false and give place to the true. Thus we may establish in truth the temple, or body, "whose builder and maker is God."

13. 492 : 7-12

Being is holiness, harmony, immortality. It is already proved that a knowledge of this, even in small degree, will uplift the physical and moral standard of mortals, will increase longevity, will purify and elevate character. Thus progress will finally destroy all error, and bring immortality to light.

The Daily Duties

by Mary Baker Eddy

Daily Prayer

It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to pray each day: "Thy kingdom come;" let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 4

A Rule for Motives and Acts

Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church. In Science, divine Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness. The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously.

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 1

Alertness to Duty

It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged, — and justified or condemned.

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 6

Take Notice

To Christian Scientists: — See Science and Health, page 442, line 30, and give daily attention thereto.

from Miscellany, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 237

“Christian Scientists, be a law to yourselves that mental malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when awake.”

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 422

This Bible Lesson was prepared by Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent. It is composed of Scriptural Quotations from the King James Bible and Correlative Passages from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 1910 Edition, by Mary Baker Eddy.

Copyright 2022 Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent

Table of Contents

Sunday, April 24th, 2022 — Subject: Probation After Death

Date of Lesson

Subject, Golden Text, and Responsive Reading

Lesson Sermon — The Bible

Lesson Sermon — Science and Health

The Daily Duties

About the preparation of this lesson