1. Date of Lesson

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 — Truth

GOLDEN TEXT: Jeremiah 10 : 10

“The LORD is the true God, he is the living God.”

RESPONSIVE READING: John 3 : 27, 31-36

27.     A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

31.     He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

32.     And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.

33.     He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

34.     For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

35.     The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

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

Lesson Sermon

The Bible

1. Matthew 13 : 1, 2 (to 1st ,), 3 (to 2nd ,), 33 (The)

1     The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2     And great multitudes were gathered together unto him,

3     And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,

33     The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

2. Matthew 16 : 1, 2 (to 1st ,), 3 (O ye), 4 (And he)-8, 11, 12

1     The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

2     He answered and said unto them,

3     O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4     And he left them, and departed.

5     And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6     Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

7     And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

8     Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

11     How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

12     Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

3. Matthew 22 : 15-17 (to 1st ?), 36-40

15     Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

16     And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.

17     Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou?

36     Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37     Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38     This is the first and great commandment.

39     And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40     On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

4. Matthew 23 : 13

13     But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

5. I Corinthians 5 : 6, 7 (to 2nd ,), 8

6     Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7     Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump,

8     Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

6. Acts 25 : 7 (the Jews), 14 (to 2nd ,)

7     …the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

14     And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king,

7. Acts 26 : 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12-16, 18-21, 24, 25

1     Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:

4     My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;

5     Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

9     I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

10     Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.

12     Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

13     At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

14     And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

15     And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

16     But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

18     To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

19     Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

20     But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judæa, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

21     For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.

24     And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.

25     But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.

8. II Corinthians 13 : 8

8     For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

9. Ephesians 5 : 9, 10

9     (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

10     Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Science and Health

1. 241 : 23-24

One's aim, a point beyond faith, should be to find the footsteps of Truth, the way to health and holiness.

2. 258 : 9-18, 21-24

Man is more than a material form with a mind inside, which must escape from its environments in order to be immortal. Man reflects infinity, and this reflection is the true idea of God.

God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis. Mind manifests all that exists in the infinitude of Truth. We know no more of man as the true divine image and likeness, than we know of God.

The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God.

3. 235 : 28-5

Clergymen, occupying the watchtowers of the world, should uplift the standard of Truth. They should so raise their hearers spiritually, that their listeners will love to grapple with a new, right idea and broaden their concepts. Love of Christianity, rather than love of popularity, should stimulate clerical labor and progress. Truth should emanate from the pulpit, but never be strangled there. A special privilege is vested in the ministry. How shall it be used? Sacredly, in the interests of humanity, not of sect.

4. 239 : 5-13

Take away wealth, fame, and social organizations, which weigh not one jot in the balance of God, and we get clearer views of Principle. Break up cliques, level wealth with honesty, let worth be judged according to wisdom, and we get better views of humanity.

The wicked man is not the ruler of his upright neighbor. Let it be understood that success in error is defeat in Truth.

5. 117 : 29-5

Jesus bade his disciples beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, which he defined 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 inference 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.

6. 329 : 5 only, 12 (We must)-13

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. … We must prove our faith by demonstration.

7. 448 : 12-17, 30-6

Christian Science rises above the evidence of the corporeal senses; but if you have not risen above sin yourself, do not congratulate yourself upon your blindness to evil or upon the good you know and do not. A dishonest position is far from Christianly scientific.

To talk the right and live the wrong is foolish deceit, doing one's self the most harm. Fettered by sin yourself, it is difficult to free another from the fetters of disease. With your own wrists manacled, it is hard to break another's chains. A little leaven causes the whole mass to ferment. A grain of Christian Science does wonders for mortals, so omnipotent is Truth, but more of Christian Science must be gained in order to continue in well doing.

8. 238 : 12-13

To fall away from Truth in times of persecution, shows that we never understood Truth.

9. 280 : 30-4

The only excuse for entertaining human opinions and rejecting the Science of being is our mortal ignorance of Spirit, — ignorance which yields only to the understanding of divine Science, the understanding by which we enter into the kingdom of Truth on earth and learn that Spirit is infinite and supreme.

10. 288 : 31-4

The eternal Truth destroys what mortals seem to have learned from error, and man's real existence as a child of God comes to light. Truth demonstrated is eternal life. Mortal man can never rise from the temporal débris of error, belief in sin, sickness, and death, until he learns that God is the only Life.

11. 289 : 8-20

A wicked mortal is not the idea of God. He is little else than the expression of error. To suppose that sin, lust, hatred, envy, hypocrisy, revenge, have life abiding in them, is a terrible mistake. Life and Life's idea, Truth and Truth's idea, never make men sick, sinful, or mortal.

The fact that the Christ, or Truth, overcame and still overcomes death proves the "king of terrors" to be but a mortal belief, or error, which Truth destroys with the spiritual evidences of Life; and this shows that what appears to the senses to be death is but a mortal illusion, for to the real man and the real universe there is no death-process.

12. 276 : 25-28

Material beliefs and spiritual understanding never mingle. The latter destroys the former. Discord is the nothingness named error. Harmony is the somethingness named Truth.

13. 282 : 17-18, 26-27, 32 (Truth is)-3

Truth has no home in error, and error has no foothold in Truth.

Truth is the intelligence of immortal Mind. Error is the so-called intelligence of mortal mind.

Truth is the light which dispels error. As mortals begin to understand Spirit, they give up the belief that there is any true existence apart from God.

14. 240 : 24-32

Remember that mankind must sooner or later, either by suffering or by Science, be convinced of the error that is to be overcome.

In trying to undo the errors of sense one must pay fully and fairly the utmost farthing, until all error is finally brought into subjection to Truth. The divine method of paying sin's wages involves unwinding one's snarls, and learning from experience how to divide between sense and Soul.

15. 118 : 10-12

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.

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 2023 Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent

Table of Contents

Sunday, July 23rd, 2023 — Subject: Truth

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