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 — Matter

GOLDEN TEXT: Luke 10 : 19

“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” — Christ Jesus

RESPONSIVE READING: I Kings 8 : 23, 37, 57, 60 • Psalm 56 : 3, 4, 11 • Isaiah 40 : 5

23.     LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath.

37.     If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

57.     The LORD our God be with us,

60.     That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.

3.     What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

4.     I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

11.     I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

5.     And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Lesson Sermon

The Bible

1. Exodus 20 : 1-3, 5 (to :)

1     And God spake all these words, saying,

2     I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3     Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

5     Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:

2. Exodus 23 : 1, 7 (to ;), 13 (and make), 23 (to 1st ,), 24, 25

1     Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

7     Keep thee far from a false matter;

13     ...and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

23     For mine Angel shall go before thee,

24     Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

25     And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

3. Genesis 32 : 1, 3, 6, 7 (to :), 9 (to 2nd ,), 10 (to 1st ;), 11, 24-26, 28-30

1     And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

3     And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

6     And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

7     Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed:

9     And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham,

10      I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant;

11     Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.

24     And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

25     And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

26     And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

28     And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29     And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

30     And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

4. Psalm 91 : 2-6, 9, 10

2     I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3     Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4     He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5     Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6     Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

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.

5. Matthew 8 : 14-16

14     And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.

15     And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

16     When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

6. Matthew 10 : 1, 7 (saying) only, 8 (to :), 20

1     And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

7     ...saying,

8     Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:

20     For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

7. Hebrews 4 : 12, 13 (to :), 14-16

12     For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13     Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight:

14     Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

15     For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16     Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

8. Luke 11 : 2 (Our)

2     Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

Science and Health

1. 228 : 25-29 (to 2nd .)

There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has all-power, and to acknowledge any other power is to dishonor God. The humble Nazarene overthrew the supposition that sin, sickness, and death have power. He proved them powerless.

2. 139 : 4-5

From beginning to end, the Scriptures are full of accounts of the triumph of Spirit, Mind, over matter.

3. xi : 14-18 (to 2nd ,)

Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural. They are the sign of Immanuel, or "God with us," — a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime,

4. 307 : 26-30

Man was not created from a material basis, nor bidden to obey material laws which Spirit never made; his province is in spiritual statutes, in the higher law of Mind.

5. 308 : 1-6 (to afraid), 16-25

Art thou dwelling in the belief that mind is in matter, and that evil is mind, or art thou in the living faith that there is and can be but one God, and keeping His commandment?" Until the lesson is learned that God is the only Mind governing man, mortal belief will be afraid...

Jacob was alone, wrestling with error, — struggling with a mortal sense of life, substance, and intelligence as existent in matter with its false pleasures and pains, — when an angel, a message from Truth and Love, appeared to him and smote the sinew, or strength, of his error, till he saw its unreality; and Truth, being thereby understood, gave him spiritual strength in this Peniel of divine Science. Then said the spiritual evangel: "Let me go, for the day breaketh;" that is, the light of Truth and Love dawns upon thee.

6. 309 : 7-9 (to 2nd .)

The result of Jacob's struggle thus appeared. He had conquered material error with the understanding of Spirit and of spiritual power. This changed the man.

7. 310 : 2-6

The human belief fancies that it delineates thought on matter, but what is matter? Did it exist prior to thought? Matter is made up of supposititious mortal mind-force; but all might is divine Mind.

8. 108 : 19-29

When apparently near the confines of mortal existence, standing already within the shadow of the death-valley, I learned these truths in divine Science: that all real being is in God, the divine Mind, and that Life, Truth, and Love are all-powerful and ever-present; that the opposite of Truth, — called error, sin, sickness, disease, death, — is the false testimony of false material sense, of mind in matter; that this false sense evolves, in belief, a subjective state of mortal mind which this same so-called mind names matter, thereby shutting out the true sense of Spirit.

9. 171 : 17-22, 25-30

Mistaking his origin and nature, man believes himself to be combined matter and Spirit. He believes that Spirit is sifted through matter, carried on a nerve, exposed to ejection by the operation of matter. The intellectual, the moral, the spiritual, — yea, the image of infinite Mind, — subject to non-intelligence!

The so-called laws of matter are nothing but false beliefs that intelligence and life are present where Mind is not. These false beliefs are the procuring cause of all sin and disease. The opposite truth, that intelligence and life are spiritual, never material, destroys sin, sickness,

and death.

10. 274 : 12-22

The senses of Spirit abide in Love, and they demonstrate Truth and Life. Hence Christianity and the Science which expounds it are based on spiritual understanding, and they supersede the so-called laws of matter. Jesus demonstrated this great verity. When what we erroneously term the five physical senses are misdirected, they are simply the manifested beliefs of mortal mind, which affirm that life, substance, and intelligence are material, instead of spiritual. These false beliefs and their products constitute the flesh, and the flesh wars against Spirit.

11. 556 : 5-7

These false beliefs will disappear, when the radiation of Spirit destroys forever all belief in intelligent matter.

12. 392 : 27-15

When the condition is present which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise, heredity, contagion, or accident, then perform your office as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears. Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the body cannot suffer from them. The issues of pain or pleasure must come through mind, and like a watchman forsaking his post, we admit the intruding belief, forgetting that through divine help we can forbid this entrance.

The body seems to be self-acting, only because mortal mind is ignorant of itself, of its own actions, and of their results, — ignorant that the predisposing, remote, and exciting cause of all bad effects is a law of so-called mortal mind, not of matter. Mind is the master of the corporeal senses, and can conquer sickness, sin, and death. Exercise this God-given authority. Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.

13. 393 : 29-30

Man is never sick, for Mind is not sick and matter cannot be.

14. 475 : 28 only

Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death.

15. 476 : 21-22

Learn this, O mortal, and earnestly seek the spiritual status of man, which is outside of all material selfhood.

16. 16 : 27, 29, 31

Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,

Adorable One.

Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.

17. 17 : 2-3

Enable us to know, — as in heaven, so on earth, — God is omnipotent, supreme.

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 2024 Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent

Table of Contents

Sunday, March 24th, 2024 — Subject: Matter

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