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 — Substance

GOLDEN TEXT: Ephesians 2 : 8

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

RESPONSIVE READING: Philippians 3 : 13, 14, 16, 20 • Philippians 4 : 6-8, 20

13.     Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14.     I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

16.     Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

20.     For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

6.     Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7.     And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8.     Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

20.     Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Lesson Sermon

The Bible

1. Matthew 26 : 19 (to ;), 31 (to :), 33-35, 59, 60 (to .), 63-65 (to ;), 66, 69-75

19     And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them;

31     Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night:

33     Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

34     Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

35     Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

59     Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

60     But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none.

63     But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

64     Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

65     Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy;

66     What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

69     Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.

70     But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.

71     And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.

72     And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.

73     And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.

74     Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

75     And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

2. I Peter 1 : 1, 3, 4, 7, 23

1     Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

3     Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4     To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

7     That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

23     Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

3. Acts 3 : 1-8

1     Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

2     And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

3     Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

4     And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

5     And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

6     Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

7     And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8     And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

4. Acts 4 : 1, 3 (to ,), 7, 8, 10-12, 14, 21 (to :), 23, 24, 29, 30 (to ;), 31, 32 (to :), 33, 34 (to :), 36 (to 1st ,), 37

1     And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,

3     And they laid hands on them,

7     And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?

8     Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

10     Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

11     This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

12     Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

14     And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

21     So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people:

23     And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.

24     And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

29     And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

30     By stretching forth thine hand to heal;

31     And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

32     And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:

33     And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

34     Neither was there any among them that lacked:

36     And Joses,

37     Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

5. Hebrews 11 : 1

11     Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Science and Health

1. 468 : 17 (Substance)-21

Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay. Truth, Life, and Love are substance, as the Scriptures use this word in Hebrews: "The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

2. 349 : 31-5

In Christian Science, substance is understood to be Spirit, while the opponents of Christian Science believe substance to be matter. They think of matter as something and almost the only thing, and of the things which pertain to Spirit as next to nothing, or as very far removed from daily experience. Christian Science takes exactly the opposite view.

3. 136 : 29-7

The disciples apprehended their Master better than did others; but they did not comprehend all that he said and did, or they would not have questioned him so often. Jesus patiently persisted in teaching and demonstrating the truth of being. His students saw this power of Truth heal the sick, cast out evil, raise the dead; but the ultimate of this wonderful work was not spiritually discerned, even by them, until after the crucifixion, when their immaculate Teacher stood before them, the victor over sickness, sin, disease, death, and the grave.

4. 325 : 30-2

When first spoken in any age, Truth, like the light, "shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." A false sense of life, substance, and mind hides the divine possibilities, and conceals scientific demonstration.

5. 43 : 3-12

The magnitude of Jesus' work, his material disappearance before their eyes and his reappearance, all enabled the disciples to understand what Jesus had said. Heretofore they had only believed; now they understood. The advent of this understanding is what is meant by the descent of the Holy Ghost, — that influx of divine Science which so illuminated the Pentecostal Day and is now repeating its ancient history.

Jesus' last proof was the highest, the most convincing, the most profitable to his students.

6. 91 : 16-21

Absorbed in material selfhood we discern and reflect but faintly the substance of Life or Mind. The denial of material selfhood aids the discernment of man's spiritual and eternal individuality, and destroys the erroneous knowledge gained from matter or through what are termed the material senses.

7. 326 : 8-11, 20-21

All nature teaches God's love to man, but man cannot love God supremely and set his whole affections on spiritual things, while loving the material or trusting in it more than in the spiritual.

Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way.

8. 179 : 7-11

Immortal Mind heals what eye hath not seen; but the spiritual capacity to apprehend thought and to heal by the Truth-power, is won only as man is found, not in self-righteousness, but reflecting the divine nature.

9. 139 : 15-27

The decisions by vote of Church Councils as to what should and should not be considered Holy Writ; the manifest mistakes in the ancient versions; the thirty thousand different readings in the Old Testament, and the three hundred thousand in the New, — these facts show how a mortal and material sense stole into the divine record, with its own hue darkening to some extent the inspired pages. But mistakes could neither wholly obscure the divine Science of the Scriptures seen from Genesis to Revelation, mar the demonstration of Jesus, nor annul the healing by the prophets, who foresaw that "the stone which the builders rejected" would become "the head of the corner."

10. 78 : 28-32

Spirit blesses man, but man cannot "tell whence it cometh." By it the sick are healed, the sorrowing are comforted, and the sinning are reformed. These are the effects of one universal God, the invisible good dwelling in eternal Science.

11. 278 : 28-3

All that we term sin, sickness, and death is a mortal belief. We define matter as error, because it is the opposite of life, substance, and intelligence. Matter, with its mortality, cannot be substantial if Spirit is substantial and eternal. Which ought to be substance to us, — the erring, changing, and dying, the mutable and mortal, or the unerring, immutable, and immortal?

12. 329 : 5 (A little leaven)-13

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little understanding of Christian Science proves the truth of all that I say of it. Because you cannot walk on the water and raise the dead, you have no right to question the great might of divine Science in these directions. Be thankful that Jesus, who was the true demonstrator of Science, did these things, and left his example for us. In Science we can use only what we understand. We must prove our faith by demonstration.

13. 275 : 12-23

Spirit, Life, Truth, Love, combine as one, — and are the Scriptural names for God. All substance, intelligence, wisdom, being, immortality, cause, and effect belong to God. These are His attributes, the eternal manifestations of the infinite divine Principle, Love. No wisdom is wise but His wisdom; no truth is true, no love is lovely, no life is Life but the divine; no good is, but the good God bestows.

Divine metaphysics, as revealed to spiritual understanding, shows clearly that all is Mind, and that Mind is God, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, — that is, all power, all presence, all Science.

14. 468 : 21-24

Spirit, the synonym of Mind, Soul, or God, is the only real substance. The spiritual universe, including individual man, is a compound idea, reflecting the divine substance of Spirit.

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 2025 Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent

Table of Contents

Sunday, September 14th, 2025 — Subject: Substance

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