Service for Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012



Theme: Assurance

 Hymn 93 
 William P. McKenzie

 Happy the man whose heart can rest,
   Assured God's goodness ne'er will cease;
 Each day, complete, with joy is blessed,
   God keepeth him in perfect peace.

 God keepeth him, and God is one,
   One Life, forevermore the same,
 One Truth unchanged while ages run;
   Eternal Love His holiest name.

 Dwelling in Love that cannot change,
   From anxious fear man finds release;
 No more his homeless longings range,
   God keepeth him in perfect peace.

 In perfect peace, with tumult stilled,
   Enhavened where no storms arise,
 There man can work what God hath willed;
   The joy of perfect work his prize.

Readings from the Bible.

Isaiah 32:16‑18 judgment
judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.  And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.  And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

Jeremiah 32:36‑41 now
now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.  Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Colossians 2:1‑10 I would
I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.  For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.  As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

I Thessalonians 1:2‑10
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.  For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.  And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.  For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God‑ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.  For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Hebrews 6:9‑15 beloved
beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Hebrews 10:35‑37
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

I John 3:18‑24
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

vii:13
  The time for thinkers has come.  Truth, independent of doctrines and time‑honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.  Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away.  Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping‑stone to faith.  The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal.  Though empires fall, "the Lord shall reign forever."

15:25‑6
  Christians rejoice in secret beauty and bounty, hidden from the world, but known to God.  Self‑forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers.  Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings.  Trustworthiness is the foundation of enlightened faith.  Without a fitness for holiness, we cannot receive holiness. 
  A great sacrifice of material things must precede this advanced spiritual understanding.  The highest prayer is not one of faith merely; it is demonstration.  Such prayer heals sickness, and must destroy sin and death.  It distinguishes between Truth that is sinless and the falsity of sinful sense. 

37:16‑14
  When will Jesus' professed followers learn to emulate him in all his ways and to imitate his mighty works?  Those who procured the martyrdom of that righteous man would gladly have turned his sacred career into a mutilated doctrinal platform.  May the Christians of to‑day take up the more practical import of that career!  It is possible,‑‑yea, it is the duty and privilege of every child, man, and woman,‑‑to follow in some degree the example of the Master by the demonstration of Truth and Life, of health and holiness.  Chris‑tians claim to be his followers, but do they follow him in the way that he commanded?  Hear these imperative commands: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect!"  "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature!"  "Heal the sick!"
  Why has this Christian demand so little inspiration to stir mankind to Christian effort?  Because men are assured that this command was intended only for a particular period and for a select number of followers.  This teaching is even more pernicious than the old doctrine of foreordination,‑‑the election of a few to be saved, while the rest are damned; and so it will be considered, when the lethargy of mortals, produced by man‑made doctrines, is broken by the demands of divine Science. 
  Jesus said: "These signs shall follow them that believe; . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."  Who believes him?  He was addressing his disciples, yet he did not say, "These signs shall follow you," but them‑‑"them that believe" in all time to come. 

68:27
  Christian Science presents unfoldment, not accretion; it manifests no material growth from molecule to mind, but an impartation of the divine Mind to man and the universe.  Proportionately as human generation ceases, the unbroken links of eternal, harmonious being will be spiritually discerned; and man, not of the earth earthly but coexistent with God, will appear.  The scientific fact that man and the universe are evolved from Spirit, and so are spiritual, is as fixed in divine Science as is the proof that mortals gain the sense of health only as they lose the sense of sin and disease.  Mortals can never understand God's creation while believing that man is a creator.  God's children already created will be cognized only as man finds the truth of being.  Thus it is that the real, ideal man appears in proportion as the false and material disappears.  No longer to marry or to be "given in marriage" neither closes man's continuity nor his sense of increasing number in God's infinite plan.  Spiritually to understand that there is but one creator, God, unfolds all creation, confirms the Scriptures, brings the sweet assurance of no parting, no pain, and of man deathless and perfect and eternal. 

167:22
It is not wise to take a halting and half‑way position or to expect to work equally with Spirit and matter, Truth and error.  There is but one way‑‑namely, God and His idea‑‑which leads to spiritual being.  The scientific government of the body must be attained through the divine Mind.  It is impossible to gain control over the body in any other way.  On this fundamental point, timid conservatism is absolutely inadmissible.  Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized. 

176:17‑32
  Human fear of miasma would load with disease the air of Eden, and weigh down mankind with superimposed and conjectural evils.  Mortal mind is the worst foe of the body, while divine Mind is its best friend. 
  Should all cases of organic disease be treated by a regular practitioner, and the Christian Scientist try truth only in cases of hysteria, hypochondria, and hallucination?  One disease is no more real than another.  All disease is the result of education, and disease can carry its ill‑effects no farther than mortal mind maps out the way.  The human mind, not matter, is supposed to feel, suffer, enjoy.  Hence decided types of acute disease are quite as ready to yield to Truth as the less distinct type and chronic form of disease.  Truth handles the most malignant contagion with perfect assurance. 

192:4
  We are Christian Scientists, only as we quit our reliance upon that which is false and grasp the true.  We are not Christian Scientists until we leave all for Christ.  Human opinions are not spiritual.  They come from the hearing of the ear, from corporeality instead of from Principle, and from the mortal instead of from the immortal.  Spirit is not separate from God.  Spirit is God. 

223:7‑19
  Matter does not express Spirit.  God is infinite omnipresent Spirit.  If Spirit is all and is everywhere, what and where is matter?  Remember that truth is greater than error, and we cannot put the greater into the less.  Soul is Spirit, and Spirit is greater than body.  If Spirit were once within the body, Spirit would be finite, and therefore could not be Spirit. 
  The question, "What is Truth," convulses the world.  Many are ready to meet this inquiry with the assurance which comes of understanding; but more are blinded by their old illusions, and try to "give it pause."  "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

352:12‑32
  Would a mother say to her child, who is frightened at imaginary ghosts and sick in consequence of the fear: "I know that ghosts are real.  They exist, and are to be feared; but you must not be afraid of them"? 
  Children, like adults, ought to fear a reality which can harm them and which they do not understand, for at any moment they may become its helpless victims; but instead of increasing children's fears by declaring ghosts to be real, merciless, and powerful, thus watering the very roots of childish timidity, children should be assured that their fears are groundless, that ghosts are not realities, but traditional beliefs, erroneous and man‑made. 
  In short, children should be told not to believe in ghosts, because there are no such things.  If belief in their reality is destroyed, terror of ghosts will depart and health be restored.  The objects of alarm will then vanish into nothingness, no longer seeming worthy of fear or honor.  To accomplish a good result, it is certainly not irrational to tell the truth about ghosts. 

387:3
  Because mortal mind is kept active, must it pay the penalty in a softened brain?  Who dares to say that actual Mind can be overworked?  When we reach our limits of mental endurance, we conclude that intellectual labor has been carried sufficiently far; but when we realize that immortal Mind is ever active, and that spiritual energies can neither wear out nor can so‑called material law trespass upon God‑given powers and resources, we are able to rest in Truth, refreshed by the assurances of immortality, opposed to mortality. 

Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.


 Hymn 354 
 Benjamin Beddome – Adapted

 'Tis God the Spirit leads
   In paths before unknown;
 The work to be performed is ours,
   The strength is all His own.

 Supported by His grace,
   We still pursue our way;
 Assured that we shall reach the prize,
   Secure in endless day.

 God works in us to will,
   He works in us to do;
 His is the power by which we act,
   His be the glory too.

Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.


 Hymn 390 
 William F. Sherwin – Adapted

 Why is thy faith in God's great love so small?
 Why doth thy heart shrink back at duty's call?
 Art thou obeying this:  Abide in me;
 And doth the Master's word abide in thee?

 O blest assurance from our risen Lord;
 O precious comfort breathing from the Word.
 How great the promise, could there greater be?
 Ask what thou wilt, it shall be done for thee.

 Ask what thou wilt, but O, remember this,
 We ask and have not when we ask amiss.
 If weak in faith, we only half believe
 That what we ask we really shall receive.

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