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.
