Responsive Reading: I John 5 : 3-6, 20

3.     For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

4.     For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5.     Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

6.     This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

20.     And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

1. Deuteronomy 32 : 1-4

1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

2     My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

3     Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

4     He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

2. Isaiah 28 : 16, 17

16     Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

17     Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

3. Proverbs 12 : 19

19     The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

4. John 1 : 6-8, 14, 16, 17

6     There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7     The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8     He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

14     And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

16     And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

17     For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

5. Mark 5 : 25-30, 32-34

25     And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

26     And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

27     When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

28     For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

29     And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

30     And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

32     And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

33     But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

34     And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

6. Matthew 5 : 1, 2, 6, 17

1     And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2     And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

6     Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

17     Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

7. Matthew 7 : 24-27

24     Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25     And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26     And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27     And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

8. Hebrews 4 : 12

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.

9. Matthew 16 : 13-18

13     When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14     And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15     He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16     And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17     And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18     And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

10. John 8 : 12-16, 31, 32

12     Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

13     The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.

14     Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

15     Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

16     And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

31     Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32     And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

1. vii : 13-21

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 steppingstone 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."

2. 254 : 10-12

When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path.

3. 224 : 28-31

Truth brings the elements of liberty. On its banner is the Soul-inspired motto, "Slavery is abolished." The power of God brings deliverance to the captive. No power can withstand divine Love.

4. 136 : 1-2, 29-11

Jesus established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing.

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.

Yearning to be understood, the Master repeated, "But whom say ye that I am?" This renewed inquiry meant: Who or what is it that is able to do the work, so mysterious to the popular mind?

5. 137 : 16-11

With his usual impetuosity, Simon replied for his brethren, and his reply set forth a great fact: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!" That is: The Messiah is what thou hast declared, — Christ, the spirit of God, of Truth, Life, and Love, which heals mentally. This assertion elicited from Jesus the benediction, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven;" that is, Love hath shown thee the way of Life!

Before this the impetuous disciple had been called only by his common names, Simon Bar-jona, or son of Jona; but now the Master gave him a spiritual name in these words: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock [the meaning of the Greek word petros, or stone] I will build my church; and the gates of hell [hades, the underworld, or the grave] shall not prevail against it." In other words, Jesus purposed founding his society, not on the personal Peter as a mortal, but on the God-power which lay behind Peter's confession of the true Messiah.

It was now evident to Peter that divine Life, Truth, and Love, and not a human personality, was the healer of the sick and a rock, a firm foundation in the realm of harmony. On this spiritually scientific basis Jesus explained his cures, which appeared miraculous to outsiders.

6. 380 : 5-7, 19-21

Truth is the rock of ages, the headstone of the corner, "but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."

Nothing but the power of Truth can prevent the fear of error, and prove man's dominion over error.

7. 269 : 21-28

The testimony of the material senses is neither absolute nor divine. I therefore plant myself unreservedly on the teachings of Jesus, of his apostles, of the prophets, and on the testimony of the Science of Mind. Other foundations there are none. All other systems — systems based wholly or partly on knowledge gained through the material senses — are reeds shaken by the wind, not houses built on the rock.

8. 542 : 7-13

Truth, through her eternal laws, unveils error. Truth causes sin to betray itself, and sets upon error the mark of the beast. Even the disposition to excuse guilt or to conceal it is punished. The avoidance of justice and the denial of truth tend to perpetuate sin, invoke crime, jeopardize self-control, and mock divine mercy.

9. 368 : 2-19

The confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal. Error is a coward before Truth. Divine Science insists that time will prove all this. Both truth and error have come nearer than ever before to the apprehension of mortals, and truth will become still clearer as error is self-destroyed.

Against the fatal beliefs that error is as real as Truth, that evil is equal in power to good if not superior, and that discord is as normal as harmony, even the hope of freedom from the bondage of sickness and sin has little inspiration to nerve endeavor. When we come to have more faith in the truth of being than we have in error, more faith in Spirit than in matter, more faith in living than in dying, more faith in God than in man, then no material suppositions can prevent us from healing the sick and destroying error.

10. 191 : 8-15

As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to "where the young child was," — even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error.

11. 225 : 5-13

You may know when first Truth leads by the fewness and faithfulness of its followers. Thus it is that the march of time bears onward freedom's banner. The powers of this world will fight, and will command their sentinels not to let truth pass the guard until it subscribes to their systems; but Science, heeding not the pointed bayonet, marches on. There is always some tumult, but there is a rallying to truth's standard.

12. 450 : 15-26

Some people yield slowly to the touch of Truth. Few yield without a struggle, and many are reluctant to acknowledge that they have yielded; but unless this admission is made, evil will boast itself above good. The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good. Sickness to him is no less a temptation than is sin, and he heals them both by understanding God's power over them. The Christian Scientist knows that they are errors of belief, which Truth can and will destroy.

13. 380 : 4 only

Truth is always the victor.