Responsive Reading: I Corinthians 15 : 50-54

50.     Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

51.     Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52.     In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53.     For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54.     So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

1. Psalm 17 : 1 (O Lord), 15

1     O Lord, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

15     As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

2. Psalm 68 : 20

20     He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.

3. Hosea 13 : 4 (I), 9, 14 (to 2nd :)

4     I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

9     O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

14     I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction:

4. Luke 4 : 1 (to 1st ,)

1     And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan,

5. Luke 8 : 40-42 (to 1st .), 49-56 (to :)

40     And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him.

41     And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus’ feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:

42     For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying.

49     While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.

50     But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

51     And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.

52     And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.

53     And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

54     And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

55     And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.

56     And her parents were astonished:

6. Luke 17 : 20, 21

20     And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

21     Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

7. Romans 6 : 16-18, 22, 23

16     Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

17     But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

18     Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

22     But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

23     For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

8. I Peter 1 : 3-6 (to 1st ,), 7-9, 13-16

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,

5     Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6     Wherein ye greatly rejoice,

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:

8     Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

9     Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

13     Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

14     As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15     But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16     Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

9. II Corinthians 5 : 1, 4-10 (to ;)

1     For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

4     For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

5     Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

6     Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

7     (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

8     We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

9     Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

10     For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;

1. 470 : 21-24

God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect. Man is the expression of God's being.

2. 242 : 9-14

There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way. It is to know no other reality — to have no other consciousness of life — than good, God and His reflection, and to rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses.

3. 324 : 4-18

The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

Unless the harmony and immortality of man are becoming more apparent, we are not gaining the true idea of God; and the body will reflect what governs it, whether it be Truth or error, understanding or belief, Spirit or matter. Therefore "acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace." Be watchful, sober, and vigilant. The way is straight and narrow, which leads to the understanding that God is the only Life. It is a warfare with the flesh, in which we must conquer sin, sickness, and death, either here or hereafter, — certainly before we can reach the goal of Spirit, or life in God.

4. 291 : 12-18, 23-25 (to 1st .), 28-31

Universal salvation rests on progression and probation, and is unattainable without them. Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of "the mind of the Lord," as the Scripture says.

As death findeth mortal man, so shall he be after death, until probation and growth shall effect the needed change.

No final judgment awaits mortals, for the judgment-day of wisdom comes hourly and continually, even the judgment by which mortal man is divested of all material error.

5. 46 : 20-24

Jesus' unchanged physical condition after what seemed to be death was followed by his exaltation above all material conditions; and this exaltation explained his ascension, and revealed unmistakably a probationary and progressive state beyond the grave.

6. 290 : 16-11

If the change called death destroyed the belief in sin, sickness, and death, happiness would be won at the moment of dissolution, and be forever permanent; but this is not so. Perfection is gained only by perfection. They who are unrighteous shall be unrighteous still, until in divine Science Christ, Truth, removes all ignorance and sin.

The sin and error which possess us at the instant of death do not cease at that moment, but endure until the death of these errors. To be wholly spiritual, man must be sinless, and he becomes thus only when he reaches perfection. The murderer, though slain in the act, does not thereby forsake sin. He is no more spiritual for believing that his body died and learning that his cruel mind died not. His thoughts are no purer until evil is disarmed by good. His body is as material as his mind, and vice versa.

The suppositions that sin is pardoned while unforsaken, that happiness can be genuine in the midst of sin, that the so-called death of the body frees from sin, and that God's pardon is aught but the destruction of sin, — these are grave mistakes. We know that all will be changed "in the twinkling of an eye," when the last trump shall sound; but this last call of wisdom cannot come till mortals have already yielded to each lesser call in the growth of Christian character. Mortals need not fancy that belief in the experience of death will awaken them to glorified being.

7. 569 : 3-5

Every mortal at some period, here or hereafter, must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a power opposed to God.

8. 77 : 9-11

Death will occur on the next plane of existence as on this, until the spiritual understanding of Life is reached.

9. 409 : 27-7

We have no right to say that life depends on matter now, but will not depend on it after death. We cannot spend our days here in ignorance of the Science of Life, and expect to find beyond the grave a reward for this ignorance. Death will not make us harmonious and immortal as a recompense for ignorance. If here we give no heed to Christian Science, which is spiritual and eternal, we shall not be ready for spiritual Life hereafter.

"This is life eternal," says Jesus, — is, not shall be; and then he defines everlasting life as a present knowledge of his Father and of himself, — the knowledge of Love, Truth, and Life.

10. 427 : 29-14

The dream of death must be mastered by Mind here or hereafter. Thought will waken from its own material declaration, "I am dead," to catch this trumpet-word of Truth, "There is no death, no inaction, diseased action, overaction, nor reaction."

Life is real, and death is the illusion. A demonstration of the facts of Soul in Jesus' way resolves the dark visions of material sense into harmony and immortality. Man's privilege at this supreme moment is to prove the words of our Master: "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." To divest thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear, — this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep away the false and give place to the true. Thus we may establish in truth the temple, or body, "whose builder and maker is God."

11. 74 : 10-12

When here or hereafter the belief of life in matter is extinct, the error which has held the belief dissolves with the belief, and never returns to the old condition.

12. 296 : 4-13

Progress is born of experience. It is the ripening of mortal man, through which the mortal is dropped for the immortal. Either here or hereafter, suffering or Science must destroy all illusions regarding life and mind, and regenerate material sense and self. The old man with his deeds must be put off. Nothing sensual or sinful is immortal. The death of a false material sense and of sin, not the death of organic matter, is what reveals man and Life, harmonious, real, and eternal.

13. 492 : 11-12

Thus progress will finally destroy all error, and bring immortality to light.