Sunday, May 15th, 2016


Subject — Mortals And Immortals

Golden Text: Matthew 5: 48


“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”


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Responsive Reading: II Corinthians 5 : 1-8

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.

2.     For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

3.     If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

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.


Lesson Sermon

The Bible


1.     Job 33 : 4

4     The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.


2.     I John 3 : 2

2     Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.


3.     John 5 : 1-9

1     After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2     Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

3     In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

4     For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

5     And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6     When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

7     The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8     Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

9     And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.


4.     Matthew 10 : 1, 5-8, 16-20, 28

1     And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

5     These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

6     But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7     And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

8     Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

16     Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

17     But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

18     And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

19     But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

20     For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

28     And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.


5.     I Corinthians 15 : 51-54

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.


6.     Romans 8 : 13-15

13     For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

14     For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15     For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.


7.     I Peter 1 : 22-25 (to 1st .)

22     Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

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

24     For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

25     But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.


8.     II Corinthians 5 : 16, 17

16     Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

17     Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.


9.     Revelation 21 : 1, 3-7

1     And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

3     And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4     And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5     And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6     And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7     He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.



Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures


1.     344 : 7 (God)-8

…God has created man in His own image and after His likeness.


2.     554 : 3 (the)-7

…the universe, inclusive of man, is as eternal as God, who is its divine immortal Principle. There is no such thing as mortality, nor are there properly any mortal beings, because being is immortal, like Deity, — or, rather, being and Deity are inseparable.


3.     259 : 6-14, 19-21

In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying. The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea, — perfect God and perfect man, — as the basis of thought and demonstration.

Understanding this, Jesus said: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."


4.     209 : 1-4

Man, being immortal, has a perfect indestructible life. It is the mortal belief which makes the body discordant and diseased in proportion as ignorance, fear, or human will governs mortals.


5.     289 : 8-13

A wicked mortal is not the idea of God. He is little else than the expression of error. To suppose that sin, lust, hatred, envy, hypocrisy, revenge, have life abiding in them, is a terrible mistake.

Life and Life's idea, Truth and Truth's idea, never make men sick, sinful, or mortal.


6.     250 : 6-13

Mortal existence is a dream; mortal existence has no real entity, but saith "It is I." Spirit is the Ego which never dreams, but understands all things; which never errs, and is ever conscious; which never believes, but knows; which is never born and never dies. Spiritual man is the likeness of this Ego. Man is not God, but like a ray of light which comes from the sun, man, the outcome of God, reflects God.


7.     476 : 32-5

Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy.


8.     477 : 9 (To)-18

To the five corporeal senses, man appears to be matter and mind united; but Christian Science reveals man as the idea of God, and declares the corporeal senses to be mortal and erring illusions. Divine Science shows it to be impossible that a material body, though interwoven with matter's highest stratum, misnamed mind, should be man, — the genuine and perfect man, the immortal idea of being, indestructible and eternal. Were it otherwise, man would be annihilated.


9.     63 : 5-11

In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being.


10.     216 : 11-21, 28-1

The understanding that the Ego is Mind, and that there is but one Mind or intelligence, begins at once to destroy the errors of mortal sense and to supply the truth of immortal sense. This understanding makes the body harmonious; it makes the nerves, bones, brain, etc., servants, instead of masters. If man is governed by the law of divine Mind, his body is in submission to everlasting Life and Truth and Love. The great mistake of mortals is to suppose that man, God's image and likeness, is both matter and Spirit, both good and evil.

When you say, "Man's body is material," I say with Paul: Be "willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Give up your material belief of mind in matter, and have but one Mind, even God; for this Mind forms its own likeness.


11.     14 : 9-22

To be "with the Lord" is to be in obedience to the law of God, to be absolutely governed by divine Love, — by Spirit, not by matter.

Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, — neither in nor of matter, — and the body will then utter no complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well. Sorrow is turned into joy when the body is controlled by spiritual Life, Truth, and Love. Hence the hope of the promise Jesus bestows: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; . . . because I go unto my Father," — [because the Ego is absent from the body, and present with Truth and Love.]


12.     302 : 15 (harmonious)-24

…harmonious and immortal man has existed forever, and is always beyond and above the mortal illusion of any life, substance, and intelligence as existent in matter. This statement is based on fact, not fable. The Science of being reveals man as perfect, even as the Father is perfect, because the Soul, or Mind, of the spiritual man is God, the divine Principle of all being, and because this real man is governed by Soul instead of sense, by the law of Spirit, not by the so-called laws of matter.


13.     253 : 32-8

The divine demand, "Be ye therefore perfect," is scientific, and the human footsteps leading to perfection are indispensable. Individuals are consistent who, watching and praying, can "run, and not be weary; . . .walk, and not faint," who gain good rapidly and hold their position, or attain slowly and yield not to discouragement. God requires perfection, but not until the battle between Spirit and flesh is fought and the victory won.


14.     254 : 12-15

Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much.


15.     428 : 22-23

The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man is, not shall be, perfect and immortal.



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