Subject — Truth

1.     My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments;

2.     For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

3.     Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

4.     So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

2.     Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

4.     Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5.     For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

1.     John 1 : 1, 4, 5, 14, 17

1     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

4     In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5     And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

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.

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

2.     Matthew 13 : 1-9, 18-23

1     The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2     And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3     And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4     And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5     Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6     And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7     And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8     But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9     Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

18     Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

19     When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

20     But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21     Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

22     He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

23     But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

3.     III John : 11

11     Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

4.     Isaiah 5 : 11, 12 (but), 20, 21

11     Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12     …but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

20     Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21     Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

5.     Acts 4 : 33-35

33     And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

34     Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

35     And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

6.     Acts 5 : 1-12 (to ;), 16

1     But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

2     And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

3     But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

4     Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

5     And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

6     And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

7     And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

8     And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

9     Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

10     Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

11     And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

12     And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people;

16     There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

7.     Psalm 25 : 4, 5

4     Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

5     Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

8.     III John : 4

4     I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

1.     142 : 31-4

Truth is God's remedy for error of every kind, and Truth destroys only what is untrue. Hence the fact that, to-day, as yesterday, Christ casts out evils and heals the sick.

2.     243 : 27-29

Truth, Life, and Love are a law of annihilation to everything unlike themselves, because they declare nothing except God.

3.     viii : 12-15

The question, What is Truth, is answered by demonstration, — by healing both disease and sin; and this demonstration shows that Christian healing confers the most health and makes the best men.

4.     4 : 3-11

What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds. To keep the commandments of our Master and follow his example, is our proper debt to him and the only worthy evidence of our gratitude for all that he has done. Outward worship is not of itself sufficient to express loyal and heartfelt gratitude, since he has said: "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

5.     272 : 3-16

The spiritual sense of truth must be gained before Truth can be understood. This sense is assimilated only as we are honest, unselfish, loving, and meek. In the soil of an "honest and good heart" the seed must be sown; else it beareth not much fruit, for the swinish element in human nature uproots it. Jesus said: "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures." The spiritual sense of the Scriptures brings out the scientific sense, and is the new tongue referred to in the last chapter of Mark's Gospel.

Jesus' parable of "the sower" shows the care our Master took not to impart to dull ears and gross hearts the spiritual teachings which dulness and grossness could not accept.

6.     453 : 6-8, 16-20

Right and wrong, truth and error, will be at strife in the minds of students, until victory rests on the side of invincible truth.

Honesty is spiritual power. Dishonesty is human weakness, which forfeits divine help. You uncover sin, not in order to injure, but in order to bless the corporeal man; and a right motive has its reward.

7.     26 : 14-18, 21-27

Divine Truth, Life, and Love gave Jesus authority over sin, sickness, and death. His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does for man.

Jesus' teaching and practice of Truth involved such a sacrifice as makes us admit its Principle to be Love. This was the precious import of our Master's sinless career and of his demonstration of power over death. He proved by his deeds that Christian Science destroys sickness, sin, and death.

8.     27 : 17-21

Jesus' parables explain Life as never mingling with sin and death. He laid the axe of Science at the root of material knowledge, that it might be ready to cut down the false doctrine of pantheism, — that God, or Life, is in or of matter.

9.     471 : 6-21

The unlikeness of Truth, — named error, — the opposite of Science, and the evidence before the five corporeal senses, afford no indication of the grand facts of being; even as these so-called senses receive no intimation of the earth's motions or of the science of astronomy, but yield assent to astronomical propositions on the authority of natural science.

The facts of divine Science should be admitted, — although the evidence as to these facts is not supported by evil, by matter, or by material sense, — because the evidence that God and man coexist is fully sustained by spiritual sense. Man is, and forever has been, God's reflection. God is infinite, therefore ever present, and there is no other power nor presence. Hence the spirituality of the universe is the only fact of creation. "Let God be true, but every [material] man a liar."

10.     412 : 16-18

To prevent disease or to cure it, the power of Truth, of divine Spirit, must break the dream of the material senses.

11.     22 : 11-22

"Work out your own salvation," is the demand of Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. "Occupy till I come!" Wait for your reward, and "be not weary in well doing." If your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a sluggard in the race.

When the smoke of battle clears away, you will discern the good you have done, and receive according to your deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver us from temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.

12.     420 : 10-13, 17-27

Instruct the sick that they are not helpless victims, for if they will only accept Truth, they can resist disease and ward it off, as positively as they can the temptation to sin. …The fact that Truth overcomes both disease and sin reassures depressed hope. It imparts a healthy stimulus to the body, and regulates the system. It increases or diminishes the action, as the case may require, better than any drug, alterative, or tonic.

Mind is the natural stimulus of the body, but erroneous belief, taken at its best, is not promotive of health or happiness. Tell the sick that they can meet disease fearlessly, if they only realize that divine Love gives them all power over every physical action and condition.

13.     419 : 1-7

A moral question may hinder the recovery of the sick. Lurking error, lust, envy, revenge, malice, or hate will perpetuate or even create the belief in disease. Errors of all sorts tend in this direction. Your true course is to destroy the foe, and leave the field to God, Life, Truth, and Love, remembering that God and His ideas alone are real and harmonious.

14.     418 : 5-11

Stick to the truth of being in contradistinction to the error that life, substance, or intelligence can be in matter. Plead with an honest conviction of truth and a clear perception of the unchanging, unerring, and certain effect of divine Science. Then, if your fidelity is half equal to the truth of your plea, you will heal the sick.

15.     380 : 4 only

Truth is always the victor.