Sunday, September 15th, 2019



SubjectSubstance

Golden Text: Psalm 78 : 19



Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?




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Responsive Reading: I Chronicles 16 : 8-12, 23, 24


8.     Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

9.     Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.

10.     Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

11.     Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.

12.     Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

23.     Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation.

24.     Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.



Lesson Sermon



The Bible


1. Deuteronomy 28 : 12

12     The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

2. Romans 11 : 33, 36 (to 1st .)

33     O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

36     For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.

3. Psalm 68 : 17 (to :), 19 (to 1st .)

17     The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels:

19     Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.

4. Exodus 16 : 11-18

11     And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

12     I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

13     And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

14     And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.

15     And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

16     This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

17     And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.

18     And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

5. Exodus 17 : 1-7

1     And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

2     Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?

3     And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

4     And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

5     And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

6     Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7     And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?

6. Isaiah 58 : 11

11     And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

7. Matthew 4 : 23

23     And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

8. Matthew 5 : 2

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

9. Matthew 6 : 26, 28 (Consider), 29

26     Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

28     Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29     And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

10. John 21 : 4 (when)-6

4     …when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

5     Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.

6     And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

11. Proverbs 8 : 14, 18-21

14     Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.

18     Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

19     My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.

20     I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

21     That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

12. Philippians 4 : 19 (my)

19     …my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.



Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures


1. 330 : 11 (God)-12

God is infinite, the only Life, substance, Spirit, or Soul, the only intelligence of the universe, including man.

2. 468 : 16-24

Question. — What is substance?

Answer. — Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay. Truth, Life, and Love are substance, as the Scriptures use this word in Hebrews: "The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Spirit, the synonym of Mind, Soul, or God, is the only real substance. The spiritual universe, including individual man, is a compound idea, reflecting the divine substance of Spirit. 

3. 349 : 31-5

In Christian Science, substance is understood to be Spirit, while the opponents of Christian Science believe substance to be matter. They think of matter as something and almost the only thing, and of the things which pertain to Spirit as next to nothing, or as very far removed from daily experience. Christian Science takes exactly the opposite view.

4. 335 : 12-15

Spirit is the only substance, the invisible and indivisible infinite God. Things spiritual and eternal are substantial. Things material and temporal are insubstantial.

5. 507 : 11-8

Genesis i. 11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

The universe of Spirit reflects the creative power of the divine Principle, or Life, which reproduces the multitudinous forms of Mind and governs the multiplication of the compound idea man. The tree and herb do not yield fruit because of any propagating power of their own, but because they reflect the Mind which includes all. A material world implies a mortal mind and man a creator. The scientific divine creation declares immortal Mind and the universe created by God.

Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout His creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source. Mortal sense inverts this appearing and calls ideas material. Thus misinterpreted, the divine idea seems to fall to the level of a human or material belief, called mortal man. But the seed is in itself, only as the divine Mind is All and reproduces all — as Mind is the multiplier, and Mind's infinite idea, man and the universe, is the product. The only intelligence or substance of a thought, a seed, or a flower is God, the creator of it. Mind is the Soul of all. Mind is Life, Truth, and Love which governs all.

6. 60 : 29-31

Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul.

7. 206 : 15-18

In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes, — Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply.

8. 507 : 3-6

Spirit duly feeds and clothes every object, as it appears in the line of spiritual creation, thus tenderly expressing the fatherhood and motherhood of God.

9. 2 : 26 (Shall)-30

Shall we plead for more at the open fount, which is pouring forth more than we accept? The unspoken desire does bring us nearer the source of all existence and blessedness.

10. 530 : 5-12

In divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine Principle of being. The earth, at God's command, brings forth food for man's use. Knowing this, Jesus once said, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink," — presuming not on the prerogative of his creator, but recognizing God, the Father and Mother of all, as able to feed and clothe man as He doth the lilies.

11. 442 : 22-29

Christ, Truth, gives mortals temporary food and clothing until the material, transformed with the ideal, disappears, and man is clothed and fed spiritually. St. Paul says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling:" Jesus said, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." This truth is Christian Science.

12. 367 : 30-32

Because Truth is infinite, error should be known as nothing. Because Truth is omnipotent in goodness, error, Truth's opposite, has no might.

13. 454 : 4-9

Teach your students the omnipotence of Truth, which illustrates the impotence of error. The understanding, even in a degree, of the divine All-power destroys fear, and plants the feet in the true path, — the path which leads to the house built without hands "eternal in the heavens."

14. 578 : 5-18

[Divine love] is my shepherd; I shall not want.

[Love] maketh me to lie down in green pastures: [love] leadeth me beside the still waters.

[Love] restoreth my soul [spiritual sense]: [love] leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for [love] is with me; [love’s] rod and [love’s] staff they comfort me.

[Love] prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: [love] anointeth my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [love] for ever.

15. 494 : 10-14

Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demonstrated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good.


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