Sunday, January 15th, 2017


Subject — Life

Golden Text: Proverbs 10: 16


“The labour of the righteous tendeth to life.”


PDF Downloads: This Week's Lesson, January's Full Text Lesson Book, and the January / February / March 2017 Quarterly


Click here to listen as you read:

████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████


Responsive Reading: James 1 : 18, 21-25, 27

18.     Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

21.     Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22.     But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23.     For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24.     For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25.     But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

27.     Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.


Lesson Sermon

The Bible


1.     John 1 : 1, 4

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.


2.     Micah 6 : 8

8     He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?


3.     Psalm 34 : 2, 12, 14, 15

2     My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

12     What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

14     Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

15     The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.


4.     Joshua 14 : 6-12 (to ;), 13, 14 (because)

6     Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.

7     Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

8     Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

9     And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

10     And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11     As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

12     Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day;

13     And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

14     …because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.


5.     Proverbs 21 : 21

21     He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.


6.     Ecclesiastes 2 : 26 (to 1st .)

26     For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God.


7.     Jeremiah 9 : 23, 24

23     Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

24     But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.


8.     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.


9.     Matthew 19 : 16-23, 27-29

16     And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17     And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

18     He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

19     Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

20     The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

21     Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

22     But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

23     Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

27     Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

28     And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29     And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.


10.     Romans 1 : 1

1     Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,


11.     Romans 12 : 1, 2

1     I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2     And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.



Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures


1.     331 : 5-6

Life is Mind, the creator reflected in His creations.


2.     516 : 4-5 (to ;), 9-12

The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation;

God fashions all things, after His own likeness. Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence.


3.     58 : 7-11

Unselfish ambition, noble life-motives, and purity, — these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence.


4.     248 : 12-32

The sculptor turns from the marble to his model in order to perfect his conception. We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling thought. What is the model before mortal mind? Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow, sin, suffering? Have you accepted the mortal model? Are you reproducing it? Then you are haunted in your work by vicious sculptors and hideous forms. Do you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model? The world is holding it before your gaze continually. The result is that you are liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your life-work, and adopt into your experience the angular outline and deformity of matter models.

To remedy this, we must first turn our gaze in the right direction, and then walk that way. We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love

— the kingdom of heaven — reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.


5.     9 : 5-16, 22-24

The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for some- thing better, though we give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us; but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition

of our hope and faith.

It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, and material sense and human will have no place.


6.     428 : 15-21

We should consecrate existence, not "to the unknown God" whom we "ignorantly worship," but to the eternal builder, the everlasting Father, to the Life which mortal sense cannot impair nor mortal belief destroy. We must realize the ability of mental might to offset human misconceptions and to replace them with the life which is spiritual, not material.


7.     325 : 20-26

Paul had a clear sense of the demands of Truth upon mortals physically and spiritually, when he said: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." But he, who is begotten of the beliefs of the flesh and serves them, can never reach in this world the divine heights of our Lord.


8.     167 : 6-7, 32-3

We apprehend Life in divine Science only as we live above corporeal sense and correct it.

Substituting good words for a good life, fair seeming for straightforward character, is a poor shift for the weak and worldly, who think the standard of Christian Science too high for them.


9.     324 : 32-9

Jesus said substantially, "He that believeth in me shall not see death." That is, he who perceives the true idea of Life loses his belief in death. He who has the true idea of good loses all sense of evil, and by reason of this is being ushered into the undying realities of Spirit. Such a one abideth in Life, — life obtained not of the body incapable of supporting life, but of Truth, unfolding its own immortal idea. Jesus gave the true idea of being, which results in infinite blessings to mortals.


10.     323 : 24-27

The true idea of God gives the true understanding of Life and Love, robs the grave of victory, takes away all sin and the delusion that there are other minds, and destroys mortality.


11.     428 : 30-4

The author has healed hopeless organic disease, and raised the dying to life and health through the understanding of God as the only Life. It is a sin to believe that aught can overpower omnipotent and eternal Life, and this Life must be brought to light by the understanding that there is no death, as well as by other graces of Spirit.


12.     454 : 17-21

Love for God and man is the true incentive in both healing and teaching. Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action.


13.     487 : 25-29

The Apostle James said, "Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality.


14.     14 : 25-30

Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man's dominion over the whole earth. This understanding casts out error and heals the sick, and with it you can speak "as one having authority."


15.     496 : 9-19

We all must learn that Life is God. Ask yourself: Am I living the life that approaches the supreme good? Am I demonstrating the healing power of Truth and Love? If so, then the way will grow brighter "unto the perfect day." Your fruits will prove what the understanding of God brings to man. Hold perpetually this thought, — that it is the spiritual idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which enables you to demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of healing, based upon its divine Principle, Love, underlying, overlying, and encompassing all true being.


If this lesson inspires you with a comment or question — or would like to see what others have to say about this lesson — click this text to visit the PlainfieldCS.com Forum.


████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████


Click here for the Daily Duties.


████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████