Subject — Sacrament

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.

9.     Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

10.     Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

11.     Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12.     Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.

14.     Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

18.     If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

21.     Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

1.     I Samuel 15: 22 (Behold)

22     ...Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

2.     Deuteronomy 10: 12 (what)

12     ...what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

3.     James 1: 19, 21 (lay)-25, 27

19     Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

21     ...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.

4.     Luke 4: 14, 15

14     And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

15     And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

5.     Luke 10: 25-37

25     And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26     He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27     And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

28     And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29     But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

30     And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31     And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32     And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33     But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

34     And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35     And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36     Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37     And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

6.     Luke 6: 47-49

47     Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

48     He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

49     But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

7.     Luke 22: 7-18

7     Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.

8     And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

9     And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?

10     And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.

11     And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

12     And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.

13     And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.

14     And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

15     And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

16     For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

17     And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:

18     For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

8.     John 21: 1 (to ;), 14-17

1     After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias;

14     This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

15     So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16     He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17     He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

9.     John 14: 15

15     If ye love me, keep my commandments.

1.     496: 6 (in)-8

...in Christian Science the first duty is to obey God, to have one Mind, and to love another as yourself.

2.     vii: 18-21

The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal. Though empires fall, "the Lord shall reign forever."

3.     140: 8-15

We shall obey and adore in proportion as we apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly, warring no more over the corporeality, but rejoicing in the affluence of our God. Religion will then be of the heart and not of the head. Mankind will no longer be tyrannical and proscriptive from lack of love, — straining out gnats and swallowing camels.

4.     20: 8-13

Jesus' history made a new calendar, which we call the Christian era; but he established no ritualistic worship. He knew that men can be baptized, partake of the Eucharist, support the clergy, observe the Sabbath, make long prayers, and yet be sensual and sinful .

5.     19: 6-7 (to ,), 29-5

Jesus aided in reconciling man to God by giving man a truer sense of Love, Jesus urged the commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," which may be ren- dered: Thou shalt have no belief of Life as mortal; thou shalt not know evil, for there is one Life, — even God, good. He rendered "unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." He at last paid no homage to forms of doctrine or to theories of man, but acted and spake as he was moved, not by spirits but by Spirit.

6.     28: 9-11

While respecting all that is good in the Church or out of it, one's consecration to Christ is more on the ground of demonstration than of profession.

7.     40: 28-30

It is sad that the phrase divine service has come so generally to mean public worship instead of daily deeds.

8.     25: 26-32

Implicit faith in the Teacher and all the emotional love we can bestow on him, will never alone make us imitators of him. We must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to bestow upon us. The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus.

9.     32: 3-17 page 34

In ancient Rome a soldier was required to swear allegiance to his general. The Latin word for this oath was sacramentum, and our English word sacrament is derived from it. Among the Jews it was an ancient custom for the master of a feast to pass each guest a cup of wine. But the Eucharist does not commemorate a Roman soldier's oath, nor was the wine, used on convivial occasions and in Jewish rites, the cup of our Lord. The cup shows forth his bitter experience, — the cup which he prayed might pass from him, though he bowed in holy submission to the divine decree.

"As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it."

The true sense is spiritually lost, if the sacrament is confined to the use of bread and wine. The disciples had eaten, yet Jesus prayed and gave them bread. This would have been foolish in a literal sense; but in its spiritual signification, it was natural and beautiful. Jesus prayed; he withdrew from the material senses to refresh his heart with brighter, with spiritual views. The Passover, which Jesus ate with his disciples in the month Nisan on the night before his crucifixion, was a mournful occasion, a sad supper taken at the close of day, in the twilight of a glorious career with shadows fast falling around; and this supper closed forever Jesus' ritualism or concessions to matter.

His followers, sorrowful and silent, anticipating the hour of their Master's betrayal, partook of the heavenly manna, which of old had fed in the wilderness the persecuted followers of Truth. Their bread indeed came down from heaven. It was the great truth of spiritual being, healing the sick and casting out error. Their Master had explained it all before, and now this bread was feeding and sustaining them. They had borne this bread from house to house, breaking (explaining) it to others, and now it comforted themselves.

For this truth of spiritual being, their Master was about to suffer violence and drain to the dregs his cup of sorrow. He must leave them. With the great glory of an everlasting victory overshadowing him, he gave thanks and said, "Drink ye all of it."

When the human element in him struggled with the divine, our great Teacher said: "Not my will, but Thine, be done!"— that is, Let not the flesh, but the Spirit, be represented in me. This is the new understanding of spiritual Love. It gives all for Christ, or Truth. It blesses its enemies, heals the sick, casts out error, raises the dead from trespasses and sins, and preaches the gospel to the poor, the meek in heart.

Christians, are you drinking his cup? Have you shared the blood of the New Covenant, the persecutions which attend a new and higher understanding of God? If not, can you then say that you have commemorated Jesus in his cup? Are all who eat bread and drink wine in memory of Jesus willing truly to drink his cup, take his cross, and leave all for the Christ-principle? Then why ascribe this inspiration to a dead rite, instead of showing, by casting out error and making the body "holy, acceptable unto God," that Truth has come to the understanding? If Christ, Truth, has come to us in demonstration, no other commemoration is requisite, for demonstration is Immanuel, or God with us; and if a friend be with us, why need we memorials of that friend?

If all who ever partook of the sacrament had really commemorated the sufferings of Jesus and drunk of his cup, they would have revolutionized the world. If all who seek his commemoration through material symbols will take up the cross, heal the sick, cast out evils, and preach Christ, or Truth, to the poor, — the receptive thought, — they will bring in the millennium.