Subject — Sacrament

22.     Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23.     For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24.     God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25.     Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26.     And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27.     That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28.     For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

1.     Micah 6 : 6-8

6     Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

7     Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

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?

2.     Mark 1 : 25 (to Jesus)

25     And Jesus …

3.     Mark 2 : 1 (entered), 2, 15-28

1     …entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.

2     And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

15     And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.

16     And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

17     When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

18     And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

19     And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

20     But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

21     No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

22     And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

23     And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

24     And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

25     And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

26     How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

27     And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

28     Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

4.     Mark 14 : 1, 2, 16, 17, 22-26

1     After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

2     But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

16     And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.

17     And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.

22     And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

23     And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

24     And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

25     Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

26     And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

5.     John 13 : 31, 34, 35

31     Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

34     A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35     By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

6.     John 14 : 13-15

13     And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14     If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

15     If ye love me, keep my commandments.

7.     James 1 : 19, 21 (lay)-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.

26     If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

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.

1.     9 : 17-21 (to 1st .)

Dost thou "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship.

2.     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.

3.     4 : 32-2

Whatever materializes worship hinders man's spiritual growth and keeps him from demonstrating his power over error.

4.     350 : 6-15, 31-28

To understand all our Master's sayings as recorded in the New Testament, sayings infinitely important, his followers must grow into that stature of manhood in Christ Jesus which enables them to interpret his spiritual meaning. Then they know how Truth casts out error and heals the sick. His words were the offspring of his deeds, both of which must be understood. Unless the works are comprehended which his words explained, the words are blind.

In Jewish worship the Word was materially explained, and the spiritual sense was scarcely perceived. The religion which sprang from half-hidden Israelitish history was pedantic and void of healing power. When we lose faith in God's power to heal, we distrust the divine Principle which demonstrates Christian Science, and then we cannot heal the sick. Neither can we heal through the help of Spirit, if we plant ourselves on a material basis.

The author became a member of the orthodox Congregational Church in early years. Later she learned that her own prayers failed to heal her as did the prayers of her devout parents and the church; but when the spiritual sense of the creed was discerned in the Science of Christianity, this spiritual sense was a present help. It was the living, palpitating presence of Christ, Truth, which healed the sick.

We cannot bring out the practical proof of Christianity, which Jesus required, while error seems as potent and real to us as Truth, and while we make a personal devil and an anthropomorphic God our starting-points, — especially if we consider Satan as a being coequal in power with Deity, if not superior to Him. Because such starting-points are neither spiritual nor scientific, they cannot work out the Spirit-rule of Christian healing, which proves the nothingness of error, discord, by demonstrating the all-inclusiveness of harmonious Truth.

The Israelites centred their thoughts on the material in their attempted worship of the spiritual.

5.     142 : 18-24

As in Jesus' time, so to-day, tyranny and pride need to be whipped out of the temple, and humility and divine Science to be welcomed in. The strong cords of scientific demonstration, as twisted and wielded by Jesus, are still needed to purge the temples of their vain traffic in worldly worship and to make them meet dwelling-places for the Most High.

6.     352 : 8-10 (to ,)

To Jesus, not materiality, but spirituality, was the reality of man's existence,

7.     26 : 28-32

Our Master taught no mere theory, doctrine, or belief. It was the divine Principle of all real being which he taught and practised. His proof of Christianity was no form or system of religion and worship, but Christian Science, working out the harmony of Life and Love.

8.     31 : 12-24

First in the list of Christian duties, he taught his followers the healing power of Truth and Love. He attached no importance to dead ceremonies. It is the living Christ, the practical Truth, which makes Jesus "the resurrection and the life" to all who follow him in deed. Obeying his precious precepts, — following his demonstration so far as we apprehend it, — we drink of his cup, partake of his bread, are baptized with his purity; and at last we shall rest, sit down with him, in a full understanding of the divine Principle which triumphs over death. For what says Paul? "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come."

9.     32 : 28-12

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.

10.     140 : 7-15, 17-18, 20-22

Not materially but spiritually we know Him as divine Mind, as Life, Truth, and Love. 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.

Spiritual devoutness is the soul of Christianity. …"The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."