First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge

Wednesday Meeting Readings

w180509
The eternality of the Christ with us
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
The Bible
  1. Ps 16:1, 2, 4 (to :), 7-9

    1Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

    2O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

    ... 4Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god:

    ... 7I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

    8I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

    9Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

  2. Ps 30:1-4, 7 (to :), 11, 12

    1I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

    2O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

    3O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

    4Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

    ... 7Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong:

    ... 11Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

    12To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

  3. Joel 2:28-32

    28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

    29And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

    30And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

    31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.

    32And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

  4. Acts 1:6-11 (to 4th ,), 12, 13 (to 2nd ,), 14

    6When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

    7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

    8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

    9And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

    10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

    11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,

    ... 12Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.

    13And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room,

    ... 14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

  5. Acts 2:1-33, 37-39

    1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

    2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

    3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

    4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

    5And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

    6Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

    7And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans?

    8And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

    9Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

    10Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

    11Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

    12And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

    13Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

    14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

    15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

    16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

    17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

    18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

    19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

    20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

    21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

    22Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

    23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

    24Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

    25For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

    26Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

    27Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

    28Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

    29Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

    30Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

    31He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

    32This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

    33Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

    37Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

    38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

    39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.


Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy

  1. 332:9-15, 19 Jesus

    9    IX. Jesus was born of Mary. Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speak-The Son of Goding to the human consciousness. The Christ 12is incorporeal, spiritual, — yea, the divine image and likeness, dispelling the illusions of the senses; the Way, the Truth, and the Life, healing the sick and 15casting out evils, destroying sin, disease, and death.

    Jesus demonstrated Christ; he proved that Christ Holy Ghost or Comforteris the divine idea of God — the Holy Ghost, 21or Comforter, revealing the divine Principle, Love, and leading into all truth.

  2. 333:9-27

    Christ expresses God’s spiritual, eternal nature. The name is synonymous with Messiah, and al-ludes to the spirituality which is taught, illustrated, and 12demonstrated in the life of which Christ Jesus was the embodiment. The proper name of our Master in the Greek was Jesus the Christ; but Christ Jesus better sig-15nifies the Godlike.

        XIII. The advent of Jesus of Nazareth marked the first century of the Christian era, but the Christ is 18The divine Principle and ideawithout beginning of years or end of days. Throughout all generations both before and after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spirit-21ual idea, — the reflection of God, — has come with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets 24caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah, or Christ, which baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of Love. The divine image, idea, or Christ was, is, and 27ever will be inseparable from the divine Principle, God.

  3. 583:10

    Christ. The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.

  4. 326:3-15

    3    If we wish to follow Christ, Truth, it must be in the way of God’s appointing. Jesus said, “He that believeth Loving God supremelyon me, the works that I do shall he do also.” 6He, who would reach the source and find the divine remedy for every ill, must not try to climb the hill of Science by some other road. All nature teaches God’s 9love to man, but man cannot love God supremely and set his whole affections on spiritual things, while loving the material or trusting in it more than in the spiritual.

    12    We must forsake the foundation of material systems, however time-honored, if we would gain the Christ as our only Saviour. Not partially, but fully, the great 15healer of mortal mind is the healer of the body.

  5. 9:25-26 (to ?)

        Are you willing to leave all for Christ, for Truth, and so be counted among sinners?

  6. 29:26

    The Christ dwelt forever 27an idea in the bosom of God, the divine Principle of the man Jesus, and woman perceived this spiritual idea, though at first faintly developed.

  7. 34:5

    If Christ, 6Truth, has come to us in demonstration, no other com-memoration is requisite, for demonstration is Immanuel, or God with us; and if a friend be with us, why need we 9memorials of that friend?

  8. 45:17

    Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of hu-18The stone rolled awayman hope and faith, and through the reve-lation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual 21idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.

  9. 76:22-29

        The sinless joy, — the perfect harmony and immortality of Life, possessing unlimited divine beauty and goodness 24Immaterial pleasurewithout a single bodily pleasure or pain, — constitutes the only veritable, indestructible man, whose being is spiritual. This state of existence 27is scientific and intact, — a perfection discernible only by those who have the final understanding of Christ in divine Science.

  10. 84:28-30

        All we correctly know of Spirit comes from God, divine Principle, and is learned through Christ and Christian 30Scientific foreknowingScience.

  11. 360:28-5

        Of old, the Jews put to death the Galilean Prophet, the best Christian on earth, for the truth he spoke and 30demonstrated, while to-day, Jew and Christian can unite in doctrine and denomination on the very basis of Jesus’ words and works. The Jew believes that the Messiah or 361 361:1Christ has not yet come; the Christian believes that Christ is God. Here Christian Science intervenes, ex-3plains these doctrinal points, cancels the disagreement, and settles the question. Christ, as the true spiritual idea, is the ideal of God now and forever, here and everywhere.

  12. 333:28-9

    Jesus referred to this unity of his spiritual identity thus: “Before Abraham was, I am;” “I and my Father are 30one;” “My Father is greater than I.” The one Spirit includes all identities.

        XIV. By these sayings Jesus meant, not that the hu-334334:1man Jesus was or is eternal, but that the divine idea or Christ was and is so and therefore antedated Abraham; 3Spiritual onenessnot that the corporeal Jesus was one with the Father, but that the spiritual idea, Christ, dwells forever in the bosom of the Father, God, from 6which it illumines heaven and earth; not that the Father is greater than Spirit, which is God, but greater, infinitely greater, than the fleshly Jesus, whose earthly career was 9brief.

  13. 334:10

        XV. The invisible Christ was imperceptible to the so-called personal senses, whereas Jesus appeared as a 12The Son’s dualitybodily existence. This dual personality of the unseen and the seen, the spiritual and mate-rial, the eternal Christ and the corporeal Jesus manifest 15in flesh, continued until the Master’s ascension, when the human, material concept, or Jesus, disappeared, while the spiritual self, or Christ, continues to exist in 18the eternal order of divine Science, taking away the sins of the world, as the Christ has always done, even before the human Jesus was incarnate to mortal eyes.

  14. 467:13

    Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide 15him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, hav-ing that Mind which was also in Christ.

  15. 497:24 And

    24And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and 27to be merciful, just, and pure.


From the Christian Science Hymnal
Hymn 221: “O Jesus, our dear Master”
Hymn 312: “Soldiers of Christ, arise”
Hymn 370: “We are hid with Christ forever”