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Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Theme: The Freedom of Forgiveness
Readings from the Bible:
1. Rom. 13:8
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
2. Eph. 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
3. Mark 1:14 Jesus
... Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
4. Mark 2:1–12 (to ;)
And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 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. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; ...
5. Mark 11:24–26
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
6. Gen. 37:3–8, 13 (to ?), 14 Go (to 1st .), 23, 24, 28
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. ¶ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. ... And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? ... ... Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. ... ... ¶ And it came to pass when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. ... Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
7. Gen. 42:1–3
Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. ¶ And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
8. Gen. 45:1–8
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9. Gen. 50:21
Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
10. Ps. 86:5 thou
... thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
11. Acts 22:25 as, 28, 29 (to :)
... as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? ... And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: ... and correlative passages from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
Readings from Science and Health:
1. SH 191:16–17
The human thought must free itself from self-imposed materiality and bondage.
2. SH 16:7–11, 20
Our Master taught his disciples one brief prayer, which we name after him the Lord's Prayer. Our Master said, “After this manner therefore pray ye,” and then he gave that prayer which covers all human needs. ... Only as we rise above all material sensuousness and sin, can we reach the heaven-born aspiration and spiritual consciousness, which is indicated in the Lord's Prayer and which instantaneously heals the sick.
3. SH 17:6–11
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And Love is reflected in love; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.
4. SH 11:1–3 Jesus'
Jesus' prayer, “Forgive us our debts,” specified also the terms of forgiveness.
5. SH 22:3–6
Vibrating like a pendulum between sin and the hope of forgiveness, — selfishness and sensuality causing constant retrogression, — our moral progress will be slow.
6. SH 6:3–5, 12–14
Divine Love corrects and governs man. Men may pardon, but this divine Principle alone reforms the sinner. ... ... Every supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than its equivalent of pain, until belief in material life and sin is destroyed.
7. SH 405:22
It were better to be exposed to every plague on earth than to endure the cumulative effects of a guilty conscience. The abiding consciousness of wrong-doing tends to destroy the ability to do right. If sin is not regretted and is not lessening, then it is hastening on to physical and moral doom. You are conquered by the moral penalties you incur and the ills they bring. The pains of sinful sense are less harmful than its pleasures. Belief in material suffering causes mortals to retreat from their error, to flee from body to Spirit, and to appeal to divine sources outside of themselves.
8. SH 454:19–21, 22–23
Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action. ... Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.
9. SH 475:28–1 (to 1st .)
Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death. The real man cannot depart from holiness, nor can God, by whom man is evolved, engender the capacity or freedom to sin. A mortal sinner is not God's man.
10. SH 5:22–25
Prayer is not to be used as a confessional to cancel sin. Such an error would impede true religion. Sin is forgiven only as it is destroyed by Christ, — Truth and Life.
11. SH 201:17–2
The way to extract error from mortal mind is to pour in truth through flood-tides of Love. Christian perfection is won on no other basis. Grafting holiness upon unholiness, supposing that sin can be forgiven when it is not forsaken, is as foolish as straining out gnats and swallowing camels.
12. SH 206:4
The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both upon the body and through it.
13. SH 373:14–15
The fear of disease and the love of sin are the sources of man's enslavement.
14. SH 374:15
Through immortal Mind, or Truth, we can destroy all ills which proceed from mortal mind.
15. SH 375:21
Palsy is a belief that matter governs mortals, and can paralyze the body, making certain portions of it motionless. Destroy the belief, show mortal mind that muscles have no power to be lost, for Mind is supreme, and you cure the palsy.
16. SH 225:14–16, 21
The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right thinking. ... Love is the liberator.
17. SH 227:16–18
God made man free. Paul said, “I was free born.” All men should be free.
HYMNS: 140, 163, 126
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