Wednesday, June 19th, 2024 Testimony Meeting

Matthew 5 : 10

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Psalm 23 : 1-4

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Isaiah 40 : 1, 2, 4, 5

1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Mark 5 : 25-34

25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

II Corinthians 1 : 1 (to 2nd ,), 2-4

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, …
2 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

II Corinthians 12 : 1 (to 1st .), 6 (to : ), 7-10

1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. …
6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: …
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

66 : 6-11

Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff, a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not half remember this in the sunshine of joy and prosperity. Sorrow is salutary. Through great tribulation we enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of God’s care.

265 : 23-2

Who that has felt the loss of human peace has not gained stronger desires for spiritual joy? The aspiration after heavenly good comes even before we discover what belongs to wisdom and Love. The loss of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is spiritual.

The pains of sense are salutary, if they wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections from sense to Soul, where the creations of God are good, “rejoicing the heart.”

266 : 14 (for)-15

… for “man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.”

234 : 4-8

Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love — be it song, sermon, or Science — blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ’s table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty.

55 : 1-16

Jesus accepted the one fact whereby alone the rule of Life can be demonstrated, — namely, that there is no death.

In his real self he bore no infirmities. Though “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” as Isaiah says of him, he bore not his sins, but ours, “in his own body on the tree.” “He was bruised for our iniquities; . . . and with his stripes we are healed.”

He was the Way-shower; and Christian Scientists who would demonstrate “the way” must keep close to his path, that they may win the prize. “The way,” in the flesh, is the suffering which leads out of the flesh. “The way,” in Spirit, is “the way” of Life, Truth, and Love, redeeming us from the false sense of the flesh and the wounds it bears. This threefold Messiah reveals the self-destroying ways of error and the life-giving way of Truth.

56 : 3-8, 13-20

If Jesus suffered, as the Scriptures declare, it must have been from the mentality of others; since all suffering comes from mind, not from matter, and there could be no sin or suffering in the Mind which is God. Not his own sins, but the sins of the world, “crucified the Lord of glory,” and “put him to an open shame.”

In the divine order of Science every follower of Christ shares his cup of sorrows. He also suffereth in the flesh, and from the mentality which opposes the law of Spirit; but the divine law is supreme, for it freeth him from the law of sin and death.

Prophets and apostles suffered from the thoughts of others. Their conscious being was not fully exempt from physicality and the sense of sin.

57 : 9-6

The cross is the central emblem of human history. Without it there is neither temptation nor glory. When Jesus turned and said, “Who hath touched me?” he must have felt the influence of the woman’s thought; for it is written that he felt that “virtue had gone out of him.” His pure consciousness was discriminating, and rendered this infallible verdict; but he neither held her error by affinity nor by infirmity, for it was detected and dismissed.

This gospel of suffering brought life and bliss. This is earth’s Bethel in stone, — its pillow, supporting the ladder which reaches heaven.

Suffering was the confirmation of Paul’s faith. Through “a thorn in the flesh” he learned that spiritual grace was sufficient for him.

Peter rejoiced that he was found worthy to suffer for Christ; because to suffer with him is to reign with him. Sorrow is the harbinger of joy. Mortal throes of anguish forward the birth of immortal being; but divine Science wipes away all tears.

The only conscious existence in the flesh is error of some sort, — sin, pain, death, — a false sense of life and happiness. Mortals, if at ease in so-called existence, are in their native element of error, and must become dis-eased, disquieted, before error is annihilated.

Jesus walked with bleeding feet the thorny earth-road, treading “the winepress alone.”

58 : 13-20

The Master’s sublime triumph over all mortal mentality was immortality’s goal. He was too wise not to be willing to test the full compass of human woe, being “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Thus the absolute unreality of sin, sickness, and death was revealed, — a revelation that beams on mortal sense as the midnight sun shines over the Polar Sea.