Wednesday Evening Readings, January 28, 2015
True Watching
Hymn 67
CAPETOWN
FRIEDRICH FILITZ
Gird thy heavenly armor on,
Wear it ever night and day;
Ambushed lies the evil one:
Watch and pray.
Hear the victors who o’er came;
Still they mark each warrior’s way;
All with warning voice exclaim,
Watch and pray.
Hear, above all, hear thy Lord;
Him thou lovest to obey;
Hide within thy heart His word,
Watch and pray.
Hymn 317
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
Still, still with Thee when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee,
Fairer than morning, lovelier than the daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.
Alone with Thee, amid the changing shadows,
Solemn the hush of nature, newly born;
Alone with Thee, in breathless adoration,
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.
So shall it ever be in the bright morning,
When hearts awaking see the shadows flee,
O, in that hour, and fairer than the dawning,
Rises the glorious thought, I am with Thee.
Hymn 183
Horatius Bonar
Make haste, O man, to do
Whatever must be done;
Thou hast no time to lose in sloth,
When all to Truth must come
.
The useful and the great,
The thing that never dies,
The silent toil that is not lost,—
Set these before thine eyes.
Up, face the task and work;
Fling ease and self away;
This is no time for thee to sleep;
Up, watch, and work, and pray
The Bible
Ps. 130:6
My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they
that watch for the morning.
Prov. 8:34, 35
Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
Neh. 4:7-9 it
it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the
Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be
stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight
against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a
watch against them day and night, because of them.
Neh. 4:11
And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among
them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
Neh. 4:13-15 Therefore
Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the
people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and rose
up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of
them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and
your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that
it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to
the wall, every one unto his work.
Neh. 4:17
They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with
one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
Neh. 6:15, 16
¶ So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about
us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this
work was wrought of our God.
Neh. 6:1-4
NOW it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our
enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at
that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me,
saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they
thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so
that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.
I Cor. 16:13
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
Matt. 25:1-10
THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went
forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were
foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with
their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there
was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins
arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our
lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and
you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was
shut.
Matt. 25:13
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Matt. 26:36-45
¶ Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit
ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and
fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them
asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that
ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away
again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me,
except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were
heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold,
the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
II Tim. 4:5 watch
watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy
ministry.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures – By Mary Baker Eddy
SH 1:6
Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God’s gracious means for
accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of
mankind.
SH 47:31
During his night of gloom and glory in the garden, Jesus realized the utter error of a belief in any
possible material intelligence. The pangs of neglect and the staves of bigoted ignorance smote
him sorely. His students slept. He said unto them: “Could ye not watch with me one hour?”
Could they not watch with him who, waiting and struggling in voiceless agony, held
uncomplaining guard over a world? There was no response to that human yearning, and so Jesus
turned forever away from earth to heaven, from sense to Soul.
SH 254:2-6
Individuals are consistent who, watching and praying, can “run, and not be weary; . . . walk, and
not faint,” who gain good rapidly and hold their position, or attain slowly and yield not to
discouragement.
SH 367:17
A Christian Scientist occupies the place at this period of which Jesus spoke to his disciples, when
he said: “Ye are the salt of the earth.” “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill
cannot be hid.” Let us watch, work, and pray that this salt lose not its saltness, and that this light
be not hid, but radiate and glow into noontide glory.
SH 234:4
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.
SH 234:9-12
We should become more familiar with good than with evil, and guard against false beliefs as
watchfully as we bar our doors against the approach of thieves and murderers.
SH 234:17-3
If mortals would keep proper ward over mortal mind, the brood of evils which infest it would be
cleared out. We must begin with this so-called mind and empty it of sin and sickness, or sin and
sickness will never cease. The present codes of human systems disappoint the weary searcher
after a divine theology, adequate to the right education of human thought.
Sin and disease must be thought before they can be manifested. You must control evil thoughts
in the first instance, or they will control you in the second. Jesus declared that to look with desire
on forbidden objects was to break a moral precept. He laid great stress on the action of the
human mind, unseen to the senses.
Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more harm than one’s belief permits. Evil
thoughts, lusts, and malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen, from one human
mind to another, finding unsuspected lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defence.
SH 237:15
Children should be taught the Truth-cure, Christian Science, among their first lessons, and kept
from discussing or entertaining theories or thoughts about sickness. To prevent the experience of
error and its sufferings, keep out of the minds of your children either sinful or diseased thoughts.
The latter should be excluded on the same principle as the former. This makes Christian Science
early available.
SH 392:11-12
The physical affirmation of disease should always be met with the mental negation.
SH 392:15-3
If you believe in inflamed and weak nerves, you are liable to an attack from that source. You will
call it neuralgia, but we call it a belief. If you think that consumption is hereditary in your family,
you are liable to the development of that thought in the form of what is termed pulmonary
disease, unless Science shows you otherwise. If you decide that climate or atmosphere is
unhealthy, it will be so to you. Your decisions will master you, whichever direction they take.
Reverse the case. Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you
wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously. When the condition is
present which you say induces disease, whether it be air, exercise, heredity, contagion, or
accident, then perform your office as porter and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears.
Exclude from mortal mind the offending errors; then the body cannot suffer from them. The
issues of pain or pleasure must come through mind, and like a watchman forsaking his post, we
admit the intruding belief, forgetting that through divine help we can forbid this entrance.
SH 505:16-20
Spirit imparts the understanding which uplifts consciousness and leads into all truth. The
Psalmist saith: “The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty
waves of the sea.”
SH 446:24-30
Resisting evil, you overcome it and prove its nothingness. Not human platitudes, but divine
beatitudes, reflect the spiritual light and might which heal the sick. The exercise of will brings on
a hypnotic state, detrimental to health and integrity of thought. This must therefore be watched
and guarded against.
SH 463:21-26
To decide quickly as to the proper treatment of error — whether error is manifested in forms of
sickness, sin, or death — is the first step towards destroying error. Our Master treated error
through Mind. He never enjoined obedience to the laws of nature, if by these are meant laws of
matter, nor did he use drugs.
SH 15:16
In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God’s allness. We must
resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom,
Truth, and Love. We must “pray without ceasing.” Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put
our desires into practice. The Master’s injunction is, that we pray in secret and let our lives attest
our sincerity.
SH 497:24
6. And 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 to be merciful, just, and
pure.