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Friday
The First
Lesson
Habakkuk 2:9-14, 19-20
9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house,
that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from
the power of evil!
10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many
people, and hast sinned against thy soul.
11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out
of the timber shall answer it.
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth
a city by iniquity!
13 Behold,
is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in
the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very
vanity?
14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory
of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone,
Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and
silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep
silence before him.
1st Lesson Questions -
This passage tells us "and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity". (V. 13) Does that still happen today? RESOLVE.
The Second
Lesson
Romans 11:1-21
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For
I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe
of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye
not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession
to God against Israel, saying,
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine
altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved
to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to
the image of Baal.
5 Even
so then at this present time also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace.
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace
is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace:
otherwise work is no more work.
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for;
but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit
of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they
should not hear;) unto this day.
9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap,
and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow
down their back always.
11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God
forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto
the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the
diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more
their fulness?
13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle
of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are
my flesh, and might save some of them.
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the
world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the
dead?
16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and
if the root be holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being
a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them
partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest
not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might
be grafted in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest
by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest
he also spare not thee.
2nd Lesson Questions -
Romans speaks of a remnant left by God. (V. 5) Am I part of God's remnant now? RESOLVE.