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Thursday
The First
Lesson
Ecclesiasticus 15:11-20
11
Say not thou, It is through the Lord that I fell away: for thou
oughtest not to do the things that he hateth.
12 Say not thou, He hath caused me to err: for he hath no need
of the sinful man.
13 The Lord hateth all abomination; and they that fear God love
it not.
14 He himself made man from the beginning, and left him in the
hand of his counsel;
15 If thou wilt, to keep the commandments, and to perform acceptable
faithfulness.
16 He hath set fire and water before thee: stretch forth thy
hand unto whether thou wilt.
17 Before man is life and death; and whether him liketh shall
be given him.
18 For the wisdom of the Lord is great, and he is mighty in power,
and beholdeth all things:
19 And his eyes are upon them that fear him, and he knoweth every
work of man.
20 He
hath commanded no man to do wickedly, neither hath he given any
man licence to sin.
1st Lesson Questions -
Have I ever blamed God for my sins? (V. 11,12) Do I believe that keeping God's commandments is a matter of choice, or that I am "doomed by design" to always sin? Does my life reflect my belief, in this instance? When's the last time I acted as if I possessed a "licence to sin"? (V. 20) RESOLVE.
The Second
Lesson
Matthew 3
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness
of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying,
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way
of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern
girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the
region round about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to
his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath
warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to
our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones
to raise up children unto Abraham.
10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore
every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire.
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that
cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy
to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his
floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn
up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be
baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of
thee, and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now:
for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he
suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of
the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon
him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.
2nd Lesson Questions -
Even though John didn't know everything, he was still faithful and powerful. What stops me from being like him? RESOLVE.