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Wednesday
The First
Lesson
Joshua 4:1-8
1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed
over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a
man,
3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst
of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm,
twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave
them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of
the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the
LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every
man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number
of the tribes of the children of Israel:
6 That
this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their
fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut
off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed
over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones
shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and
took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD
spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the
children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the
place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
1st Lesson Questions -
Joshua 4:1-8. Have I ever helped in building a similar monument to God's power and presence? When people pass by my parish church, is the question, "What mean ye by these stones?" still asked? (V. 6) Is the original meaning, purpose and mission of my parish church still applicable? RESOLVE.
The Second
Lesson
Luke 5:27-39
27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican,
named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto
him, Follow me.
28 And
he left all, rose up, and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there
was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down
with them.
30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples,
saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need
not a physician; but they that are sick.
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
33 And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast
often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees;
but thine eat and drink?
34 And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber
fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken
away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
36 And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece
of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new
maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth
not with the old.
37 And
no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will
burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new:
for he saith, The old is better.
2nd Lesson Questions -
Luke 5:27-39. Levi left all and followed Jesus. (V. 28) Have I done so, also? Am I an old wine bottle trying to hold the new wine? (V. 37) What old stuff of my life do I need to get rid of, for the sake of my soul and the gospel? RESOLVE.