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greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and the fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the

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26 The glorious Trinity were engaged in our first creation, as they are in our new creation. Man was created after the divine likeness, that is, in righteousness and true holiness.

sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was

27 How wondrous my creation, soul and body! Am I so near to God! Let my whole life be in conformity to his will ! So may I be happy in his love and favour here; and hereafter, may I serve him for ever.

And

very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth

day.

EVENING. GENESIS Xviii.

1 AND the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. "And the LORD said, Shall I hide

1 Since God has, once for all, appeared in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ, we are not to expect any visible demonstration of Him now; but we know, for our comfort, that He is ever at hand to each of us for our good-though invisible, yet ever present.

17 As friend shares counsel with

friend, and opens to him the inmost thought of the heart, so God here

from Abraham that thing
which I do; seeing that
Abraham shall surely become
a great and mighty nation,
and all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I know him that he
will command his children
and his houshold after him,
and they shall keep the way
of the LORD, to do justice
and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that
which he hath spoken of him. And the LORD said, Because
the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin
is very grievous;
21 I will go
down now, and see whether
they have done altogether
according to the cry of it,
which is come unto me; and
if not, I will know. And the
men turned their faces from
thence, and went toward So-

speaks to Abraham, as a
friend. Exod. xxxiii. 11.

man to his Thus also, in a later age, when the Lord Jesus raised his friend Lazarus, He for ever sanctified the friendship of the righteous and the good.

19 So now, though all righteousness of man be in itself insufficient to secure salvation, it is indispensable thereto; and God, by his free grace, through the satisfaction made by Christ, deigns to accept it favourably, worthless though it be.

:

21 To the eternal God, who created all things, it is clear that all things must be known without inquiry; yet the Supreme is sometimes pleased to use expressions adapted rather to our limited capacities, than to his immeasurable wisdom. "He humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and earth."

And Abraham

dom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city wilt thou also destroy and spare not the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, if I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not de

32

stroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. 33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place. Abraham-none other than the beloved Son of God, the righteous Jesus; Himself the Lord our righteousness! What plea so strong as He will frame for us! Surely He is my Redeemer! Let me put my whole trust in Him-for life, or for death.

32 The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous is thus strikingly encouraged. God heareth their supplication. True, Abraham did not succeed in recovering the cities of the plain-not ten righteous could be found therein; but the prayer returned with blessing, in the preservation of Lot and his family.

33 With what grateful joy must our hearts be filled, when we reflect that

we have a wiser Pleader and a better

Mediator even than the righteous

The first Sunday after Trinity.

MORNING. JOSHUA X.

Now it came to pass, when Adoni-zedec king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them; that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty. Wherefore Adoni-zedec king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying, Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel. Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it. And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour. And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into

8 Mark how God, though himself the only deliverer, chooses that men should be agents in bringing about

12

thine hand; there shall not that deliverance. So, the soldier of a man of them stand before the cross is taught to fight manfully against the world, the flesh, and the thee. Joshua therefore came devil; though the courage and unto them suddenly, and strength thereto are not his own, but went up from Gilgal all the gift of God, through Jesus Christ: night. And the Lord diseven the Spirit from on high. comfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still in the valley of Ajalon. 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of

12 The heathen who worshipped the host of Heaven, would thus be shown how rain and foolish was their worship! To worship that which is itself created, does but stamp the worshippers with folly! for lo! those their Gods obey Another's will.

upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon,

13 Why should the infidel reject this truth? or the sceptic doubt! or the simple wonder? one moment's thought clears every difficulty. God created the sun, the moon, and the stars; 'tis nothing incredible that he should control what he created. Surely the potter hath power over the clay.

heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal. But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah. And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them and stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the LORD your God hath delivered them into your hand. And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into

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