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Miscellaneous

CONFESSION, THE FORERUNNER OF BLESSING.

Confession is the forerunner of blessing.

Ⅰ. Abraham said, “ I am dust and ashes” ( Gen.18:27), and got all he asked for.

Ⅱ. Isaiah, “ I am unclean,” and got cleansed (Isa.6:5).

Ⅲ. Job, “ I am vile,” and got blessing (Job 40:4).

Ⅳ. David, Born in sin, and got covered (Ps.51:5; 31:1).

Ⅴ. Peter, “ I am a sinful man,” and received the keys of the kingdom (Luke 5:8; Matt,16:19).

Ⅵ. Publican, “ the sinner,” and went home justified (Luke 18:13, R.V.,m.).

Ⅶ. The prodigal, “ I am not worthy,” and was feasted (Luke 15:21).

── F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》

CONTRASTS.

As the world is full of contrasts—light and darkness, joy and sorrow, calm and storm, riches and poverty, cleanliness and filth, health and sickness, life and death—so the Scriptures present to us many opposites.

Ⅰ. Abel, the man of confidence; and Cain, the man of conceit (Gen.4:3-7).

Ⅱ. Abraham, the man of faith; and the king of Sodom, the man of the world (Gen.14:22-24).

Ⅲ. Isaac, the man of promise; and Ishmael, the man of the flesh (Gal.4:29).

Ⅳ. Jacob, the man of prayer; and Esau, the man of pleasure (Hosea xii.4; Heb.12:16).

Ⅴ. Moses, the man of God; and Pharaoh, the man of stubbornness (Num.12:3; Exodus 8:32).

Ⅵ. David, the man of consecration; and Saul, the man of compromise (Acts 13:22; 1. Samuel 15:26).

Ⅶ. John, the man of fearlessness; and Herod, the man of vacillation (Matt.14:1-12).

── F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》