181 And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day. 2 And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men standing near him. And when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himself to the earth, 3 and said, Lord, if now I have found favour in thine eyes, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. 4 Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread; and refresh yourselves; after that ye shall pass on; for therefore have ye passed on towards your servant. And they said, So do as thou hast said. 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, Knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes. 7 And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave [it] to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it. 8 And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set [it] before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate.
9 And they said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10 And he said, I will certainly return to thee at [this] time of the year, and behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent-door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old [and] advanced in age: it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am become old, shall I have pleasure, and my lord old? 13 And Jehovah said to Abraham, Why is this, that Sarah laughs, saying, Shall I indeed bear, when I am become old? 14 Is [any] matter too wonderful for Jehovah? At the time appointed I will return to thee, at [this] time of the year, and Sarah shall have a son. 15 And Sarah denied, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And he said, No; but thou didst laugh.
16 And the men rose up thence, and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to conduct them. 17 And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? 18 Since Abraham shall indeed 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 household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him. 20 And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and 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 to me; and if not, I will know [it]. 22 And the men turned thence, and went towards Sodom; and Abraham remained yet standing before Jehovah.
23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also cause the righteous to perish with the wicked? 24 There are perhaps fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are therein? 25 Far be it from thee to do so, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous should be as the wicked—far be it from thee! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26 And Jehovah said, If I find at Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will forgive all the place for their sakes. 27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak unto the Lord; I, who am dust and ashes. 28 Perhaps there may want five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city on account of the five? And he said, If I shall find forty-five there, I will not destroy [it]. 29 And he continued yet to speak with him, and said, Perhaps there may be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty's sake. 30 And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry that I speak! Perhaps there may be thirty found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there. 31 And he said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak with the Lord. Perhaps there may be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy [it] for the twenty's sake. 32 And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, that I speak yet but this time! Perhaps there may be ten found there. And he said, I will not destroy [it] for the ten's sake. 33 And Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
191 And the two angels came to Sodom at even. And Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. And Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed down, the face toward the ground, 2 and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and lodge, and wash your feet; and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, No; but we will pass the night in the open place. 3 And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house. And he made them a repast, and baked unleavened cakes; and they ate.
4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the youngest to the oldest—all the people from every quarter. 5 And they called to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men that have come in to thee to-night? bring them out to us that we may know them. 6 And Lot went out to them to the entrance, and shut the door after him, 7 and said, I pray you, my brethren, do not wickedly! 8 Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man: let me now bring them out to you; and do to them as is good in your sight: only, to these men do nothing; for therefore have they come under the shadow of my roof. 9 And they said, Back there! And they said [again], This one came to sojourn, and he must be a judge? Now we will deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed hard on the man—on Lot; and drew near to break the door. 10 And the men stretched out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11 And they smote the men that were at the entrance of the house with blindness, from the smallest to the greatest; and they wearied themselves to find the entrance.
12 And the men said to Lot, Whom hast thou here besides? a son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and all whom thou hast in the city—bring [them] out of the place. 13 For we are going to destroy this place, because the cry of them is great before Jehovah, and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it. 14 And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, Up, go out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy the city. But he was as if he jested, in the sight of his sons-in-law.
15 And as the dawn arose, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up, take thy wife and thy two daughters who are present, lest thou perish in the iniquity of the city. 16 And as he lingered, the men laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful to him; and they led him out, and set him without the city. 17 And it came to pass when they had brought them outside, that he said, Escape for thy life: look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou perish. 18 And Lot said to them, Not [so], I pray thee, Lord; 19 behold now, thy servant has found favour in thine eyes, and thou hast magnified thy goodness, which thou hast shewn to me in preserving my soul alive; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest calamity lay hold on me, that I die. 20 Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is small: I pray thee, let me escape thither—is it not small?—and my soul shall live. 21 And he said to him, Behold, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. 22 Haste, escape thither; for I cannot do anything until thou art come there. Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar. 23 The sun rose upon the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
24 And Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven, 25 and overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew upon the ground.
26 And his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 And Abraham rose early in the morning [and went] to the place where he had stood before Jehovah; 28 and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, a smoke went up from the land as the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
30 And Lot went up from Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar. And he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 And the first-born said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the land to come in to us after the manner of all the earth: 32 come, let us give our father wine to drink, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve seed alive of our father. 33 And they gave their father wine to drink that night. And the first-born went in, and lay with her father, and he did not know of her lying down, nor of her rising. 34 And it came to pass on the next day that the first-born said to the younger, Lo, I lay last night with my father: let us give him wine to drink to-night also, and go thou in, lie with him, that we may preserve seed alive of our father. 35 And they gave their father wine to drink that night also. And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know of her lying down, nor of her rising. 36 And both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 And the first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; the same is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
61 Take heed not to do your alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens. 2 When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But thou, when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand does; 4 so that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will render [it] to thee.
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets so that they should appear to men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will render [it] to thee. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as those who are of the nations: for they think they shall be heard through their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like them, for your Father knows of what things ye have need before ye beg [anything] of him.
9 Thus therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in the heavens, let thy name be sanctified, 10 let thy kingdom come, let thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth; 11 give us to-day our needed bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors, 13 and lead us not into temptation, but save us from evil. 14 For if ye forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father also will forgive you [yours], 15 but if ye do not forgive men their offences, neither will your Father forgive your offences.
16 And when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, downcast in countenance; for they disfigure their faces, so that they may appear fasting to men: verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, [when] fasting, anoint thy head and wash thy face, 18 so that thou mayest not appear fasting unto men, but to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret shall render [it] to thee.
(Read Matthew 6:1-4)
Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that we may be approved of God, not that we may be praised of men. In these verses we are cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms. Take heed of it. It is a subtle sin; and vain-glory creeps into what we do, before we are aware. But the duty is not the less necessary and excellent for being abused by hypocrites to serve their pride. The doom Christ passes, at first may seem a promise, but it is their reward; not the reward God promises to those who do good, but the reward hypocrites promise themselves, and a poor reward it is; they did it to be seen of men, and they are seen of men. When we take least notice of our good deeds ourselves, God takes most notice of them. He will reward thee; not as a master who gives his servant what he earns, and no more, but as a Father who gives abundantly to his son that serves him.
(Read Matthew 6:5-8)
It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. "Verily they have their reward;" if in so great a matter as is between us and God, when we are at prayer, we can look to so poor a thing as the praise of men, it is just that it should be all our reward. Yet there is not a secret, sudden breathing after God, but he observes it. It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging? If he does not give his people what they ask, it is because he knows they do not need it, and that it is not for their good. So far is God from being wrought upon by the length or words of our prayers, that the most powerful intercessions are those which are made with groanings that cannot be uttered. Let us well study what is shown of the frame of mind in which our prayers should be offered, and learn daily from Christ how to pray.
(Read Matthew 6:9-15)
Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; the first three relate more expressly to God and his honour, the last three to our own concerns, both temporal and spiritual. This prayer teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and that all other things shall be added. After the things of God's glory, kingdom, and will, we pray for the needful supports and comforts of this present life. Every word here has a lesson in it. We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance: and we ask only for bread; not for what we do not need. We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not ask for the bread of others, nor the bread of deceit, Proverbs 31:27, but the bread honestly gotten. We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us constantly to depend upon Divine Providence. We beg of God to give it us; not sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it. The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread. We pray, Give it to us. This teaches us a compassion for the poor. Also that we ought to pray with our families. We pray that God would give it us this day; which teaches us to renew the desires of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies are renewed. As the day comes we must pray to our heavenly Father, and reckon we could as well go a day without food, as without prayer. We are taught to hate and dread sin while we hope for mercy, to distrust ourselves, to rely on the providence and grace of God to keep us from it, to be prepared to resist the tempter, and not to become tempters of others. Here is a promise, If you forgive, your heavenly Father will also forgive. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Those who desire to find mercy with God, must show mercy to their brethren. Christ came into the world as the great Peace-maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another.
(Read Matthew 6:16-18)
Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, Psalm 35:13; that is the inside of the duty; let that, therefore, be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. God sees in secret, and will reward openly.
