angel from God, and therefore he was struck dumb, and could not speak. We should learn from the punishment of Zacharias to be willing to believe, without desiring to know more than God thinks fit to reveal. I told you, before, that we must not now expect angels to be sent to us from heaven with messages; because all that is necessary for us to know is "written in the scriptures for our learning." We must therefore believe all that is contained in them; and not only believe, but practise what we read. This we cannot do of ourselves, but God will assist us with the grace of his Holy Spirit, if we pray for it. God doth not make his bidding known To men by angels still; But he his holy word has given, And there revealed his will. And tho' some things seem strange and hard For me to understand, I never must distrust or doubt, One promise or command. His priest and servant God chastised Those who reject the Saviour now, But those who humbly trust in him, LESSON THIRD. LUKE I. 26-38. AND in the sixth month the an-gel Ga-bri-el was sent from God un-to a ci-ty of Gal-i-lee, nam-ed Naz-areth, to a vir-gin es-pous-ed to a man whose name was Jo-seph, of the house of Da-vid; and the virgin's name was Ma-ry. And the an-gel came in un-to her, and said, "Hail, thou that art highly favour-ed, the Lord is with thee; bless-ed art thou a-mong wo-men." And when she saw him she was troubl-ed at his say-ing, and cast in her mind what man-ner of salu-ta-tion this should be. And the an-gel said un-to her, "Fear not, Ma-ry, for thou hast found fa-vour with God. And, be-hold, thou shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Je-sus. He shall be great, and shall be call-ed the Son of the High-est; and the Lord God shall give un-to him the throne of his fa-ther David. And he shall reign o-ver the house of Ja-cob for e-ver, and of his king-dom there shall be no end." Then Ma-ry said un-to the an-gel, "How shall this be?" And the angel an-swer-ed and said un-to her, "The Ho-ly Ghost shall come up-on thee, and the pow-er of the Highest shall o-ver-shad-ow thee; there-fore al-so that ho-ly thing which shall be born of thee shall be call-ed the Son of God. And, be-hold, thy cous-in E-lis-a-beth, she al-so will have a son in her old age. For with God no-thing shall be im- pos- si - ble." Ma-ry said, "Be-hold the handmaid of the Lord; be it un-to me ac-cord-ing to thy word." And the an-gel de-part-ed from her. And QUESTIONS. Where did the angel Gabriel go after he had been to Zacharias? To a city named Nazareth. To whom? A virgin, named Mary. C What did the angel say she had found with God? Favour. What did the angel tell Mary that she should have? A son. What name was she to give him? What does the word Jesus mean? A Saviour. Why is Jesus our Saviour? Because he died to save us from our sins, and from God's anger. Who was to be called great? Jesus. What was he to be called besides ? The Son of the Highest. Who is the Highest? God. Whose Son is Jesus? The Son of God. Is any thing impossible with God? No, nothing. Did Mary believe the angel? Yes. |