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37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The woman is the glory of the man. (1 Cor. xi. 7.) And again, the Church is called"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "(Eph. i. 23.) This last is a remarkable expression. The word translated"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "means the complement, that which, being added to something else, makes up a whole. Thus it is that Christ the Head, and the Church the body, make up the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "(Eph. ii. 15.) Looking at the matter in this point of view, it is no marvel that the Church should have been the object of God's eternal counsels. When we view her as the body, the bride, the companion, the counterpart, of his only-begotten Son, we feel that there was, through grace, wondrous reason for her being so thought of before the foundation of the world. Rebekah was necessary to Isaac, and therefore she was the subject of secret counsel while yet in profound ignorance about her high destiny. All Abraham's thought was about Isaac."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take _a wife unto my son_ of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. Here we see that the all-important point was,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is not good that the man should be alone."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and the Church is the destined bride,--she is the object of the Father's purpose, the object of the Son's love, and of the testimony of the Holy Ghost. She is to be the sharer of all the Son's dignity and glory, as she is the sharer of all that love of which he has been the everlasting object. Hear his own words:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. (John xvii. 22, 23.) This settles the whole question. The words just quoted give us the thoughts of Christ's heart in reference to the Church. She is to be as he is, and not only so, but she is so even now, as St. John tells us,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Herein is love perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, _so are we_ in this world. (1 John iv. 17.) This gives full confidence to the soul."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We are in him that, is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1 John v. 20.) There is here no ground for uncertainty. Every thing is secured for the bride in the bridegroom. All that belonged to Isaac became Rebekah's because Isaac was hers; and so all that belongs to Christ is made available to the Church."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's. (1 Cor. iii. 21-23.) Christ is"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and men servants, and maid servants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son to my master when she was old; and unto him hath he given all that he hath. (Ver. 34-36.) He reveals the father and the son. Such was his testimony. He speaks of the vast resources of the father, and of the son's being endowed with all these in virtue of his being"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. (John xv. 26.) Again,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. _All things that the Father hath are mine_: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you. (John xvi. 13-15.) The coincidence of these words with the testimony of Abraham's servant is instructive and interesting. It was by telling of Isaac that he sought to attract the heart of Rebekah; and it is, as we know, by telling of Jesus, that the Holy Ghost seeks to draw poor sinners away from a world of sin and folly into the blessed and holy unity of the body of Christ."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He shall take of mine and show it unto you."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "but that, on the contrary,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Therefore, whenever one is looking inward, and building on the evidences of the Spirit's work there, he may be assured he is not led by the Spirit of God in so doing. It is by holding up Christ that the Spirit draws souls to God. This is very important. The knowledge of Christ is life eternal; and it is the Father's revelation of Christ by the Holy Ghost that constitutes the basis of the Church. When Peter confessed Christ to be the Son of the living God, Christ's answer was,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock _I will build_ my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt. xvi. 17, 18.) What rock? Peter? God forbid."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This rock [Greek: tautê tê petra] simply means the Father's revelation of Christ as the Son of the living God, which is the only means by which any one is introduced into the assembly of Christ. Now this opens to us very much the true character of the gospel. It is pre-eminently and emphatically a revelation,--a revelation not merely of a doctrine, but of a Person,--the Person of the Son. This revelation being received by faith, draws the heart to Christ, and becomes the spring of life and power,--the ground of membership,--the power of fellowship."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "When it pleased God ... to _reveal his Son_ in me, &c. Here we have the true principle of"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "She was fully prepared to enter upon an unknown path in companionship with one who had told her of an object far away, and of a glory connected with him, to which she was about to be raised."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will go, said she, and"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Most touching and beautiful illustration this of the Church, under the conduct of the Holy Ghost, going onward to meet her heavenly Bridegroom. This is what the Church should be; but, alas! there is sad failure here. There is little of that holy alacrity in laying aside every weight and every entanglement, in the power of communion with the Holy Guide and Companion of our way, whose office and delight it is to take of the things of Jesus, and show them unto us; just as Abraham's servant took of the things of Isaac, and showed them to Rebekah; and no doubt, too, he found his joy in pouring fresh testimonies concerning the son into her ear, as they moved onward toward the consummation of all her joy and glory. Thus it is, at least with our heavenly guide and companion. He delights to tell of Jesus,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He shall take of mine and show it unto you; and again,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now, this is what we really want,--this ministry of the Spirit of God, unfolding Christ to our souls, producing earnest longing to see him as he is, and be made like him forever. Naught but this will ever detach our hearts from earth and nature. What, save the hope of being associated with Isaac, would ever have led Rebekah to say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will go, when her"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall this birthright do to me? What strange reasoning! _The present_ is slipping from beneath my feet: I will therefore despise and entirely let go the _future_! Time is fading from my view, I will therefore abandon all interest in eternity!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Thus Esau despised his birthright. Thus Israel despised the pleasant land; (Ps. cvi. 24); thus they despised Christ. (Zech. xi. 13.) Thus those who were bidden to the marriage despised the invitation. (Matt. xxii. 5.) Man has no heart for the things of God. The present is every thing to him. A mess of pottage is better than a title to Canaan. Hence, the very reason why Esau made light of the birthright was the reason why he ought to have grasped it with the greater intensity. The more clearly I see the vanity of man's present, the more I shall cleave to God's future. Thus it is in the judgment of faith."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Seeing then that _all these things shall be dissolved_, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness; looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, _according to his promise_, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2 Pet. iii. 11-13.) These are the thoughts of God, and therefore the thoughts of faith. The things that are seen shall be dissolved. What, then, are we to despise the unseen? By no means. The present is rapidly passing away. What is our resource?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Looking for, and hasting unto, the coming of the day of God. This is the judgment of the renewed mind; and any other judgment is only that of"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Isaac went unto Abimelech, King of the Philistines, unto Gerar. There is a manifest difference between Egypt and Gerar. Egypt is the expression of the world in its natural resources, and its independence of God."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My river is mine own, is the language of an Egyptian who knew not Jehovah, and thought not of looking to him for aught. Egypt was, locally, farther removed from Canaan than Gerar; and, morally, it expresses a condition of soul farther from God. Gerar is thus referred to in Chap. x.:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza: as thou goest unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. (Ver. 19.) We are informed that"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "but how often does the Lord give directions to his people morally suitable to the condition he knows them to be in, and calculated also to arouse them to a true sense of that condition? He directed Moses, in Num. xiii. to send men to search the land of Canaan; but had they not been in a low moral condition such a step would not have been necessary. We know well that faith does not need"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received the same year an hundred-fold: and the Lord blessed him. (Ver. 12.) I reply, we can never judge that a person's condition is right because of prosperous circumstances. We have had already to remark that there is a great difference between the Lord's presence and his blessing. Many have the latter without the former; and, moreover, the heart is prone to mistake the one for the other,--prone to put the blessing for the presence; or at least to argue that the one must ever accompany the other. This is a great mistake. How many do we see surrounded by God's blessings, who neither have, nor wish for, God's presence? It is important to see this. A man may"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And _the Lord appeared unto him_ the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for _I am with thee_, and will bless thee"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He went up from thence,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": ""
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": ""
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phicol the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there now be an oath betwixt us,"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where can I find any thing better? God's order is,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Cease to do evil; and when we have acted upon that holy precept, we are furnished with another, namely,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Learn to do well. If we expect to"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "how"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "before we"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "we are entirely mistaken."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from among the dead. ([Greek: ek tôn nekrôn].) And what then?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Christ shall give thee light."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Cease to do evil. And be assured, when you have yielded obedience to this word, you will not long be left in ignorance as to your path. It is sheer unbelief that leads us to say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I cannot cease to do evil until I find something better."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her: and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. This is referred to in Malachi, where we read,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have loved you, saith the Lord; yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet I have loved Jacob and hated Esau. This is again referred to in Rom. ix.:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Grace all the work shall crown through everlasting days. Happy for us that it is so. As we go on, day by day, making fresh discoveries of ourselves, we need to have beneath our feet the solid foundation of God's grace: nothing else could possibly sustain us in our growing self-knowledge. The ruin is hopeless, and therefore the grace must be infinite: and infinite it is, having its source in God himself, its channel in Christ, and the power of application and enjoyment in the Holy Ghost. The Trinity is brought out in connection with the grace that saves a poor sinner."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Grace reigns through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "At his birth, we read,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And, after his birth,--yea, to the turning-point of his history, in Chap. xxxii., without any exception,--his course exhibits nothing but the most unamiable traits of nature; but all this only serves, like a dark back-ground, to throw into relief the grace of him who condescends to call himself by the peculiarly touching name,"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "but their history remains on the page of inspiration for the display of God's grace, and for the warning of God's people in all ages; and, moreover, that we may distinctly see that the blessed God has not been dealing with perfect men and women, but with those of"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and about to act in direct opposition to the divine counsel, by blessing the elder instead of the younger. Truly this was nature, and nature with its"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In thee do I put my trust; and again,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I was cast upon thee from the womb. Hence, when tempted by the devil to make an effort to satisfy his hunger, his reply was,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. When tempted to cast himself from the pinnacle of the temple, his reply was,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. When tempted to take the kingdoms of the world from the hand of another than God, and by doing homage to another than him, his reply was,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. In a word, nothing could allure the perfect man from the place of absolute dependence upon God. True, it was God's purpose to sustain his Son; it was his purpose that he should suddenly come to his temple; it was his purpose to give him the kingdoms of this world; but this was the very reason why the Lord Jesus would simply and uninterruptedly wait on God for the accomplishment of his purpose, in his own time and in his own way. He did not set about accomplishing his own ends. He left himself thoroughly at God's disposal. He would only eat when God gave him bread; he would only enter the temple when sent of God; he will ascend the throne when God appoints the time."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sit thou at my right hand, _until I make_ thine enemies thy footstool."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Isaac loved Esau, not because he was the first-born, but"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have blessed him; yea, and he shall be blessed.... Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him; and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? He speaks as one who by faith, had at his disposal all the treasures of earth. There is no false humility, no taking a low ground by reason of the manifestation of nature. True, he was on the eve of making a grievous mistake,--even of moving right athwart the counsel of God; still he knew God, and took his place accordingly, dispensing blessings in all the dignity and power of faith."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have blessed him; yea, and he shall be blessed."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "With corn and wine have I sustained him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit?"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "is a precept which naught, save the power of divine grace, can enable one to obey."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. ([Greek: engys]) Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. What will be the result of thus acting?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall garrison ([Greek: phrourêsei]) your hearts and minds by Christ Jesus."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bethel had he been quietly at home. Thus the two sides of the picture are strongly marked in every scene of Jacob's history. It was when he was driven, by his own folly, from Isaac's house, that he was led to taste, in some measure, the blessedness and solemnity of"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "God's house."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. Here we find the homeless wanderer just in the very position in which God could meet him, and in which he could unfold his purposes of grace and glory. Nothing could possibly be more expressive of helplessness and nothingness than Jacob's condition as here set before us. Beneath the open canopy of heaven, with a pillow of stone, in the helpless condition of sleep. Thus it was that the God of Bethel unfolded to Jacob his purposes respecting him and his seed."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The ladder"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It formed the medium of communication between heaven and earth; and"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow, and the sword, and the battle, out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies; I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God. (Hosea ii. 18-23.) There is also an expression in the first chapter of John, bearing upon Jacob's remarkable vision; it is Christ's word to Nathanael,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It was all himself. There is no condition whatever. No _if_ or _but_; for when _grace_ acts there can be no such thing. Where there is an _if_, it cannot possibly be grace. Not that God cannot put man into a position of responsibility in which he must needs address him with an"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. His heart was not at home in the presence of God; nor can any heart be so until it has been thoroughly emptied and broken. God is at home, blessed be his name, with a broken heart, and a broken heart at home with him. But Jacob's heart was not yet in this condition; nor had he yet learnt to repose, like a little child, in the perfect love of one who could say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Jacob have I loved."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Perfect love casteth out fear; but where such love is not known and fully realized, there will always be a measure of uneasiness and perturbation. God's house and God's presence are not dreadful to a soul who knows the love of God as expressed in the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Such a soul is rather led to say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth. (Ps. xxvi. 8.) And again,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. (Ps. xxvii. 4.) And again,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord. (Ps. lxxxiv.) When the heart is established in the knowledge of God, it will assuredly love his house, whatever the character of that house may be, whether it be Bethel, or the temple at Jerusalem, or the Church now composed of all true believers,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my Father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God; and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Observe,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Now, the Lord had just said, emphatically,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I _am_ with thee, and _will keep thee in all places_ whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, &c. And yet poor Jacob's heart cannot get beyond an"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "nor, in its thoughts of God's goodness, can it rise higher than"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. As we have just seen, in Chap. xxviii., Jacob utterly fails in the apprehension of God's real character, and meets all the rich grace of Bethel with an"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "and a miserable bargain about food and raiment. We now follow him into a scene of thorough bargain-making."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.... How dreadful is this place!"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Looking at Jacob and Laban, and judging of them upon natural principles, it would be hard to trace any difference. One should get behind the scenes, and enter into God's thoughts about both, in order to see how widely they differed. But it was God that had made them to differ, not Jacob; and so it is now. Difficult as it may be to trace any difference between the children of light and the children of darkness, there is nevertheless a very wide difference indeed,--a difference founded on the solemn fact that the former are"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "while the latter are"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "IF God will give me food to eat and raiment to put on,"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "throughout. Let the reader turn, for example, to Chap. xxx. 37-42, and say where he can find a more masterly piece of cunning. It is verily a perfect picture of Jacob. In place of allowing God to multiply"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "as he most assuredly would have done, had he been trusted, he sets about securing their multiplication by a piece of policy which could only have found its origin in the mind of a Jacob. So in all his actings, during his twenty years' sojourn with Laban; and finally, he most characteristically"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. (Numb. xxiii. 21.) He does not say that iniquity and perverseness were not in him. This would never give the heart confidence,--the very thing above all others which God desires to give. It could never assure a poor sinner's heart to be told that there was _no sin in_ him; for alas! he knows too well there is; but to be told there is no sin _on_ him, and that, moreover, in God's sight, on the simple ground of Christ's perfect sacrifice, must infallibly set his heart and conscience at rest. Had God taken up Esau, we should not have had by any means such a blessed display of grace; for this reason, that he does not appear before us in the unamiable light in which we see Jacob. The more man sinks, the more God's grace rises. As my debt rises in my estimation from the fifty pence up to the five hundred, so my sense of grace rises also, my experience of that love which, when we"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "could"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "us all. (Luke vii. 42.) Well might the apostle say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "he simply says,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He does not say that God"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "he says,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come, ye _blessed of my Father_, inherit the kingdom _prepared for you_ from the foundation of the world."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Depart from me, ye cursed. He does not say,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And, further, he says,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "not for _you_, but"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "a kingdom of glory, and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "to inherit that kingdom; but he has not prepared"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "for men, but for the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "nor has he fitted the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "as it sedulously guards against"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. Still God's grace follows him, notwithstanding all."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nothing changeth God's affection. Whom he loves, and how he loves, he loves to the end. His love is like himself,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But how little effect"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "God's host had upon Jacob may be seen by his actings as here set before us."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto _my lord_ Esau; _thy servant_ Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now. All this bespeaks a soul very much off its centre in God."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My lord, and"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. But what does he first do? Does he at once cast himself upon God? No; he begins to manage."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; and said, If Esau come to the one company and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Thus his confidence was in the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "and not entirely in God."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. It is often hard to detect what is the real ground of the heart's confidence. We imagine, or would fain persuade ourselves, that we are leaning upon God, when we are in reality leaning upon some scheme of our own devising. Who, after hearkening to Jacob's prayer, wherein he says,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children, could imagine him saying,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I will appease him with a present."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. This is a turning-point in the history of this very remarkable man. To be left alone with God is the only true way of arriving at a just knowledge of ourselves and our ways. We can never get a true estimate of nature and all its actings, until we have weighed them in the balance of the sanctuary, and there we ascertain their real worth. No matter what we may think about ourselves, nor yet what man may think about us; the great question is, What does God think about us? And the answer to this question can only be heard when we are"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Away from the world; away from self; away from all the thoughts, reasonings, imaginations, and emotions of mere nature, and"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him. Mark, it was not Jacob wrestling with a man; but a man wrestling with Jacob; this scene is very commonly referred to as an instance of Jacob's power in prayer. That it is not this is evident from the simple wording of the passage. My wrestling with a man, and a man wrestling with me, present two totally different ideas to the mind. In the former case I want to gain some object from him; in the latter, he wants to gain some object from me. Now, in Jacob's case, the divine object was to bring him to see what a poor, feeble, worthless creature he was, and when Jacob so pertinaciously held out against the divine dealing with him,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The sentence of death must be written on the flesh,--the power of the cross must be entered into before we can steadily and happily walk with God. We have followed Jacob so far, amid all the windings and workings of his extraordinary character,--we have seen him planning and managing during his twenty years' sojourn with Laban; but not until he"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "did he get a true idea of what a perfectly helpless thing he was in himself. Then, the seat of his strength being touched, he learnt to say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will not let _thee_ go."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Other refuge have I none: Clings my helpless soul to thee."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will not let _thee_ go. Now, let my reader remark, that Jacob did not express himself thus until"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This simple fact is quite sufficient to settle the true interpretation of the whole scene. God was wrestling with Jacob to bring him to this point. We have already seen that, as to Jacob's power in prayer, he had no sooner uttered a few words to God than he let out the real secret of his soul's dependence, by saying,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will appease him (Esau) with a present. Would he have said this if he had really entered into the meaning of prayer, or true dependence upon God? Assuredly not. If he had been looking to God alone to appease Esau, could he have said,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I will appease him by a present?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will not let thee go except thou bless me. To say this from the heart, and to abide in the power of it, is the secret of all true strength. Jacob said it when the hollow of his thigh was touched; but not till then. He struggled long ere he gave way, because his confidence in the flesh was strong. But God can bring down to the dust the stoutest character. He knows how to touch the spring of nature's strength, and write the sentence of death thoroughly upon it; and until this is done, there can be no real"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We must be"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "ere we can be"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": ""
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The power of Christ can only"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jacob, or a supplanter, he yet receives no revelation of the name of him who had been wrestling with him, and bringing him down into the dust. He received for himself the name of"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Israel, or prince, which was a great step in advance; but when he says,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tell me, I pray thee, thy name; he received the reply,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? The Lord refuses to tell his name, though he had elicited from Jacob the truth as to himself, and he blesses him accordingly. How often is this the case in the annals of God's family! There is the disclosure of self in all its moral deformity; but we fail to get hold practically of what God is, though he has come so very close to us, and blessed us, too, in connection with the discovery of ourselves. Jacob received the new name of Israel when the hollow of his thigh had been touched. He became a mighty prince when he had been brought to know himself as a weak man; but still the Lord had to say,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He blessed him there;"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Chap. xlii. 5, 6.) This was really touching the hollow of his thigh. And mark the expression,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He does not say,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I see myself merely; no; but"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nothing but a view of what God is, can really lead to repentance and self-loathing. Thus it will be with the people of Israel, whose history is very analogous with that of Job. When they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, they will mourn, and then there will be full restoration and blessing. Their latter end, like Job's will be better than their beginning. They will learn the full meaning of that word,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him; and they wept. The present was quite unnecessary,--the plan useless. God"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Esau, as he had already appeased Laban. Thus it is he ever delights to rebuke our poor, coward, unbelieving hearts, and put to flight all our fears. Instead of the dreaded sword of Esau, Jacob meets his embrace and kiss; instead of strife and conflict, they mingle their tears. Such are God's ways. Who would not trust him? Who would not honor him with the heart's fullest confidence? Why is it that, notwithstanding all the sweet evidence of his faithfulness to those who put their trust in him, we are so ready, on every fresh occasion, to doubt and hesitate? The answer is simple: we are not sufficiently acquainted with God."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace. (Job xxii. 21.) This is true, whether in reference to the unconverted sinner, or to the child of God. The true knowledge of God, real acquaintance with him, is life and peace."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. (John xvii. 3.) The more intimate our acquaintance with God, the more solid will be our peace, and the more will our souls be lifted above every creature dependence."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "God is a rock,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am the God of Succoth; no; but"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am the God of Bethel."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "El-elohe-Israel, or"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "God, the God of Israel."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled _me_, to make _me_ to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and _I_ being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against _me_, and slay _me_; and _I_ shall be destroyed, _I_ and my house."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "in Heb. xi. But then he exhibited sad failure from not walking in the habitual exercise of that divine principle. Could faith have led him to say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I shall be destroyed, I and my house? Surely not. God's promise in Chapter xxviii. 14, 15, should have banished every fear from his poor timid spirit."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I will keep thee.... I will not leave thee."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. This is a principle flowing out of God's moral government,--a principle, from the application of which none can possibly escape; and it is a positive mercy to the children of God that they are obliged to reap the fruits of their errors. It is a mercy to be taught, in any way, the bitterness of departing from, or stopping short of, the living God. We must learn that this is not our rest; for, blessed be God, he would not give us a polluted rest. He would ever have us resting _in_, and _with_ himself. Such is his perfect grace; and when our hearts wander, or fall short, his word is,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If thou wilt return, return _unto me_."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. This confirms the principle on which we have been dwelling. When there is a failure or declension, the Lord calls the soul back to himself."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Remember therefore _from whence thou art fallen_; and repent and do _the first works_. (Rev. ii. 5.) This is the divine principle of restoration. The soul must be recalled to the very highest point; it must be brought back to the divine standard. The Lord does not say,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "no; but"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Shechem was not the place in which to detect all this evil. The atmosphere of that place was too much impregnated with impure elements to admit of the soul's discerning, with any degree of clearness and precision, the true character of evil. But the moment the call to Bethel fell on Jacob's ear,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean and change your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make thee an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. The very mention of"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "El-elohe-Israel, while surrounded by a quantity of things utterly incompatible with the holiness of the house of God. It is important to be clear in reference to this point. Nothing can keep the soul in a path of consistent, intelligent separation from evil save the sense of what"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "is, and what becomes that house. If I merely look at God, in reference to myself, I shall not have a clear, full, divine sense of all that flows out of a due recognition of God's relation to his house. Some there are who deem it a matter of no importance how they are mixed up with impure materials in the worship of God, provided they themselves are true and upright in heart. In other words, they think they can worship God at Shechem; and that an altar named"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "El-elohe-Israel is just as elevated, just as much according to God, as an altar named"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "El Bethel."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "God, the God of Israel; and the soul must ever feel happy in looking at the character of God, as graciously connecting himself with every separate stone of his house, and every separate member of the body. Each stone in the building of God is a"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "as connected with the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "having communion with the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "by the power of"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He is thus reminded of"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is often well to have our minds led in this way to the point in our history in which we found ourselves brought down to the lowest step of the ladder. Thus Saul is brought back to the time when he was"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This is the true starting-point with all of us."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "When thou wast little in thine own eyes,"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "instead of"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "and Jacob again calls the name of the place"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bethel. At verse 18 we have an interesting example of the difference between the judgment of faith and the judgment of nature. The latter looks at things through the hazy mist with which it is surrounded; the former looks at them in the light of the presence and counsels of God."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. Nature called him"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "but faith called him"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He came to his own, and his own received him not. He had"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They would neither own him as the Son of God, nor King of Israel. Their eyes were not open to behold"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren, and they hated him yet the more...."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And he dreamed yet another dream, and he told it to his brethren."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "but also as the perfect expression of all the love of the Father's heart;"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh; come now, therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit; and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams. These words forcibly remind us of the parable in Matthew xxii."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. God sent his Son into the world with this thought,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They will reverence my son; but alas! man's heart had no reverence for the"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel;) even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breast and of the womb; the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The archers have done their work; but God was stronger than they. The true Joseph has been shot at and grievously wounded in the house of his friends; but"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "in the power of resurrection, and faith now knows him as the basis of all God's purposes of blessing and glory in reference to the Church, Israel, and the whole creation. When we look at Joseph in the pit and in the prison, and look at him afterwards as ruler over all the land of Egypt, we see the difference between the thoughts of God and the thoughts of men; and so when we look at the cross, and at"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. (John xv. 22.) It is not that they would not have been sinners. No: but"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So he says in another place,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin. (John ix. 41.) God came near to man in the person of his Son, and man was able to say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "but yet he said,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hence"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda. (Heb. vii. 14.) But how?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Judas begat Phares and Zara of _Thamar_. (Matt. i. 3.) This is peculiarly striking. God, in his great grace, rising above the sin and folly of man, in order to bring about his own purposes of love and mercy. Thus, a little farther on, in Matthew, we read,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "David the king begat Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias. It is worthy of God thus to act. The Spirit of God is conducting us along the line through which, according to the flesh, Christ came; and in doing so he gives us as links in the genealogical chain, Tamar and Bathsheba! How evident it is that there is nothing of man in this! How plain it is that when we reach the close of the first chapter of Matthew, it is"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "God manifest in the flesh"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The thoughts of many hearts were to be"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "but Joseph was to be exalted."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant; whose feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in iron; until the time that his word came; the word of the Lord tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance; to bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his senators wisdom."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Such are God's ways; and it is one of the happiest and most elevating exercises for the soul of a saint to trace thus the admirable actings of his heavenly Father. How forcibly is God's providence brought out in this profoundly interesting history of Joseph! Look, for a moment, into the dungeon of the captain of the guard. See there a man"
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot that he had: and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. (2 Cor. v. 16.) The Church's gathering-point is Christ in glory."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world; and again,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. (John xvii. 16, 19.) So, also, in 1 Peter, we read,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious; ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And unto Joseph were born two sons, _before the years of famine came_. There was a time of trouble coming; but previous thereto the fruit of his union appeared. The children whom God had given him were called into existence previous to this time of trial. So will it be in reference to the Church. All the members thereof will be called out, the whole body will be completed and gathered to the Head in heaven, previous to"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And they said one to another, _We are verily guilty_ concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and _we would not hear_; therefore _is this distress come upon us_. And Reuben answered them, saying. Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also, _his blood is required_."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Judah said, What shall we say unto my Lord? What shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants. None can teach like God. He alone can produce in the conscience the true sense of sin, and bring the soul down into the profound depths of its own condition in his presence. This is all his own work. Men run on in their career of guilt, heedless of every thing, until the arrow of the Almighty pierces their conscience, and then they are led into those searchings of heart, and intense exercises of soul, which can only find relief in the rich resources of redeeming love. Joseph's brethren had no conception of all that was to flow to them from their actings toward him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They took him and cast him into a pit ... and they sat down to eat bread."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Woe to them ... that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What did they mean? Who sent them? And for what were they designed? Admirable providence! Unsearchable wisdom! The famine reaches to Canaan, and the calls of hunger actually bring the guilty brethren to the feet of the injured Joseph! How marked is the display of God's own hand in all this! There they stand, with the arrow of conviction thrust through and through their consciences, in the presence of the man whom they had,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Joseph said unto his brethren, _Come near to me_, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither; for God did send me before you, to preserve life.... And God sent me before you, to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you sent me hither, but God. This is grace indeed, setting the convicted conscience perfectly at rest. The brethren had, already, most thoroughly condemned themselves, and hence Joseph had only to pour in the blessed balm into their broken hearts."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is all sweetly typical of God's dealings with Israel, in the latter day, when they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn. Then they shall prove the reality of divine grace, and the cleansing efficacy of that"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the holy One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. These statements were designed to elicit from the hearts and lips of the hearers the confession made by Joseph's brethren--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We are verily guilty. Then follows the grace."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. We here see that, although the Jews really carried out the enmity of their hearts in the death of Christ, as did also Joseph's brethren in their treatment of him, yet, the grace of God to each is seen in this, that all is shown to be decreed and foreshown of God for their blessing. This is perfect grace, surpassing all human thought; and all that is needed in order to the enjoyment thereof, is a conscience truly convicted by the truth of God. Those who could say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We are verily guilty, could rightly understand the words of precious grace,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It was not you, but God."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Go to Joseph, and Joseph, in effect, says,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This is sweetly interesting, and leads the soul on to that glorious time when the Son of man shall take the reins of government into his own hand, by divine appointment, and rule over the whole redeemed creation, his Church--the bride of the Lamb--occupying the nearest and most intimate place, according to the eternal counsels. The house of Israel, fully restored, shall be nourished and sustained by his gracious hand; and all the earth shall know the deep blessedness of being under his sceptre. Finally, having brought every thing into subjection, he shall hand back the reins of government into the hands of God, that"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "From all this we may form some idea of the richness and copiousness of Joseph's history. In short, it sets before us distinctly in type the mission of the Son to the house of Israel,--his humiliation and rejection,--the deep exercises and final repentance and restoration of Israel,--the union of the Church with Christ,--his exaltation and universal government, and, finally, it points us forward to the time when"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "God shall be all in all. It is quite needless to remark, that all these things are largely taught and fully established throughout the entire canon of inspiration: we do not therefore build their truth upon Joseph's history; still it is edifying to find such early foreshadowings of these precious truths: it proves to us the divine unity which pervades holy scripture. Whether we turn to Genesis or to Ephesians,--to the prophets of the Old or those of the New Testament,--we learn the same truths."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "in view of an almost fatal mistake. Quite the reverse. His intelligent reply to his less instructed son is,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I know it, my son, I know it."
}
]
|
37915 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed. To nature's view, Joseph was dead; whereas in God's view he was alive, and seated in the highest place of authority, next the throne."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jacob and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Israel are introduced in the close of the Book of Genesis; as, for example,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "One told _Jacob_, and said, Behold thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and _Israel_ strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. Then, it is immediately added,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And _Jacob_ said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz. Now, we know, there is nothing in scripture without its specific meaning, and hence this interchange of names contains some instruction. In general, it may be remarked, that"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jacob sets forth the depth to which God had descended;"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Israel,"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hi, Walt, somebody behind me called out."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Looking for some news that's fit to print?"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All the news is fit to print, and if it's news the _Times_ prints it, I told him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Think you're going to get some good thrillers this time?"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They tell me there's a real Old-Terran-style Western been showing on Völund that ought to be coming our way this time, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It was filmed in South America, with real horses."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They'll think the old cattle towns like Dodge and Abilene were awful sissy places, though."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I suppose they were, compared to Port Sandor, Lautier said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are you going aboard to interview the distinguished visitor?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Which one? I asked."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Glenn Murell or Leo Belsher?"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, here you are, Mr. Lautier, he greeted."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I trust that I did not keep you waiting. Then he saw me."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, it's Walter Boyd. How is your father, Walter?"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Really, Walter, it is a wonderful thing that a famous author like Mr. Murell should come here to write a book about our planet, he told me, very seriously, and added, as an afterthought:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Have you any idea where he intends staying while he is among us?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, yes, I admitted."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "After the _Peenemünde_ radioed us their passenger list, Dad talked to him by screen, and invited him to stay with us. Mr. Murell accepted, at least until he can find quarters of his own."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I wonder if Mr. Murell could spare time to come to the school and speak to the students,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm sure he could. I'll mention it to him, Professor,"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I thought you were down in the South Ocean,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There's going to be a special meeting of the Co-op, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We only heard about it last evening, by which he meant after 1800 of the previous Galactic Standard day. He named another hunter-ship captain who had called the _Javelin_ by screen."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We screened everybody else we could."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There she is!"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Good afternoon, gentlemen. Captain Ahab, I believe, he said, bowing to Tom, who seemed slightly puzzled; the education Tom had been digging out for himself was technical rather than literary."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And Mr. Pulitzer. Or is it Horace Greeley?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Lord Beaverbrook, your Grace, I replied."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Have you any little news items for us from your diocese?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We-el, he said carefully,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He turned to Tom."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "One of your hands on the _Javelin_ got into a fight in Martian Joe's, a while ago. Lumped the other man up pretty badly. He named the Javelin crewman, and the man who had been pounded. The latter was one of Steve Ravick's goons."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But not fatally, I regret to say, Bish added."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The local Gestapo are looking for your man, but he made it aboard Nip Spazoni's _Bulldog_, and by this time he's halfway to Hermann Reuch's Land."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Isn't Nip going to the meeting, tonight?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nip is a peace-loving man. He has a well-founded suspicion that peace is going to be in short supply around Hunters' Hall this evening. You know, of course, that Leo Belsher's coming in on the _Peenemünde_ and will be there to announce another price cut. The new price, I understand, will be thirty-five centisols a pound."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where did you get that?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I have my spies and informers, Bish said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And even if I hadn't, it would figure. The only reason Leo Belsher ever comes to this Eden among planets is to negotiate a new contract, and who ever heard of a new contract at a higher price?"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What we need for Ravick, Hallstock and Belsher, Tom was saying,"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mmm, no; there ought to be some better way of doing it than that."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Can you think of one?"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You going aboard? Tom asked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Can I come along? I can carry some of your stuff and let on I'm your helper."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, sure, I said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You tow the hamper; I'll carry this. I got out what looked like a big camera case and slung it over my shoulder."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But you'll have to take me out on the _Javelin_, sometime, and let me shoot a monster."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bish, suppose you come with us, too, I said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "After all, Tom and I are just a couple of kids. If you're with us, it'll look a lot more big-paperish."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm dreadfully sorry, Walt, Bish said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But I'm going aboard, myself, to see a friend who is en route through to Odin. A Dr. Watson; I have not seen him for years."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Aren't you rather young to be a newsman?"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, they grow up young on Fenris, Mr. Murell, Captain Marshak earned my gratitude by putting in."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Either that or they don't live to grow up."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who, I wanted to know,"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My dear Bishop!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How are you? Bish replied, grasping the other's hand."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dr. Watson"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know, everybody says that--everybody but newsmen. They always call a news service a"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dr. Watson"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Good day, gentlemen, I greeted them."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm representing the Port Sandor _Times_."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, run along, sonny; we haven't time to bother with you,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But I want to get a story from Mr. Belsher,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, come back in five or six years, when you're dry behind the ears, and you can get it,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Our readers aren't interested in the condition of my ears, I said sweetly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They want to read about the price of tallow-wax. What's this about another price cut? To thirty-five centisols a pound, I understand."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, Steve, the young man's from the news service, and his father will publish whatever he brings home, Belsher argued."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We'd better give him something. He turned to me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't know how this got out, but it's quite true,"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The price has gone down, again. Somebody has developed a synthetic substitute. Of course, it isn't anywhere near as good as real Fenris tallow-wax, but try and tell the public that. So Kapstaad Chemical is being undersold, and the only way they can stay in business is cut the price they have to pay for wax...."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mr. Murell says he's staying with you at the _Times_, Tom said. He seemed almost as disappointed as Professor Hartzenbosch. I wondered, for an incredulous moment, if Tom had been trying to kidnap Murell away from me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He wants to go out on the _Javelin_ with us for a monster-hunt."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, that's swell! I said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You can pay off on that promise to take me monster-hunting, too. Right now, Mr. Murell is my big story. I reached into the front pocket of my"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "case for the handphone, to shift to two-way."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll call the _Times_ and have somebody come up with a car to get us and Mr. Murell's luggage."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I have a car. Jeep, that is, Tom said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's down on the Bottom Level. We can use that."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I knew this spaceport would be big when I found out that the ship landed directly on the planet, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Twenty-four thousand, seven hundred and eight, if the man who got pounded in a barroom fight around 1330 hasn't died yet, I said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But you have to remember that this place was built close to a hundred years ago, when the population was ten times that much. I'd gotten my story from him; now it was his turn to interview me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You know something about the history of Fenris, I suppose?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes. There are ample sources for it on Terra, up to the collapse of the Fenris Company, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Too much isn't known about what's been happening here since, which is why I decided to do this book."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But about six years before the Fenris Company went to pieces, they decided to concentrate in one city, here in the archipelago. The sea water stays cooler in the daytime and doesn't lose heat so rapidly in the nighttime. So they built Port Sandor, here on Oakleaf Island."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And for convenience in monster-hunting?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No. The Jarvis's sea-monster wasn't discovered until after the city was built, and it was years after the company had gone bankrupt before anybody found out about what tallow-wax was good for."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You saw what it looked like when you were coming down, I said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just a flat plateau, with a few shaft-head domes here and there, and the landing pit of the spaceport. Well, originally it was a valley, between two low hills. The city was built in the valley, level by level, and then the tops of the hills were dug off and bulldozed down on top of it. We have a lot of film at the public library of the construction of the city, step by step. As far as I know, there are no copies anywhere off-planet."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, no. We're going in on the Bottom Level, which is mainly storage, but we have hydroponic farms for our vegetables and carniculture plants for meat on the Second and Third Levels. That's counting down from the Main City Level. We make our own lumber, out of reeds harvested in the swamps after sunrise and converted to pulpwood, and we get some good hardwood from the native trees which only grow in four periods of two hundred hours a year. We only use that for furniture, gunstocks, that sort of thing. And there are a couple of mining camps and smelters on the mainland; they employ about a thousand of our people. But every millisol that's spent on this planet is gotten from the sale of tallow-wax, at second or third hand if not directly."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You can get all the _paté de foie gras_ you want here, I said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We have a chunk of goose liver about fifty feet in diameter growing in one of our vats."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who does this belong to? he wanted to know."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Hunters' Co-operative?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, it doesn't. It belongs to the hunters, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Each ship crew owns the wax they bring in in common, and it's sold for them by the Co-op. When the captain gets paid for the wax he's turned over to the Co-op, he divides the money among the crew. But every scrap of this belongs to the ships that took it, up till it's bought and paid for by Kapstaad Chemical."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, if a captain wants his wax back, after it's been turned over for sale to the Co-op, can he get it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Absolutely!"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Murell! he yelled."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Freeze! On your life; don't move a muscle!"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All right, Bish said, slipping his gun back into a shoulder holster under his coat."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Step carefully to your left. Don't move right at all."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Get the Gate open, St. Peter; here I come."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No cleaner would touch them, and even if they were cleaned, some of the poison would remain in the fabric. Then, the next time you were caught in the rain with a scratch on your leg, Walt, here, would write you one of his very nicest obituaries."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Get an ambulance, quick. Possible case of tread-snail skin poisoning. A moment later, looking at Murell's leg, he added,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Omit 'possible.'"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You know, he said, sliding the gun back under his coat,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I would be just as well pleased as Mr. Fieschi if this didn't get any publicity. If you do publish anything about it, I wish you'd minimize my own part in it. As you have noticed, I have some slight proficiency with lethal hardware. This I would prefer not to advertise. I can usually avoid trouble, but when I can't, I would like to retain the advantage of surprise."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's that stuff doing in here? I asked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's a long way from the docks, and a long way from the spaceport."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, just temporary storage, Tom said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It hasn't been checked in with the Co-op yet."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Want to stay and have dinner with us, Tom?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Uh? It took him a second or so to realize what I'd said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, no, thanks, Walt. I have to get back to the ship. Father wants to see me before the meeting."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How about you, Bish? Want to take potluck with us?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I shall be delighted,"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The stuff come in all right?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes. What do you think of that fellow Belsher? he asked."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Did you ever hear such an impudent string of lies in your life? Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the lifter full of luggage, and saw somebody with me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mr. Murell? Please excuse me for a moment, till I get this blasted thing together straight. Then he got the film spliced and the sound record matched, and looked up."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, Bish? Where's Mr. Murell, Walt?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mr. Murell has had his initiation to Fenris, I said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He got squirted by a tread-snail almost as soon as he got off the ship. They have him at the spaceport hospital; it'll be 2400 before they get all the poison sweated out of him."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That was mighty sharp work, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If you'd been a second slower, we'd be all out of visiting authors. That would have been a nice business; story would have gotten back to Terra, and been most unfortunate publicity for Fenris. And, of course, he afterthoughted,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, if you give this any publicity, I would rather you passed my own trifling exploit over in silence, Bish said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I gather the spaceport people wouldn't be too happy about giving the public the impression that their area is teeming with tread-snails, either. They have enough trouble hiring shipping-floor help as it is."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But don't you want people to know what you did? Dad demanded, incredulously. Everybody wanted their names in print or on 'cast; that was one of his basic articles of faith."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If the public learned about this-- he went on, and then saw where he was heading and pulled up short. It wouldn't be tactful to say something like,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Maybe they wouldn't think you were just a worthless old soak."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ah, but that would be a step out of character for me, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I must not confuse my public. Just as a favor to me, Ralph, say nothing about it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, if you'd rather I didn't.... Are you going to cover this meeting at Hunters' Hall, tonight, Walt?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Would I miss it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I could handle that myself, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm afraid this meeting's going to get a little rough."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let's face it, Dad, I said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm a little short of eighteen, but you're sixty. I can see things coming better than you can, and dodge them quicker."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "See how it goes? he asked."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We spend our lives shielding our young and then, all of a sudden, we find they're shielding us. His pipe had gone out again and he relit it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Too bad you didn't get an audiovisual of Belsher making that idiotic statement."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He didn't even know I was getting a voice-only. All the time he was talking, I was doodling in a pad with a pencil."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Synthetic substitutes! Dad snorted."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Putting a synthetic tallow-wax molecule together would be like trying to build a spaceship with a jackknife and a tack hammer."
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You drink Baldur honey-rum, don't you, Bish? he said, pawing among the bottles in the liquor cabinet next to the refrigerator."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm sure I have a bottle of it. Now wait a minute; it's here somewhere."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now wait a minute; it's here somewhere."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Never mind the rum, Ralph. I believe, he said,"
}
]
|
19478 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I believe I'll make it unanimous, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Fix me up a fruit fizz, too, Walt."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Palatable, he pronounced it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just a trifle on the mild side, but definitely palatable."
}
]
|
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