SIXTEENTH EVENING. FOR VICTORY OVER SIN.

"Sin shall not have dominion¹ over you."—Rom. vi. 14.

O God, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold² iniquity³. Evil cannot dwell with Thee, fools cannot stand in Thy presence. Thou hast solemnly declared, "Thou canst by no means clear the guilty," and that "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not escape unpunished."

Lord, I rejoice that I can draw near to Thee {54} in the name of Him by whom the guilty have been cleared; and through whom it is that a holy and righteous and sin-hating God can yet be holy and just, in the very act of justifying⁴ the ungodly.

I desire to adore Thee for all Thy creative and providential goodness. Thou hast loaded me with Thy benefits. The past is paved with love. I see in the retrospect⁵ of life nothing but amazing, unmerited kindness, mercy upon mercy! Amid manifold changes there has been no change in Thee, no altered looks, no fainting or weariness or estrangement⁶. Amid the wanderings of my own fitful spirit I can write over every remembrance of the past, But "Thou art the same!"

I desire with penitence⁷ of soul to mourn my own ingratitude⁸ and sin, the desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of my own evil heart, the power of corruption⁹, the mastery of self, the alienation¹⁰ of my affections from Thee their rightful Sovereign and Lord. What an easy prey¹¹ have I often fallen in the hour of temptation—by thought and word and deed dishonoring Thy name and basely requiting¹² Thy love! {55} Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am no more worthy¹³ to be called Thy child!

Give me genuine contrition¹⁴ for the past, inspire me with new purposes of obedience¹⁵ for the future. Without Thy favor and reconciliation¹⁶, in peace I cannot live, in peace I dare not die! My cry would be, "More grace, more grace!" Let me be gaining every day fresh victories over sin; may my soul be daily nurtured¹⁷ by the influence of heaven-born principles. May I know the expulsive power of the new implanted affection of love to Thee. Dethrone the world. Subjugate¹⁸ the power of sin. Give me greater tenderness of conscience; may I jealously guard every avenue to temptation, and be ready ever with the reply to the seductions of the tempter, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"

Let me be willing to forego anything rather than forsake¹⁹ Thy ways. Be it my habitual²⁰ purpose and desire to cleave²¹ unto Thee the Lord with full purpose of heart. Let me hallow all life's duties and engagements with Thy favor, looking forward to that time when my {56} will and Thine, blessed God! shall be one, and when there shall be no more sin to interrupt the interchange of love and devotedness²².

Bless all my dear friends; may the blessing²³ of Jacob's God, the God of all the families of the earth, rest upon them. Give them all needful temporal blessings²⁴. Fill their souls with peace and joy in believing. May they and I look forward with joyful²⁵ anticipation²⁶ to that "morning without clouds," which knows no change nor vicissitude²⁷, when there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, because there will be no more sin; and all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.

"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH²⁸ BEFORE THEE AS
INCENSE²⁹: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS
AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."

1 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。

2 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

3 iniquity   

n.邪恶；不公正

参考例句：

• Research has revealed that he is a monster of iniquity.调查结果显示他是一个不法之徒。
• The iniquity of the transaction aroused general indignation.这笔交易的不公引起了普遍的愤怒。

4 justifying   

证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• He admitted it without justifying it. 他不加辩解地承认这个想法。
• The fellow-travellers'service usually consisted of justifying all the tergiversations of Soviet intenal and foreign policy. 同路人的服务通常包括对苏联国内外政策中一切互相矛盾之处进行辩护。

5 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

6 estrangement   

n.疏远，失和，不和

参考例句：

• a period of estrangement from his wife 他与妻子分居期间
• The quarrel led to a complete estrangement between her and her family. 这一争吵使她同家人完全疏远了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 penitence   

n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过

参考例句：

• The thief expressed penitence for all his past actions. 那盗贼对他犯过的一切罪恶表示忏悔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Of penitence, there has been none! 可是悔过呢，还一点没有！ 来自英汉文学 - 红字

8 ingratitude   

n.忘恩负义

参考例句：

• Tim's parents were rather hurt by his ingratitude.蒂姆的父母对他的忘恩负义很痛心。
• His friends were shocked by his ingratitude to his parents.他对父母不孝，令他的朋友们大为吃惊。

9 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

10 alienation   

n.疏远；离间；异化

参考例句：

• The new policy resulted in the alienation of many voters.新政策导致许多选民疏远了。
• As almost every conceivable contact between human beings gets automated,the alienation index goes up.随着人与人之间几乎一切能想到的接触方式的自动化，感情疏远指数在不断上升。

11 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

12 requiting   

v.报答( requite的现在分词 )；酬谢；回报；报复

参考例句：

• Even normal racing produces enormous straining, requiting the helmet to protect the neck and spine. 甚至是一般的赛车运动都会产生极大的张力，这就要求头盔能保护颈部和脊椎。 来自互联网
• When given a problem requiting multiplication or division, the computer solves it by adding or subtracting. 当给计算机一道要求用乘法或除法求解的题时，它能用加法或减法解出。 来自互联网

13 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

14 contrition   

n.悔罪，痛悔

参考例句：

• The next day he'd be full of contrition,weeping and begging forgiveness.第二天，他就会懊悔不已，哭着乞求原谅。
• She forgave him because his contrition was real.她原谅了他是由于他的懊悔是真心的。

15 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

16 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

17 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

18 subjugate   

v.征服；抑制

参考例句：

• Imperialism has not been able to subjugate China.帝国主义不能征服中国。
• After having been subjugated to ambition,your maternal instincts are at last starting to assert themselves.你那被雄心壮志压制已久的母性本能终于开始展现出来。

19 forsake   

vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃

参考例句：

• She pleaded with her husband not to forsake her.她恳求丈夫不要抛弃她。
• You must forsake your bad habits.你必须革除你的坏习惯。

20 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

21 cleave   

v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋

参考例句：

• It examines how the decision to quit gold or to cleave to it affected trade policies.论文分析了放弃或坚持金本位是如何影响贸易政策的。
• Those who cleave to the latter view include many conservative American politicians.坚持后一种观点的大多是美国的保守派政客。

22 devotedness   

参考例句：

• Maximilian, in his devotedness, gazed silently at her. 沉醉在爱情中的马西米兰默默地注视着她。

23 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

24 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

25 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

26 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

27 vicissitude   

n.变化，变迁，荣枯，盛衰

参考例句：

• It is indeed a strange vicissitude of our science.这确实是我们科学的一个奇怪变迁。
• The future is so uncertain that we cannot know all the vicissitude of our fortunes.未来是无法确定的，我们无法知道将来命运所有的变化。

28 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

29 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。