166
T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
the daughter of Pharaoh. And he had seven hundred wives; and his wives turned 4way his heart” (1 K b . 11:1., 3) “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6 : 14). And in this, as in all things contrary to God’s will, we must “R E S I S T B E G IN N IN G S .” A Young King’s Dream. 2 Chron. 1:7-12. Memory Verse.-—“I have given thee a wise and an under standing heart.’.’ 1 Kings 3:12. Approach.^-Boys and girls do you know we are making choices every day, and the kind of choices we make while we are young has a lot to do with our lives when we grow to be men and women. We should be very careful about the kind of choices we make. We ELEMENTARY choose companions and playmates, and Mabel L. Merrill they form our character. We choose obedience or disobedience, foolishness o,r earnestness, the Saviour or sin. We do not always know how to make a wise choice, and that is why we all need a Saviour to help us and lead us in the right way. Prayer. Lesson Story.Sl am going to give you a little word pic ture, and then you can tell me the story. In this picture is a prophet or preacher, and near him is a man with seven sons. Out in the field is another younger son, taking care of his father’s sheep. Ruth you may tell us the story. Now I believe some of you boys and girls have done your work better this week, after learning our lesson from the story last week, don’t you? A great many years have passed by since the boy David was anointed king, and today we have a story about another king who is on the throne, and he is a son of King David. The name of this son was Solomon, and he made a very wonderful choice. (Teachers read 1 Kings 3:5-12). Solomon was just a young man, but he MARCH 30, 1924. REVIEW—ABRAHAM TO SOLOMON Golden Text: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” Etiology is the science of origins. Genesis is the book of beginnings. There is the beginning of the universe, the beginning of the human race, the beginning of sin and sal vation, the beginning of the Hebrew race and last, but not least, the beginning of the life of faith. LESSON Abel stands for justifying faith; Enoch EXPOSITION for sanctifying faith; Noah for separating F. W. Farr faith; Abraham for the obedience of faith; Isaac for the patience of faith; Jacob for the discipline of faith, and Joseph for the victory of faith over suffering and wrong. Instead of discussing the philosophy of faith, the Bible gives the story of men who believed God. Instead of a treatise on prayer in the abstract, the Bible shows us pic tures of men praying. The heroes of the Bible represent the genius of character and that outranks the genius of in tellect. Only the good are great. If a man is not honest, pure, loving, truthful and shows se'lf-control and self-sacri fice in.his daily life, he is not a great man. He may have occupied high positions, made eloquent orations, or written beautiful poetry but he has not reached the acme of great ness. He must be the best character he can describe. He must enact in life the highest qualities he can paint. His head must not overtop his heart nor his lips go beyond the achievements of his hands. We are saved by faith, not by
; knew it was a great big task to be king over God’s people Israel, a very large number of people, too many for us tb even try to count. ' King Solomon had built a very beautiful temple, many parts of it built of pure gold; they held a big service giving this wonderful temple over to the Lord as His house. (Give the children a little detail of this temple and service, and the placing of ark, and God’s glory filling the place, His presence in their midst). King Solomon loved God, and was careful to do no evil. And God spoke to him one | night in a dream, and offered him anything that he desired. I wonder what we would have told God we wanted? God £ said to King Solomon, “Ask what I shall give thee.” Solo- mon. answered, “Give thy servant wisdom, that I may be ' able to rule well over thy people, the children of Israel. 5 . God was pleased with the answer that Solomon gave, 3 and told him that because he had not asked for riches or 3 a long life, or the victory over his enemies, He would give I him the wisdom he asked for, and besides this, riches and honor, more than any of the kings who had been before him, or who_should be after him; and if he would obey his commandments, God promised.to give him a long life also. 3 God told Solomon again that if he would always obey Him 1 (God), he should be king as long as he lived, and his de- > scendants should be kings over Israel after him. Yet, the r Lord said, that if Solomon and the people should turn away : from serving Him, He could not, bless them. Solomon was wiser than all the other kings of the earth, r and many came to him to be taught of his wisdom. Who s gave King Solomon his great wisdom? Let us learn our i memory verse right here. “I have given thee a wise and > an understanding heart.” Do you want the Lord to give you His wisdom, so that you will always make the right kind of choices? Closing prayer. character, but Christian character is the product of faith. These Bible characters teach us that intellectual power is unavailing unless supplemented and directed by the Spirit of God. Man is a creature of thought and reason. The hu man mind has probed and solved the secrets of the natural world and concludes, therefore, that it may with equal suc cess grapple with moral and spiritual problems. It is utterly helpless, however, before the guilt and bondage of sin. It can devise no relief for a world that is out of joint. It cannot unaided even discover the path of duty. There is another Mind whose wisdom must be recognized, whose conclusions must be accepted and whose mandates must be obeyed. We are not to repudiate our responsibility nor cease from all effort, but subordinate and co-ordinate our activity with the working of the Holy Spirit. “The Lord is gracious.” This is a part of the Golden Text (Ps. 103:8) for this review lesson, and we may profit ably consider the quarter’s lessons in the light of the mar velous grace of God—concerning which most of us know far too little. DEVOTIOiNAL God’s grace is- seen in his dealings COMMENT with Abraham. In speaking to Israel John A. Hubbard years after Abraham’s time, God said: “Look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many” (Isa. 51:1, 2, R. V.). In grace
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker