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have sinned against th e Lord” (v. 6 .) (4) Renewed op position on th e p a rt of th e enemy (v. 7 ). “The devil is always afraid of an aggressive church. Opposition to him arouses opposition by him .” (5 ) P ray er. “Cease n o t to cry unto the Lord our God for us, th a t he will save us out of th e hand of the Philistines” (v. 8 ). ( 6 ) Consecration —-as seen in th e w hole-burnt offering (v. 9 ). Compare Rom. 12:1, 2. (7) Victory (vs. 10-14). These are elements in every tru e revival. Are yon pray ing for a revival in th e body of Christ? afe God Calls th e Boy Samuel. 1 Sam. 3:1-10. Memory Verse.— “Speak, Lord; for thy servant h eareth .” 1 Sam. 3:9. Approach.—B ring to class several kinds of seeij, Show children one of each kind, and ask them w hat will grow if the seed is planted—-corn will produce corn; wheat will produce wheat. W hatever we sow th a t shall we reap. If weeds are sown, weeds will be the har- ELEMENTARY vest. Every act of our lives is a seed; Mabel L. M errill a bad action will produce evil. The seed we sow comes from our hearts. If we sow good seed we must have rig h t h earts. Bad acts and words bring etern al death. We must ask God to make and keep our h earts righ t, for He only can make them bring fo rth good seed.-—(P rim ary Teacher.) Lesson Story.-—Sometimes boys and girls th ink they can not do much for God un til they grow up, b u t God does no t th ink so, for Jesus began his work as a boy, and our story today, shows how God used a boy. (Review th e story of Samuel, and how his mother gave him to God, and his service in th e house of th e Lord under E li th e p riest or p reacher.) E li th e preacher loved and served God, bu t he had two sons who would not obey him , and did very wick edly, so it made it hard for E li th e ir fath er. We remember in our sto ry when brave Joshua was leading God’s people, how one m an’s sin b rough t sorrow and defeat to all th e peo ple, for we will have to reap whatever we sow, and E li’s sons brought sorrow and trouble to God’s people a t th is time. And now listen, for I w ant you to know ju s t where th e trouble began. E li did not have his two sons obey him, and when boys and girls will not obey th e ir paren ts they are sta rtin g to sow bad seed and they will have to reap what they sow. One night afte r th e boy Samuel had gone to bed God spoke to Samuel, for in those days they did not vet have the Bible as we have it, and so God could not tell them w hat He wanted th rough th e Bible, like He does us. Samuel did not know it was God speaking, bu t though t it was E li, and so he answered quickly, “Here am I,” and he ra n unto Eli. Then E li told him he had not called and for him to lie down again. Three times God called to Samuel, and each tim e he ran to Eli, and then Eli knew th a t i t was God calling him. He told him to lie down again, and if God called to answer and say, “ Speak, Lord; for thy servant h eareth .” In a little while God called Samuel again, and he answered. Now be very quiet and see w h at God told Samuel, even though he was b u t a boy, bu t he was a boy who loved and served God faithfully. God told him th a t because E li’s sons had acted so .wickedly, g reat sorrow m ust come to God’s people. The sorrow, trouble and death was th e h arvest of th e bad seed th a t had been sown. When morn ing came Samuel arose and opened th e doors of the house of the Lord, and he was afraid to te ll E li th e awful things th a t were going to happen. E li knew he was afraid and told Samuel he must te ll him every word, and when Samuel had finished telling E li th e sad news, E li said it was from God, and even though it was so awful, E li knew God always did
righ t. Israel w ent ou t to fight against th e ir enemies^ th e Philistines, and thousands of them were killed, for God was no t w ith them.- The Israelites had done a very wicked thing, by tak ing th e golden a rk out of th e house of God, and the enemies took it and carried it away afte r the b attle. E li was an old man and almost blind,, and was sittin g by th e wayside waiting to h ear how th e battle went. When a man came runn ing and told him his two sons had been killed, and th e a rk taken, E li fell from his seat and died. The news was more th an he could bear. The fath e r’s h e a rt was broken over his sons, and th e tak ing of th e a rk of God. Teach Memory Verse. Disobedience brings death. jte st» F IR E AND SWORD AGAINST THE BIBLE A. W. Orwig, Los Angeles, Calif. The fire of men’s w rath and th e sword of carnal, hos tile criticism have been among th e chief weapons employed to exterm inate God’s holy and indestructible Word. Never theless “ th e word of our God shall stand forever” (Jer. 4 0 :8 ). One of the earliest and most prom inent h aters and despoilers of th e Bible was the Hebrew king Jehoiakim . Because of its unpalatableness to his carnal m ind and cor ru p t h eart, th e w retched and enraged man vainly presumed th a t to cut and bu rn th e disturbing and th reaten ing divine message m ight av ert its fulfillment. But “ forever, O Lord, th y word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119 :89 ). Re member, O ye neglecters and despisers of th e Bible, not “ one jo t o r one tittle ” shall fail. Down the ages sp iritually blind and wicked men have en deavored to destroy th e Book of books. Voltaire, Paine, Ingersoll and many others have denounced it in the fiercest term s, b u t its blessed and divine tru th s have survived all th e diabolical assaults of S atan and his m alignant cohorts. The saddest phase, in our day, of animadversion of God’s Word is th a t of men who ought to be its most ard en t de fenders. Having more or less drifted from th e foundation tru th s of Holy W rit, they sometimes lay “m ines” of de struction in th e pathway of th e unsuspecting people. As pedantic archers, they have sen t th e ir poisoned arrow s into th e very vitals of th e Christian community. Some pro fessedly orthodox colleges, theological sem inaries and de nom inational lite ra tu re have been infected w ith th e deadly virus of so-called “higher criticism .” i This is n o t saying anything against real and sanctified scholarship which seeks to elucidate somewhat obscure portions of God’s Word. B u t we m ust raise th e cry against th e men who, w ith van dal hands, seek to th ru st th e sword of mere hum an erudi tion into th e Sacred Volume and rob it of some of its richest treasures. Among o th er instances of attem p ts a t divesting the Bible of divine^ au th o rity are th e men who have published what they designate a “ S horter B ible," from which they boldly and blasphemously elim inate th e m iracles and th e most precious and essential doctrines of salvation. And not a few pulpits have ceased to proclaim these things, if, in deed, they ever did prom ulgate them . Instead of doing so, they insidiously underm ine th e faith of some devout, b u t not Scripturally-fortified souls. Oh, th e havoc the “ sword” of sp iritu al falsification has w rought In some churches and homes! It would seem th a t tears of sorrow m ight flow even In heaven. Certainly a fiendish chorus of glee m igh t be expected to be heard in hell.
THE SOUL-WINNER’S EQUIPMENT IS FOUND IN THE G O S P E L O F J O H N Read Page 116
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