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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
July - August, 1934
cation of the bread occurred after the fill ing o f the pots with oil is not without sig nificance. The oil represents the Holy Spirit; the bread represents the person o f the Lord Jesus Christ. Without the oil, thè bread cannot be given, but with the oil, a sufficient supply will be provided to meet every need—our own, as well as that o f the multitude about us. At first, the supply may appear to us to be wholly in sufficient, as the one pot of oil seemed to the widow, or as the small amount o f bread appeared to Elisha’s servant. But when that little is placed in God’s hands, He mul tiplies it until every need is fully met. Points and Problems The selection for this week contains many applications o f spiritual truth. The following points are worthy of notice: 1. “ The creditor is come” (2 Ki. 4 :1 ). Men may go on sinning with impunity to day, but they should not- forget that the day o f reckoning will come at last. The creditor will present his bill. God may be ignored or forgotten, but at last the “books” will be opened. 2. "What hast thou in the house?” (v. 2). The woman had a pot of oil. There is a certain economy even in the display of God’s miracle-working power. God did not need any oil to “prime the pump.” But He asked the woman to contribute what she had, and to this He added what was needed. This method of dealing will remind you of the New Testament miracle o f the ‘fishes and loaves. God is willing to begin with what we have. But when it comes to the payment o f our debt for sin, it will be found that man has nothing “in the house” —not even a pot of oil. I f the creditor is to be. satisfied, God must pay all. And, thank God, that is what our Lord did at the cross. . 3, “ There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed” (v. 6). It is not the measure of God’s power, hut the measure of our ca pacity to receive, that determines the bless ing o f God which is poured into the vessels o f our lives. Only o f our Lord was it said, “ God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him” (John 3 :34). He alone, o f ; all the sons o f men, had an infinite capacity to receive. It is not so with us. But even in our finite ease, we might receive more if \ve were only willing to receive. The win-: dows of heaven are open. But our lives too often are closed. Golden Text Illustration - :In John Falls’ Orphan House in Weimar, one evening, one' o f the boys had said the grace: “ Come Lord Jesus, be our guestj and bless what Thou has provided.” A little fellow looked up and said, “Do tell me why the Lord Jesus never comes. We ask Him every day to sit with us and He never comes.” “ Dear child, only believe, and you may be sure He will come, for He does not de spise our invitation.” “I shall set Him a seat,” said the little fellow ; and just then there was a knock at the door, A poor frozen apprentice en tered, begging a night’s lodging. He was made welcome—the chair stood empty for him. Every child proffered his plate; every child was ready to yield his bed. The little one had been thinking hard all the time. “Jesus could not come, and so He sent this poor one in His place—is that it?” asked the child. “Yes, dear child, that is just it,” an swered Falls. “Every piece of bread and every drink o f water that we give to the poor or the sick, or to the prisoners for Jesus’ sake, we give to Him. ‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’ ”— The Pilot. Elisha Helps a Woman in Need 2 K in g s 4:1-7 Memory Verse: “ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one o f the least o f these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). Approach: After the prophet Elijah died, his servant Elisha became a prophet in his place. Elisha was a great man and « a « - d id many mi g h t y j A V P R / ' s . i deeds. And he was f X *
Object Lesson G iv in g or G e t t in g Objects: A sponge, a short piece of gar den hose, and a pitcher o f water. Lesson: Many Christians are like this sponge. They get all they can, but never give unless they are forced to. No matter how hard you squeeze a sponge, it will never give as much as it has received. See how the greedy sponge takes all the water it can. ( I f the sponge has been previously dampened, it will receive water readily.) There are other people who, like this gar den hose, pass on to others the blessings they receive from God. You will notice that the hose gives the water it gets. A gardener never uses a sponge to water a garden or lawn. He uses a hose because it gives freely. God uses the person who is willing to give o f the blessings he has received. Our Sunday-school lesson shows how God used Elisha because Elisha was willing to help those in need. The river Jordan, during its journey through the land o f Palestine, empties into two seas. One is the Sea o f Galilee and the other is the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is living because it gives that which it receives, and the Dead Sea is dead be cause it has no outlet and never gives. Christ used the Sea of Galilee as a place to perform many of His great miracles. It is interesting to know that the Sea of Galilee is mentioned forty-six times in the Bible, while the Dead Sea is mentioned only twelve times. Near Jerusalem’s Jaffa gate there is a flat place on the top of a hill known as “The Terrace of Indecision.” . As the rain falls on this flat piece of ground, it seems to hesitate, not knowing which way to flow. That which goes west flows into the Val ley o f Roses and gives life and beauty. That which goes east flows into the Dead Sea and dies. Knowing that “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” we should find it easy to decide to live lives o f giving —lives which will bring blessings to others. There was little interest in God or His Word, although there was much “religion.” I. T he C ollapse of I srael (1). The prophet’ s word is a lamentation over the house o f Israel. In spite of the outward prosperity, the inner life was cor rupt; hence, the outer well-being was doomed, unless the inner life could be cor rected- However high a degree of pros perity may come to a nation, that prosper ity will be a snare, if the moral and reli gious life of the nation are evil. And of course, what is true o f national life is also true in individual lives. II. T he I ndictment of I srael (10-15). After giving the indictment o f Israel, and before uttering the Lord’s judgment,
a kindly man, too, and did many things to help poor and un happy people. Our story today is about one of these kind deeds. L e s s o n S t o r y : Once there was a widow, and she was very poor. She owed
a man some money. Because she had nothing with which to pay him, he said that he would take her two sons away and make them his slaves. In her trouble, the poor woman came to Elisha and asked him what she should do. Elisha said to her, “What have you in your house?” The woman said she had nothing but a pot o f oil. He told her to go and borrow from the neighbors all of their empty vessels. Then she was to go into her house, shut the door, and pour out the oil into the many vessels that she had gathered from her neighbors. The woman did as Elisha said, and soon every vessel was full. A miracle had hap pened. The oil multiplied until every vessel she had borrowed was filled. The woman came and told Elisha, and he said: “ Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children o f the rest.” How happy the woman and her children were 1 And how happy Elisha was that he had been able to help her! God had given Elisha this great power, and Elisha was showing God how he thanked Him for it, by using it to help .those who were in need. Perhaps God has not given us power to work miracles, but He has given us many ways o f helping other people. Can you think o f some? Lesson Text: Amos 5:1, 10-15, 21-24. Golden Text: “ Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfill ing of the law” (Rom. 13:10). Outline and Exposition A m o s was one of the earliest o f the writing prophets. The theme of his book is the Lord’s judgments upon the nations, particularly Israel. It is Israel which comes before us in today’s lesson. The times of Amos found conditions in the kingdom at their highest peak, politically, as is indicated by the long reign of the kings, as well as by the recovery o f lost territory. The people were prosperous, materially; wealth and indulgence in lux uries were the order o f the day. But the nation was at the lowest ebb, morally.
AUGUST 12, 1934 AM O S PLEADS FOR JUSTICE A m o s , C h a p t e r s 5 a n d ,7
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