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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
potent as the Word of God to lead men to repentance. And true repen tance issues in true worship. Golden Text Illustration J e r em iah 29:13 Two gentlemen, standing near a great heathen temple in India, saw a native woman approach the temple with a little child in her arms. She prostrated herself, and lifted the lit tle one before the temple’s idol. The men saw that the child was sick and deformed. They heard the woman pray: “ Grant that my child may be comely and fair and strong like other children.” When she turned to go away, one of the gentlemen approached her and asked: “Friend, to whom have y o u prayed?” “I don’t know,” she replied; “But surely there must be someone some where to hear a mother’s cry and to keep a mother’s heart from breaking.” —Baptist Missionary Magazine. Working Together N ehemiah 2:1-8, 17; 7:1 a MEMORY VERSE: “They helped ev ery one his neighbor” (Isa. 41:6). AIM: To show that when we pray, we can work better. APPROACH: “I pray, but nothing happens.” Did you ever hear boys and girls talk like that? Our lesson today is about a man who prayed, and some thing did h a p p e n—something that made him very glad. LESSON STORY: The man’s name was Nehemiah, and he lived many years before the Lord Jesus came to earth. When he prayed, he told the Lord he was a sinner, and that his friends, the children of Israel, were sinners too (1:6). He knew that be cause they had done wrong, the Lord had had to punish them and make them live in other countries, where things were hard for them. The Lord was glad when Nehemiah prayed as he did, and He sent an answer. Nehemiah’s work was to serve the king in the country in which he was living, but all the time he kept think ing about his home, Jerusalem. He thought and prayed about it so much that even the king knew he had a special wish. “What is it, Nehemiah?” the king asked. Nehemiah said he would like to go back to Jerusalem. The wall of the city was broken down and the gates were burned and needed fixing. Jerusalem was a place where many people worshiped the one true God, and Nehemiah knew that anything he could do to make it more attractive would show his faith in the true God, his Heavenly Father. The Lord answered Nehemiah’s prayer this way: He made the king willing to allow him to go on this
then a person can find wonderful things in the Bible. In thinking of this brother and sis ter, I am reminded of what happened in the days Of Nehemiah and Ezra. Ezra the priest had read the Word of God to the people. In Nehemiah 8:12 we read, “And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.”
errand, and He caused the king to send letters to many of his helpers so that all of them worked together to repair the city and thus honor the Lord. When we pray, in the same way that Nehemiah did, the Lord will do wonderful things for us, and for others too. Object Lesson S am a n d S ally S ack OBJECTS: A common paper sack, a fancy paper sack, a Bible, some bright nails, some new t^cks, a magnet, and a piece of iron. (Conceal the magnet in the common sack, and the piece of iron in -the other. Have the Bible’ open on the table, with.the nails and tacks scattered over the open pages.) LESSON: I brought two friends of mine with me this morning. Here they are. What do you think their last name is? “SACK.” You are right. One is a boy, and the other is a girl. Which one do you think is Sally? Yes,' she is the fancy looking one. Sam is rather plain looking, but when you know them both, you will agree with me that he is much wiser than his sister. We often make mistakes because we judge by the outward appearance of people. If they have fine clothes, we are apt to think they are better than those who may not be able to buy fancy clothes. Sam and Sally are different in their looks, but this is not the only differ ence. They are different with regard to the Word of God. Here on the table is an open Bible. When Sam comes to the Bible, he gets something out of it. Look at the things he has found in the Bible. We will see whether or not Sally can find anything in the Bible. Not a thing! She comes to the Bible, but can find nothing of interest to her. Have you ever known people who were like Sally Sack? They didn’t get anything out Of reading the Bible. They did not receive any blessing out of going to church. To them it was a loss of time. You are wondering why Sam Sack gets something out of the Bible. It is because he is right on the inside. When the heart is right with God,
BIBLE WOMEN’S DEPARTMENT
We desire again to call the attention of our readers to this splendid department of our work. Fifteen devoted Bible women, together with a number of volunteer help« ers, are carrying on more than one hundred B i b l e classes per week, in addition to visitation and personal work in county institutions. We have adult classes for women, evening supper dubs f o r business and college girls, known as Eteri flubs, and afternoon and noon clubs for high and junior high school girls, c a l l e d Euodia flubs. Will you pray for this work, and will you also help by sending us names of women or girls who should be attending such B i b l e study clubs? F o r further information, address: Bible Women's De partment, 558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles 13.
The Path to Victory “ I press toward the. . . prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). Let us make stepping stones of any failures in our yesterdays and climb by faith through grace to heights that will leave them all in the past, covered by the blood. By the faith which will lift us to heights of victori ous living and joyful witnessing to the great grace of our Lord. If broken vows and disappointments may have been our experience in the past, let us move up in faith for the cleansing of our nature and the empowering of our lives to possess this perfect love and victory.— Christian Witness and Advocate.
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