July, 1939
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
264
Object Lesson T he B ottle B rothers Objects: Two small bottles, a cork, some ink, and a fish bowl or large jar. Lesson: Bill and Bob Bottle are like many boys and girls who attend this Sun day-school. Bill receives the Word of God, and it helps him. This cork is marked “God’s Word,” and Bill receives it. Bob thought he was too smart to receive the Word of God. He is like many boys and girls who come to Sunday-School and go away without letting the Word of God come into their hearts. This bowl of water represents the world before sin entered through the fall—the wrongdoing — of Adam and Eve. As I drop this black ink into the water, let us remind ourselves of how sin entered. Boys and girls do not realize the far- reaching effects of rejecting God’s message in the Bible. Notice what happens when I put Bill and Bob into the sinful world. Bob floats for a short time, but soon the sinful world finds an easy entrance into his heart, which has not received God’s Word, and he sinks. No matter how often I lift Bob to the surface and drain out the water, he soon sinks again. Bill is different. You cannot make him sink, no matter how hard you try. Many boys and girls have been kept from sink ing in the sinful world because they have accepted Christ as Saviour, and have hid den the Word of God in their hearts. When the temptation to sin comes, they remember that the Word of God has said that they should not yield to temptation. As I look at Bill, I am reminded of Elijah on Mount Carmel. He was kept by his faith in the promises of God, when many around him were sinking because of sin. Accept Christ as Saviour, hide His Word in your heart, and you, too, will be kept. 14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Lesson Text: 2 Ki. 5:1-10, 14. Golden Text: “Be ye kind one to an other” (Eph. 4:32). Devotional Reading: Eph. 3:14-20. Outline and Exposition I. T he H elp N eeded (1-4) N aaman was a brave and courageous soldier, holding a high and honor able place in his country’s army. Seemingly he had everything to make him satisfied with his life and progress. But there was one thing that caused all he had and all he was to be but mockery to him: he was a leper, and as such he was hope less. But the living and true God was suf ficient even for an apparently hopeless case of leprosy. While, to all human re sources, the disease at that time was in curable, yet Naaman learned from the cap tive maid that there was a supernatural saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
tell about Him and urge them to worship Him. This time it was a prophet whose name was Elijah. The king didn’t like Elijah. You can guess why. It was be cause Elijah told him how wicked he was. God had Elijah tell the king there would be no rain in the land for many, many days, and Elijah’s word came true. There was no grass for the cattle to eat, and soon there would be no food for. the people. Elijah went to the king. He was not afraid, even though he knew that there had been a time when the king had wanted to kill him. Elijah said it was because King Ahab had “forsaken the commandments of the Lord” that this trouble had come. Then Elijah made a plan which would show Ahab and all of the people which one was the true God, Jehovah or Baal. He had the prophets of Baal set up an altar and kill a bullock and lay it on top, and Elijah was to do the same. Then the prophets of Baal were to call on their god to send fire to light the wood on the altar. Elijah was to call on God to do the same. All day the prophets of Baal prayed to Baal to hear them and send the fire, but of course Baal could not hear. Then it was Elijah's turn, and you know what happened. Yes, the true God heard and answered. And when the people saw the fire, they “fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God.”
location of this event which was never known to run dry even in the greatest droughts. Why was all this water needed? The popular answer is that Elijah wanted to make the test unexplainable by the as sumption of fraud or human contrivance. And doubtless it did serve to this end. But typically there was need for both blood and water to cleanse the people. The blood pointed to the sacrifice of Christ. The water pointed to the “water” of the "word” (Eph. 5:26). The blood cleanses from the guilt of sin. The water of the Word cleanses from the habit and defile ment of sin. 3. "Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there” (v. 40). People sometimes regard this as a very bloodthirsty act. But archeology has helped to vindicate Elijah. These prophets were priests of Baal, and beneath some of their temples archeologists have found many skeletons of babies about eight days old, proving that the priests practiced the unspeakable rite of infant sacrifice. When I think of those innocent babies dying thus, I cannot find fault with Elijah s stem retribution. Golden Text Illustration P roverbs 15:29 Dr. Torrey in illustrating the definiteness of prayer, tells the following: “Up in a little town in Maine, things were pretty dead some years ago. The churches were not accomplishing anything. There were a few godly men in the churches, and they said, 'Here we are, only uneducated laymen, but something must be done in this town. Let us form a praying »band. W e will all center our prayers on one man; who shall it be?’ “They picked out one of the hardest men in town, a hopeless drunkard, and all centered their prayers on him. In a week he was converted. They centered their prayers on the next hardest man in town, and soon he was converted. Then they took up another and another, until within a year, two or three hundred were brought to Christ, and the fire spread out into the surrounding country.” Definite prayer for those in the prison house of sin is the need of the day. -—Sunday School Times. When Elijah Prayed 1 K ings 18 Memory Verse: “The Lord will hear when I call unto him" (Psa. 4 :3 ). Approach: When good King Jehoshaphat was reigning in Judah, there was a king named Ahab ruling in the northern king dom which was called Israel. He was a very different sort of king from Jehosha phat. Ahab didn’t obey God. Instead, he
AUGUST 13, 1939 ELISHA: A LIFE OF HELPFULNESS 2 K ings 5:1-27
2 Kings 5:1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone J out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; ana she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 And she said unto her mistress. Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying. Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6 And he brought the letter to _the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 7 Ana it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. 8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him
listened to his wicked queen, Jezebel, and built up a lta rs to heathen gods such as Baal and made the p e o p le w o rsh ip them. Lesson Story: But God always leaves some one among His people who will
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