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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
preacher to th ink he Could get away from God? Can God see us wherever we are? (On sand table su rround city w ith w all made of pasteboard.) The nam e of th is wicked city was Nineveh, which was a very larg e city, w ith groves and fields, and many sheep and cattle, all w ithin a high city wall. Our story p articu larly mentions abou t th e re being so many boys and girls in th is city, so many we could not count them , many thousands. The people of th is city were very wicked indeed, and were cruel to other people, and God knew something m ust be done. Now h ere is th e g reat sea and a boat, and hu rry ing down to th e bo at is a preacher. God told th is preacher to go to Nineveh, th e wicked city, and preach to them and te ll them they would be destroyed unless they repented of th e ir sin and came to God. This p reacher’s name was Jonah, and Jonah did not like the people of Nineveh for they had been v e ry 'm e a n to his (Jo n ah ’s) people, so he decided he would not go to Nineveh. Now th is boat is going to ano th er city, so Jonah pays his fare and gets on. Soon afte r th e boat started , the Lord sent out a m ighty wind into th e sea, and th e boat was likely to be broken, or sunk by th e g reat waves of the sea. The storm was so g reat th a t even th e sailors became frightened, and cast overboard some of th e wares to make th e boat lighter. (F inish th is most in teresting story, in detail and make it live as you tell it, emphasizing the impossibility of getting away from God. The g reat sor row and danger th a t comes from disobeying God.) How much sorrow and danger Jonah would have m issed if he had obeyed God a t first, b u t now we see him walking toward Nineveh, and ju st as soon as he enters th e city he began to preach to th e people, telling them to rep en t of th e ir sin, or they would be destroyed. And listen, w h at do you th ink happened? The people heard Jonah, and they did repent and were saved from th eir sins. We will meet some of those people who lived in wicked Nineveh, and were saved th rough Jo n a h ’s preaching, when we g et to heaven. This story teaches us th a t, like Jonah, disobedi ence always leads us into trouble, and it teaches us the love of God even when we do wrong. God was w ith Jonah and saved him from drowning, and helped him as he went to Nineveh. T h at is ju st w hat our memory verse tells us. “Thou a rt a gracious God, and m erciful.” P rayer. requirem ents of God’s holy law. He would no t perm it office-seekers to slander th e ir rivals, and he would dis courage all flatterers and sycophants who tried to climb into places of power through false accusation and innuendo. Thus he would seek to elim inate all selfish and co rrup t poli ticians from office and associate w ith himself only the wise and the good. This was a good and praise-worthy resolution involving a much-needed and thorough-going reform . THE SOLOMONIC STANDARD FOR PROSPERITY, Prov. 23:29-35. Inebriety has always been the curse of nations as well as of individuals. Alcohol is a cerebral narcotic poison, and a habit-form ing drug of fatal power. The wise man gives a photograph of the d runk ard , w ith graphic details th a t are not distinctively O riental bu t world-wide in th e ir application. In the original of vs. 29 th e words “woe” and “ sorrow” are literally exclamations “Oh!” and “A las!” These are spontaneous expressions of pain and sorrow.
like Jonah, in how many a case has the child of God arisen “to flee from th e presence of Jehovah,’’ going in exactly th e opposite way? O ther plans have been made, and for a time it has seemed th a t a “ providential way’’ was opening for th e successful carrying out of those self-made plans— as when Jonah found a ship about to sail for Tarshish, and he had th e fare in hand. But sooner or la ter disaster in some form or other has overtaken th e disobedient one; th e life has been made very unhappy, and those w ith whom he has come in contact have been hindered and troubled, in stead of being helped and blest. Is th e experience thus fa r th a t of th e read er of these lines? T hank God, Jo n a h ’s life-story did no t end th ere— nor need yours. “The word of th e Lord came to Jonah th e second tim e, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, and preach unto it th e preaching th a t 1 bid thee. So Jon ah arose and w ent to Nineveh according to th e word of th e Lord” (3 :1 , 2 ), and Niveneh was spared. God g ra n t th a t as a resu lt of th e study and teaching of this lesson, many a disobedient one may h ear and obedi ently respond to God’s second call, and go fo rth w ith the life giving message of th e love and grace of God in Christ Jesus, th a t upon some now sitting in “ gross darkness” His blessed ligh t may break! The Story of Jon ah . Jonah, chapters 3 and 4 Memory Verse.— “Thou a rt a gracious God, and m erciful.” Jonah 4:2. Approach.—The lesson of obedience and God’s love should be emphasized w ith the little folks. This is a splen did lesson to use th e sand table, w ith a good sized m irro r for the M editerranean sea and a lot of little bloqks for Nineveh and a toy boat and “ g reat fish,” ELEMENTARY which will g reatly help to make the Mabel L. M errill story realistic. Peloubet’s Notes. and His wonderful goodness and love to them , and the beautiful land He gave them in which to live. Today our story is about a very wicked city and a preacher who tried to run away from God. Don’t you th in k he was a funny Lesson Story.—We have had such a pleasant tim e hearing about God’s people
m gfe NOVEMBER 4, 1923 WORLD-WIDE PROHIBITION—WORLD’S TEMPERANCE SUNDAY
Golden Text: “ I will set no base th ing before mine eyes.” Psa. 101:3. LESSON TEXT Psa. 101: 5-8; Prov. 23:29-35. Devotional Reading—
Psa. 63:1-7. Introduction:
David combined th e genius of a ru ler w ith th e insight of a poet and th e foresight of a prophet. He was the Divinely chosen king who recognized th e supreme au tho rity of the A lm ighty as the Shepherd of Israel. Solomon was a philosopher as well LESSON as ru ler who was endowed w ith super- EXPOSITTON hum an wisdom and greatly used of Dr. F . W. F a r rr God in revealing tru th . THE DAVIDIC STANDARD FOR PUB LIC L IFE , Psalm 101:5-8. In th is Psalm David records th e determ ination he had when he came to the th ron e to be a model ru ler and follow th e p attern he had marked out for him self in view of th e
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