September 1924
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
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ELEMENTARY Mrs. 8. W . Barrett
Jeroboam must have been astonished at the courage of Abijah, to stand before all the people and call him and his big army traitors. Then King Abijah’s voice called again, telling them of their sin against God. He said, “And now think ye to withstand the Kingdom of the Lord? Ye are a great multitude but there are with you golden calves which Jeroboam hath made you for gods. Ye have cast out the priests of the Lord and made wicked men priests of gods that are no gods,” King Abijah continued loudly, “As for us, the Lord is our God; we have not forsaken Him. His priests minister in our worship; sacrifice and sweet incense are offered in His temple every morning and every evening, for we keep the charge of the Lord, and behold! God, Himself, is with us for our Captain!!’ King Abijah pleaded with the people to repent and return to the true God: “O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers, for ye shall not prosper.” As King Abijah reasoned with his enemies, there was a sound of fighting behind him and, turning, fye saw that his enemy, Jeroboam, had sent his soldiers to surround the army of Judah. King Abijah and his men cried to the Lord for help, and the priests of God, who had marched with the army, blew a loud blast on the trumpets signalling the men to fight for God, and with a great shout, King Abijah’s men attacked their enemies. God Himself, was indeed their Captain for 500,000 of Jeroboam’s men fell down dead and the: rest ran away. King Abijah followed them and cap tured many of their cities. One was Bethel, where the golden calf had been placed. Wicked King Jeroboam died in his sins because! he had led the people away from God. I know one little boy who was happy over the victory—- Prince Asa, the son of King Abijah, who after he became king held a great revival and brought many pedple to God. If we would be happy in school or at work or at play, we must always stand up for the Lord Jesus and be loyal to Him as out Lord and Saviour and King, no matter what others say or do. Let us say our memory verse together softly, "But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Of what song does this story remind you? “ Stand up, stand up, for Jesus.” Shall we sing it for a closing song? R -y/, M OCTOBER 5, 1924 LESSON 53 ELIJAH A T MOUNT CARMEL 1 Kings, Chapters 17 and 18 Golden Text: “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21. Outline: (1) The Prophet’s Message to the King, 17:1. (2) God’s Provision for His Messenger, 17:2-7. (3) God’s Preservation of His Messenger, 17:8-16. (4) God’s Power Manifested Through His Messenger, 17:17-24. (5) The Prophet Challenges the King, 18:17:24. (6) The Prophet Challenges the Prophets of Baal, 18: 25-29. (7) The Prophet Challenges Jehovah, 18:30-37. (8) The Prophet’s Prayer Answered by Fire, 18:38-40. (9) The Prophet’s Promise of Rain Fulfilled, 18:41:46. Introduction: A brief survey of the condition in Israel: From Jero boam to Ahab— sixty two years of degeneracy. The king who preceded Ahab had followed in the footsteps of Jero-
Scripture: II Chron. ch. 13. Memory verses: I Corinthians 15:57; I John 5:4. What is a traitor? One who betrays his country or king into the hands of enemies. Traitors do not win battles nor are they happy because God is not with them. Our Lord Jesus, when He came from Heaven to suffer and die on the
cross and rise again from the dead, because we all have sin ned, had twelve disciples. Judas, who loved gold more than the Lord Jesus, betrayed Him— but Judas was so un happy afterward that he hung himself, so he did not see the Lord Jesus when He rose from the dead. The other disciples who were true and loyal, were happy because they knew that they, too, would rise from the dead. If we accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour and King we know that we shall rise from the dead and be with ‘But thanks be unto God
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lC o r.T S -S 7 Him, so we say with glad hearts,
who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 15:57. God has told us a story in the Bible about How God Gave a Victory to the King of Judah Hark! trumpets are sounding! Far away in the north in the city of Dan! along the coast! through mountain, hill and town! and south to the city of Bethel! The trumpets sounded.calling the armies of Israel to warSfor now the Kingdom of God’s people had divided into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam, as a young man, helped King Solomon build the beautiful temple of God in Jerusalem, but later he led some of the people to rebel and refuse to pay their taxes and Was made the King of Israel. He also caused these people to sin by building altars and placing golden calves upon them for the people to worship. Wicked men were chosen to be priests and so the people became traitors to God, and were living in sin and wickedness, putting the golden calves in the place of God. One of these altars with a golden calf was in the city of Bethel. Do you remember who named Bethel? Yes, Jacob, when he had that beautiful dream, (review) Solomon’s grandson, Abijah, was King of Judah. He also sent trumpeters to call his army together and for days the sound of tramping feet of soldiers, the rattle of war chariots, the clink of shields and spears and the pounding of horses’ hoofs could be heard for miles around as these two armies marched toward each other. As they came in sight, each lined up ready for battle. King Jeroboam looked at the army of King Abijah, and no doubt he chuckled to himself, for he was very sure of victory. He had 800,000 strong men of war and King Abijah had only half as many men, who were very courageous but had not been trained to fight. King Abijah’s heart did not fail him. He went up to the top of a hill and signaled that he wanted to speak to his enemies. Instead of a plea for mercy, as King Jeroboam expected, King Abi-jah spoke to the people, so that all could hear, saying: “Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel. Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David, and his sons forever? Jero boam is but a servant of Solomon, who is risen up and hath rebelled against his king and gathered untrue men, and wicked men, and set up a kingdom!”
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