586
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
September 1924
ELEMENTARY Mrs. S. W . Barrett
people, probably sitting in groups on the rocks and under the oak and juniper trees. Elijah stood alone near a pile of stone which had at one time been an altar for the Lord. After the King and priests of Baal arrived, Elijah spoke to the people asking them to choose their God. He said, "I f the Lord be God, then follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” But the people remained silent. Then Elijah chal lenged them to a contest. He said, “I, only, remain a prophet of the Lord;'’but Baal’s prophets are 450. Let them give us two oxen for sacrifices, and let the prophets of Baal choose one and offer it to their gods, but put no fire under it. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God that sends fire, let Him be God.” The people agreed to carry out the plan. Thé priests of Baal built their altar and chose their sacrifice and when it was ready they cried to Baal to send the fire. Over and over again they cried, “O Baal, hear us! O Baal, hear us!” They cried all day long but there was no answer. Why? Because there was no such god as Baal. Elijah and the people watched as the priests jumped up on the altar and shouted. Elijah laughed at them and said, “Cry aloud! Perhaps Baal is talking, or perhaps he has gone on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps!” When evening came the priests were exhausted and could shout no more. Then Elijah took twelve large stones and re-built the altar of the Lord. He laid his. sacrifice upon it. He made a great trench around the altar, then he told the people to bring water from the little spring near by and pour over the sacrifice and' the altar. After they had poured water over the altar three times, Elijah came near, and as the setting sun lighted his stern, uplifted face, he prayed to God: “ Lord God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, that this peo ple may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” As Elijah finished praying, the sky was lighted with a great flash, and a flame of fire fell from heaven and burned the sacrifice and the wood and even the stones of the altar. When the people saw it they fell on their faces and cried, “ The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” They had chosen the true God. God’s blessing fell upon them and He sent again the refreshing rain. We must choose the true God, and there is just one way for us to know God— that is through the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God sent down from heaven, just as He sent the fire. The Devil is the false god of the World, and God says “ Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Is there some one here today who wants to choose the Lord Jesus, the Son of the true God, as their Saviour and King? Will you choose the Lord Jesus, or, like the people long ago, will you choose the thief and murderer? Which? Prayer— Our Father in Heaven we thank Thee for the children who have chosen the Lord Jesus to be their Saviour and King. Wilt Thou bless them; forgive their sins; and teach them to walk with Thee. We ask in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture: I Kings ch. 18. Memory verses: Joshua 24:15; John 3:36.
When the President of the United States is to be elected, every one chooses the man to vote for, don’t they? Nearly 2000 years ago some people were asked to choose between Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Barabbas, a thief and a
murderer and those people chose Barabbas and crucified the Lord Jesus. Do you know that we must choose today? If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He suffered and died and rose again for our sins, and to give us everlasting life; then we must choose Him for the ruler of our lives and King of our hearts, for God says, “ Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Joshua 24:15 God has told us a story in
Äsfl?/■■/£• the Bible how the prophet Elijah asked the people to choose. The God That Hears “Why doesn’t it rain? Oh, if it would only rain!” cried all the people in the Kingdom of Israel. Rivers and brooks had dried up; bubbling fountains had ceased and there were but a few trickling springs. There had been no rain for three years and the people and the animals were suffer ing, for things would not grow without water. God sends the rain, and God was punishing these people because they had turned from him and were worshipping the false god, Baal, which the wicked heathen Queen, Jezebel, worshipped. When she married King Ahab, who was then King of Israel, she brought to her palace at Jezreel, in the valley at the foot of Mt. Carmel, 850 priests of Baal, and killed the priests and prophets of God, except a few. One day King Ahab said to his governor, “We will go into the land to all the fountains and brooks and perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and mules.” As King Ahab walked along, looking for just a bit of green grass, he met a man dressed in a rough camels’ hair tunic fas tened with a leather girdle. It was Elijah, a great prophet of God. King Ahab stopped Elijah and asked angrily, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” Elijah answered with flashing eye, “I have not troubled Israel, but thou, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baal.” Then Elijah told King Ahab to bring his people and the prophets of Baal to Mt. Carmel because he wanted to speak to them. Without Queen Jezebel knowing about it, King Ahab sent all the people to Mt. Carmel and after instructing the pro phets of Baal to follow him he got into his chariot and rode up the mountain path to the top where he found the
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