OCR Text |
Show : JU, Mill J sr school ur, pJH -fiBr utHE;n; hewtch; d. d :hi SCRIPTURE: I Klnps J2:I-0. DEVOTIONAL READING,; Palm 138: 1-8. Micaiah, A Prophet of Israel Lesson for July 4, 1918 WE BEGIN a new series of studies this quarter a series of lessons based on less known Bible characters that have much to offer us. Such a yV' '"""l character is found jjv''S$ k1 Micaiah, about j I y whom we learn In I :1 YhTII Ahab, king of Is- vtfL J pedition to recover (KiV city ot Ramoth Jp In Gilead, which the Syrians had taken. ' "lilt He ll,vite,ci Jehosha- ' '" ' phat, king of Judah, nr. Nevrta to join him. Ahab relied upon his court prophets to predict victory; but Micaiah, the prophet of God, whom Alajib had shut up in prison, when he was summoned, at the insistence of Jehoshaphat, told Ahab the truth tlie unpleasant truth which subsequent sub-sequent events verified- HRAVE ENOUGH TO TELL THE TRUTH THE first blessing in the study of this obscure Bible character, Micaiah, is to discover a man who was brave enough to tell the truth when he knew it was unpopular. . It Is always the best policy to tell the truth, though there be many in today's world who deny this principle, prin-ciple, jit is not enough to say that we will tell the truth because it pays. "That is true, but it as a byproduct by-product of doing what is right One must tell the truth because it is right to tell the truth. Men swear with their hand upon the Holy Bible that what they testify is the truth and nothing but the truth. But. alas, such men often tell anything but the truth. They have been carefully care-fully coached to evade the truth. Micaiah told the truth, because he was speaking for God. It hurt him, but It must needs be the truth he spoke to Ahab. TRUTH DISREGARDED Ahab scorned the words of Micaiah, Mi-caiah, and ordered him thrown back into prison. But scarcely had the prophet of God been thrust again into prison, until Ahab was' bleeding bleed-ing to death, in his chariot Men not only take their own lives in their hands when they disregard the truth, but, like stubborn Ahab, they bring grief to countless others. Had Ahab heeded the words of truth which Micaiah proclaimed. Ahab might have lived. Indeed, had Ahab heeded the words of truth, he might have recovered Ramoth, and more beside. Truth, may appear forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, but time always proves a hard taskmaster to the man who regards wrong Instead of truth. THE SOURCE OF TRUTH GOD is the source of truth all truth. If we miss this, we miss the lesson of the lesson. Note the words of the golden text, "As the Lord liveth. what the Lord saith unto me, that will J speak," said Micaiah. Let us remember that it was" God speaking through his prophet. Ahab could not have doubted that Micaiah was speaking what God had told him to speak. But Ahab did not want to hear the truth He wanted to hear pleasing words that would encourage him in his evil plan. God speaks the first and the last word on every subject, because God is truth. "I am the truth," said Jesus. And he went on to say, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." m THE PENALTY OF DISOBEYING THE TRUTH HORRE3LE, Indeed, was the pen-alty pen-alty which Ahab suffered for disregarding the truth. The way of the transgressor is hard always hard. The wages of sin is death. Be sure your sins win find you out Take down your cherished books of history. What do they say to you? That the straight line of truth Is the only safe way in which to walk. It Is applicable for the individual, in-dividual, for the family, for the community, for the nation, for civilization. civili-zation. Thus every great prayer must be, "Thy will be done." God's will is the way of truth. Micaiah declared It. Every true prophet must declare it It is the only way to peace and joy in this world. (Copyright by tho International Council ot Heliqioua Education on bchall ol 40 Protestant denominations. Released by WNU Features.) . On Believing All over the world now there is a reaction from the superficial talk: that it does not make much differ ence what a man believes. We hav learned our lesson. What a man believes be-lieves makes a world of difference not only in what he does, but what happens to him. |