Evening star., 1903-11-07
CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR HOUR
Conducted by
GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL.
(Eor November 81

/ Conducted by
GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL.
OFor November 81
| Topic: Great Men of the Bible; What Elijaf
Teaches us'.2 Kings 2: liz; Matthew IL: IA
James 5: II, IS.
| Kings: 1. And it came to pass. when the
| Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by
| whirlwind. that Elijah went with Elisha
| from Gilgal.
2. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry
| here, I pray thee: for the Lord hath sent
me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him,
| AS the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth,
| will not leave thee. So they went down to
| Bethel.
| 3. And the sons Of the prophets that were
| at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said
! unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will
| take away thy master from thy head today
| And he said,- Yea, 1 know it; hold ye your
peace.
4. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha,
tarry here 1 pray thee: for the Lord hath
sent me to Jericho. And he said. AS the
| Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, will not
leave thee. So they came to Jericho.
5. And the sons of the prophets that were
at Jericho came to Elisha and said unto
| him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take
away thy master from thy head To-Day /!
And he answered, Yea, I know It; hold ye
your peace.
g. And Elijah said unto hi4l. Tarry, pray
! thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to
Jordan. And he said. AS the Lord liveth,
and as thy soul liveth, 1 will not leave
thee. And they two went on
Z. And fifty men of the sons OF the proph-
cts went and stood to view afar on; and
they two stood by Jordan.
g. And Elijah took his mantle and wrap
ped it together and smOte the waters, and
they were divided hither and thither. SO
that they two went over on dry ground.
70 yIsa~, fhnyy yuynYv
gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha,
Ask what 1 shall do for thee, before l be
taken away from thee. And Elisha said, l
pray thee, let double portion of thy spirit
be upon me. -- --.
10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard
thing; nevertheless. If thou me when
am taken from thee, it shall be so unto
thee; but if not, it shall not be so.
II. And it came to pass, as they still
went on, and talked, that, behold, there
appeared a chariot of fire, and horses OF
fire, and parted them both asunder, and
Elijah went up by whirlwind into heaven.
Il And Elisha saw it, and he cried, Ny
father, my father, the chariot of Israel. and
the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no
more: and he took hold of his own clothes
and rent them in two pieces.
Matthew lila And if ye will receive It,,
this is Elias. which was for to come.
James 3: II. Elias was a man subject to
like passions as we are, and he prayed
earnestly that it might not rain, and 1t
rained not on earth for the space Of three
years and SIX months.
IS. And he prayed again, and the heaven
gave rain. and the earth brought forth her
fruit.
One translation of the name Elijah gives
its meaning as Jehovah is my strength" :"
Mr.. Meyer says: This gives the key to his
life. God was the strength of his life: of
whom should he be afraid? When the
wicked, even his enemies and foes came on
him to eat up his flesh, they stumbled and
fell. Though an host should encamp against
him, his heart should not fear. What a
revelation is given us In this name! Oh
that 1t were true of each of us! Yet, why
should it not be? Let US from henceforth
cease from our own strength, which at the
best is weakness and let appropriate
Gods by daily, hourly faith. This then shall
be the motto of our future lives, In the
Lord have / righteousness and strength;
can do all things through Christ which
strengthen me; the Lord is my strength
and song, and He is become my saliva
tion.'"
The characters of the great men we have
been studying for tthe past few weeks
stand out from others like bright jewels of
unsual size and value We hardly class
them with ourselves. They seem to have
more of the divine in their natures than We
have. We admire them and emulate them,
but still we easily excuse ourselves if we do
not follow closely all their virtues, because
they seem to be something far beyind us in
natural gifts 1t is almost startling there
fore to read that this great Elijah, God S
the name of God and upon whom the power
of God rested SO fully, was man of like
passions with ourselves This brings Eli
jah down to the possibilities of our own
lives.
There was wistfulness about Elisha as
he stuck to Elijah, following from point to
point longing for that double portion of his
masters spirit. Would to God that more of
us could so admire the saints who walk in
Gods footsteps, and SO long for the same
close fellowship with Jesus that we would
devote ourselves to watching them and fol-
lowing them about, trying to study out
their secret and make 1t ours. Each one Of
you knows some man or woman who seems
to you Elijah-like in life, doing great SER
vice for God. being greatly blessed and
WondrolSly cared for in time when others
were in trouble and distress. Each one of
us has wondered over these earthly saints
and felt rebuked sometimes that we were
not more like them. but excused ourselves
with a hopeless feeling that 1t was impos-
sAble But the trouble is when saint does
come our way. or prophet, we are so ter
ribly uncomfortable contrasting our own
lives with his that We get out of his way as
much as possible for our own peace of
mind But Elisha watched the man whom
he admired, and loved and took not his eyes
away from him until the sight was given
him of the chariot and horses of flame,
sign and dgnet of that double portion"
that was to be his If he followed and
watched faithfully. 1t Is worth while ask
ing ourselves the question whether. if we
followed more ClOScty OuT IIldSlcT, wdlcQeQ
more closely His prophets, we. too. might not
be given portion of the wonder-worling
spirit that should enable us to remove
mountains" with our faith.
Applied Truth.
When Wishart, the great Scotch preach
er, was seized by the authorities for heresy,
young John Knox wanted to go with him to
suffer and die with him If need were In
order that he might be privileged to add his
testimony to that of his master. No said
Wishart, who had perceived what manner
of man 1t was he had for a pupil, mo, go
home now to your BARNS God wants you
to Hive for him, not die for him" Thus
home, not to be heard of again for years.
He was ready for either life or death. as
God willed. 1t some times takes more
or be carried away In the glory of fre. Ell
jah went through some hard dark times,
Just an do you and ], but his end was glory.