The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-02-03
International
SundaySchoolLesson
FOR February is, Elijah Taken VI
to Heaven. III. Kings Ellis.
What the young Man Inherited.
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

( to Heaven. IL. Kings 2.l-lo.
What the young Man Inherited.
Much newspaper space has been de-
voted of late to the story of the younS
man who refused an inheritance of s.
} million dollars, and then changed his
mind about IL Here is a better story
l-of another young man who was be-
queathed an old coat-and a mission
/ The passing of one man and the call
ing of another, both immortal figures
| in the gallery of religious leaders. is
1 the theme of the current Sunda"
school lesson; and it will set millions
| of persons to discussing the topic Of
what is the best inheritance for d
young man. Naturally, a host OF
| thoughtless persons have wished for
| the million dollars which the Massa-
| chusetts youth repudiated. Yet the
| consensus of opinion among expert
! enced observers is that the world has
suffered more than it has gained by
the inheritance of fortunes.
Elisha was the young man WHORE
the great Prophet Elijah had called to
be his disciple and successor. We do
not know what had taken place be-
| tween the time of his call, when he
had so quickly seized his opportunity,
and the last dramatic scene of his
masters life. Enough that he had
been in the school of association with
Elijah. There is no education like
| contact with a great man. Young
/
! triOtiSm and for Jehovah which hal
| burned in the breast of the older hero.
| Such a vision of the sacredness and
usefulness of the prophetic office had
come to him that he wanted nothing
| else in life SO much as to follow in the
/ footsteps of Elijah. His was al. ambi-
/ ton that held hope and promise for
/ the people. Instead of great wealth,
| he wanted d great work. When the
same aspiration fills the hearts of the
youth of fairest promise in our
| churches the religious outlook will be
ly concerned in the choices made by
youg persons.
A Man of Mystery and Might.
Rare old Elijah was thru. No more
battles for him. All his .errands had
been run, all his messages spoken.
I Cave life, fugitive desert life, peril by
| day and by night, the faithfulness of
| the people and the enmity of the royal
family, mattered no more. He had
come to the end. Only remained now
/ the matter of passing out of the world
Ian experience that crowns or dis
/ credits all the years that have gone
| before. Even Christian people are
sometimes afraid to die.
! But Elijah was not destined to die
His was the greatest triumph ever Ac-
corded to mortal, ranking next to the
ascension of the Greater Prophet Who
was to come. And to him it was to
be given, along with Moses, to return
to comfort the Coming One on the
Mount of TRANSPORTATION. What a
regard for Gods good warriorI
] The mystery of his passing was more
wonderful than the mystery of his liv-
ing He had suddenly appeared with
the Jehovah upon his lips; he had VAL
iantly served God in a hard time. At
the end of his work a royal chariot of
! fire, with horses of fire. was sent to
bear him into the presence of the
Lord Whom he had represented How
petty the dignities and trappings of
Ahab seem alongside of the triumph
| OF this God-afire prophet, who had
brought the sublime reality of Jehovah
to a wastrel timei So strong is the
/ hold of the personality of Elijah upon
the imagination of the world that the
history and teachings of three great
/ religions are interwrought with his
| life. At the circumcision of every
Jewish child, a chair is placed for
Elijah; and the door is left open for
him at every Passover celebration.
Amid Tragedy's Loneliness.
Great souls in great hours want to
| be alone. It seems as if the presence
of even Elisha was not desired by
Elijah, as he went to meet his trans
| lation. Somehow, the news had got
: abroad, amid the fellowship of the
prophets that Elijah was to be taken
away. On that last tragic walk the
| man of solitude requested his beloved
| disciple to leave him. Like Jacob with
| the angel, the young man would not
| leave without the prophets blessing.
| Others of the school of the prophet
| drew near, with their frivolous curl
| osity but Elisha rebuked them and
sent them Off These Grass and cruel
/ intrusions in the sacred hours of grief!
! Often the smitten would cry, like
wise, Yea, [ know it; hold We your
peace"
Twice. the older man tried to spare
the younger the sorrow of the part
| ing; but Elisha wanted som ething so
! badly he would not be denied.
| This boon that the younger craved
| was nothing less than a first bOrn's
double portion-not of riches but of
fitness for service A double portion
! of the Elijah spirit. that he might
kbe enduced to carry on Elijahs work,
was his deep desire. Not goods but
/ goodness, was the heritage he craved.
! One recalls Paurs admonition to
youth, Covert earnestly the best
/ Suppose there should sweep over
| our colleges, now fuller of students
/ than ever, a great wave of ambition
for the spiritual qualities that fit for
thlghest service: would it not be the
boon of boons for our times2 IN re-
| viewing the autobiography of a famous
| Canadian, now a British peer, the Lon
don Post pointed out bitingly that the
complacent self-chronicIer seems to
show no sense of any standardyof value
| or success other than the purely ma
terial and selfish; the great qualities
of spirituality and idealism apparently
mean nothing to him. Yet for the
salvation of our time we must have
simply must have-youth who crave a
double portion of spiritual gifts, that
they may do the greatest service to
their time.
That Old Scat.
In the bazars of Israel, which
bought old clothes as well as sold