The Coolidge examiner., 1938-10-06


THE First Commandment bids us
to worship GOO exclusively; the Sec
ond bids us to worship Him spir-
itually. The First Commandment
forbids us to worship false gods;
the Second forbids us to worship the
true God under false forms" Gar
rar). Israel had lived among the
Egyptians, a people known for their
worship of images, and were about
to enter into Canaan where there
were many false gods. The Lord
was therefore careful not only to
forbid the worship of other gods, but
also to forbid the making of images
of any kind, whether they represent
ed the many gods of heathendom, or
were attempts to symbolic the true
God. In studying this lesson we
need to exercise care lest we miss
the point by talking only of the gods
of wood and stone which the heather
worship, and fail to apply the truth
to any improper use of images
which may prevail in our land and
in the present day. Let us lay aside
any preconceived notions and face
the facts in the light of Gods Word.
l. True Worship Required (Exod.
20:4-6).
This commandment expressly for
bids idolatry in any form. The in
junction is twofold. Cd Men are
forbidden to make any material
likeness which to them represents
being to be worShiped. 1t matters
not whether it be an image of what
men believe God to be like, or the
image of an angelic being, a heaven
ly body, in fact anything that is
in the heaven above" or on the
earth-such as a man or animal; or
under the water-such as fish. (2)
If such objects have been made
either by ourselves or others we may
not bow down to them, nor render
any service to them. Let us all eX-
anime our religious ceremonies and
practices in the light of Gods COM
mandment.
Observe that obedience to this
command brings rich blessing to
thousands" ". g., whereas disobe-
dience is a curse not only to the
man who disobeys, but also to his
descendants. Spiritual blight so
often runs through whole families,
while spiritual life just as often
blesses those who follow us. Blessed
is the man who gives his children
and his children's children true
spiritual heritage, but woe be unto
that man who passes on the dark
ness and spiritual death of unbelief
to his childreni
ii. False Worship Established
(Exod. 80: 1-8).
1t comes to us as a real shock
that people so highly privileged,
so well-instructed and so ably led
as Israel should turn to idolatry.
The story reveals the depravity Of
the human heart. Their excuse that
Moses was gone was only an excuse
without foundation. They did what
their hearts wanted to do, and they
used his absence to put forward
their wicked desires.
Let US be careful lest we be mis-
led or indeed, mislead ourselves into
creating God after the concept of
our own heart and mind. We, like
Israel, may be tempted to make
us gods" to which we will bow down
and worship. 1t may not be out of
place at this point to warn against
a folly which seems to have laid
hold of the church, that of almost
deifying our Christian leaders. A
man who is called to speak for God
is a highly privileged man, worthy
of our support and our respect. But
let us remember that he is only a
servant, an instrument in Gods
hand, and let us never be guilty of
worshiping and serving ''the crea-
ture more than the Creator, who is
blessed forever" (Rom. 1:25).
III. True Worship Defined John
4:19-24.
One would suppose that truth so
vital and fundamental as that
stated in these verses would long
since have completely saturated the
life of the church as well as of the
individual believer. God is a Spir-
it, and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth.
Even in this year of our Lord 1888,
countless men and women still be-
lieve that worship has something to
do with place (vv. 20, 2D or race
(v. 22) or some other external de-
vice or formula. What pity that
this should be true when the gra-
cious and delightful way to worship
is through personal spiritual COM
munion between God and man.
Deadening Journalism is not our
only enemy. There is the poWerlesS
preachment of modernism-and in
all honesty must we not admit that
even some so-called fundamental
ism has in many respects lost the
true spirit of the faith for which it
rightly contends. We who cherish
the truth Of Gods Word will shun
modern liberalism. We may not be
tempted to obscure the worship of