The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1946-07-12

MEMORY SELECTTON-No man can
serve two masters: for either he will hate
the one. and love the other; or else he viii
hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon.-Matthew
6:24.
The first three commandments
bring man into the presence Of
God, where he is taught how to
worship God in spirit and in truth.
"The first commandment (Exod.
20:3) bids us worship God exclu-
sively; the second wv. 4-6) bids us
worship him spiritually. The first
commandment forbids us to wor-
ship false gods; the second forbids
us to worship the true God under
false forms" (Farrar).
We shall lose much of the value
of our lesson if we confine the APP
plication of it to Israel. We miss
the point if we think only of the
gods of wood and stone which the
heather worship and fail to apply
the truth to any and all idol wor-
ship of our day.
The loyalty to God of which our
lesson text teaches may be sum-
married. in four words. 1t is a 10y
atty of
I. Purpose (Exod. 2O:3).
Jehovah means, II will be what
I will be-" or IT am that I am"
(Exod. 3:14). His very name de-
clares God to be the self-existent,
eternal one. How infinitely gracious
then is the use of the word "thy"
in Exodus 1872! He-the great I
AM-is my God, a personal God.
It must be our constant purpose to
worship him only.
There are many things concern
ing which we do not speak dogmat-
ically. There are even Christian
doctrines about which spiritual and
earnest men may honestly differ,
but regarding God we say with alb
solute assurance and complete ex-
clusiveness-there is but one true
God. If he is what he claims to be,
if God is not to be declared to be
a liar, then it is beyond the realm
of possibility that there could be
any other God.
Hear it, men and women of Amer
lea who in an enlightened land and
age bow down in heathenish wor-
ship "before the god of gold, the
! god of self, the god of wine, the
god of success, the god of fame,
the goddess of pleasure, the god Of
RIGHTEOUSNESS" The one true God
says, 81 am Jehovah. Thou shalt
have no other gods before me-"
ii. Performance (Exod. 2O:4-6).
What is in the heart must show
in the life. The second command
ment calls for the undivided devo-
ton and worship Of man. It
expressly forbids idolatry in any
form. The injunction is twofold. ~
Men are forbidden to make any
, material likeness which to them
represents being to be worshiped.
| It matters not whether it be an
image of what men believe God to
be like, or the image of an angelic
being, heavenly body, in fact,
"anything that is in the heaven
above" or on the earth, such as
man or animal; or under the wa
ter, such as a fish. (2) If such OBJ
| jects have been made either by our
selves or others we may not bow
down to them, nor render any serv-
ice to them. Let us all examine our
religious ceremonies and practices
in the light of Gods commandment.
Observe that obedience to this
command brings rich blessing to
thousands" ". 81, whereas dis
obedience is a curse not only to the
man who disobeys, but also to his
descendants.
III. Promise (Josh. 24:16, 22-24).
Before the aged leader of Israel
came to the close of his life he
called leaders of the people, whom
he had led in the taking of the
Promised Land, and urged them to
| continue in the way of faith and 10y
atty to God.
They promised rather readily, but
he made clear to them that God
was not interested in lip service.
They were to prove their promise
! by putting away all strange gods.
This they agreed to do. Wherein
they failed, they suffered defeat,
and wherein they kept their prom
Use, God blessed them. We may
learn from their experience.
Nv. Practice duke 14:25-27).
It is not always necessary to
choose between our natural affec-
tions for those near to us and our
loyalty to Christ, but If the time
comes for that decision, Christ must
come first without question and
without hesitation (cf. Matt. 10:37).
The word "hate" ". 26) does not
carry with it any thought of malice
or personal dislike. We know from
other scriptures that we are to hon.
or our father and our mother
(Exod. 20:12). The one who fails
his own is declared to be worse than
an infidel Il Tim. 5:8).
The point is that no personal 10y