The Republican., 1946-07-11

LESSON TEXT-Exodus 2O:3-6; Joshua
24:l6, 1924; Luke l4:25.27.
MEMORY SELECTION-No man can
serve two masters: for either he will hate
the one and love the other; or else he win
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: thc 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 ap-
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-
p -, ~ -'l N'"'
Inc loyaily TO COO OF which our
lesson leNt teaches may be sum-
married in four words. It is a 10y
aIIy OF
!. Purpose (EXod. 20:3).
Jehovah means, Il will be what
I will be-" or Il am that 7 am y
(Exod. 3:14). His very name da.
clares God TO be the self-existen+
eternal one. How infinitely gracio,1e
then is the use of tbe word .stbv,,
in Exodus 1912! He-the grea+ 7
AM--is my God, a personal God.
IL must be our constant purpose 10
worship nm only
There are many things concern
ing which we do not speak d0gmat-
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-
clusINeneSs-there is but one true
God Ii he is what he claims to be.
If God IS not to be declared to be
liar, then it is beyond the realm
Of possibility that there could be
any other God.
Hear it, men and women Of Amer
lca who in an enlightened land and
age bow down in heathenish Wor-
snip before the god of gold, the
god OF self, the god of wine, the
goo OF success, the god Of fame
the goddess Of pleasure, the god Of
righteousness. - The one true Goo
says, Il am Jehovah. =. Thou shalt
have no other gods before me"
II. Performance (Exod 20:4-6)
What ie in +bo ho,r+ ,,,re4 chow,
in the life The second con1r,and
mont caI1s fo,, +,o ,,;,iIad 1'5f 5,
tion and worship of man. II
expressly forDids idolatry in any
form, The injunction is tWofold. %
Men are forbidden to make any
material likeness which to them
represents a 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 heavenly body, in fact,
anything that is in the heaven
above, or on the earth, such as d
man or animal; or under the wa
ter, such as q fish. ~ 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
IeIlgloQs ceremonies and practices
oIlc (ilc i5.'' VI Ioo lilallul'lehl
oo11J...5 D5Gi'5 q 'I.o' ooclleIiGe ~ t'liS
ta,r, ll-l, ',ilU ~ iii9 I0il dressing 10
o}aJ;a,.I ,,IJ;'9s'lil'? W.. W Wlie4 cas- oIS-
os'iCiieo .3 - q gu % Ilo' oilly 10 Ii!e
1l@,tl I!o o''0'eS % ""' e'I9o 10 MS
1o310''.s''-''9, ~,
Ill promise Gosh. 24:l6, 22-2D.
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