What God Do you Worship?
By WM. PEPPER.
Says the word of God, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Mankind, from the earliest ages to the present time, has been more or less imbued with an idolatrous spirit. As it was with the Israelites when Moses delayed to come down from the mount, it was not long before they conceived the idea of making to themselves a god, one after their own depraved ideas. But how many there are, even in our own generation, who blame the Israelites for their wickedness and folly, yet like them, they will worship the golden calf. “Covetousness is idolatry. The love of money is the root of all evil.” The worship of graven images is not alone the breaking of the first commandment. We may not be so degraded as to worship heathen images or popish crucifixes; but let us remember that “there may be idols in the heart, when there are none in the sanctuary.” One may idolize a child, a brother, a sister, a father, or a mother; but says the Lord Jesus, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” If we would be true followers of the Lord, we must surrender to him our whole and undivided affections. But there is one idol of which I would now speak, it is that of appetite. Says the apostle Paul, “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” Those persons of whom Paul speaks, in all probability, were professors of Christianity; yet, we see the God that they worshiped and cherished in their hearts was their own sensual appetites. Especially in these days of human depravity is this failing most prominent. Instead of inquiring of the Lord what it is he would have us to do, the great cry is, What shall we eat, and what shall we drink? &c., &c. The fall of man was brought about by an appeal to the appetite. Shall we not fear and take warning lest we ourselves be overcome in the vain effort to satisfy a craving appetite? In the beginning, God expressly stated what man should use for food; but alas! how far man has departed from that rule. There are many who are willing to believe and accept the claims of the Sabbath and many other kindred doctrines; but let the health reform be presented and they recoil as if struck in a vital spot. For instance, let such an one be told of the hurtfulness of eating swine’s flesh, and he is ever ready with an excuse, to justify himself. Oh! then, let us who profess to be watching and waiting for the Lord’s speedy return cut loose from every idol, and from the sin which doth so easily beset; that we may present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.