Idol Worship by Francis Gould

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 26, 1875

Idol Worship.

By Francis Gould

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” is the first commandment of the decalogue. We are required to serve the God that made the heavens and the earth, and him only. The nations of the earth in past ages have been given more or less to idolatrous worship, and have not retained God in their knowledge. And of them David declares: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Ps. 9: 17. It is therefore of the utmost importance that we worship the living and true God.

The children of Israel, the chosen people of God, were given, to a great extent, to idolatrous worship. They became exalted, and desired to be more like the nations around them, and hence would have other gods to go before them. This was their great sin, on account of which many fell in the wilderness.

Perhaps some who profess to believe the third angel’s message are not clear from this sin. If so, we should learn something from the dealings of God with his ancient people. Our idols are not of the same character as theirs, but they will separate us from God no less effectually. They will lead us into darkness, and cause us to forget him, and thus be forever lost.

The question may arise, What are our idols? Any thing that we place before God in our affections becomes an idol. Perhaps we are slaves to tobacco, tea, or coffee, or to the use of some of the many other things which are injurious to the health. Or we may idolize our children and our farms, and make this world our god. These become idols if we suffer them to come between us and our Maker. God requires all our affections. We ought to love him, because he first loved us.

John speaks to the church in the last time as follows: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. . . . For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” And he closes by adding, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” The remnant church is made up of individuals from the different churches and from the world, possessing different dispositions and temperaments. They have brought along with them their peculiarities and different habits of life; and for some, at least, it will require a great conflict to overcome them. But let us not be discouraged. God has promised grace equal to our day; and, if we try to help ourselves, he has promised to help us, and we shall gain a glorious victory. In order to accomplish this object, we must live in harmony with the laws of our being. We must cherish and live out the principles of health reform as taught in the word of God. What sin and misery have been entailed upon the human family because Adam lost his self-control, and yielded to the tempter! Let us control our appetites, practice self-denial and temperance, and add to our faith all the Christian graces. If we do this, we may be sanctified through the truth, and finally have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. FRANCIS GOULD.