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No Other Gods, May 9
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3
.
Christ gave His life that all who would might be freed from sin and reinstated in
the favor of the Creator.
It was the anticipation of a redeemed, holy universe that prompted Christ to
make this great sacrifice.... Are we followers of God as dear children, or are we
servants of the prince of darkness? Are we worshipers of Jehovah, or of Baal? of
the living God, or of idols?
No outward shrines may be visible, there may be no image for the eye to rest
upon, yet we may be practicing idolatry. It is as easy to make an idol of cherished
ideas or objects as to fashion gods of wood or stone. Thousands have a false
conception of God and His attributes. They are as verily serving a false god as were
the servants of Baal. Are we worshiping the true God as He is revealed in His Word,
in Christ, in nature, or are we adoring some philosophical idol enshrined in His
place? God is a God of truth. Justice and mercy are the attributes of His throne. He
is a God of love, of pity and tender compassion. Thus He is represented in His Son,
our Saviour. He is a God of patience and long-suffering. If such is the being whom
we adore and to whose character we are seeking to assimilate, we are worshiping
the true God.
If we are following Christ, His merits, imputed to us, come up before the
Father as sweet odor. And the graces of our Saviour’s character, implanted in our
hearts, will shed around us a precious fragrance. The spirit of love, meekness, and
forbearing pervading our life will have power to soften and subdue hard hearts and
win to Christ bitter opposers of the faith.
“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let
each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others”....
Vainglory, selfish ambition, is the rock upon which many souls have been
wrecked and many churches rendered powerless. Those who know least of devotion,
who are least connected with God, are the ones who will most eagerly seek the
highest place. They have no sense of their weakness and their deficiencies of
character.... The soul that is constantly looking unto Jesus will see His self-denying
love and deep humility, and will copy His example. Pride, ambition, deceit, hatred,
selfishness, must be cleansed from the heart. With many these evil traits are partially
subdued, but not thoroughly uprooted from the heart. Under favorable circumstances
they spring up anew and ripen into rebellion against God. Here lies a terrible danger.
To spare any sin is to cherish a foe that only awaits an unguarded moment to cause
our ruin.... Divine grace is our only hope (
Testimonies For The Church 5:173-175
).
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