152
Testimonies for the Church Volume 5
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
[174]
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 forbearance 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.”
“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be
blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst
of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in
the world.”
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. Unless many of
our young ministers shall feel the converting power of God, their labors
will be a hindrance rather than a help to the church. They may have
learned the doctrines of Christ, but they have not learned Christ. The
[175]
soul that is constantly looking unto Jesus will see His self-denying love
and deep humility, and will copy His example. Pride, ambition, deceit,