130 Other Baals

Other Baals by J.A. James How long are you going to waver between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow Him. 1 Kings 18 verse 21 There are other Baals in this age, in all the various forms under which they are objects of human idolatry. It is true, you are not called, invited, or disposed to bow the knee to idols of wood, stone, or metal. These, however, are not the only way in which idolatry may be practiced. Everyone has a God, and if man does not love and worship Jehovah, he will make a deity of his own image. Survey the idols which you are called upon to worship. Among them, sustaining a high place, is the idol of sensuality. This goddess is decked out with all that can pollute the imagination, inflame the passions, or excite the evil propensities of a youthful heart. Before this image, multitudes of devotees of both sexes bow the knee and offer the most costly sacrifices of property, health, principle, and reputation. Near her is the bewitching and smiling image of worldly pleasure with the sound of music, the song, and the dance, alluring the giddy and thoughtless to its orgies, and throwing the spell of its fascinations over the imagination of multitudes who go merrily to their ruin. Mammon, the despicable deity of wealth, is there, glittering with gold and offering riches to his eager followers as the reward of their diligent and faithful adherents. His liturgy is the cry of, Money! Money! Money! His sacrifices are the time, the bodies, the comfort, and the souls of his worshippers. Near this is the shrine of human knowledge. This idol is only evil when raised above the place of faith, piety, and virtue. When thus exalted above Scripture, it is a deceiving, corrupting idol, the false goddess of a pantheon of vices. Nor must we leave out the idols of false religion, the chief of which is popery, the antichrist of the apocalypse, the man of sin sitting in the temple of God, exalting itself above all that is called God, This idol, taking the name of Christ as its designation, assuming the cross as its symbol, and boasting of an apostle as its first pope, enriched by wealth, venerable for antiquity, dignified by learning, decorated by sculpture, architecture, and painting, and adding the abysmal policies and most serpentine craft to all these other dangerous qualities, has fascinated countless millions. And, notwithstanding the monstrous absurdity of its doctrines, the blood-stained page of its history, and its hostility to the liberties of mankind, is now putting forth the most arrogant claims, and making the most audacious attempts for the conquest of our country. All these idolaters have chosen their God, and are the determined and devoted worshippers of their bales. They have hardened their hearts, and seared their consciences, except it be an occasional qualm in the season of death or sickness. They congratulate themselves upon their having thrown off all the weakness and fears of Christianity, and upon their being now enabled to pursue their downward course, unchecked by the restraint of conscience. Unhappy men, blind, and glorifying in their blindness, benumbed in all their moral faculties, and exalting in their stupidity. With every tie cut which held them to piety and truth, they accounted a privilege that they are drifting unobstructed to destruction, determined to be lost, and rejoicing that nothing bars their path to the bottomless pit. These men have set up idols in their hearts. Their hearts were devoted to their idols. Verse 16