Chapter 28

THE SIN OF IDOLATRY.

It is not that the city is glorious to behold, Her walls of lucid crystal, her very pavement gold, All shrined in dazzling splendor, beyond description fair, But I am pressing onward to see my Saviour there.

How dangerous is idolatry. When God says, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image," etc., He means that we should not only avoid kneeling to them, but we should worship Him alone, and come to Him through the _only mediator between God and man_--the man Christ Jesus. How explicit are the words of the beloved John: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." (1 John, v. 21.) She seemed to realize the importance of speaking of _Jesus only_.

There is an alarming and increasing propensity in religious circles, to look with leniency on the worship of saints, angels, martyrs, and the Virgin, but the Master himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." Pure worship is spiritual, not æsthetical; hence the use of all pictures, crucifixes, and figureheads of apostles and saints dishonors Christ.

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In August, 1875, Mrs. Knowles writes: "Among many discouragements, I meet with enough to cheer me on my way, and induce me to feel that my labor is not all in vain.

"Among other incidents, I will mention the case of a family I have referred to before, as having visited. The mother received me very kindly. She had four children, and as I was speaking to them of Jesus while the little ones gathered around me, the father came in, a very rough-looking man, and at the time apparently under the influence of liquor. The mother and children looked at me, and a feeling of sadness was visible on their faces. I spoke to him of his family, but he said little, and I then knelt and prayed with them. I asked if they had a Bible. He said 'No,' and they had not much time to read. I then asked him if he would like to have one. He said he would, as 'it was a good thing to have one in the house.'

"I took them one in the course of a day or two, and he has been led to read it daily; the mother and children also read it, and a few nights since he signed the temperance pledge. He said to me lately, while visiting him: 'No more pennies for rum; those pennies will go toward the support of my wife and children.' He now attends _evening_ church, feeling his clothing is not good enough to go by daylight. He has told me, although they are very poor, he was never as happy as now. He has not yet been able to procure steady employment, so I help them as I can.

"I have been helped on to perseverance in my work by what was told me by one I visited. In speaking of herself, she said she owed much to the efforts of a home missionary, who not only sought her out, but followed her up; and although she often neglected her duty, and stayed away from the preaching, he was so persevering and diligent in his efforts to win her, he at length succeeded, and she is now truly a Christian. A severe trial has lately come upon her: her son, a boy of ten years, has been killed by falling from a house. He lived but a short time after the accident; and as I stood by her at the side of the remains of her departed child, she was calm and resigned, telling me _the Lord was helping her_.

"I have been visiting at the hospitals much of late, where I have procured places for my sick, of whom there have been many this season. I have also assisted some, and procured work for others; have also distributed several Bibles, for which some have promised to pay as they are able. My Superintendent and Pastor are both kind in aiding me; for while I can truly say, 'of myself I can do nothing,' I can also, I hope, add, 'I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.'"

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We cannot leave this part of the record of the Lord's work without observing her strong attachment to the children. In this she was very judicious. What momentous issues are at stake during early childhood. It is doubtless true that Christ meant to teach a practical lesson with reference to our tender watch-care of the little ones during His third brief interview with His disciples, after His resurrection. We read:

"So, when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him, yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

"He saith unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

"He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."

Amid such a scene so truthfully depicted in the above narrative, we behold the insecurity of the children. What a sad sight. An intemperate father and no Bible in the house. What a statement in this land of Bibles! Oh, what fearful consequences hang upon the conduct of parents. What would become of the masses in the lower part of the city, were it not for our truly devoted Bible women? What victories for Christ and His Church have been achieved--who can tell?

The cheering light that dawned upon the deeply bereaved mother when her boy was killed, is beheld as we, in imagination, take our stand by the bedside with them, and hear that sorrow-stricken mother exclaiming, "_that the Lord was helping her_." This is a striking proof that He who comforted Martha and Mary, at Bethany, was in that tenement-house, saying once again, "I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live." Yes, helping her to look beyond this vale of tears, and say even amid the loss of her darling boy, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Surely the language of Job must have been experienced on an occasion like the above. "When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame."--Job xxix. 11-15.

There is a very comforting reflection for bereaved parents in Dr. Payson's "Comparison of Departed Children to Jewels." To a mother mourning the death of a child, he said:

"Suppose, now, some one was making a beautiful crown for you to wear, and you knew it was for you, and that you were to receive it and wear it as soon as it should be done. Now, if the maker of it were to come, and in order to make the crown more beautiful and splendid, were to take some of _your jewels_ to put into it, should you be sorrowful and unhappy because they were taken away for a little while, when you knew they were gone to make up your crown?"

In endeavoring humbly to interpret the language of the deceased, and, at the same time, call attention to her superior magnanimity of heart, I would not for a moment dare to make it appear that I was compromising human merit with the free, rich grace of our Heavenly Father, so richly displayed in His imparted _power_ to His children, enabling them to do valiantly in the salvation of souls. This power is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart. Just listen to the closing sentence of the last paragraph: "_I can truly say of myself I can do nothing!_" though I can also, I hope, add, "_I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me_." Ah! here is the secret of distinguished merit in the great conflict against all the forms of evil in the world. The instruction to the disciples were to tarry until they received this Divine strength. Tarry, how? Well, let us read the record:

"To whom also He shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, sayeth he, ye have heard of me. _For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence._ When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, 'It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.' And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight."--Acts i. 3-9.