orshipped false gods. They have suffered nearly nineteen hundred
years because they rejected the Messiah. Will you incur God's
displeasure by rejecting Christ too? He died to save you. Trust him
with your whole heart, for with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness.

I believe that when Christ has the first place in our hearts--when the
kingdom of God is first in everything--we shall have power, and we
shall not have power until we give Him His rightful place. If we let
some false god come in and steal our love away from the God of heaven,
we shall have no peace or power.

Second Commandment

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of
any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shewing mercy unto
thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments."

The first commandment, which we have just considered, points out the
one true object of worship; this commandment is to tell us the right
way in which to worship. The former commands us to worship God alone;
this calls for purity and spirituality as we approach Him. The former
condemns the worship of false gods; this prohibits false forms. It
relates more especially to outward acts of worship; but these are only
the expression of what is in the heart.

Perhaps you will say that there is no trouble about this weight. We
might go off to other ages or other lands, and find people who make
images and bow down to them; but we have none here. Let us see if this
is true. Let us step into the scales and see if we can turn them when
weighed against this commandment.

I believe this is where the battle is fought. Satan tries to keep us
from worshipping God aright, and from making Him first in everything.
If I let some image made by man get into my heart and take the place
of God the Creator, it is a sin. I believe that Satan is willing to
have us worship anything, however sacred,--the Bible, the crucifix,
the church,--if only we do not worship God Himself.

You cannot find a place in the Bible where a man has been allowed to
bow down and worship any one but the God of heaven and Jesus Christ
His Son. In the Book of Revelation, when an angel came down to John,
he