LECTURE X.

THE YOUNG IDOLATERS.

1 JOHN V. 21.-Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

IF I could enter into your hearts, and understand your thoughts upon hearing this passage read as my text, I should perhaps find many, if not all of you, wondering why I have made choice of it for an address to you. Because you are called Christian children, and because your parents were called Christians, you probably suppose that a text which speaks of idols can have no sort of application to you. It may do, you think, for Hindoo and other Pagan children; but not for you. You and your parents never worshipped imagesnever worshipped any other than the true God. however, you conclude that you are not idolaters, and before you reject the advice in the text, listen to what I have to say upon this important subject. And that we may the better understand it, let us begin by attending to the first two commandments, which are expressly against idolatry.

I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Before,

II. Thou shalt not make to thyself 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 command

ments.

My dear children, these are the commands of that great and holy God, who is called "a consuming fire." These commands were given from Mount Sinai, amidst thunders, lightnings, fire, and smoke, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud. "And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." What a dreadful scene!

To explain these two commands, and tell you their meaning; to inform you what idols are, and what is idolatry, is the design of this Lecture.

I shall therefore,

I. Explain what is meant by idols, and what it is to worship them.

J. Let me tell you what idols are.

An idol is an image or representation of a true or false god. It is the likeness of any thing that is in heaven, such as God, or angels, or the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the like

:

ness of any thing on earth-the image or representation of any particular man, woman, or animal, such as the Israelites worshipped at Horeb. They made a golden calf, and worshipped it. There are various idols mentioned in the sacred Scriptures many of them, no doubt, are the same under different names. The description which the Psalmist gave of those which the heathen worshipped in his day, is truly humiliating, but strictly just. "The gods of the heathen are vanity and a lie. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat. They that make them, are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them."

The apostle says of the heathen in his day, " Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools; and changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible men, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things-they have changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen."

Such is the description given us by David, the man after God's own heart; and by Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles.

Some suppose that the worship of idols began before the

flood. We are told that Terar, the father of Abraham, served other gods. And it is very probable that Abraham himself was a worshipper of idols, before he was called by God to leave Ur of the Chaldees.

Laban had idols in his house; and Rachael appears to have been very fond of them; since she stole them from her father, and hid them among the camel's furniture. Though she was the wife of a good man, who worshipped the living and true God, yet she did not keep herself from idols. The Danites robbed Micah of his images. When he cried after them, he said, " ye have taken away my gods which I have made, and what have I more."

Before we go farther, let us seriously attend to the apostle's words, "We know that an idol is nothing in the world; and that there is no other God but one.

It is also necessary to remember, that images are not the only things which are called idols in Scripture. The name is given to worldly objects, upon which the heart is set, and which is loved and valued more than God. Idolatry is giving to any thing else that affection and esteem, which God alone ought to possess. This we are all, this even children are prone to do; else the caution before us would not have been given," Little children, keep yourselves from idols.' Some idolize themselves; others idolize the world, its riches, honours, and pleasures. If you love the world, you cannot love God. If your hearts are set upon the things of the world, then you cannot serve God as you ought: because he requires the heart. You cannot love God and the world too. "No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him,

2. Having considered what idols are, let us now observe what idolatry is.

We ought to worship God alone, and "to love him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength." Now, any person who gives divine worship and supreme affection to another object, is guilty of idolatry. If he loves any other being, more than the eternal and invisible God, then he is an idolater. "For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

The apostle speaks of some who make a god of their belly. Gluttons and drunkards exactly answer this description.

Their chief and constant regard is paid to their sensual appetite. All those who think more about eating and drinking than they do about God, make an idol of their appetite, and fall under the apostle's sentence.

There are many children who are guilty of this sin. I mean those who are too fond of sweet-meats and various kinds of fruits, who love these things more than their Bibles, notwithstanding they are hurtful to their bodies, and unfit them for the service of God. Take heed of this sin, for it is a very great one: It makes the body weak and feeble, and the mind unfit for religious exercises, and incapable even of reading and reflection: it is a sinful waste of the bounties of Providence, and the frequent forerunner of poverty and want. The apostle justly describes these persons as "minding earthly things,” as reversing his holy maxim, by setting their affections on things below, instead of things above. He proceeds to say, that they "glory in their shame." And how many sensual persons boast of their low and sordid pursuits, and triumph in that which is hateful to God, and ruinous to their souls! "All such boasting is evil." The apostle, as might be expected, informs us that their "end is destruction." They may seem to live well, and spend a pleasant life; but death and hell are at the end of it. How wretched is it to sacrifice the favour of God, peace of conscience, and eternal happiness, to this shameful idol.

Dr Watts has well described the character of these persons, in the following lines :

There are a number of us creep,
Into this world to eat and sleep;

And know no reason why they're born
But merely to consume the corn;
Devour the cattle, fowl, and fish,
And leave behind an empty dish:
The crows and ravens do the same,
Unlucky birds of hateful name;
Ravens and kites might fill their place,
And swallow corn and carcases,
Deluded souls! that sacrifice
Eternal hopes above the skies,

And pour their lives out all in waste,
To the vile idol of their taste!
The highest heaven of their pursuit,
Is to live equal with the brute;
Happy if they could die as well,
Without a judge, without a hell.

The apostle observes, that "a covetous man, is an idolater," nor can we wonder at the name, since such a man makes idols of money and other worldly possessions. Are there not

some covetous children also, that want every thing they see, and envy others the possession of their money, their clothes, or their toys? Little children, keep yourselves from these idols. God has said, "Thou shalt not covet.' Stubborn

and obstinate children are idolaters, because they serve their own will-are determined to have their own way, in opposition to the will of their parents, the will of their teachers, and the will of God.

I shall now proceed particularly,

II. To mention some things which children are apt to turn into idols.

1. They are apt to make idols of their amusements.

How many children are more intent on their sports than their prayers! How busy and anxious some children are in their various pastimes! How they will toil and sweat, and run and strive, and seem as anxious as if all their happiness depended on their skill and success! Some children are like the Egyptians; they worship living animals. They make idols of their rabbits, their guinea-pigs, and their dogs. Some are more fond of their squirrels than their books. Others make idols of their caterpillars and their butterflies. Some admire their birds, their chickens, or their pigeons, more than God and heavenly things. Some appear as eager to catch butterflies on the Sabbath, as they are on any other day of the week. This is not remembering the Sabbathday to keep it holy." A paper kite appears to be the favourite idol of the young in this country. They seem as anxious about their kites, as if life and death depended upon their mounting up high in the air. How skilful are they in cutting the kite of another! How fearful of their own! And when they lose it, how many tears they shed! There are many who shed more tears for the loss of their kite, than they do on account of their sins, though sins may occasion the loss of their souls.*

Perhaps you are ready to think and say, as the Athenians did, when they heard Paul preaching unto them Jesus and the resurrection of the dead," Thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know, therefore, what these

The author is here speaking of those amusements to which he has observed European and country born christian children to be particularly attached; as it is for them that these Lectures are designed. The kite is an exception, as native children, and even me n, appear to be excessively attached to this amusement.