You don't have to go to heathen lands to-day to find false gods.
America is full of them. Whatever you make most of is your god.
Whatever you love more than God is your idol. Many a mans heart is
like some Kaffirs' huts, so full of idols that there is hardly room to
turn around. Rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all classes of men
and women are guilty of this sin. "The mean man boweth down, and the
great man humbled himself."
A man may make a god of himself, of a child, of a mother, of some
precious gift that God has bestowed upon him. He may forget the Giver,
and let his heart go out in adoration toward the gift.
Many make a god of pleasure; that is what their hearts are set on. If
some old Greek or Roman came to life again and saw men in a drunken
debauch, would he believe that the worship of Bacchus had died out? If
he saw the streets of our large cities filled with harlots, would he
believe that the worship of Venus had ceased?
Others take fashion as their god. They give their time and thought to
dress. They fear what others will think of them. Do not let us flatter
ourselves that all idolaters are in heathen countries.
With many it is the god of money. We haven't got through worshipping
the golden calf yet. If a man will sell his principles for gold, isn't
he making it a god? If he trusts in his wealth to keep him from want
and to supply his needs, are not riches his god? Many a man says,
"Give me money, and I will give you heaven. What care I for all the
glories and treasures of heaven? Give me treasures here! I don't care
for heaven! I want to be a successful business man." How true are the
words of Job: "If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine
gold, Thou art my confidence; if I rejoiced because my wealth was
great, and because mine hand had begotten much; if I beheld the sun
when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath
been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: this also were
an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the
God that is above."
But all false gods are not as gross as these. There is _the atheist_.
He says that he does not believe in God; he denies His existence, but
he can't help setting up some other god in His place. Voltaire said,
"If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent one." So the
atheist speaks of the Great Unknown, the First Cause, the Infinite
Mind, etc. Then there is _the deist_. He is a man who believes in one
God who caused all things: but he doesn't believe in revelation. He
only accepts such truths as can be discovered by reason. He doesn't
believe in Jesus Christ, or in the inspiration of the Bible. Then
there is _the pantheist_, who says: "I believe that the whole universe
is God. He is in the air, the water, the sun, the stars."; the liar
and the thief included.