A FRIEND of mine who resides in Ceylon, when recently on a visit to England, told me that he once went into the great Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, the ancient capital of Ceylon, and. there saw the idolatrous men, women, and even children, bow down with bouquets and closed hands to the lire-sized golden image of Buddha, which is so decked with costly rubies, emeralds, and diadems, that the gold is almost invisible. These precious stones have from time to time been collected and placed there by the ancient kings of Kandy. These poor deluded and superstitious followers of Buddha make pilgrimages from China, Japan, and other heathen countries, to this "temple of the world," as it is called, which is their headquarters.
So ignorant and blind are these devotees that they believe that if they can just get one sight of a tooth enshrined in a golden casket there—thought to be one of Buddha's—they will gain a good place in the world to come; and when rain is wanted in the island, twenty superior elephants are selected to parade the city, the finest being chosen to be the bearer of the said tooth, in a gold box, on its back, an important Buddhist priest being in charge. As this "tooth-procession," with its music and dancing, passes, the idolatrous followers prostrate themselves to the ground. In such repute is this tooth held that were it to fall to the ground these people would expect some calamity to befall the island; and when it is lodged in its shrine at the temple it is placed under three locks, the keys of which are kept respectively by the English Government agent, a chief, selected for the purpose, and the Buddhist high priest.
My friend also informed me that another of their delusions is that they think they can gain eternal life if they can succeed in ascending to the top of "Adam's Peak," a mountain point some 8,000 feet high, where is a footprint appearance in the rock, believed by them to be the exact spot where Adam set down his foot Thus do they live on, blinded by Satan, without Christ, "having no hope, and without God in the world." Yes, Satan," the god of this world, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)).
We may bless God we were not born in the faith of the Buddhists, but can our reader say, as being really true of himself, “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ "?
Friend, if your heart is not occupied with Christ as your object and Savior, that heart is joined to an obstructing idol. That idol may be money, title, ambition, honor, learning, pride, empty profession of religion, and the like, all of which will ere long vanish away, and all of them put together, were they yours, would avail simply nothing for the eternity that awaits you.
The gospel came to the Thessalonians in word, in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. They “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come" (1 Thess. 1:99For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; (1 Thessalonians 1:9)). In our privileged Christian country—this land of Bibles—people who hear or read the gospel, and refuse it till they become gospel-hardened, are much more responsible than those poor Buddhists, who perhaps have never had the opportunity of refusing a Savior, nor of believing the gospel.
But we are told that in this enlightened nineteenth century Buddhism is spreading in Great Britain, and it is too true.
“After that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that BELIEVE.”
When the great apostle Paul visited Athens, the most enlightened city in the world, "he saw the city wholly given to idolatry," and said to them,—"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitations, that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from any one of us: for in him we live and move and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, ' For we are also his offspring,' Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; BUT NOW COMMANDETH ALL MEN EVERYWHERE TO REPENT: because he hath appointed a day in which HE WILL JUDGE THE WORLD in righteousness BY THAT MAN whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead"(Acts 17). The result of this address was that these learned Athenians divided into three classes, viz., mockers, procrastinators, and believers.
This is what happens when the gospel in power is heard, and our reader may have felt that power, and be in one of these classes. If so, which is it? let us solemnly inquire. Never mind the fineness of your Bible, your regular attendance at this place or that, the number of good sermons you have heard, and the like the question is, Are you a mocker, a putter-off, or a believer? If in class one and remain there, remember God will soon say to you, "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish!" If in number two, do not forget "delays are dangerous," and you might put off accepting Christ till you are on the wrong side of your last opportunity, which must come, and might overtake you at any moment! If you are in class three, thank God for His love and grace in saving from hell, putting away your sins by the trusted blood of Christ, and for making you as ready for His presence as ever you will be.
When King Belshazzar was drinking wine with a thousand of his lords, and praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand and wrote upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his knees were loosed and his knees smote one against another. One of the words of that writing was "TEKEL," which means "Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.”
Bear in mind this was after all the solemn judgments upon his father Nebuchadnezzar, who lifted up his head and hardened his mind in pride.
Daniel, the prophet, said,—"Thou his son Belshazzar hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven," and" in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain" (Dan. 5). How solemn Beloved unsaved one, whoever you are, we know not how long that pet idol of your heart, whatever it is, has kept you from Christ, but what if that handwriting were now to appear for you and God were to say, " This night thy soul shall be required of thee"? to be weighed up in God's holy, righteous, and just balance? Would you be found WANTING?
If so, you would be found wanting forever!
God grant that it may never have to be said of you, as was said to that enlightened and privileged one of old, “Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone." J. N.