The tendency now is to appreciate a man for what he has rather than for what he is, to ignore both symmetry of form and the graces of the noble character, and to worship what he holds in his hands. The truly spiritual loves true manhood and is indifferent to the possessions. If a noble soul is found in a Lazarus, the true child of Abraham will take him to his bosom. A perverted manhood will receive no favor though clothed and surrounded with all material splendor. It destroys spirituality, too, because it holds the mind to a material thing as the source of all good. The spiritual man rises to the true source of our blessings, the author of all temporal good, from whose hand every living thing is fed. This, as all idolatry, leads to a breaking away from the restraints of the moral law. The devotion to the material leads, logically and practically, to a neglect of the restraints of the spiritual, and a preponderance of subserviency to the material. Practices that will promote the material are indulged though the moral law may be broken. The material is not held subject to the needs of the higher nature, nor subject to the promotion of the kingdom of God, but man's noblest gifts and the worship of God are all made, if possible, to minister to the material interests. To break this idol's power, the true nature of property must be shown. It is not immortal, but perishable. It can not preserve itself, but must be carefully preserved by man's own effort. It can not protect him, but he must protect it. It is but a thing which man has himself made. It must be shown absurd, as Isaiah ridiculed it, "They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made." Other forms of gross external idolatry are exposed by the advancing light of these progressive years, but this musty old form has taken new life and now receives the service of the race. The whole world is running pell-mell after this idol. It stands in the market places, it is not a stranger in the courts of justice, and is in high favor in legislative halls. Solon is relegated and Croesus is elected. It is given a high place in the temple of God. Pious Lazarus is neglected but Dives is promoted. "What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" Until this idol is cast out the church will and must languish. Spiritual life will be low and fervor impossible. CHAPTER XXXII. AX AT ROOT OF THE TREE.