The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 108

own deity; every element obeyed some unseen baing. The polytheist would havo, joined heartily with the Jew in saying, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no, God." In our day, on the contrary, folly is supposed to lie in the other direction, namely, in the heart of him who believes in that which is beyond sensuous pe(- ception and purely intellectual research. Science, which has driven fairies from the- woode, elves from the mountains, and nymphs frorn the sea, is now supposed to be almost prepared to drive God from his universe. Articles in our magazines, addresses in our halls, speak with such ill-disguise.d contempt of religious men that their Iangua11e is, "'l'he fool hath said in his heart, There is a God." But the world never wanted° God more. Men are not satisfie.d with knowing, and some who see no evidence for a future heaven are bitterly asking-Is life worth living? Amidst the miseries of civilized society, and the wrangling of sects, many a one secretly says, "My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God I" In au age when men believed in gods who had no personal love or righteousness, they wanted to know the heavenly Father; and in this a11e, when scepticism has swept the world bare of some of its old creeds, we do well to hearken to the message of God, "Seek ye me, and ye shall Ii ve." 2. By prevailing idolatries. Show how places of sacred memory had become sources of idolatry and pollution (ver. 5). Bethel, where Jacob saw the heavenly ladder, and vowed that he and his would be the Lord's; Gilgal, where the people reconsecrated themselves on entering Canaan; Beersheba, where Abraham called on the Lord, and Isaac built his altar, and Israel offered saerifice when going with his sons into Egypt~ -were all transformed into idolatrous resorts. From this, point out how easily creeds~ forms of worship, holy places and relics, nominal profession of Christian\ty, etc., may hide God, instead of bearing witness to him. Suggest also certain modem idolatries. 3. By practical unrighteousness. Amos addressed his hearers as "Ye who turn judgment to wormwood [that is, who, instead of rendering justice, co=it bitter wrong], and leave off righteousness in the earth [or, rather, 'dethrone it from rule']." '!'race these sins in some trades and professions, and in some social customs and ecclesiastical movements, of our own day. Yet, in spite of such sins, which will incur the penalties here foretold, the message comes to every sinner from him who- is not willing that any should perish, "Seek ye me, and ye shall live." II. THE SEARCH FOR GoD. Let us rightly estimate the privilege offered to us. God is great beyond our conceptions. "He maketh the seven stars and Orion," etc ... yet says, "To that man will I look .. , who is of a humble and contrite heart." 1. There is necessity for seeking him. He will not force himself on our notice, nor blazen. his name in the sky. Any man, if he chooses, is free to live as if God were not. It is "he who seeketh findeth." 2. There are advantuges in seeking him. These are additional to the advantages of finding him. The most precious things (jewels, corn, knowledge, etc.) are not the most easily obtained. The self-discipline, the steadfast effort, the trials of faith and hope, etc., cultivate character. So, in seeking God, we find that the pains and difficulties resulting from doubts, indolence, sins, etc., are- part of our Heaven-appointed discipline. If God were visible as the sun is visible,. there would be no moral ad vantage in "seeking" him; but as he is visible only through faith and prayer, we rise heavenward in our very seeking a~er him. 3. There is a right way of seeking him. Hence ver. 5, "Seek not Bethel," etc. Some hoped to get help in other directions rather than in the path of penitential prayer. :Multitudes now, instead of turning to him who is the Light of the world, pursue- false lights, which, like the will-o'-the-wisp, will lead to destruction. Hear the words. of Jesus Christ: "He that bath seen me bath seen the Father; " "I and the Father are one." III. THE LIFE IN Go». "And ye shall live." This does not nllude to national life. That was irrevocably doomed. But in the doomed nation any sinner turning to God would live. Nor is the allusion to natural life, but to that spiritual life which is. referred to in the verse, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee," etc. This life in its nature and source is more fully revealed to us than to Amos himself. 1. The source of this life is found in God, revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. No- man can create life where it is not, nor restore it where it once was. Christ, by the. raising of the dead, showed in a visible sphere what he alone can do in the invisib!t,. •• The wag~ of sin is death.; but the girt of G(.)d is eternal life through Jesus Chri~"  108 THE D00K OF AMOS. [OH, V. 1-27.