The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 135

moditiee in mutual ol1ligation and fellowship, man has awfully perverted, He hns made it the instrument of cupidity, monopoly, and nameless frauds. Tbus, in every part of social life you see this perverting power in action-man turning "judgment into gall, and the fruits of righteousness into hemlock." Ill IN TRI!: RELIGIOUS SPHERE. In epiritual matters and in scenes that should be the most sacred, its action is perhaps more flagrant and formidable than anywhere else, Without going into the great world of heathenism, or even to remote parts of Christen- dom, look into our own religious England, and what do you see? You see the gospel ministry, which is essentially self-denying, humble, devout, turned into an arrogant and plethoric priesthoocl. You see gospel ceremonies, intended to adumbrate spiritual truths, employad as mystic channels of saving grace. You see a system of universal philanthropy made an instrument of miserable sectarianism and intolerable bigotry. CoNcLUSION. Do not let man say he ha~ no power. His moral power is something stupendous. He has power to turn the things of God to the use of Satan, heavenly blessings into hellish curses. This he is doing everywhere. "Ye have turned judg- ment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock."-D. T. Ver. 13.-Human joy in the unsubstantial. "Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?" "Horns" are signs and symbols of power; here they stand for the military resources with which they fancied that they could conquer every foe. "These delusions of God-forgetting pride the prophet casts down, by saying that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will raise up a nation against them, which w1ll crush them down in the whole length and breadth of the kingdom. This nation was Assyria" (Delitzsch). What these ancient Hebrews did is an evil prevalent in all times and lands-rejoicing in the things of nought, taking pleasure in the unreal, the empty, and the fleeting. L To REJOICE IN WORLDLY WEALTH is to "rejoice in a thing of nought." Rich men everywhere are always disposed to rejoice in their wealth. Houses, lands, and funded treasures, of these worldly men are ever boasting, in these they proudly exult, But what is earthly wealth? It is, in truth, so far as the possessor is concerned, "a thing of nought." It was not his a few years ago, and may not be his to-m:>rrow. "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make them• selves wings; they fly away as an eagle towards heaven" (Prov. xxiii. 5), Wealth, at best, is a most unsubstantial thing; it is a mere air-bubble rising on the stream of life, glittering for a moment, and then departing for ever. Great fortunes are bnt bubbles; they vanish before a ripple on the stream or a gust in the atmosphere. "Wealth," says old Adame, "is like a bird; it 1:;ps all day from man to man as the bird from tree to tree, and none can s.iy where it will roost or rest at night," .. Go, enter the mart where the merchantmen meet, Get rich, and retire to some rural retreat: Ere happineaB comes, comes the seaaon to die; Qnickly then will thy riches all vanish and lly. Go, sit with the mighty in purple and gold: Thy mansion■ be stately, thy treasures untold; But soon aha.It thon dwell in the damp houae of clay, While thy riches make wings to themselves and away." II. To REJOICE IN PERSONAL BEAUTY is to" rejoice in a thing of nought." Nature has endowed some with personal charms which it has denied to others-finely chiselled features, a radiant countenance, commanding brow, symmetrical form, majestic presence. He who is thus blest has many advantages; he commandij admiration and exerts an influence upon human hearts. But is this beauty a thing to rejoice in? Those who posse,;s it do rejoice in it; many pride themselves on their good looks and fine figures. But what is beauty? It is "a thing of nought." Why rejoice in that for which we can take no credit? Does the moss-rose deserve praise for unfolding more beauty and emitting more fragrance than the nettle? Who can make one hair white or black, or add one cubit to his stature? Why rejoice, too, in that which is so evanescent? Socrates ea.lied beauty "a short-lived tyranny;" and Theophrastus, "a silent cheat." One old divine says it is like an almanac-it" lasts for one year, as it were," Meu en. VI, 1-14.] THE BOOK OF AMOS. 135