The Pulpit Commentary — Amos — Section 145

exemplifies in her many-sidedness the grRces of Christ's faultless character. 'fhe Divine forceful action propels things in the direction of the DivinA gracious appoint- ment.. 3. God has already committed himself to it. To lst"Rel his word of promise was pledged, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," To us it is pledged with greater emphasis still, '' They shall never perish;" " Whom he justified, them he also glorifiro.,~ etc. None shall pluck the Christian out of Christ's hand, nor shall the gates of bell prevail against his Church. The circle of the promises towers a wall of fire around the saints. The result is pledged to them; so are the means. The inheritance is reserved for them, and they for the inheritance (1 Pet. i. 4, 6). 'l.'heir faith will keep them, and God will keep their faith (1 .Pet. i. 6). Then God had already begun to help. Israel had been upheld in many an evil. And thero is continuity in the operations of God. He does not abandon a work once beaun, nor allow after-disaster to neutralize acoomplished good. He had done something for Israel; he has done something for us. Then he will do more, and he will do all. Ha,-ing bestowed his grace, he swears by the gift that the circle of our good will be made complete. A part already of the work of God, invulnerable in his armour, and immortal in his life, they have "a strong consolation," surely, "who have fled for refuge," etc. IV. Trrn WHOLE lllATTEB A FITTING SUBJEm' OF PBAYEB. The prophet comes between God and Israel as an intercessor. In his act we see that: 1. Prayer is " universal means of grau. "Men ought always to pray; " " In everything by prayer and supplication," etc. There is no blessing, temporal or spiritual, that is not the gift of God. There is no way of securing the least of these but by seeking it in prayer. The heart must throb continuously if the blood would be driven through the body; the breath must be regularly drawn if this blood would be purified and oxidized. So prayer, the throb of the new heart, the breath of the new creature, must go on if the new life is to be maintained. The interruption of it means the suspension of the most essential vital function. There is nothing we can count on getting without it (Ezek. xxxvi. 37; Jas. iv. 2). There is nothing lej!;itimate we may despair of getting by it (John xiv. 13). In prayer the soul puts forth its tentacles round about, and lays hold of good on every side. 2. Prayer is a wniversal instinct of graa. All vital functions go on without an act of the will or the exercise of attention. And so with prayer in the new-created soul. It does not require a specific injunction. It does not wait on an effort of the will. It goes up as naturally as the hunger-cry of the young raven. The new man breathes, the new heart pulsates, the opened lips speak, and the action in each case is prayer. "Behold, he prayeth," is an infallible token of a converted man. 3. Prayer is /!X,pansive lilre grau. Sin is selfish. Seeking salvation, the sinner prays for him.self only. He is conscious of need, but as yet knows nothing of supply. Only when he gets spiritual blessing himself does he know how valuable it would be to others, and begin to desire it for them. Selfishness gives way with sin. Philanthropy grows with the love of God. And prayer answers to and expresses the change. The prayer-circle widens as personal religion deepens. Its instinct is catholic. It goes out to the Church of the Firstbom. It seeks the coming of the kingdom. We pray for Israel when we are Israelites indeed. Request for the household of faith is God's will, the Church's weal, and the spontaneoua offering of the gracious souL Vere. 4--6.-The vuion of consuming fire. The prophet's vision goes on, and the situation in it becomes more critical. One woe is averted only for a worse to take its place. The Divine avenging hosts remain in battle-line. 'fhey return to the attack with renewed vigour. For the fusillade is substituted the booming of the great guns. Escaping as by the skin of their teeth from the wasting locust, incorrigible Israel are met in the prophet's eye by the devouring fire. In connection with this second scene in the panoramic vision notice- I. Gon CONTENDING BY FIBE. Again and again is it so in Scripture. 1. II la the most destuctive ele=nt in nature. It destroys all comfort, inflicting intense pain. It destroys all life, no animal or vegetable organism being capable of enduring it, It destroys the very form of orgauic matter, reducing it to its original elements. l t destroys with unparalleled rapidity and thoroughness almost anything it attacks. on. vn. 1-17.] THE BOOK OF AMOS. 145