whore I might find him!" And he11r Saul's cry at Enrlor, "Bring me up Samuel." Oh for one word from his lips, one loving sentence from tho mouth of the great Father! "Bring mo np Bnmuel." 2. When the appetite is quickened and there is no supply ii is an inexpressible calamity. Such a period will come. "The days shall come," say~ Christ, "when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it" (Luke xvii. 22). And again, "Ye shall seek me, and not find me: for where I am, thither ye cannot come" (John vii. 34). Oh miserable state of immortal souls, to be crying to the heavens, and those heavens to be as hard as brass !-D. T. Ver.14.-Religious sincerity. "They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy ii;od, 0 Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.'' "The sin of Samaria" means the idolatry of Samaria. In Samaria they worshipped the golden calf as the chief object; but it would seem there were other inferior idols. 'l'he god of Dan was the golden calf set ap by Jeroboam in Dan (1 Kings xii.). "The fulfilment," says Delitzsch," of these threats commenced with the destruction of the kingdom of farael and the carrying away of the ten tribes into exile in Assyria, and continues to this day in the case of that portion of the faraelitish nation which is still looking for the Messiah, the Prophet promised by Moses, and looking in vain because they will not hearken to the preaching of the gospel concerning the Messiah who appeared as Jesus." The words suggest a thoughll or two in relation to religious sincerity. I. THAT RELIGIOUS BINCERlTY IS NO PROOF OF THE ACCURACY 011' RELIGIOUS CREED, These Israelites seem to have been sincere in their worship of the golden calf; " they swore by it." That dumb idol to them was everything. To it they pledged the homage of their being. Yet how blasphemously erroneous, how contrary to the expresss mandate of Jehovah, "Thou shalt have none other gods but me" 1 How contrary to the dictates of common sense and all sound reasoning! Idolatry, in every form and every- where, is a huge falsehood. Hence sincerity is no proof that a man ha.s the truth. There are millions of men in all theologies and religions, who are so sincere in believing lies, that they will fight for their lies, make any sacrifice for their li"s, die for their lies. Error, perhaps, can number more martyrs than truth. Saul of Tarsus was sincere when he was persecuting the Church and endeavouring to blot the name of Christ from the memory of his age. "I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth," etc. (Acts xxvi. 9). Hence sincerity is not necessarily virtuous. A man is sincere when he is faithful to his convictions; but if his convictions are unsound, immoral, ungodly, his sincerity is a crime. The fact that thousands have died for dogmas is no proof of the truth of their dogmas. II. THAT RELIGIOUS SINCERITY IB NO PROTECTION AGAINST THE PUNISHllENT THAT FOLLOWS ERROR, "They shall fall, and never rise up again." The sincerity of the Israelites in their worship in Bethel and at Dan prevented not their ruin. There are those who hold that man is not responsible for his beliefs-that so long as he is sincere he is a truthful man, and all things will go well with him. In every department of life God holds n man responsible for his beliefs. If a man takes poison into his system, sincerely believing that it is nutriment, will his belief eave him? Error leads evermore to disap- pointment, confusion, and oftentimes to utter destruction. To follow error is to go away from reality; and to leave reality is to leave safety and peace. CoNOLUSTON. Whilst there is no true man without sincerity, sincerity of itself does not make a man true. When e. man's convicLions correspond and square with ever- lasting realities, then his sincerity is of incomparable worth.-D. T.
EXPOSITION. OHAPTER IX. ment, flee whither he will (vers. 2--4); for Vere. 1-10.-§ 6. The fifth tnBlon dia- God is Almighty (vel'I!. 5, 6). Their eleo- pl.aya the Lord standing by the altar and tion shall not save the guilty Israelites ; oommanding the destruotion of the temple still they shall not be utterly destroy0<4 (ver. 1). No one shall escape this judg- (vers. 7-10). 178 THE BOOK OF AMOS. [OR, IX, 1-15