The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1911-12-29

IL was III the udyS VI mug hm
OF Judah and OF Jerobam ii. In ga
maria. These were both long and
prosperous reigns In the middle OF tne
eighth century before Christ. They
were times Of great luxury connected
with the rapid growth Of the two cap
ital characterization and Samaria
The old religious habits had been
largely set aside by the incoming O
foreigners. The displacing OF religion
in the court had made wordliness
fashionable. and with entire nght
~heartedness the people had given
themselves up to the pursuit Of plea
ure and OF wealth.
Amos was a herdsman Of small desD
ert sheep on the hills Of Judah, some
dozen miles to the south Of Jerusalem
He describes himself as q "pincher q
Wild figs. which evidently he gather
ed from time to time to supplement
BY their sale the small earnings OF ms
poor flock.
Alone with his flock he had before
his yes many a reminder OF the Goo
Of his fathers who had brought them
ont OF Egypt and, delivering them
from the wilderness, had led them
across the Jordan and had given them
the promise OF this land as their abid'
ing inheritance. And now God was
forgotten, and his people had fallen
into the ways Of the heather.
AS from time to time he went down
to the town TO sell his fieeces or his
fgs he was overwhelmed with what
he saw.
Communing alone with God. the
message Of prophecy was given e
him. 1t consists OF three short adj
dresses. The first pronounced the
Judgment Of Jehovah upon the ma
tions, the second his judgment upon
his own people, warning them that be-
cause he had known them and loved
them, therefore he would visit them
in chastisement. In the third, con
tanning our text, he warns them Of
their danger, exhorts them to return
to Jehovah and recalls his vision Of
the blessedness that Is awaiting them
In the distant future.
Bring your offerings" he says.
Keep your fasts, be followers Of Je-
hoyah In name. God Is not deceived
by hypocrisy. Religion is character;
he sees through your shams; he
knows the ~perversion Of your hearts.
They that lie In beds OF ivory and
stretch themselves on beds and couch.
es; that eat lambs out OF the flock
and sing Idle songs to the sound Of
the viol; that drink wine in bowls
and anoint themselves with chief oils
and are not grieved with the affection
Of Joseph, they shall 80 into captivi-
ty; their revelries shall pass away.
for the Lord abhors the e~xcellency OF
Jacob, and their houses shall be smit-
ten"
In his distress over the people he
cries unto the Lord: "0h, Lord Je-
hovah, forgive, I beseech thee" and
he has a vision Of the turning away
OF the divine judgment, Then comes
the text. The Lord stands with the
plumb line in his hand and the plumb
line becomes the graphic figure Of the
final word Of God to his people.
SO the plumb line was given to the
prophet as the message to his people.
We rejoice as we apply this test to
the Christianity Of today. Let us see
what Its word is to US.
Let us look first to the gospel that
we have to preach. That never was
more distinctive than It is now as the
gospel Of Jesus Christ. We have gone
through the period in which under the
influence Of the wonderful discoveries
OF science, rationalistic unbeIief has
swept over the land and turned many
away from Jesus Christ. But that
day was long passed and has been
followed by another, in which men
have been trying to find an acceptable
substitute FOR Jesus Christ.
They have been running here and
there after any form of religion, or OF
worship that claimed to be new; new
thought, or new philosophy. or new
revelations, whether coming In the
name Of ON mystery Of Persia or
India, or some device masking as re-
ligion or science from Boston. But
men already have found not only that
they cannot live without religion. but
that today no religion vii. satisfy d
man other than that which reveals
God.
We have come back to the religion
OF the supernatural. Of the miracles.
and Of the resurrection; In short. ID
the religion OF the crucined and risen
Christ. We must have a religion that
fits the facts Of human existence.
The Christian church also. however
much It may have erred In the past.
Is aiming to produce the image 81
Christ In meE. It accepts the chal-
lenge to be a promoter Of human wei.
fare. and IN q very social way but
that Is not It's ultimate aim: its Ain
always is to make better men. and it
never was true, what has been 80
often charged against it. that 1t is 80
busy saving souls that It has not time
70 save men. Rather BY means Of
saving souls It has been sure that it
was saving men. and everywhere TO-
day the world Is awakening to see
that Il is the gospel rather than com
merce or education, or the refinement
Of cultured society. which is changing
the world.