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God was fulfilling its logical order. The Nation had sowed and the Nation must reap. The people of Amos’ day would not believe that God would bring such awful judgment upon His own favored people. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do eviL” Eccl. 8:11. No one favors a prophet of evil tidings—we love the fore cast of good things. God’s prophets have seldom been popular because they have been true men and the truth is unsavory to the natural man. Even Christians are averse to the solemn warnings of the Scrip ture. Paul’s second epistle to the Thessa- lonians and Timothy, and Peter’s second letter are not favorite passages for exposi tion and a man who professes to believe the words of warning of the New Testament is-called a pessimist. The lesson before us is simple, solemn and searching. Men find what they seek after. The flesh lusts for the things of the world. Men seek self-satisfaction in self- gratification. Sin inverts men’s vision. They think they are ascending to higher planes of pleasure when they are descending to the lower lives of lust. Prosperity, Pride, Power, Pleasure, Palate, Profligacy, Perdi tion —these words spell the history of na tions. We assume that such can never be our lot. We cannot believe that God would ever allow this great nation of ours to go down to such a doom. We see the splendor of the twentieth century, the great advance ment in the art and science, the wonderful progress and development in material things, our great national prosperity dazzles our eyes and we say, “No nation was ever so great, so capable of self-government, none ever had such a magnificent future.” We fail to see with God’s eyes. We refuse to believe what God’s prophets have spoken. God sees the love of men for this world, their lust for pleasure, their greed for gain. He sees the lowering standard of morals, the low levels reached by the world and church. He sees the rapid descent of young and old) to habits of immorality and speaks through His prophets to the men of the
it that gave Joseph such fulness of joy. God vindicated him. God honored him. God made him a channel of .blessing to fa ther and brothers. Had he inquired of God at any time during the years of testing the reason for the hard experiences through which he was passing, no doubt, the an swer would have been, “What I do, thou knowest not, now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” The fatalist says, “whatever is, is right.” The stoic says, “all things must be en dured.” The unbeliever and infidel tell us that the present and future is filled with inexplicable difficulties, but the child of God with the Book in his hand can answer to every providence of God, no matter how strange, “All things work together for good.” Sorrows may come, but they will minister to our comfort Losses will occur but we will be sustained in their midst all the better. Cups pressed to our lips will be sweetened. Before we can fail all of the fulness, power and glory of Christ must be exhausted. There was no worth in the brethren of Joseph. They had proven lying, deceiving, false brethren. They deserved the wrath of Joseph, but they obtained grace and favor. All that the king did for them was for Joseph’s sake. All the the believer has is of grace. It is all through the merits of and for the sake of the Jord Jesus Christ. We deserve wrath, but have mercy. We merit hell but are promised heaven. In his wondrous grace, Be is working out for all of .his children the greatest good. The heart of this lesson lies in the pic ture of a ruined, desolated kingdom. Fifty years is a short space of time and yet with in that period the prophecy of Amos was fulfilled. Jeroboam II by his splendid achievements had lifted Israel to the zenith of her glory and she had humanly speak ing large prospects for length of days, but alas the seed of sinful practices and un holy living was coming to the fruitage, the unchanging and unchangeable law of L esson XII— J une 22, 1913. Golden Text,—Amos 5:14.
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