Amos 7:2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech you… I. A SAD CONFESSION. "Jacob is small." If none but those who have been redeemed from a low life of flesh-love to a higher one of holiness may be classed under this term to-day, then is Jacob small. 1. Numerically. 2. In worldly esteem. 3. In material resources. 4. In political power.And alas! Jacob is small spiritually, in personal power. Faith, hope, and charity are small, so is our self-denial. All this diminutiveness comes as the result of being prostrate, down, low. For Jacob to be prostrate is a great reproach indeed. Jacob is, in too many cases, a self-made cripple. (1) Unbelief has crippled him. (2) So has sectarianism. (3) So has inactivity. (4) So has a stinting selfishness. (5) So have internal bickerings. (6) So has a dreary spirit of timidity. (7) And ceremonialism stunts Jacob. (8) Restrictionalism has almost strangled Jacob. II. AN ANXIOUS INQUIRY. "By whom," etc. That he ought to arise is generally admitted. 1. Not by monarch's smile. 2. Not by decrees of State. 3. Not by the addition of a few more men of means. 4. Not by a larger supply of education and literature. 5. Not by increasing the number of our sanctuaries.What is needed is heaven's force and life. "By My Spirit." The Holy Ghost is Jacob's blessed Strength, Guardian, and Helper. (1) By convincing men of their own personal sin, and showing the Church's real worth, the Spirit prepares the way for Jacob's growth. (2) By the Divine Spirit regenerating men, and adding them to the Church. The healthier torte a Church has, the stronger will her offspring be. (3) By the richer adornment of Christian men with the sweet graces of a higher life, so that their rare moral beauty may arrest, and even charm the "enemy without the gate." How can we aid this lifting? This dignity is not the privilege of officers only. Every member of the rank and file counts for one. Manifold are the ways in which this end may be reached. Make commercial life brighter and sounder, and home life sweeter. Let life be readier spent and lost in others' need. Let the sense of stewardship for God be more than a sentiment. (E. D. Green.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. |
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