Homilist Amos 4:4-5 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning… Crimes ran riot among the people at this period, and yet how religious they seemed to be! I. Abounding worship often IMPLIES abounding sin. This is the case when the worship is — 1. Selfish. Men crowd churches, and contribute to religious institutions purely with the idea of avoiding hell and getting to a happier world than this. 2. Formal. Abounding worship is no proof of abounding virtue and abounding godliness. II. Abounding worship often SPRINGS from abounding sin, It may spring from — 1. A desire to conceal sin. Sin is an ugly thing; it is hideous to the eye of conscience. Hence efforts on all hands to conceal. 2. A desire to compensate for evils. Great brewers build churches and endow religious institutions in order to compensate in some measure for the enormous evil connected with their trade. 3. A desire to appear good. The more corrupt a man is, the stronger his desire to appear otherwise. Do not judge the character of a nation by the number of its churches, the multitude of its worshippers. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: |
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