Amos

And accordingly it is said of the churches in Macedonia, that they gave up themselves first to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God (2 Corinthians 8:5). True it is, they do also bind themselves by covenant one to another, but in that respect the covenant is properly a bro…

For he who blesses an idol is cursing God. The same word occurs (Hosea 6:8; Amos 1:5). Jerome translates it as "idol."

He now shows the cause why the Lord would cut off the kingdom of Syria. The Prophet Amos recites many: (Amos 1:3) But that which Isaiah mentions here, was the principal; to wit, that they had drawn the kingdom of Israel to the bent of their bow, to make war against the Jews. No…

There is a determination upon the weeks and days of the Churches' sufferings and expectations (Daniel 9:24), seventy weeks are determined upon your people. As there is a three transgressions and a four of rebels for which God will not turn away their punishment (Amos 1:3), so a…

APPLICATION. THus deals the Lord oft-times with his own elect, whom he designs for glory; and with the wicked, who are preparing for the day of wrath. Thus are they filled with earthly prosperity, and creature-enjoyments, like res[•]y and wanton beasts turned out at liberty in a…

Our eye should affect our heart. God was angry with Edom, because he cast off all pity (Amos 1:11). Second, soul-mercy is in advising and exhorting sinners.

From whom as all things take their beginning, so is it fitting that they have also their end appointed and directed to him. There is no man (I say) but he ought to be seized to embrace the lawmaker, to the keeping of whose commandments, he is taught that he is peculiarly chosen:…

Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions and for four I will not turn away the punishment of Damascus and those other cities. So long as the wicked commit one or two iniquities, so long I forbear, and expect their repentance; but when they proceed to three, and then add a fo…

There is no good in sin; it is the spirit and quintessence of evil. Sin is worse than hell; for the pains of hell only are a burden to the creature, but sin is a burden to God (Amos 2:13). I am pressed under your iniquities, as a cart is pressed under the sheaves.

It is a monster of the devil's creating. 2. The torments of hell are a burden only to the sinner; but sin is a burden to God (Amos 2:13): I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. 3. In hell-torments there is something that is good.

And it was a curse and judgment of God upon Jehoiakim that he must not be buried, but like a dead donkey be drawn and cast out of the gates of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 22:19). And so the Lord threatens a curse upon the Moabites, because they did not bury the king of Edom, but burnt h…

Once more, If the judgments of God light upon greater personages for their pride; say, what will become of me? In me 'tis more odious: If God destroy those whose height is as the height of cedars (Amos 2:9), surely the reed should tremble. Many times mean and base people that ha…

My Brethren, we should rather bear much than be any fomenters of the raising of Tumults, take heed of that, you know not what the end of such things will be, A Tumult shall arise among them. In (Amos 2:2) Moab shall die with Tumult. When God intends the sorest scourge of all, ut…

The devil buys many at a very easy price, he needs not carry them so high as the mountain, they are contented with a little gain that is got by a fraudulent bargain in the shop: if we stand in our window, or at our doors, we meet with temptations enough to carry us away. He need…

To God: for the hypocritical and ceremonial service of the Jews, was such a burden to him, that he was weary to bear it (Isaiah 1:14). Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves (Amos 2:13). To the creatures, who groan under this burden, being b…

By this time it may be the reader may be wearied with reading, as I am with thinking and writing of London's sins. But how has the Lord been wearied with the bearing of them, how has he been pressed with the weight of them, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves (Amos 2:13…

Should not every drop of sweat which I see trickle from their brows, fetch (as it were) a drop of blood from my heart? who am thus convinced and reproved of shameful laziness, by their indefatigable diligence. Do they pant after the dust of the earth (Amos 2:7), and shall not I…

APPLICATION. Afflictions in themselves are evil, Amos 2. 6. Very bitter and unpleasant, See Hebrews 12:11. Yet not morally and intrinsically evil, as sin is; for if so, the holy God would never own it for his own act, as he does, Mic. 3. [•]2. but always disclaimeth sin, Iam. 1.…

1. When the temptation is so small and inconsiderable, that it should not sway with any reasonable man. It is said, in (Amos 2:6): They sold the poor for a pair of shoes. And for a piece of bread will that man transgress (Proverbs 28:21).

Sin is the Spirits of Mischief distilled, it puts a Sting into death, 1 Corinthians 15:56. It is worse than Hell. 1. Hell is a burden only to the sinner, but sin is a Burden to God, Amos 2:13. 2. There is Iustice in Hell, but sin is the most unjust thing.

It is a rare thing to find a Joseph, or a Samuel, or a Josiah, that seek God betimes. Go to the universities, and you will find that those that should be as Nazarites consecrated to God, live as those that have vowed and consecrated themselves to Satan (Amos 2:11). And I raised…

Saul's sin persecuted Christ Jesus (Acts 9:4). God complains of their iniquity, as a burden, as if they made a cart of God, and loaded him with sins as with sheaves (Amos 2:13). Again, when we suffer for God, he has promised to help and assist us with counsel and comfort, with s…

If then he be bound for his glory in all, and be jealous for his great name, it must be a high provocation that is thus offered to him; and we must not think that he cannot resent it. No, he declares that his holy Spirit is grieved by such things (Psalm 78:40), and they vex him…

This is the thirst of covetous men; they desire mammon, not manna. Amos 2:7: That pant after the dust of the earth. This is the disease most are sick of — an immoderate appetite after the world.

Mephibosheth caught a fall and became lame (2 Samuel 4:4); since Adam's fall men are lame on their feet — they walk not in the ways of obedience. Men know covetousness is a sin; the Greek word for covetousness signifies an immoderate desire of getting, like Midas who desired eve…

Those that degrade their souls. Those who set the world above their souls; who pant after the dust of the earth (Amos 2:7). As if a man's house were on fire and he took care to preserve the furniture but let his child burn in the fire.

A second sort would have heaven, but like him in Ruth, ch. 4. v. 2, 3, 4. who had a minde to his Kinsman Elimelechs land, and would have paid for the purchase, but he liked not to have it by marrying Ruth, and so missed of it: Some seem very forward to have heaven and salvation,…

Sin is a burden where-ever it comes. Sin burdens God, (Amos 2:3). I am pressed with your sins, as a Cart is pressed under the sheaves.

Sin is the Devils creature. 2. The torments of Hell are a burden only to the sinner, but sin is a burden to God. (Amos 2:13). I am pressed under you, as a Cart is pressed with sheaves.

That is, he looks on all the world — as on Europe now — and where he sees his house is, there he begins with them, for he is to use others to afflict them, and therefore he begins with them first. Amos 2:2: 'You have I known of all the nations — therefore I will afflict you soon…

2. As sin is a blackness contrary to the innocency that the Law requires, and as it blots and defiles the soul, it is a Macula, a spot, a filthy and deformed thing, abasing the creature, making the creature black, crooked, defiled, like the skin of the Ethiopian, or spotted like…

This is the only reason why he does not execute the fierceness of his wrath, and consume men, because he is God and not man, not subject to the same passions, changes, and impotencies as men are (Hosea 11:9; Malachi 3:6). If a house be very weak and ruinous, and clogged with a s…

A man may make himself like these things, he may debase himself into the vileness of an idol, "They that make them are like to them;" he may under-value and uncoin himself, blot out God's image and inscription, and write in the image and inscription of earth and Satan, he may tu…

Can incestuous marriages ever be made lawful, by any law of man, or consent of parties, so as these persons, may live together, as man, and wife? No. (1 Corinthians 5:1; Amos 2:7; Mark 6:18; Leviticus 18:24-28) Well then, does not the Popish church err, that speaks in the decree…

Because of the provoking of his sons and daughters. The sins of others pierce Christ's side, these wound his heart: therefore is not God just in all the evils that befall them (Amos 3:2)? You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for you…

The sins of God's children go nearer to his heart than the sins of others (Deuteronomy 32:19): When the Lord saw it he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons and daughters. The sins of the wicked anger God, the sins of his own people grieve him; he will be sure to p…

So that sin is worse than affliction, it being the cause of it — the cause is more than the effect. 2. God is the author of affliction (Amos 3:6): Is there any evil in a city and the Lord has not done it? It is meant of the evil of affliction.

And as he is called a Serpent for his cunning reasonings, wiles, and craftiness, so likewise a Lion — of all beasts the strongest. A roaring Lion, of all beasts the most terrible, and most terrible in his roaring, whose roaring is therefore often in Scripture put to express drea…

And so when the Sodomites lived in wanton carelessness, and put far from them the evil day, then Abraham knew from God their destruction was at hand. And as in that, for is it generally true in all his great works: that the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secrets to…

But there is no promise to any people in faith and order, but a people agreed. Reason 1: Because two cannot walk together unless they be agreed (Amos 3:3), neither can the heart of two believers truly consent to pray together, unless they be agreed touching the things they will…

3. Such as quarrel with crosses and afflictions. Amos 3:6: no evil in the city, but the Lord has done it; no cross but he has sent it; it is his cross; now when persons will not take up the cross, but their hearts will break, before their wills will bow, how does Christ now reig…

But if hereby be meant, that the persons spoken of do break off themselves from their church-relation not only meritoriously, but actually and really, then it may be justly questioned, whether church-members can thus break off themselves. Sure Israel did not thus destroy themsel…

But yet more especially they are called Ministers and servants, who sustain the public offices of the Church; as (2 Timothy 2:14) the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient; meaning one employed in the public Ministry. So the Priests…

And Christ cannot lose one of them (John 17:9). Indeed he can [illegible] of them, neither soul nor body, neither a [illegible] nor a piece of an ear of his sheep, as he speaks (Amos 3). So Christ speaks (John 6:39); indeed, (1 Corinthians 15:23) every man shall be raised in his…

If you turn, you shall stand before me (Jeremiah 15:19). God reveals his secrets to the prophets his servants (Amos 3:7). Lastly, fearful judgments of God belong to ministers of wicked lives.

As touching God himself, albeit his foreknowledge be hid, and that it be a bottomless depth, yet is it manifest enough to those whom he has chosen: so as they may discern him from the troop of false gods. Not that he foretold all things by his Prophets, for men's curiosity in th…

If these things be meerly casual, How is it that they square and agree so exactly with the Scriptures in all particulars? We read, Amos 3. 3: Can two walk together except they be agreed? If two men travel in one road, it's like they are agreed to go to the same place.

The Prophet's book is written within, as well as without, with lamentation, mourning and woe (Ezekiel 2. ult.). If the Lion roars, who can but fear (Amos 3:8)? Fear to the rooting out of security, not the shaking of faith.

He says, the Lord has taken, because none could take but by the will of God, and he was satisfied, that God willed that in righteousness and in judgment, which they acted with so much cruelty and injustice. Is there any evil in the city, and the Lord has not done it? (Amos 3:6).…

God with us, is the name of Christ: our being with God, is in him who is our peace. Two cannot walk together, unless they be so agreed (Amos 3:3). Now because this is not to be expected from all the individuals of a nation: yet this thing is to be endeavoured.

The Lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:6, 8) When the Pharisees spoke to our Saviour to rebuke his disciples for their loud praises of the Lord with Hosannas, he tells them, if they should hold their peace, the stones would…

2. Those whose houses have fallen by the fire, the Lord could, and confident I am, the Lord has made them greater gainers another way, they have lost it may be much in temporal things, but they are or may be, if they be not wanting to themselves, gainers in spiritual things, whi…

God has diversity of workmen also in the churches, whom he sends forth to labor in his spiritual fields (Ephesians 4:12): He gave some apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry. Amo…

5. Job gets no leave to swallow his spittle (Job 7:19). Precious Israel is plowed (Psalm 129:1) and her back made a field of blood; like two legs and a piece of an ear of a devoured sheep, plucked out of the mouth of a Lion (Amos 3:12), the man Christ a man of sorrows and acquai…

First, agreement. The prophet tells us that two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, Amos 3:3. Until agreement is made there is no communion, no walking together.

Men in such a condition have neither Christ, nor hope, nor God in the world, Ephesians 2:12, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, Ephesians 4:18. Two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, Amos 3:3. Whilst there is this distance betwe…

When the word was come to them, it was as a fire within them, that must be delivered, or it would consume them. Psalm 39:3. Jeremiah 20:9. Amos 3:8. Chapter 7:15, 16. So Jonah found his attempt to hide the Word that he had received, to be altogether vain.

But this foreknowledge here is peculiar to the elect. Verba sensus in sacra scriptura connotant affectus, as the Rabbins remark, so in man (Psalm 66), if I see iniquity, and in God (Psalm 1; Amos 3:2), and in that speech of our Saviour, relating it as the terrible doom of reprob…

God is ruler of all the world, but particularly of his church, therefore here called his house, wherein he has a special residence and presence. And therefore most suitable, that there he be specially observed and obeyed, and if disobeyed that he take notice of it and punish it,…

Whoever be the instruments, or whatever be the means, the wise God has the whole ordering of it. He is the first cause, He is to be sought to, He is to be appeased, if we would stop evil at the fountain head: for all creatures willingly or unwillingly obey him, and are subject t…

Man was once the object of his love and delight; when man came into the world in the likeness of God, God looked on him with delight, and was enamored of this his Image; but sin (alas) has made him the object of his wrath: Oh injurious sin! 4 Sin has separated man from communion…

These four evils that I have named are terrible indeed, and from all which every one is ready to say, Good Lord deliver us; yet none of these are, all of these are not so bad as sin, and therefore our prayers should be more to be delivered from sin; and if God hear no prayer els…

Or, secondly, there is also the internal operation of the Holy Spirit, in which only the sufficiency of saving calling is accomplished. Now many thousand thousands there be that never communicated in any of these — either the external, or [reconstructed: internal]: [reconstructe…

Now to be in the state of condemnation, and acceptation together; in the state of life and death; to have the wrath of God abiding, and the good pleasure of God resting upon a party at the [illegible] time, [illegible] a perfect contradiction, and so impossibilities in reason. W…

As they stand more nearly related to God in the Gospel-Covenant than heathens do. We are here to observe, that besides the everlasting covenant which is contracted between God and his truly called ones, there is another covenant relation between God and men, which is not common…

6. This glory of his is most of all concerned in his vineyard, or Church: there is a glory which he will have by irrational creatures, his works shall praise him; but there is a special glory that he will have by men; hence there are the great attributes of his justice and grace…

1. God sets an high value upon these favours of his which he thus affords to men. He looks upon them to be extraordinary kindnesses, that any should be planted in his Vineyard, and there have the privilege of all the tendance of it: he therefore says of such, that he has known t…

How God signified his mind of old to his Prophets, is plainly intimated in Scripture: he used to appear to them in dreams, visions by Angels, &c., from where their prophecies were delivered in the Name of the Lord; and sometimes they were against the body of the people, when the…

But this evil of affliction he vouchs for his own act, Against this family do I devise an evil, Micah 3:2. yea more, he impropriates it so to himself, as that he will not have us think any can do us evil beside himself. 'Tis the Prerogative he glories in, that there is no evil i…

(Deuteronomy 10:15) He chose their seed after them, even you, above all people, not above all houses. (Amos 3:2) You only have I known of all the families of the earth. So the external Church Covenant and Church right to the means of grace is given to a society and made with nat…

And there may be running and no sending of God to Nations (Jeremiah 23:21), and (Psalm 147:19-20) when he denies, he declared his judgments and his statutes to any Nation, by sent Prophets, as he did to Jacob, if the Gospel then was of itself preachable to all Nations, Prophets…

"Son of man" (says the Lord to Ezekiel) "speak to the children of your people, and say to them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman, if when he sees the sword come upon the land, and he blow the…

To instruct others (upon occasion) wanting instruction for their good, is an undeniable dictate of the first principles of nature; obedience to which, was all the ordinary warrant they had, for preaching to any beyond their own families, observed by Lot (Genesis 19:7.) though hi…

2. Whatever necessary truth is revealed to any out of the word of God, not before known, he ought to have an uncontradicted liberty of declaring that truth, provided that he use such regulated ways for that his declaration, as the Church wherein he lives (if a right Church) does…

Know God in his attributes and promises; strangers do not walk together. 3 Get all differences removed, Amos 3. 3. Can two walk together except they are agreed?

God will punish severely those which he has known. Amos 3:2. It is therefore certainly our Duty to search diligently, that nothing be found resting in us, against which God is declaring his Displeasure.

There must be union and reconciliation before there can be communion. Amos 3:3: Can two walk together except they be agreed? You and I (says God) are not agreed, and therefore how can we hold communion?

It is true, Papists hold, that when God forgives sin in David, he forgives not the punishment; for David is punished with the sword on his house for that same sin; but it is known that this doctrine is a toefall and pillar to underprop the chamber in hell, which they call Purgat…

Implying that when a Christian takes occasion of most liberty, then he is most apt to let his heart loose; but now faith keeps the heart in a holy fear of God all that time, it keeps us watchful and attentive, and so keeps alive the grace of God in our hearts, and makes us fit t…

This is thus brought to pass, partly by the good guiding providence of God, and partly by the malice of the Devil: God both aiming at, and also bringing forth good thereby: the Devil aiming at evil, but crossed in his purpose. That troubles and crosses fall not on us without God…

Therefore the Apostle uses that for a strong argument, why rich men should not trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, and should be rich in good works, that so, he says, they may lay up in store a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on ete…

That Sion affords no more security to sinners than Sodom, Shiloh is as dangerous a place to sin in, as any in the world; if a people in covenant with God, be found rebellious, he will spare them no more than any other people, yes he will begin with them. Judgment shall begin at…

2. From his providential ordering of all the affairs of the world: God sits king upon the flood (Psalm 29:10). He is sovereign disposer of all things, and therefore good and evil comes from him, whoever it be that does it (Amos 3:6). God says David, bid Shemei [illegible].

2. Discovers to them the sins of the times and places they live in, makes them to observe the frames and manners of the people he sends them to. 3. Enables them to compare his ancient dealings with sinners, in the several respects and circumstances, and hence to draw conclusions…

He knows the most profound, abstruse secrets (Daniel 2:28). He knows the thoughts, which are the most intricate, subtle things (Amos 4:13). He declares to man what is his thought.

God is an all-seeing Spirit, and thoughts speak louder in his ears than words do in ours. Amos 4:13. He declares to man what is his thought.

Q. How else may it be proved that there is a God? A. The succession of day, and night, and other seasons with the sustentation, and ordering of the creatures and the motions of them, does plainly witness that there is a God (Psalm 19:2-3; Acts 14:17; Amos 4:13 & 5:8). Q. How may…

Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause Rain, or can the Heavens give showers (Jeremiah 14:22). And he exercises his sovereignty in the giving of it (Amos 4:7, 8): I caused it to Rain upon one City, and not to Rain upon another, one piece was rained upon,…

And let them know it, whoever they be that go forward in their sins, that God the creator whenever he will, can open hell to devour them: and that he can show himself as mighty in his judgment to men's destruction, as he was mighty in the beginning in giving us a being when we w…

I may have this and be damned; Where are the arguments of his special love? 3. Consider deliverances from imminent dangers: Then the curse began to seize upon you; but God snatched you out of the fire like brands out of the burning (Amos 4:11), or like a debtor that escapes out…

Whereas he threatens them afterward with leanness, he does it to tax their insolence: as on the contrary the Prophets scorn and reproach them for being become fat. For their prosperity made them proud, being puffed up with the fruitfulness of their country, even as fat horses ov…

The Name and Titles of the HOLY SPIRIT.CHAP. II. (1.) Of the Name of the Holy Spirit. (2.) Various Uses of the words [[original in non-Latin script]] and [[original in non-Latin script]] for the Wind or any thing invisible with a sensible Agitation. (3.) Amos 4. 14. Mistakes of…

When the Providences of God are sad, and afflictive either upon the Church in general, or your families and persons in particular, then it is seasonable for you to exercise godly sorrow and humility of spirit: for in that day, and by those Providences God does call to it, Isaiah…

Your prayers are to be suitable to your conditions: sometimes we are called to praise, sometimes to humiliation. In the way of his Judgements you are to wait for him, Isaiah 26:8 to prepare to meet him, Zeph. 2. 1, 2. Amos 4:12 Now your business is, to turn away his anger which…

As it is that which puts one of the greatest aggravations upon the sinfulness of men, that they will hold fast their sins in the midst of judgments. The Prophet Amos with much elegance of speech and vehemence of spirit urges this against the Jews (Amos 4). I have given you clean…

Secondly, God does it by the especial Interposition of some such property of his nature, as is suited to give credit and confirmation to the word spoken; as of his holiness, Psalmm 89:35. I have sworn by my holiness: So also Amos 4:2. Sometime by his life; As I live, says the Lo…

But if you will not obey me, I will make your heaven as yron, and your earth as brasse. Amos 4. 7. I have with-held the raine from you, and caused it to raine upon one citie, and not upon another; one peete was rained upon, and that which was not rained upon, withered.

5. The famine is a dreadful judgment, whereby God speaks sometime to a people very terribly; when God stretches upon a place the lines of confusion, and the stones of emptiness; as (Isaiah 34:11). When God sends cleanness of teeth into cities; as (Amos 4:6). When God shoots into…

"Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna." So as to telling man's thoughts: Amos 4:13. "Lo, he that—declareth unto man what is his thought—the Lord, the God of hosts is his name."

That's the first. And then, second, the rain falls by divine direction and appointment; He causes it to rain upon one city and not upon another (Amos 4:7). You shall often see a cloud dissolve and spend itself upon one place, when there is not a drop within a few miles of it.

3. His influences are in things small, as in the falling of a Sparrow to the earth; not one hair of the head but it is numbered by him (Luke 21:18; Matthew 10:29, 30, 31). Not a gourd groweth, nor a worm eats it, but at his command (Jonah 4:6, 7; Amos 4:7, 8, 9; Joel 1:1, 2, 3,…

Men sin against their purposes and promises, vows, and protestations made at sea or land, on sick-beds, or any times of danger, and return like the dog to the vomit: they compound with God in time of fear and danger, but put him off with nothing, when the danger is (the more, ye…

It is a sad word which is spoken in Isaiah 9:17: The Lord shall have no joy in their young men. And again (Amos 4:10): Your young men have [illegible] with the sword. How many young men in New England have in these late years been numbered for the sword?

Sin is high treason against the eternal Majesty. God is holiness itself (Amos 4:2). The Lord God has sworn by his holiness: he never swears by anything less than himself.

So likewise it shall be with you, when Christ comes, everlasting happiness and salvation comes with him; and therefore if you do not make preparation for him, you refuse salvation and happiness that is offered to your souls by him. In (Amos 4:12), when the Lord had sent many pla…

This was it that made God's anger to burn so hotly against Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:15, 16). This is his very quarrel with them (Amos 4:6), Yet have you not returned to me, says the Lord. 3. That there are fearful threatenings out against the finally impenitent.

We are therefore told what remark the Owner made on his fig-tree, after his so long coming and seeking fruit: he found [illegible], and this is to be made at the foot of every visit that he made: he came in such an Ordinance at such a time; and lookt that there should be fruit u…

14. And upon this account there is required a deadening of our hearts to shipping and trading with diverse mighty nations, as we see in the case of Tyre (Ezekiel 27), of Babylon (Revelation 18:11-13; Jeremiah 51). So are we to be mortified to fair houses (Isaiah 5:8), stately ci…

When shall we dissolve into tears if not now? Gods judgements are so proper a means to work Repentance, that the Lord wonders at it, and makes it his complaint, that his severity did not break men off from their sins, (Amos 4:7). I have with-holden the Rain from you, verse 9.

Death sometimes gives no warning before it comes. Remember that scripture (Amos 4:11), "I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." And how was that?

This text speaks of such persons as hold the foundation of Christianity, but yet build upon it such doctrines and practices, as were no more able to endure the trial, than hay, wood, or stubble can endure the fire. Such a person hereby brings himself into danger, and though the…

The other sort, that through a rebellious will, despise God's corrections, are the worse sort: they provoke God to show himself a God of vengeance, even a consuming fire: for with the perverse, he will show himself perverse. Read what God threatens, (Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28)…

Use 1. To show us how vain a thing it is to go about to deceive God with vain service, while our [illegible] estranged from in; if we had to deal with man like ourselves, we might easily cast a [illegible] before their eyes, and make them believe strange matters, but God who can…

If you cannot endure to sit quietly while you are told of them, how will you endure when God shall do according to the word of his messengers? Let such thoughts as these move you to prepare yourselves, this use God would have these burdens attain (Amos 4:13). Of Dumah] that is,…

(5.) The shop-thief, he steals in selling, (1.) who uses false weights and measures, and so steals from others what is their due. (Amos 5:8) Who make the Ephah small. The Ephah was a measure the Jews used in selling; they made the Ephah small, gave scant measure, which was plain…

The Stoic philosophers held, that all sins were equal. But this Scripture clearly holds forth, that there is a gradual difference in sin: Some are greater than others: Some are mighty sins (Amos 5:12), and crying sins (Genesis 18:21). Every sin has a voice to speak, but some sin…

Your wine is mixed with water. Second, giving scant measure (Amos 5:8). Making the Ephah small; Ephah was a measure which the Jews used in selling; they made the Ephah small, they scarce gave measure; I wish this be not the sin of many (Hosea 12:7).

Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. It is the passion of most to be angry with them that would reclaim them from sin (Amos 5:10). They hate him that rebukes in the gate.

King Saul being perplexed in mind, all his Crown-Jewels could not comfort him, 1 Samuel 28:15. — But if you love God, he can give you peace when nothing else can ; he can turn the shadow of death into the morning, Amos 5:8. He can drop in Christs blood, which is a cooling Julep;…

Whatever our services be, if self be regarded, all is rejected, not only if sin be regarded, if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear my prayer, but if self be regarded, our services may please our selves but not please God. And for this you have a famous Scriptur…

Righteousness, Equity, and Justice. That whereas there should be righteousness, equity, and justice, as it's expected: behold instead of this there springs up a crop of oppression, unrighteousness, and injustice that is bitter as hemlock; I rather think that this must be the mea…

Oh! let us learn to fear that God then that is able to turn light into darkness, and darkness into light. Amos 5:8, Seek him (says the text) that turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night. He can turn the shadow of death into morning.

Let men talk never so much of reformation, and of setting up the worship of God, and of casting out false worship, yet if they rejoice in injustice and oppression instead of that, God will not take himself as known; but says he, Your eyes and your heart, are after covetousness,…

Nor does it matter in the least whether you call him a king or a lord. He is also called Moloch (Amos 5:26); and Milcham, with the ending and sense of the word slightly altered (1 Kings 11:33); and also Malcham (Zephaniah 1:5). The LXX renders Leviticus 18 as Archon, which is a…

It has, inward feeling (Philippians 1:9; Philippians 2:13); outward works (Ephesians 5:10). By feeling of the heart, we choose, love, desire, delight, are zealous in the good thing itself, that it may be done; to refuse, hate, abhor, and are zealous against the known evil (Amos…

Israel has forgotten his maker, and builds temples, and (Hosea 12:11) their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. Erecting of ministries, or doing any ministerial work for their honor (Amos 5:26). You have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, th…

Peter says to Simon Magus, You are in the gall of bitterness: but withal he adds, Pray God that the thought of your heart may be forgiven you (Acts 8:21). See the like (Joel 2:14; Amos 5:15). And thus are ministers of the Gospel to temper and qualify their reproofs, and censures.

By the earth, we understand those regions which were known to the Jews, as we touched in another place. The sense then is, You shall be pressed with so many miseries, that you shall not know which way to turn: as also it is written in Amos, He which flies for fear of the Lion, s…

For the matters of life and death at that time were in the hands of such wicked and godless wretches, that it was needful to rebuke them very sharply. But instead of making any good use of these admonitions to come to amendment of life, they became so much the worse, and raged a…

The Lord threatens by the Prophet Amos, You have built you houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them. Also, he shall smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts (Amos 5:11 and 6:11). This falls out day by day, and yet the inordinate affectio…

It does sometimes happen, that wicked men are freed from their distresses, while God is still their enemy: but when they think that they have completely escaped, the same evils immediately return, or more numerous and heavier calamities overwhelm them, which make it manifest tha…

And Amos also cries out, woe to you that desire the day of the Lord: what have you to do with it? That day of the Lord is darkness and not light (Amos 5:18). Moreover, when Paul adds the word declaration, he gives to understand what day of wrath that is, namely when the Lord sha…

What-ever they speak of God, he is not in all their Thoughts, Psal. 10. 4. What-ever they do in Religion, they do it not to him, Amos 5. 25. They have neither heard his Voice at any time, nor seen his Shape, John 5. 37. knowing nothing for themselves, which is their Duty, Job 5.…

Who would not fear this King of Nations? He that contends with him, shall find it, as if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned upon a wall, and a serpent bit him (Amos 5:18, 19). No flying, no hiding, no contending.

[in non-Latin alphabet] from [in non-Latin alphabet], is properly desiderium, desire; but is no where used in the Scripture, but for a thing, or person desired, or desirable, loved, valued, or valuable: as is [in non-Latin alphabet] also. Daniel 9:23, chapter 10:11, chapter 11:8…

Thirdly, the Scripture expressly rejects all the Sacrifices of the Law, when they are trusted in for any such end and purpose, which sufficiently demonstrates that they were never appointed thereunto. See Psalm 40:6, 7, 8; Psalm 50:8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13; Isaiah 1:11, 12, 13; Chap…

Solomon tells us in general (Ecclesiastes 3:7), there is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; let me advise this for one particular time or season, to keep silence, namely the extremity and height of trouble. The Prophet Amos (Amos 5:13) speaks of a time, wherein the pru…

From hence must the works of obedience proceed, if you would have them to be of Gods appointment, or finde acceptance with him. Without this God will say of all your Services, worship, obedience, as he did to the israelites of old; Amos 5:21, 22, 23, 24, 25. I despise all, rejec…

Though so many fell, yet I believe that five parts in six of the inhabitants of London were preserved; God might have taken away the five parts, and have left but one alive. Indeed it might have been said of London, as it was of Israel (Amos 5:2-3), The Virgin of Israel is falle…

10. The Lord does expect after such judgments that London should seek him: that they should not only turn from their evil ways, but also that they should turn to him that has smitten them, and seek the Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 9:13). We read (Amos 5:2), the virgin of Israel is fall…

I wonder where that bishop took his text. 2. The profane, who hate to be admonished, and had rather die than reform (Amos 5:10): They hate him that rebukes in the gate. These keep off Heaven by force.

Influences in perseverance in the way of God, by God's counselling and leading, are here insinuated; and beside that a spiritual desire (v. 25): "Whom have I in Heaven but you? and in the Earth (there is) none I desire beside you." 15. Self-love is a note of apostates in the las…

The voice of corrupt nature is, Depart from us: And what can the Almighty do for them? (Job 22:17). Or if they do desire it, it is but in a slight formal manner, as those in the prophet, that would see the Day of the Lord, yet they could not bear it (Amos 5:18). Woe to you that…

Divine Fear ingratiates us into divine Favor. Such as are Fearless of God, neither their Persons or Offerings find acceptance, Amos 5:21, 22. I despise your Feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn Assemblies; though ye offer me burnt-offerings, I will not accept them. Wh…

That is, get into favor with God before it be too late. So (Amos 5:6): Seek the Lord, and you shall live. This notes our general address for pardon and reconciliation.

If you would have the fruit of your holy calling, that which is the result of that religion you do profess, you must diligently seek him; so that in effect we never seek ourselves more than when we seek the Lord. Amos 5:6: Seek the Lord, and you shall live. It is the undoubted w…

In every command there are precepts and prohibitions, that we might own God, as well as renounce the Devil; and maintain communion with him, as well as avoid our own misery. (Amos 5:15) Hate the evil, and love the good. (Romans 12:9) Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that whic…

(Zephaniah 2:3) It may be you shall be hid in the day of the Lord's fierce anger. (Amos 5:15) Hate the evil, and love the good; it may be the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. In such cases the soul is divided between the expectation of mercy, and the…

The Israelites that were not drowned in the Red Sea, were stung to death by fiery serpents. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him (Amos 5:19). When you avoid one judgment, you may meet…

Third, it reproves those who hunger and thirst after unrighteousness; here I shall indict three sorts of persons. First, it reproves such as thirst after others' lands and possessions; this the Scripture calls a mighty sin (Amos 5:12). Thus Ahab thirsted after Naboth's vineyard.

Noah's sacrifice was a perfume (Genesis 8:21): the Lord smelled a sweet savor. The sighs of a wicked man are an unsavory breath; his solemn sacrifice is dung (Malachi 2:3); there is such a noisome stench from a sinner's duties that God will not come near (Amos 5:21): I will not…

Why should anyone be angry with Christ's ministers for reproving, when by their office they are physicians and by their love they are fathers? But how few are they who will take a reproof kindly (Amos 5:10): they hate him who rebukes in the gate. People do not love reproof becau…

And consider, that if we carry ourselves in a suitable manner, we may possibly escape those evils, that otherwise are like to overtake us. It is possible that this cloud may blow over (Amos 5:15). It may be the Lord of Hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Verse 14: If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land, if they shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face…

There is a threefold injustice in matters of dealing. 1. Using of false weights, Hosea 12:7. The balances of deceit are in his hands: men by making their weights lighter, make their sin heavier, Amos 5:8. They make the Ephah small: the Ephah was a measure they used in selling; t…

This is indeed a sign of grace, and shows you are a lover of the word. A corrupt heart loves the comforts of the word, but not the reproofs, Amos 5. 10. They hate him that rebukes in the gate. —Igne micant oculi— Like venomous creatures, that upon the least touch spit poison, Ac…

We are Cadent, if not Morient; we do not want for sin; there is a Spirit of wickedness in the Land. Ours are mighty sins, Amos 5.12. bloody sins, Hosea 4.2. The sins of Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, are translated into English; we have many Sodoms among us, and may fear to have…

2nd Commandment: You shall make to yourself no graven image, etc. He breaks this commandment: who represents God in an image (Exodus 32:6-8); who worships God in or at images, as crucifixes and such like (2 Kings 18:4); who kneels down before an image; who is bodily present at M…

3, of mitigating or removing temporal calamities: stand in the court of the Lord's house and speak to all the cities of Judah, etc. If so be they will hearken and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the plague which I have determined to bring upon them beca…

Case. 6 A sixt case is this, Whether when a man in suing for pardon, ought to make any difference between great sins and small sins. The Stoicks say all sins are alike, and there is no difference; It is true, in regard of the object, all sins are against God; yet when you come t…

So he went on, and called to him that was before; but he knew not what to answer, for that he also thought himself to be alone. And by and by the day broke: then said Christian, “He has turned the shadow of death into the morning.” (Amos 5:8). Now morning being come, he looked b…

For in and under them, the mind may be subject to an habitual diversion from its charge and watch to the rule. What is done with such a frame, is not done to God (Amos 5:25). None of their sacrifices were to God, although they professed that they were all so.

When these two kinds of duties are spoken of together, the latter are evermore greatly preferred. As in (Isaiah 1:12-18; Amos 5:21 etc.; Micah 6:7-8; Isaiah 58:5-7; Zechariah 7, ten first verses; Jeremiah 2, seven first verses; Matthew 15:3 etc.) Often, when the times were very…

And which is the sum of all uncleanness, sin in the heart is compared to the fire of hell (James 3:6). So that the pure eyes of God loathe to see, and his nostrils to smell it (Zechariah 11:8; Amos 5:21). It makes all those that have eyes open and judgments rectified to abhor it…

See here a hand-writing upon the wall; here is that which may check a sinner's mirth. He is now brisk and frolic, he chants to the sound of the viol, and invents instruments of music (Amos 6:5). He drinks stolen waters, and says they are sweet.

Homines capiuntur voluptate ut pisces hamo, Cicero. Pleasure is the sugared bait men bite at, but there is a hook under; (Job 21:12) They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ: And a parallel Scripture, (Amos 6:4) That lie upon beds of ivory, that chan…

But if a vine or fig-tree be barren in his garden, he will cut it down and cast it into the fire. However God will not always continue this husbandry (Isaiah 28; Amos 6:12). Duties of Gospel obedience are fruits meet for God, things that have a proper and especial tendency to hi…

Sluttish corners are not seen in the dark: things are naught that cannot brook a trial: so you may know that 'tis very bad with men, when they will not come to the light (John 3:20), or cannot endure to be alone, lest conscience should return up itself, and they be forced to loo…

Ah, this goes close to honest hearts! But though God allows — indeed commands — the most awakened apprehensions of these calamities, and in such a day calls to mourning, weeping, and girding with sackcloth (Isaiah 22:12), and severely threatens the insensible (Amos 6:1), yet it…

Says Augustin in his twelfth Tract upon John, The joy of the world is nothing else but their wickedness unpunished; if God do not punish them presently then they have a great deal of joy. And in Amos 6:4 there you have the description of the people of Israel more at large (for A…

You turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth. And in Amos 6:12, shall horses run upon the rock? Will one plow there with oxen?

Wherefore say my people, We are Lords, we will come no more unto you? Nor can we think that prosperity sanctified,which wholly swallows up the souls of men in their own enjoyments, and makes them regardless of public miseries or sins, Amos 6. 4, 5, 6. They lye upon beds of Ivory…

Could we bring up our spiritual union, to hold any proportion with the mutual union of many members in one body, to which it is frequently compared, this duty would be excellently performed: no man ever yet hated his own flesh; if one member be in pain, the rest have little comf…

This feasting with men is a daring of God, a sending (as it were) defiance to Heaven. And such feastings Amos reproves (Amos 6:4-5). They did eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall, they chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselv…

When London had provoked God so highly by so many sins, yet how secure were they before his judgments broke forth upon them — they ate and drank, they bought and sold, etc. They sat at ease, and put far from them the evil day (Amos 6); they were still, and at rest, little expect…

The flesh is for pleasure; it had rather be gaming, than running the heavenly race. There is a description of fleshly pleasures (Amos 6:4-6): That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, that chaunt to the sound of the viol; that drink wine in bowls, a…

A Dear friend, who was a great observer of the works of God in nature, told me, That being entertain'd with a sight of many rarities at a friends house in London; among other things, his friend shewed him a Finch, whose eyes being put out, would frequently sing, even at midnight…

It is as easy to rend the rocks, as to work saving contrition upon such a heart. [illegible]; all the melting language and earnest entreaties of the Gospel, cannot urge such a heart to shed a tear: Therefore it's called a heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26), a firm rock (Amos 6:12).…

The beasts of slaughter have the f[•]ttest pastures; so have the ungodly in the world; Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish, Psal. 73. 7. their hearts are as fat as grease, Psal. 119. 7. These be they that fleet off the cream of earthly enjoyme…

But his outgoings of sovereignty are not always to destroy. 2. Our great ones are so far above the blood, the cries and sufferings of the needy; let the poor die in the pit, they have a higher employment than to lend their heart to lodge thoughts of compassion toward the afflict…

5. Job gets no leave to swallow his spittle (Job 7:19). Precious Israel is plowed (Psalm 129:1) and her back made a field of blood; like two legs and a piece of an ear of a devoured sheep, plucked out of the mouth of a Lion (Amos 3:12), the man Christ a man of sorrows and acquai…

1. To the people, oh that all of us would now mind the things of peace and holiness in these distracted times. The great house is smitten with clefts, and the little house with breaches (Amos 6:11). There are divisions in cities, divisions in families, divisions in councils, div…

You think such delights as you have, are no such things as God takes notice of, they are but matters of sport; you thinkest you hast liberty in them, to do what you listest, you shall never hear of them again; but assure yourself, God will bring you to judgement, to be examined,…

It contemneth the rod of my son as every tree. (i. e.) As if it were a common Rod, and ordinary affliction; whereas the Rod of my Son is not such as may be had of every Tree, but it is an Iron Rod to such as dispise it, Psalm 2:9. O it is a provoking evil, and commonly God sever…

3. Affliction, or Malum Poenae, is an act of divine justice; but Malum Culpae is an act of man's corruptness. For the first, affliction: "Is there any evil, and the Lord has not done it?" (Amos 6:3). But sin is the devil's work in us; "He that commits sin is of the devil; for th…

Use 1. To reprove those that do not desire the coming of Christ, but put off the thoughts of it; why? Because it casts a damp upon their fleshly rejoicing: Which put far away the Day of the Lord, the evil day; it is so to them (Amos 6:3). They wish it would never come, and would…

But Jovial spirits have banished the fear of God. Amos 6:4, 5. That lye upon beds of Ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, that drink wine in Bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief Oyntments. Sinners whose hearts are hardned with soft pleasures, let them have th…

And so for threatenings, especially against the sins we are most inclined to, Who among you will give ear, and hear for the time to come? (Isaiah 42:23) You should think of what will come afterward; it is well with you for the present, but matters to come are put off, little car…

It is an appearance of excellency, Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book 1, Chapter 11. Or in his instruments of music, as those (Amos 6:5) that chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music like David. No, this was not the mirth that he chose for his portion.

When we suffer not by immediate and direct passion, we should suffer by way of fellow-feeling and compassion. It is charged as a great crime, that those that were at ease in Zion, were not grieved for the afflictions of Joseph (Amos 6:6), compared with the first verse. It may be…

If we had a due sense of eternal life, we would be running to take hold of the hope that is before us (Hebrews 6:18). 2. Security. If men have a cold belief of heaven and hell, if they take up the current opinions of the country, yet they do not take it into their serious though…

There are certain laws of commerce between God and his creatures; so between God and man, he meets us with his blessings in the way of our duty. Amos 6:12. Shall horses run upon the rock, will one plow there with oxen? Some ground is incapable of being plowed, some are morally i…

Those that make reckoning of the ways of God, need not be discouraged with their spiteful vaunts. USE. Let us take heed of pride; the Lord that hated the pride of Moab, does also hate the pride of Jacob (Amos 6:8). 1. Take heed wittingly and willingly of opposing any command of…

And when these are over, they sleep away the rest of their time, they cannot endure to be at home, lest (a worse thing than a scolding woman) an upbraiding conscience should fall upon them. They can afford no leisure to think how they have idled and sinned away, and thereby wors…

Partly, that they might not be crossed in their sensual [illegible], but that they might have elbow room and go on with ease in their ungodly lusts, whereas the consideration of the danger of our sinful [illegible] damps and dashes men's delights, deadens men's endeavors and hea…

A carnal man's joy, as it is airy and flashy, so it is sordid; he sucks nothing but dregs. Amos 6:13: You rejoice in a thing of nothing. A carnal spirit rejoices because he can say this house is his, this estate is his.

Saint Paul did die daily; he began with lesser sufferings, and so by degrees learned to be a martyr; as it is in sin, a wicked man learns to be expert in sin by degrees; first he commits a lesser sin, then a greater, then he arrives at custom in sin, then he grows impudent in si…

Ninth, mirth and music. Amos 6:5: That chant to the sound of the viol, and drink wine in bowls. Instead of the dirge, the anthem — many sing away sorrow, and drown their tears in wine.

Alas then, what shall we say to them that stand all the day idle? Come to many, and one would think they had no race to run; they put their hand in their bosom (Proverbs 19:24). Is that a fit posture for him that is to run a race? They stretch themselves upon their couches (Amos…

Such the Prophet deciphers, who do not mortify, but gratify the flesh. Amos 6:4, 5, That lie upon beds of Ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, that chant to the sound of the vial, that drink wine in bowls, etc. Pleasure, like Circe, enchants men's minds, and transfo…

The sluggard puts his hand in his bosom (Proverbs 19:24), and is loth to pluck it out though it be to lay hold of a crown. They stretch themselves (says the Prophet) upon the beds of ivory (Amos 6:4); men had rather lie upon a soft bed, than go to heaven in a fiery chariot of ze…

We should imitate God in this; in being tender and compassionate to those that are in misery. This is a piece of natural, indispensable religion, to which positive and instituted religion must give way (Amos 6:6): "I desired mercy, and not sacrifice"; which is twice cited and us…

Achan's wedge of gold, Gehazi's talents, Ahab's vineyard, Jehoiakim's wide house and large chambers, were all but like the queen's feast to Haman, as poisoned dainties, sweet to the taste, but attended with death. Beds of ivory, lambs of the flock, calves of the stall, instrumen…

Feathers swim upon the water, but gold sinks into it; light feathery Christians float in vanity, they mind not the day of judgment, but serious spirits sink deep into the meditation of it. Most men put far away from them the evil day, Amos 6:3. they report of the Italians, that…

The second use is for instruction: from the former doctrine delivered, we may collect, that loose, vain, jovial company is the greatest hindrance to preparation for Christ, and the greatest obstacle to the work of grace that can be possible: this is not forced, but follows clear…

Thirdly, a false pretender to religion, a hypocritical professor meeting with prosperity and success, grows altogether unconcerned about the interest of religion, and senseless of the calamities of God's people. Thus the prophet convinces the Jews of their hypocrisy (Amos 6:1-6)…

Thus Nehemiah exhorts the Jews that were mourning for their sins, to be cheerful, to eat of the fat, and drink the sweet, and send part to them, for whom none was prepared: that is, to them that were poor (Nehemiah 8:10). And the prophet Amos, inveighs against some of the prince…

Oh how laborious Christians should we be, how sedulous in the work of God, if we did but carry along with us in our minds the thoughts of the evil day, did we but with a cautious expectation every day look for a change! Use. 1. See here how grievously they provoke God, who in th…

(1.) That it gave to himself sufficient security and warranty to undertake and execute the office whereunto he was called. So did every extraordinary call accompanied with a divine afflatus and inspiration (Amos 7:14, 15). (2.) That it evidenced itself to all that feared God, wh…

But that is not the fire that is here intended. It is devouring, consuming, destroying, such as answers the severity of God's justice to the utmost, as Isaiah 9:5; chapter 30:33; chapter 66:15; Amos 7:4; Matthew 18:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Psalm 11:7; Deuteronomy 32:22. Therefore…

And where God denies his Word to any people, he says, upon them there shall be no Rain (Zechariah 14:17). And hence [⟨ in non-Latin alphabet ⟩] to drop as the Rain does is an expression for Prophesying or Preaching (Ezekiel 21:2; Amos 7:16), the showers whereof are sometimes mor…

One is immediate revelation; the other, is ordinary instruction in schools by the means and ministry of man. The like says Amos, I was neither Prophet, nor son of a Prophet, but the Lord sent me to prophesy to Israel (Amos 7:14). The third point is that they which are to be teac…

How strangely are things wheeled about by Providence! not what we, or our Parents, but what God designed shall take place. Amos was very meanly employed at first, but God designed him for a more honourable and comfortable Calling, Amos 7. 14, 15. David followed the Ewes, and lik…

The only way therefore whereby they were proved to be prophets was by the Word itself which they delivered and wrote; and thereon depended the evidence and certainty of their being divinely inspired. See (Amos 7:14, 15, 16; Jeremiah 23:25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31). And setting as…

4. They are violent for their covetous lusts. Covetousness is the soul's dropsy (Amos 7:2): Who pant after the dust of the earth. They compass sea and land to make money their proselyte.

Hence the prophet Amos, speaking of his being called to the prophetical office, says, that he was one that had not been educated in the schools of the prophets, and was not one of the sons of the prophets. Amos 7:14-15. But Amos's taking notice of it as remarkable, that he shoul…

The reasons are these. 1. Because this will suit best with the quiet and happy estate of those times, God will usher in the glorious and everlasting estate, by some preparative degrees, the latter times are more blessed times, former things are to be done away: that is, the form…

How mad a thing is it then, for any man to be lifted up in pride, upon such a vanity as this is; to build so lofty and over-jetting Roof upon such a feeble, tottering Foundation? We have seen Meadows full of such curio[•]s flowers, mown down and withered, men of great Estates im…

The Devil knows what an advantage it is to religion, to have the countenance of princes; and on the other side, how jealous they are of their authority and prerogative, and therefore by his instruments seeks to prejudice and prepossess them against it, and those that profess it…

The Lord looks not after the mean occasions of men upon earth, finds himself employment in the affairs of heaven; it matters not what the desert of our sins be, we shall never feel what they do deserve. So those rulers (Amos 7) they put away the evil day far from them, and then…

If yet the Lord bring home wholesome counsels and directions even to their doors, sends out the light of his truth by the ministry of his faithful servants, to shine in their faces, and the sound thereof to beat in his ears, they are loath to hear of the ear, loath to show their…

Nothing can excuse any from going on his message, who can perfect his praise, out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings. This the Prophet Amos rested upon, when he was questioned, although he were unfit for that heavenly employment, either by education or course of life: I was no…

To show you that when God has called me to a place, he has given me some gifts fit for that place, especially, if the place be suitable and fitted to me and my best gifts; for God would not have a man to receive five talents, and gain but two, he would have his best gifts improv…

Q. 4. Does God rule also in and over the sinful actions of wicked men? A. Yes, he willingly (according to his determinate counsel) suffers them to be, for the manifestation of his glory, and by them effects his own righteous ends (2 Samuel 12:11; 2 Samuel 16:10; 1 Kings 11:31; 1…

Q. 4. Does God rule also in and over the sinful actions of wicked men? A. Yes, he willingly (according to his determinate counsel) suffers them to be, for the manifestation of his glory, and by them effects his own righteous ends (2 Samuel 12:11 & 16:10; 1 Kings 11:31 & 22:22; J…

(1.) They are a burden of grief and sorrow to the godly, who hear and fear (Habakkuk 3:16). (2.) Of indignation to the wicked, who cannot endure so much as to hear of them, the very threatening is to them intolerable (Amos 7:10; 2 Chronicles 36:16; Jeremiah 26:8, 9). 3. In some…

The balances of deceit are in his hand: men, by making their weights lighter, make their account heavier. Thirdly, beware of sophisticating, mingling and debasing commodities (Amos 8:6). They sell the refuse of the wheat.

By his soul; Jeremiah 51:14. And by the excellency of Jacob; Amos 8:7. That is himself only.

The golden head is degenerated into Iron, a more faeculent and impure mettal. 6. Weariness of Gods Ordinances; Amos 8. 5. When will the New Moon be gone, and the Sabbath? Vers. 11. Behold, the dayes come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the Land, not a famine of bre…

Hereby is confuted their opinion, that take it a Sabbath kept, if they rest from their labours, so in the mean time they labor in plays, dancings, vain songs, and enterludes, &c. as though the Lord had called us from our profitable labor commanded, to displease him in these vani…

Answer. It implies, that when he is read, he is preached; for every Sabbath day when they read the Law, they gave the sense and meaning of it; that shows what diligence the Priests did use, when they did read they gave the sense, and wisely applied it to the edification of the p…

The devil buys many at a very easy price, he needs not carry them so high as the mountain, they are contented with a little gain that is got by a fraudulent bargain in the shop: if we stand in our window, or at our doors, we meet with temptations enough to carry us away. He need…

Let them take heede lest he punish them with a famine, not of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the word. Amos 8:11. And let those that have itching eares, in heaping vp to themselues a multitude of teachers, take heede also that they have not tinglingeares, when they…

For there is no famine of bread that ought so much to affect us with fear and perplexity, as the famine of God's blessed word. And indeed look how much more precious the soul is than the body, so much the more ought we to fear that famine above all other famine: as also another…

Hard bondage made the lives of the Israelites bitter (Exodus 1:14). And when the Lord threatens to turn their feasts into mourning, and their songs into lamentation, he concludes thus, and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day (Amos 8…

The Lord has accomplished his fury, he has poured out his fierce anger. 6. The sixth terrible judgment is a famine of the word, which is threatened (Amos 8:11-12). Behold the days come, says the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for…

And truly, as much cause have they to weep and tremble, over whose souls God shuts up the spiritual clouds of the Gospel, and thereby sending a spiritual famine upon their souls. Such a judgment the Lord threatens in Amos 8:11. Behold the days come, says the Lord, that I will se…

Nor is there any such threatening that the nation or person that commit such sins, and omit such duties, shall be punished with the want of the preached Gospel for ever, and with the want of faith and repentance: only the latter suffers an exception in persons that sin against t…

Christians, the soul is better than the body; and eternal life is to be preferred before life natural; therefore the necessities of the soul are greater, and should be more urging than the necessities of the body. The famine of the word is threatened as a very great evil (Amos 8…

The Sabbath day is a feast day for souls. Now when men are weary of it, it's the most burdensome day of all the week round (Amos 8:5). When will the Sabbath be gone that we may set forth wheat?

If the Word stir us a little, and make us anxious, and thoughtful about our eternal condition, the thorns which are the cares of this world choke the good seed (Matthew 13), it stifles our conviction, while it distracts our head with cares, and puts us out of all thought about t…

The Lord looks at it as a great sin thus feebly to oppose sin, and therefore verse 29 he tells him, that he honored his sons above God, and therefore he professes, far be it from me to maintain your house and comfort, for he that honors me I will honor, and he that despises me s…

Seventh, it is the root of fraud and deceit in dealings. Such as would be over-rich will over-reach; it is the covetous hand that holds false weights (Amos 8:5). Eighth, covetousness is the root of bribery and injustice; it makes the courts of justice into places of robbery, as…

1. Using of false weights, Hosea 12:7. The balances of deceit are in his hands: men by making their weights lighter, make their sin heavier, Amos 5:8. They make the Ephah small: the Ephah was a measure they used in selling; they made the Ephah small, they gave but scant measure;…

8th Commandment: You shall not steal. He breaks this commandment: who lives in no calling (1 Thessalonians 3:11); who neglects his calling (Jeremiah 48:10); who spends his wealth in riot and provides not for his family (1 Timothy 5:8); who is not content with his estate but seek…

As also by the imprecations against the wicked, against whom it is wished as the greatest evil, that their sins might not be covered, nor blotted out (Nehemiah 4:5; Psalm 109:14). The comminations also of God do show the same; for it is threatened and denounced against men as on…

O dreadful! — the sins of wicked men shall stand up in heaven before the justice of God, so long as God shall live, and that is for ever and ever. So the Lord swears, By the excellency of Jacob — that is, by himself (Amos 8:7): Surely, I will never forget any of their works. (Jo…

There is a time when sin grows ripe and full and then the sickle comes upon it. When the Prophet saw a basket of summer fruits, that were so ripe as that they were gathered off the tree, (which was a type of the sins of God's people, which are sooner ripe than the sins of heathe…

O the infinite power of Jehovah! Before his scepter angels veil, and prostrate themselves, kings cast their crowns at his feet (Amos 9:5). He touches the mountains and they melt.

It is a blaspheming the name of God to call him Father, yet live in sin. Such as profess God is their Father, yet live unholily, they will slander and defraud, these are as bad to God as heathens: (Amos 9:7) Are you not as children of the Ethiopians to me, O children of Israel,…

The scandalous Jews (though circumcised) were in God's account as heathens. Amos 9:7: "Are you not as children of the Ethiopians to me, says the Lord?" Alas! What is it to have the name of Christ, and want his image?

Next observe the correspondence that is between all the parts of the world, compared sometimes to a building, therefore God is called [in non-Latin alphabet], an artificial builder (Hebrews 11:10). In this great house every part conspires to the beauty, service, and decency of t…

He shows his love to them, and how much he values them, that when he is acting justice and pouring out his wrath, when he is (as it were) cutting and flashing on all sides, and is in fury with wicked men, he has nothing but sweetness and tenderness towards his own. (Amos 9:9-10)…

A time of great temporal prosperity; of great health (Isaiah 33:24, "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick."); of long life (Isaiah 65:22, "As the days of a tree, are the days of my people."). A time wherein the earth shall be abundantly fruitful (Psalm 67:6; Isaiah 30:23, 24;…

Christ's free and invisible love is a fair white web of gold, that a saint is wrapped in on the evil day. Where is he? he is hid, yet he goes through the sieve, and sifted he must be, but not a grain of him falls to the earth (Amos 9:9). 3. There have been questions about the Pr…

So Isaiah in this place shows that he propounds nothing of his own head, but only refreshes their memories with the consideration of that which God had in times past promised touching the eternity of this kingdom. By the way then, he touched that which Amos had handled more full…

The passages in which he is called "the son of David" are sufficiently well known. In a word, the angel declares that in the person of Christ would be fulfilled the prediction of Amos, "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen," (Amos 9:11.) 33. And he…

That its royal dignity had crumbled down long before, and that by slow degrees its supremacy had nearly given way, does not imply such a discontinuance as to be at variance with Jacob's prophecy. For God had promised two things seemingly opposite; that the throne of David would…

But as Herod's dread of arousing the people against him deprived him of the use of his reason, so again he is driven by such madness, that he does not hesitate or shudder at the thought of provoking God. For he knew that, if a King were born, it was ordained by God, that he shou…

These [in non-Latin alphabet], or [in non-Latin alphabet], are those whom the Jews of Jerusalem called the [in non-Latin alphabet] (John 7:35), the Dispersion, or those of their nation that were dispersed among the Gentiles; those especially they intend in the Greek Empire. Thes…

First, by preferring the promised relief and remedy above all the present glory and worship of the Church; directing it to look above all its enjoyments to that which in all things was to have the pre-eminence. See Isaiah 2:2; chapter 4:2-5; chapter 7:13-15; chapter 9:6-7; chapt…

From the beginning God has so ordered all the nations of the world that they may bear a proportion to what he has to do with his people; that he may so order and dispose of them, as that his design towards his own may be accomplished. Amos 9:9: For lo I will command and will sif…

He is nowhere included, and yet nowhere excluded; His circumference is everywhere: God hath an eye in Councils, in Armies, he makes an Heart-anatomy; he sees what men's designs are, and whither they are driving. If hatred wears the livery of Friendship, if Ambition comes masked…

And this poor virgin was espoused to an husband who was a poor man. Though they were of the royal family of David, the most honourable family, and Joseph was the rightful heir to the crown; yet the family was reduced to a very low state, which is represented by the tabernacle of…

"For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give her dew, and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things." See also Jeremiah 31:12, 13 and Amos 9:13. Yea then they shall…

MEn have their winnowing dayes, and God has his; a day to separate the chaff from the wheat, the godly from the ungodly, who shall both be held up to the wind, but only the wicked shall be driven away by it. Such a day God has in this world, wherein he winnows his wheat, and sep…

He will meet you as a lion, and as a bear robbed of her whelps. You shall see how the Lord expresses it: (Amos 9:2-4) "Though they dig into hell, from there shall my hand take them: though they climb up to heaven, from there will I bring them down," etc. It is a common opinion,…

O what a favor is this, that in the midst of the greatest confusions in the world, God has given such abundant security to his people, that it shall be well with them? Amos 9. 8. Ecclesiastes 8:12.

He disposes of all nations and their interests according to what is for the good of believers. Amos 9:9: in all the siftings of the nations, the eye of God is upon the house of Israel — not a grain of them shall perish. Look to heaven: angels are appointed to minister for them,…

If therefore sinners in the world must perish, for their falling short of the glory of God; sinners in the visible Church much more for offering abuse and contempt to these essays that have been used with them, to bring them to repentance. It is certain that such though they hav…

Ezekiel 37:12: O my people, I will open your graves, as many as Saul and David did feed, whether they have a new heart or not, the Lord calls them his people (1 Samuel 9:16; 2 Samuel 7:8). See Psalm 50:7: Hear O my people (Psalm 81:13; Jeremiah 9:26), and so the church of Corint…

The Fathers have Church-right to Circumcision, to Baptism, to the Passover, and to the Lord's Supper, so have the Children: but it is most false of the invisible mystical body and root only, and of real and internal holiness; For neither in Old or New Testament is it true, If th…

Jeremiah 23:23, 24. Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him, says the Lord? do not I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord? Amos 9:2, 3. Though they dig into hell, from there shall mine hand take th…

V. 17, 18. I will make your officers Peace, and your exactors Righteousness: Violence shall no more be heard in your land, wasting nor destruction within your borders, but you shall call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. See at your leisure to this purpose: Amos 9:11,…

By Jonathan Edwards, Master of Arts Pastor of the Church of CHRIST in Northampton. Amos 9. 2, 3. Though they dig into Hell, thence shall my Hand take them; though they climb up to Heaven, thence will I bring them down.