New Hope Bible Chapel
March 2
  • Here I Am To Worship
  • Open The Eyes Of My Heart
  • Jesus Paid It All
  • Amos 3:1–8 NKJV
    1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” 3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? 5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all? 6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? 7 Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. 8 A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?
    Introduction:
    In this next section of Amos, we find him explaining the obviousness of the prophetic condemnation.
    He gives a list of seemingly sarcastic observations that are quite literally indisputable.
    Can two walk together, unless they be agreed?
    Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
    etc. etc.
    I could add, is the pope Catholic?
    You get the idea.
    The point he is making in this portion of the prophecy, is that they, God’s people, should have known better.
    They were God’s chosen people that He invested in, and none other.
    They were given the oracles of God.
    They should not have been surprised by his tone nor by the extent of judgment.
    As we think about these benefits that Israel enjoyed under the umbrella of God’s chosen people, let us not be high minded to think that we have no responsibility toward Him, considering the benefits we enjoy as members of the body of Christ.

    I. Israel’s sin (3:9-4:13).

    A. The allegation levied.

    Amos 3:9–10 NKJV
    9 “Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: ‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; See great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her. 10 For they do not know to do right,’ Says the Lord, ‘Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.’ ”
    Amos 4:1 NKJV
    1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!”
    The people of God were guilty of negligence toward the innocent and the poor.
    God calls the women of Samaria, “Cows of Bashan”.
    They were fattening themselves up on the bounty of the poor.
    They were negligent in their godly duties, and were playing the harlot as they worshipped their false gods.
    What I really like about this passage is that God does not pull punches.
    I am so sick and tired of the bleeding heart liberal mindset that portrays God as some weak anemic deity that wraps Himself in a soft white blanket of niceties.
    God is a name caller.
    God is bringing judgment on the oppressors.
    God is consistent even in the person of Jesus Christ.
    Luke 13:32 NKJV
    32 And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’
    Yes, Jesus was a name caller.
    John 2:15 NKJV
    15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
    So God does not mess around, and, He will judge.

    B. The hints along the way.

    Amos 4:6–11 NKJV
    6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth (hunger) in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 7 “I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 9 “I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured them; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 10 “I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 11 “I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.
    I do find it perplexing that God’s people even today, will fail to see that God is intervening in their lives by bringing situations designed to bring them into conformity with His ways!
    Do we expect His blessings to flow when we refuse to walk in the Spirit?
    Do we not know that God chastens His own children for poor behavior?
    Which brings me to the next thing Amos deals with

    II. A call to repent (5:4-15).

    Amos 5:4–15 NKJV
    4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live; 5 But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing. 6 Seek the Lord and live, Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, With no one to quench it in Bethel— 7 You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!” 8 He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth; The Lord is His name. 9 He rains ruin upon the strong, So that fury comes upon the fortress. 10 They hate the one who rebukes in the gate, And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly. 11 Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate. 13 Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, For it is an evil time. 14 Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the Lord God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken. 15 Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
    How many times will God warn His own people?
    How much time is left for us to hate evil, love good; and establish justice?
    When will the people of God right now right here, even you and I; when will we truly seek the Lord in righteousness?
    Maybe it’s because we’ve been forgiven?
    Maybe it’s because of this that we are lackadaisical in our efforts to make a difference in this world.
    Where is the kindness to the oppressed?
    Where is the love of Jesus today?
    We’re so caught up in trying to legislate it, that we’ve forgotten that we have the power to change the world, as the first century believers turned the world upside down.
    But, the way they did it was the way Jesus taught them, by sacrificing themselves for the cause of Christ.
    Oh, my brothers and sisters, we have been called into battle.
    To combat the very powers of Hell, and Jesus told us how we would do it.
    Matthew 16:18 NKJV
    18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
    Yes, the gates of hell will not be able to hold up against the church, when it storms hell!
    We are not to be on the defensive but on the offensive.
    And I say all this not because we need to repent as the Israelites did, but to walk in the Spirit.
    Galatians 5:16 NKJV
    16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
    You may remember some weeks ago I told you that repent is not used in the epistles for believers, but for the unsaved.
    This is a theological issue.
    We don’t need to change our minds (repentance) because we already have the mind of Christ, by the Spirit that now lives within us.
    I think the apostle Paul demonstrates this perfectly at the end of Romans chapter seven when he says…
    Romans 7:21–25 NKJV
    21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
    You see, when I am out of sorts with God and find myself opposing Him, I don’t need a change of mind, I just need to let His thoughts rule my life.
    That’s why I agree with God (confess my sin) and move on in my walk with Him.

    III. The Day of the Lord (5:16-20).

    Amos, now mentions a theme already touched upon by Joel about eighty years prior, and by one of his contemporaries Isaiah, as both Isaiah and Amos prophesied during the reign of Uzziah king of Judah.
    Isaiah 2:11–12 NKJV
    11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 For the day of the Lord of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up— And it shall be brought low—
    Joel 3:14 NKJV
    14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
    Seeing these prophets spoke about this dreadful day in such a close time proximity to one another, one would probably conclude that the event happened or would happen very soon.
    However, Paul mentions it again as a future event, some eight hundred years later.
    1 Thessalonians 5:2 NKJV
    2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
    Ah! do you see that there is a day coming when everything will be put right and the guilty will be judged eternally.
    What the world sees is empty prophetic promises because too much time has transpired.
    But, you and I know that is soon!
    So then, should we not have empathy for those caught in it’s web of deceit?
    Will we not charge the gates of hell in righteousness, taking captive those that are in it?
    For this, and this alone is why we are here!
    This is the true meaning behind the great commandment of Matthew 22:37, where we are told to love the Lord our God and our neighbor as our self.
    The true agape love of the Christian to the world is for the redemption of mankind.
    We must have the mindset of Jesus who said He came to do the will of His Father in heaven (Heb 10:7).
    We must do the same (Matt. 12:50).
    We have been sent to preach the gospel and commissioned to go and make disciples (Mark 16:15; John 20:21; Matt.28:19).
    But why must we do this?
    Because the days are drawing to a close.
    But the devil has got us chasing our own tails.
    He has us convinced that every other thing in this world is more important, and is laughing at us running around in circles, as he accuses us before our heavenly Father.
    Wake up!!!!!
    This is the call of the prophet Amos!
    Wake up before it is too late!
    Romans 13:11 NKJV
    11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
  • There Is Power in the Blood
  • I'll Fly Away
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