New Hope Bible Chapel
March 9
  • Wonderful Merciful Savior
  • 10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
  • I Speak Jesus
  • Amos 6:1–8 NKJV
    1 Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, And trust in Mount Samaria, Notable persons in the chief nation, To whom the house of Israel comes! 2 Go over to Calneh and see; And from there go to Hamath the great; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory? 3 Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, Who cause the seat of violence to come near; 4 Who lie on beds of ivory, Stretch out on your couches, Eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall; 5 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; 6 Who drink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed. 8 The Lord God has sworn by Himself, The Lord God of hosts says: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city And all that is in it.”
    Introduction:
    In this sixth chapter of Amos, the prophet conveys the dual impending judgment upon the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel.
    Chapter seven describes a series of judgments upon Israel that Amos intercedes for causing God to relent.
    Vision of Locust Swarms.
    Vision of Fire.
    Amos 7:1–6 NKJV
    1 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings. 2 And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: “O Lord God, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!” 3 So the Lord relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” said the Lord. 4 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory. 5 Then I said: “O Lord God, cease, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!” 6 So the Lord relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
    Chapter seven goes on to describe another vision, the vision of the Lord standing with a plumbline in His hands.
    The plumbline was used in building as well as in demolition.
    The point that God is making here is that He has set a standard which He will test Israel by.
    That standard was the mosaic Law that He gave.
    Chapter seven also describes the Priest Amaziah who posses Amos and reports his prophecies to King Jeroboam of Israel. Amos is told to get out of that part of the country and return to the southern kingdom, but not before Amos prophecies a curse and destruction over Amaziah and his family for his unbelief.
    Amos 7:17 NKJV
    17 “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city; Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be divided by survey line; You shall die in a defiled land; And Israel shall surely be led away captive From his own land.’ ”
    Chapters eight and nine comprise two other visions by Amos.
    The first is the basket of summer fruit, typifying the end of any blessings, and the beginning of the famine.
    Amos 8:11 NKJV
    11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord.
    The second vision is the LORD standing by the Alter ready to bring destruction upon all their idolatrous ways, and none will escape.
    Amos 9:1–4 NKJV
    1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said: “Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake, And break them on the heads of them all. I will slay the last of them with the sword. He who flees from them shall not get away, And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered. 2 “Though they dig into hell, From there My hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will bring them down; 3 And though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, From there I will search and take them; Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea, From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them; 4 Though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword, And it shall slay them. I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good.”
    Whatever similarities we may find between the times of Amos and today, one constant theme should ring clear in our minds, all our sin and disobedience as Christians has already been judged in the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.
    And, just as Amos does not end his prophecies on the destruction and captivity of God’s own people, but speaks about a future day when He will raise up the children of Israel and establish them once again in their own land; We also know that although we are poised to witness the destruction of this present world and its disobedience to the call of God, there is a day coming when God will gather His own unto Himself, in the Day of Jesus Christ.
    And it is on this point that I bring today’s message.

    I. The reliability of God’s word.

    A. A proven source.

    Since the beginning of God’s creation, Satan has been deceiving people by placing doubt in their minds as to the validity of God’s word.
    “Has God said?”
    Satan’s words to Eve.
    We should not be ignorant of this understanding, that Satan is still deceiving the world concerning God’s word.
    He is even deceiving God’s people.
    What you and I need to realize is that the word of God, the Bible as we have it today, all sixty six books has been delivered to us through many generations of believers.
    All of the books contained within it have stood the test of time, have been qualified by subjective tests of authority, authorship, and inspiration, and have been carefully preserved to provide us with a proven source today.
    It has stood the test of time by those who would have destroyed it from the face of the earth, discredited it, and ridiculed it.
    But it has also proven itself through prophetic utterances fulfilled, miracles witnessed, and it’s ability through the Spirit to change the heart of man.

    B. The very words of God.

    There is a difference today, by those that say the Bible contains the word of God and those that believe every word is of God.
    There are those that say they only read and adhere to the red letters of the gospels because in their opinion, only what Jesus says is truth.
    This is truly the most nonsensical and illogical conclusion, because if any of the words in the gospels could possibly be untrue, then a person holding to the truth of the red letters, is simply based upon a fanciful desire to believe it is so.
    I believe these people hold this view simply so they don’t cut themselves off completely from God and in their rational, still be a Christian.
    But Jesus said...
    Matthew 4:4 NKJV
    4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
    Interesting because, these words that clearly say that every word of the scriptures being the word of God, is written in red.
    It is the common problem of our time, that we have those that parade themselves to be intellectually superior to the rest that say, “We know better than God’s word, and we say that not every word in the Bible is inerrant.”
    But the word of God says...
    2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV
    16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
    Proverbs 30:5 NKJV
    5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
    And
    Psalm 119:89 NKJV
    89 Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.
    Listen, do not believe everything you read today.
    Choose your spiritual books carefully, and be ready to put them to the test of scripture.
    Do not allow the devil a foothold into your mind.

    II. The twofold nature of His revelation.

    A. The Word of God has been revealed to man.

    When Jesus came into the world He was called the Word of God.
    John 1:1 NKJV
    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
    John 1:14 NKJV
    14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
    Jesus also told the Jews that He was the fulfillment of the very word of God.
    Matthew 5:17 NKJV
    17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
    We think that what He meant here was that He came to fulfill the prophecies about the coming Messiah, but that is only one part of it.
    He came to literally be the fulfillment of everything that was written, hence “the law”.
    So that we can assuredly say, that in Jesus Christ is everything that pertains to godliness.
    2 Peter 1:3 NKJV
    3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

    B. The written and incarnate Word are inseparable.

    It is not one or the other, or fifty percent of one and fifty percent of the other.
    It is both, inextricably melded together for the life and peace of the Christian.
    We cannot be saved by the word of God alone, that is, we cannot live lawfully according to God’s word in order to receive salvation.
    We also cannot trust Christ as we think of Him, disbelieving His word.
    Both of these ideas will lead to hell!
    Matthew 7:13 NKJV
    13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
    Because Jesus told us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15; 15:10).
    If the great commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37), and you disregard His word, how can you fulfill this mandate?
    You cannot!
    We are therefore compelled to not only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation but on His word as the very foundation of all truth.
  • They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love
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