| |
It's my joy to share with you today as your
guest, as we worship our majestic Lord, and celebrate the
saving love he has shown on the Cross as we gather around
his table. That privilege of leading in worship and
presiding at the Lord's Supper is one I wouldn't trade
for quids! But I'm also here as a minister of God's word.
And since the portion of Scripture before us today is
from Amos, the task I cannot escape (though a small part
of me would like to) is to introduce you to some of the
hardest words in Scripture. The closing sentence in the
passage just read rings in my ear: Amos 3:8 "…
The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?" And
I'm reminded of Paul's words (1 Cor 9:16 )"…I
am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the
gospel!" If you're a person who's serious about
God's truth, Amos has to be one of the most uncomfortable
books in Bible. Title: "The roaring of God."
God's picture of himself in opening verses & again in
today's passage, which is a fitting introduction to the
message of the book. [Prayer] |
| |
These
were days of outward prosperity in Israel. The shekel was
up against the 'greenback' (or it would have been) and
the Camel Price Index was soaring. But from a spiritual
standpoint these were terrible times. Amos, a humble
shepherd from the southern kingdom of Judah was called
& sent by God to warn Israel, the northern kingdom of
the grave spiritual danger they were in. That would be
like sending Tim Costello to Sydney to tell them to stop
the Mardi Gras. So Amos had his work cut out to start
with. To make his point (in today's passage), he uses a
series of graphic images, riddles/ brainteasers to get
people thinking. A very Middle Eastern way of speaking
not easy for us to relate to, but a bit like Jesus use of
parables. From his words we learn three things about God
which Israel mustn't miss, and we mustn't either: |
| |
The God
who speaks clearly about holiness |
| |
The Lord
first tells them they're a family, and the one family on
earth which he has gone to enormous lengths to make his
own. "2 You only have I known" [that is
'chosen'; implies a binding commitment or covenant]
"of all the families of the earth" & then
notice "therefore I will punish you for all your
iniquities." Doesn't that "therefore"
strike you? |
| |
A recent
current affairs program featured a group of young people
talking to an interviewer about their lives and
priorities. It was clear among other things that their
views on sex were mainstream for today. That is, they
thought it was for them and frequently. If you watched as
Christians who regard the Bible seriously, you'd rightly
have been concerned. But supposing you looked again and
realised one of those young people was your own child.
Your concern would rise exponentially! This is a child in
whom you've invested years of love, patience, affection,
longing that he/she would grow to adopt the values you've
taught. |
| |
God has
chosen Israel for holiness, to reflect the splendour of
his character to the world. Therefore there's no other
nation in whom the presence of sin is more serious. It's
just because Israel was God's own covenant people that
God regarded their sin with double seriousness. And it's
just because the church is the community of those chosen
by God to be his in Christ, that sin amongst us grieves
him most profoundly. As we tell our children often:
"No privilege without responsibility." This is
the God who speaks unambiguously about holiness |
| |
The God
who waits patiently for repentance |
| |
"Patience"
a fruit the Spirit (Gal 5). If God expects it of us, we
should expect evidence in the Bible that it's a
characteristic of God himself. One sign is his pattern -
especially in the Old Testament - of raising up prophets
to remind the people of God's covenant standards and of
the consequences of not taking those standards seriously.
He doesn't act immediately in judgement; he first warns
the people; he is a patient God. And that I think is
where Amos is heading in this series of graphic
brainteasers as I called them before. |
| |
(From v3)
"If people meet, it's because they've made an
appointment. If a lion roars it's because he's made a
kill. If an animal trap is sprung, it 's because
something has been snared. If a trumpet is blown, it's
because an enemy has been sighted." Have you picked
up the train of thought? It's what we call "the law
of cause & effect". Every effect has a
corresponding cause. Every warning signal has a
corresponding danger. We use a proverb today which says
same thing: 'No smoke without fire.' "What you
Israelites must realise" says Amos "is that
what's true of ordinary, day-to-day life is also true of
big events. There's no effect without a cause. When
disaster comes to a city," he says, "has not
the Lord caused it?" No fortuitous coincidences, no
bad karma, no accidents. Not just 'one of those things'.
If political catastrophes happen, they too are planned.
Hasn't the Lord caused it? 'No smoke without fire.' God
is the fire behind the smoke. |
| |
But the
string of proverbs isn't quite finished yet. Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, without revealing his
secret to his servants the prophets. 8 The lion has
roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who
can but prophesy? No effect without a cause, no smoke
without fire; if God has gone to the bother of sending a
prophet among us, is there not something we've missed,
surely something is ahead and it won't be a picnic! |
| |
God
wouldn't send prophets if he were not mightily serious
about sin; but he wouldn't send prophets if he were not
also very patient for people to repent. In his patience
he sent prophets like Amos whom the people ignored. After
not just years but centuries of patience he sent his son,
saying (in the words of one of Jesus' own parables)
'Surely they will respect my son'. They rejected the Son
and put him to death. Yet still in his patience, God the
Son said from the Cross, 'Father forgive them ..' And the
patience doesn't stop there. Would God have allowed
another 2000 years of human rebellion against his own
majesty if he were not patient for repentance? "He
is patient with you," (as the 2nd letter of Peter
tells us) "not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance." God speaks plainly
about sin, and waits patiently for repentance, but also:- |
| |
The God
who will do as he has spoken |
| |
Just a
few verses on from our passage: Amos 3:11 'The Sovereign
LORD says: "An enemy will overrun the land; he will
pull down your strongholds and plunder your
fortresses." … 14 I [will] punish Israel for
her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel… 15 I
will tear down the winter house along with the summer
house; … and the mansions will be demolished,"
declares the LORD.' |
| |
Amos'
God, the God of Bible is extraordinarily patient for
repentance; but he is not kidding about judgement!! Roy
Clements turned a series of sermons on Amos into a book.
He chose the title: "When God's patience runs
out." And he says, "The real God is a roaring
lion, not a mewing kitten." The opening chapters
tell us God will judge the nations. And no doubt the
Israelites who heard Amos thought that was a good idea.
"Serve those Philistines right; they've had it
coming!" But Amos has told us today that it doesn't
stop there: Amos 3:2 "You only have I known of all
the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities." Remember, sin offends God
nowhere more than when he finds it in his own people. |
| |
No smoke
without fire. Would these words of prophecy from Amos
have been preserved for us today in Scripture, if they
didn't alert us to very real danger? The lion has roared!
Supposing you're visiting the Melbourne Zoo and notice
the gate open at the lion's enclosure, and then hear a
roar behind you. Would you stop in your tracks and think:
"How interesting, the Lion roared." Or would
fear give you an energy you've never had to change your
location rapidly?! The question hanging over us when we
read the prophets today just as over Israel in Amos' time
is 'Will we hear God's roar? Will we recognise our
danger? And will we repent?' |
| |
Conclusion. |
| |
I
encourage and challenge you as you read Amos together in
the coming weeks to hear God clearly when he speaks. When
we who claim to love the word of God come to a book like
Amos, two chilling truths confront us: 1. If a whole
nation in 800 BC can exhaust God's patience to the point
of judgement, why not a single congregation in suburban
Melbourne 2001? 2. You can be fed full on the rich fare
of God's word and not repent. [Repeat] God is still the
smoke behind the fire of the prophecies of Scripture
which Paul says (Rom 15:4) have been recorded for our
instruction. |
| |
As this
uncomfortable part of Scripture is read and preached in
the coming weeks, will you cherish God's words, will you
read God's words, will you hear God's words, will you
take God's rebuke seriously, and will you be ready to
repent? |
| |
And I
would like to pray with you that at the end of this
series, sin will have further loosened its grip on this
portion of God's church… |
