Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Amos. Amos. Hosea, Joel, Amos. As you know, we continue to go
through Hebrews 11. In fact, Hebrews 11.32. And I do pray that the Lord bless
these words to our heart. It is a wonderful thought to
remember that it is His Word that He blesses. And how thankful
I am it's not the ability of the speaker, because that's That's
a hard thing to do, Carl. That's hard, isn't it? Let's have a word of prayer. Our Father, Lord, help us. Help us to worship. Help us to hear. Lord, would
you bless the Word tonight. Bless it to the comfort. of your
people. Blessed, I pray, to the calling
out of your elect. Truly, we pray thy kingdom come.
Lord, I pray that you'd help us to hear. For Christ's sake,
we ask these things. Amen. Every time I go through one of
these books, these prophets, it always is a trial, it's a
struggle. Because you're going through
a whole book to give the heart, the spirit of that book. And in these books of the prophets,
the miracle that we see every time is that Almighty God will
not leave His people to themselves. Now, one of the things I want
you to remember as we go through this book, we're going to be
dealing with some scriptures throughout the whole book of
Amos. And as we're going through it,
remember, as the Lord chastens national Israel for their rebellion, That spirit is within every one
of us. That spirit, that attitude. And it's only by the grace of
God that Almighty God gives a new heart, a new spirit to His elect,
to His people that He will not forsake. So while we're looking
and seeing how God is dealing with those that will not listen,
will not come, will not hear, you think, but for the grace
of God, there go I. That would be me. Alright, Amos chapter 1. Let's start off by realizing
Amos was a farmer. He was out. Tending the sheep
or the cattle. And the Lord called that man
to be a prophet. Amos 1, verses 1 and 2. The words of Amos, who was among
the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the
days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam,
the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said, the Lord will roar
from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the habitations
of the shepherds shall mourn in the top of Carmel, shall wither."
Now here's the thing. Here was a man that Almighty
God chose to call as a prophet. He wasn't a prophet's son. He
wasn't one that had been schooled in the higher schools of learning. He was a herdsman, a shepherd. And the Lord called him. And
Amos said that these words, the words of Amos, were actually
the words of the Lord to Amos, through Amos, for the children
of Israel. It was during those days of those
kings that was mentioned. And the thing that I noticed
amazingly about this is the last part of that first verse. These
words, it says, came two years before the earthquake. I tried
to find out something, and there was speculation, but evidently
there was a great earthquake that took place Two years after
this. But that earthquake would be
very noteworthy. Because it was something that
everybody knew about in two years. But, here's the amazing thing. Almighty God sent warning. The Lord sends warning. He gives
warning. He's a fair, He's just, He's
right, He's holy. The Lord, the Scripture says,
verse 2, will roar from Zion. And let me ask you this, does
He not do so now? Does He not roar from the church,
from Zion, through His people, through the preaching of the
gospel? And he said that the latter part
of verse 2, "...and the top of Carmel shall wither." Now, Carmel
was found out a fruitful mountain. And this was a symbol of what
was going to happen to all that trusted in themselves and forsook,
shunned God's blessing. Amos was a farmer. Just a farmer. But he was a farmer
that God called. I want you to hold your place
there. 1 Corinthians 1. Let me just read this, or if
you want to turn. 1 Corinthians 1, 26-29. For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh Not many mighty, not
many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things that are
mighty, and base things of the world, and things that are despised
hath God chosen. Yea, and things which are not
to bring to naught things that are. Why? That no flesh should
glory in His presence. It was a shepherd, a man that
God called. Now, the message of God through
Amos was initially sent to the surrounding countries. And if
you'd look, I want for the sake of time, I was going to read
this, but for the sake of time, let me just give you the Scriptures. It's chapter 1, verse 3, through
chapter 2, verse 3. And what the Lord did is He instructed
Amos, send to each of these countries my warning, my judgment. These Gentile nations that surrounded
Israel. And God was going to judge them
because of their cruelty, because of their idolatry, because of
broken covenants, because of their hatred for Israel. And here was the thing. They
deserved judgment. For what they did, they deserved
it. There was no doubt about that. And without a doubt, Israel
and Judah surely loved what God had to say to those enemies,
to those Gentiles thinking in themselves, you know what, they're
getting just exactly what they deserve. They ought to be under
the judgment of God. Look at the way they are acting.
But, and I will read this, in Amos 2, verses 4 and 5, then
the Lord began to speak to Judah. Amos 2 verse 4, Thus saith the
Lord for three transgressions of Judah, and for four..." Now
if you go back, take the time and read Amos 1 verse 3 to Amos
2 verse 3, you're going to find that over and over. Look at verse
3, chapter 1, "...for three transgressions of Damascus, and for four..."
I will not turn away. And look at verse 6, "...for
three transgressions of Gaza, and for four I will not turn
away." Every time when he makes that in, for three transgressions
and four, what he's saying is, for numerous transgressions,
numberless transgressions, I'm not going to turn away. I'm going
to deal with it. Now he's dealing with Judah.
Verse 4, But three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will
not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have despised
the law of the Lord, have not kept His commandments, and their
lies cause them to err, after the which their fathers have
walked. But I will send fire upon Judah,
and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem." Then the prophet
went from Judah, and then he went to Israel. Look at chapter
2, verse 6. Thus saith the Lord, for three
transgressions of Israel, and for four I will not turn away
the punishment thereof, because they sold the righteous for silver,
the poor for a pair of shoes, that pant after the dust of the
earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the
meek. A man, his father, will go in unto the same maid to profane
my holy name. And they lay themselves down
upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar. They drank the wine
condemned in the house of their God, yet destroyed I, Amorite,
before them whose height was like the height of the cedars,
and he was strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit from
above and his roots from beneath. Also I brought you up from the
land of Egypt, led you forty years through the wilderness
to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up your sons for
prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even
thus, O you children of Israel, saith the Lord? But you gave
the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying,
Prophesy not." Behold, I am pressed unto you as a cart is pressed
that is full of sheaves. Therefore, the flight shall perish
from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force. Neither shall the mighty deliver
him, neither shall he stand that handleth the bow, and he that
is swift afoot. shall not deliver himself, neither
shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. And he that
is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that
day, saith the Lord." Now, here's the Lord revealing that He's
going to deal with His people as a nation because of their
corruption in worship. The ceremonies were still there. They observed the name of Jehovah,
but idolatry permeated the very heart of the people. Isaiah 29.13
says, Wherefore, the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw
near Me with their mouth and with their lips to honor Me,
but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward
Me is taught by the precepts of men, There's an outward show,
a show of faithfulness, but no heart for the glory of God. Now
listen, that's the old man. That old man, now thanks be unto
God, brethren, every believer possesses a new man, a new heart
that does love God, that does long after the Lord, that does
seek Him, hunger and thirst after His righteousness. But this man
right here is who we struggle with. That old man is still there. That old man, that rebellion,
that sin, that's what Christ was made. We serve Him with our
lips, heart far from Him. We have no heart for Him in that
old man. That old man is wicked. That
old man is, I'm telling you, unchanged. Unchanged. Truly,
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Almighty
God is going to deal with every man, every woman, according to
their unfaithfulness. The wicked in absolute wrath
and judgment. And His own, His elect, in His
loving Son. In His absolute substitutionary
death, the Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins. And now, because
Almighty God has put away the guilt of His people in His Son,
He deals with us in loving chastisement. Again, holding your place right
here, 1 Peter 4.17. I looked at this passage again
today and I thought, Lord, have mercy. 1 Peter 4.17. For the time has come that judgment
must begin at the house of God. And if it first began at us,
What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore,
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the
keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful
Creator. The Lord's people are not, shall
not, shall never be judged for their sins. The Lord Jesus Christ
has borne all of our guilt. Thanks be unto God for that.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus. God's sheep have always been
in Christ. They have never been outside
of Christ. Chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world. Always viewed in the substitute.
Always viewed in the surety. Always justified freely by His
grace. At no time has the Lord ever
dealt with His people in wrath. So what does it mean that the
time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God? The
Lord deals with His people and proves them, tries them through
afflictions and trials and chastisement. The Lord is pleased to reveal
His own, to be His. Through the furnace of affliction. That's how God, whom the Lord
loveth, He chasteneth. Proves them to be His. Proves
His faithfulness. Proves His love for them. By
chastening them, whom the Lord loveth. As hard as this is for
human nature to figure out. The Scripture sets forth those
that will not discipline their children. Discipline them. Don't love them. You take that
rod of correction. Here's how we deal with our children. You take the rod of correction. I looked it up. Actually, it
says, the stick or the staff of affliction. This is the way
God deals with His people. This is the way we deal with
our children. You take a switch, you take a
spoon, you take a belt, whatever it is, they've got a bottom,
and the Scripture says, don't worry. The blueness of that wound,
they're not going to die. I love that Scripture. I'm not
talking about abusing them. I'm talking about lovingly disciplining
them. Why do you do that? You love
them. You love them. Hold them. Caress them. Judgment
must begin at the house of the Lord. What's going to be the fate of
those that know not Him? If chastisement is the lot of
God's people, what about those that are under His wrath? If
his chastening hand is because of love, what shall be the end
of those he hates? Then in chapter 3, the Lord sets
forth through His prophet the reason for His heavy hand of
discipline upon Israel. This is the reason. This is the
reason. He dealt with all of those Gentile
nations around Judah and Israel. And while Judah and Israel obviously
would be thankful, glad, God's dealing with our enemies. He
said, I've got someone to get you. Because of the corruption
of our worship. That old man. God deals. That's the reason. Because of
the presence of that old man. That old man is going to be chastened. There's a new man, Gary, that
doesn't sin. That sinneth not. But we're still in this body
of flesh. And Almighty God, who wisely
knows how to deal with us, deals with us in loving chastisement. Why? I know he does. Why? Look at verse 1 and 2. Chapter 3. 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,
You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore,
I will punish you for all your iniquities." I'm going to visit
you in loving chastisement. Affliction is a hard thing on
the flesh. Betty Groover, I think I told
some of you this, Betty Groover told me one time that Walter
told her, he said, I wish we could go through this life without
having to suffer. And she said, Walter, that's
not the way it is. He said, I know. Affliction is
hard on this flesh. But David said it's good that
I've been afflicted, that I might learn of your statutes. I need
chastening. I need correction. Israel was
God's chosen people. Set apart from among all the
nations to have His Word, to have His law, His prophets. And
because of the knowledge that God had given them, the more
was expected. The greater the gifts, the more
useful one ought to be. The more diligent in the improvement
of them one ought to be. Luke 12.48, for unto whomsoever
much is given of him shall be much required, and to whom men
have committed much of him they will ask the more. I read that Scripture today as
I was going over these notes and I thought to myself, I need to be in this study. I need it. I ought to be in this
study more. I ought to be seeking the Lord
more. For the responsibility that He
has given me for the knowledge of the glorious gospel of God's
free grace, Highest calling, in my opinion, highest calling
that God would ever call a man to? To preach His Word? I ought to be reading His Word. What has the Lord given this
church? What has the Lord taught this church? I only know of just
a handful of places in West Virginia where the Lord has allowed the
gospel to be preached. Think of the responsibility that
we have. The responsibility of proclaiming
the gospel of God's grace. Oh, Almighty God, have mercy
on us. Look at verse 3. Can two walk
together except they be agreed? The literal of that, it says,
will two walk together except they be agreed. Will they? Will they? No. You get two people
that are not in agreement. Spiritually speaking. I mean,
any other way too. I mean, walking together. I'm
talking about in true kinship, fellowship stuff. If you just
don't agree with somebody, you don't agree with the way they're
doing things, you don't agree with them. You're just not in
fellowship with them. You don't walk with them. Will
they will to walk together except they be agreed? Israel had been
given the greatest light and privileges of any nation. In the face of that light, turn
to walk in the darkness of idolatry. Look at verse 4. Will a lion
roar in the forest? when he hath no prey? Will a
young lion cry out of his den if he hath taken nothing?" Here's
the Lord, by example, saying that He's called as a roaring
lion. When I read that again today,
again, I'll read these Scriptures and I'll begin to think on them. Will a lion roar in the forest
when he hath no prey." And I thought again about this assembly right
here. And I said, Lord, will you retain this place? Lord, would you retain this place
if you had no more to call out of darkness? Lord, would you
allow this assembly to be here? if there were not some of your
sheep out there to call." The Lord has roared. The Lord has
set forth His voice. He has cried out of Zion. But Israel, by and large, that
old man, that old nature, turned a deaf ear to His voice. But
by the grace of God, His own hears. He gives them ears. And
trumpets of warning are blown, and the people should be afraid. But leave a man alone, and he's
indifferent. That's just as natural to that
old man as anything can be. Man by nature is just indifferent. You hear the truth preached. You know that the trump of God
is going to sound. You know that God is going to
return. You know that the Lord Jesus
Christ... There's a day coming when God Almighty is going to
say, it's all of it, and God is going to call men out of the
grave. Everybody is going to rise out of the grave. And the
just, they that died in the Lord, will rise first, and those that
are remaining on the earth will meet them in the air. The dead
that died without Christ are going to stand before Him in
judgment. Now you know what? Men hear that. They hear that. A trumpet is sounded. And man
is indifferent to it. And you know, I understand it. I understand it. Because I'm
just like you. There's an old man in me that
thinks just like that. But there's a new man there that
hears these words and says, Lord, thank You. Thank You for mercy. But in spite of natural Israel's
rebellion, the Lord of all mercy will not allow his elect to perish. I want you to look at verse 12.
Chapter 3, verse 12. Thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd
taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an
ear, so shall the children of Israel, spiritual Israel, God's
elect be taken out of that dwelling in Samaria in the corner of a
bed and in Damascus in a couch. Now that verse of Scripture sets
forth as beautifully and tenderly and truthfully the truth of God's
electing grace. Here the prophet sets forth what
appeared to absolutely have no hope, the Lord delivers. The body of this animal, he said,
has been taken by a ferocious animal, lion or whatever. And
he's been devoured. And the shepherd comes, And he
takes out of the mouth of that line, two legs or a piece of
an ear. Someone says, that's not worth
anything. It's not worth it. What's that
worth? That was the Lord's. And he delivered it. You mean
a piece of an ear? Two legs? The rest of it perished? Yeah. Yeah. A remnant. Just a remnant. A remnant that
if left to itself, would have been devoured just exactly like
the rest of it. What made the difference between
the two legs and a piece of an ear? The grace of God. That was the only thing that
made a difference. Rescued. The world would look
at it and say, you know what? That's the silliest thing I've
ever heard in my life. But let me tell you something,
you that have found yourselves to be a piece of veneer or two
legs, thanks be unto God that He didn't leave you to yourself. Look at verses 13 to 15. Hear
ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God,
the God of hosts, that in the day I shall visit the transgressions
of Israel upon him. I will also visit the altars
of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, fall
to the ground. I'll smite the winter house with
the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the
great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord." I'm going to
visit all that men have set up as false securities. Going through
the motions, that's what they're doing. As preachers of the gospel,
We are to faithfully proclaim His wrath upon the wicked and
the deliverance of His elect for His name's sake. And I do
understand that the preaching of the cross, the preaching of
the gospel, is foolishness to the world. I understand that.
But it does not change one bit. This is God's truth. Almighty
God is going to have His people. But then in verse 4, The obstinance
of man, religious but unregenerated by God's Spirit, is set forth. Let's look at chapter 4, verses
6 to 12. And I also have given you cleanness
of teeth in all your cities. What that is, is a famine. famine, therefore nothing to
soil their teeth. I have given you cleanness of
teeth in all your cities, worn of bread in all your places,
yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord? I have also
withholding the rain from you, when there were yet three months
to the harvest. I caused it to rain upon one
city, caused it not to rain upon another. One piece was rained
upon, the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or
three cities wandered from one city to drink water, but they
were not satisfied. Yet have you not returned unto
me, saith the Lord? I have smitten you with blasting
and mildew. When your gardens, your vineyards,
and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmer worm
devoured them. Yet have you not returned unto
me, saith the Lord? I have sent unto you the pestilence
after the manor of Egypt. Your young men have I slain with
a sword. I have taken away your horses.
made you stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils,
yet have you not returned unto Me, saith the Lord? I have overthrown
some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were
as a firebrand plucked out of the burning, yet have you not
returned unto Me, saith the Lord? Therefore, thus will I do unto
you, O Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to
meet thy God, O Israel." in the midst of judgment all around. Well, we're just having a bad
summer this year. I mean, you know, it's El Nino. Well, we've got changing weather
patterns. And that's just global warming. It's just the Lord says,
I sent that. I withheld the rain. I put the
rain here. I caused this to have a famine.
I moved this over here. There was no bread here. I sent
bread here. And you wouldn't return. Man
does not see God's hand in this world. He does not see God's
judgment. Now, you know that the Scripture
says that He works all things after the counsel of His own
will. You know that the Lord Jesus Christ, that all power
has been given Him, that He should give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given Him. You know that. But man's got
every excuse in the world for things that are happening. I'm
telling you, the hand of Almighty God, and you know this, you know
this, the hand of Almighty God, God sends judgment. Man doesn't see it, doesn't hear
it, doesn't care. You know, one would think that
severe trials would awaken a rebel. You know what it's going to take
for a man to hear? God's going to have to give him a new heart. And when the Lord gives a man,
gives a woman a new heart, they see. They see. They hear. All of a sudden, that
which made no difference to them whatsoever, every trial that
we go through ought to make us thankful for His Mercy. But in the midst of judgment
upon the wicked, God ever sends the gospel of hope. Seek Him. Look at chapter 5, verse 4. For thus saith the Lord unto
the house of Israel, Seek me, seek ye me, and ye shall live. He's the life. Look at verse
6. Seek the Lord, and you shall
live, lest ye break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. Look
at verse 8. Seek Him that maketh the seven
stars in Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning,
and maketh the day dark with night, that calleth for the waters
of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth.
The Lord is His name. Seek Him who is Almighty. He's God. Look at verse 14, 15.
Seek good and not evil, that ye may live. And so the Lord,
the God of hosts, shall be with you as ye have spoken. Hate the
evil, love the good, establish judgment in the gate. It may
be that the Lord, God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant
of Joseph. Seek Him who is altogether good. For those words right there,
blessed by God's Spirit to that new heart, they're precious unto
you that believe. He is precious. But man by nature
resists. And then those that would dare
to blame God, it's your fault. It's your fault. Take heed. And to those that have no confidence
in their works of self-righteousness, Those that have confidence. I said they have no confidence.
Those that have confidence in their works of self-righteousness
and ignorantly say that they're ready to meet God. Now listen,
man by nature, in his mind, is going to do something to establish
in his mind, righteousness before God. And he's going to do something. It's going to be a work of his
will. It's going to be something that
he can do. Now, I want you to look at chapter 5, verses 18
to 20. And they say they're ready to
meet God. And again, before I read this,
let me say again from experience. Man by nature is absolutely convinced. Leave a man to himself and let
him in his own mind, in his own heart, think that he has exercised
his free will in order to establish righteousness before God. And
I'm telling you, he can look at the Word of God right here
and he can read it And it will say, not by works of righteousness
that we have done, but according to His mercy, He has saved us. And he will not see it. He will
not see it. Now, chapter 5, verse 18 to 20. Woe unto you that desire the
day of the Lord. To what end is it for you? The
day of the Lord is darkness and not light. As if a man did flee
from a lion, a bear met him. Or went into the house and he
leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. Say not the
day of the Lord be darkness and not light, even very dark and
no brightness in it. The Lord is not pleased with
the best that a man can do. Not a man born in Adam. He is
not pleased. Verse 21-23 of chapter 5, I hate,
I despise your feast days. I will not smell in your solemn
assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings
and your meat offerings, I will not accept them, neither will
I regard the peace offerings of your fat beast. Take thou
away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the
melody of thy vibes. The reason? Christ is not given all the honor
and all the glory and all the praise. Put anything of my ability
in it, put anything of my will, anything of my choice, anything
of my work, put anything. You touch that altar with an
instrument to try to shake those rocks They were to build altars,
how? They'd take the rocks out and
everything that came out of the ground, that's how they built
them, right there. Don't you put an instrument,
don't you put your hand on that. Uzzah touched the ark of the
Lord. That ark was teetering like that. Uzzah put his hand out there
to steady it and God killed him. Don't you put your hand on God's
honor. Don't you put your hand on Christ's
glory. God said, I will absolutely judge
a man for that. Then the Lord continued to send
His Word through Amos to all that possessed a fleshly security
and carnal ease in their association. This book of Amos, as I looked
at it, covered so many areas. had a carnal ease because of
their association with Zion. These tares, what they were.
Those who sit and hear, but have no fear or judgment or concern
for their eternal soul. There's ease in Zion. They lean upon Zion. They trust. In the mountain of Samaria, look
at chapter 7. The Lord told Amos, talk to the people of God. Warn
those that will not hear. And Amos possessed a heart for
God's people. A true heart to preach to them. Tell them what the Lord sent.
And the Lord gave him five visions. There was a vision of locusts.
Amos 7, verse 1 to 3, Thus hath the Lord God shown unto me, and
behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting
up of the latter growth. And lo, it was the latter growth
after the king's mowings. And it came to pass that when
they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I
said, O Lord God, forgive I beseech Thee, by whom shall Jacob arise?
For he is small. The Lord repented for this. It
shall not be, saith the Lord." Now let me tell you what just
happened. God was going to send judgment. And he was going to
send it in a vision. He gave Amos a vision of some
grasshoppers, some locusts. And Amos saw what the Lord could
do and would do if he was pleased. To send grasshoppers to eat all
the grass or the grain. And Amos asked the Lord, He beseeched
the Lord to show mercy. Verse 2. It came to pass that
when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land,
then I said, O Lord, forgive I beseech Thee, by whom shall
Jacob arise? For he is small. But look at
the grass that they ate. In the first verse. The ladder
grass. After the king's mowing. The
Lord tempered judgment and chastening for the sake of His mercy and
kindness and longsuffering. There was a vision of fire, verses
4-6, Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me. Behold, the Lord God
called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and
it ate up a part. Then said I, O Lord God, cease,
I beseech Thee. By whom shall Jacob arise? For
he is small. The Lord repented for this. This
also shall not be, saith the Lord." Again, God would send
a great fire, but for the intercession of Amos, a picture of Christ,
God had mercy. Vision of the plumb line. Verses
7-9, He showed me, and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made
by a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord
said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb line.
Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst
of my people of Israel. I will not again pass by them
anymore. The high places of Isaac shall
be desolate. The sanctuaries of Israel shall
be laid waste. And I will rise against the house
of Jeroboam with the sword." Here was the third vision. He
stood on the wall and he took a plumb line. That wall was Israel. God's demand against Israel.
And he held a plumb line in his hand. The law of God. Now this
is the way that I'm going to deal with Israel. According to this law, not one
jot or tittle is going to pass away. I'm not going to turn from
this, he said. That's verse 8. I behold, I'll
set a plumb line in the midst of my people and I will not again
pass by them anymore. I won't pass by on this. What did he do? was made sin. Christ bore the
guilt. He bore the penalty because God
is just and He will in no wise clear the guilty. The wine of
His law, He refused to take away. Well, after that third vision,
Amaziah accused Amos of being a false prophet. as all false
preachers accused God's preachers to be. Amos 7, verse 10, Then
Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel,
saying, Amos has conspired against thee in the midst of the house
of Israel. The land is not able to bear all of his words. So
Amos is told to leave. Verse 12 and 13, Also Amaziah
said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee again into the
land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there. But
prophesy not again any more at Bethel, for it is the king's
chapel, it is the king's court." What he said is, why don't you
go over there and make yourself a living over there? Why don't
you go over there and get you a job? Go get you something to eat over
there. And Amos told him, verses 14-17, God has called me to this
position. Then answered Amos, verse 14,
said to Amazion, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son,
but I was a herdman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord
took me as I followed the flock. And the Lord said unto me, Go
prophesy unto my people Israel. Therefore, heareth thou the word
of the Lord, thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop
not thy word against the house of Isaac. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord, thy wife shall be a harlot in the city. and thy sons and
thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be
divided by land, and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel
shall surely go into captivity forth of his land." Almighty
God takes personally men that put their hands on God's people.
Don't prophesy anymore here. Amos told him, he said, God called
me to this position. God sent me here to preach. And
he said, you're going to suffer. The vision of summer fruit, chapter
8, verses 1 and 2, Thus hath the Lord God shown unto me, and
behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, Amos, what seest
thou? And I said, a basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord
unto me, the end has come upon my people of Israel. I will not
again pass by them anymore. Summer fruit, I found out, was
that which ripens quickly to decay. Here Israel was warned
again that they were hastening to captivity. The end has come
upon my people. They hated the worship of God.
They begrudgingly stayed. And the Lord sends the worst
of all judgments this side of hell. As we wrap up this message
here, chapter 8, verses 11 and 12. Of all the judgments of God,
this is this side of hell. This is it. Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land,
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the
words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea
to sea, from the north even to the east. They shall run to and
fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." I read
just a little excerpt, Brother Henry, made on that passage of
Scripture right there. And he said this, he said, there
may be a place where there's still some preaching being done. But he said, you'll know that
there's a famine in the land when there's no hungering in
the heart of the people anymore. They'll go through the motions,
but there'll be no hungering There will be no regeneration.
The Lord will just leave it. And they'll go through the motions.
And boy, I read that and I thought, Lord, have mercy on us. Lord,
don't leave us to ourselves. If Almighty God removes the candlestick
of the hearing of the gospel, we have nothing. There's nothing
here. There's nothing. In Fairmont,
there's nothing. In Katy, there's nothing. In this part of the country,
if the gospel's not here. If God were to remove the candlestick,
go somewhere else. If God removes the preaching
of the glorious gospel of free grace, find someplace else. Don't stay. I'm going to send
a famine. Oh, the judgment of all judgments. But in closing, in wrath, Almighty
God remembers mercy according to His covenant of grace, chapter
9, verses 8 to 15. Behold, the eyes of the Lord
are upon the sinful kingdom. And I will destroy it from off
the face of the earth, saving that I will not utterly destroy
the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For lo, I will command,
and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like
as corn is sifted in a sieve. Yet shall not the least grain
fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people
shall die by the sword, which, say the evil, shall not overtake
nor prevent us. In that day will I raise up the
tabernacle of David that is fallen, close up the breaches thereof,
and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the
days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Eden and all the
heathen which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth
this. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord. that the plowman
shall overtake the reaper, treader of grapes, him that soweth seed,
and the mountain shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall
melt. And I will bring again the captivity
of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities,
inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the
wine thereof, and they shall also make gardens, and eat the
fruit. of them, and I will plant them upon their land, and they
shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given
them, saith the Lord thy God." Of all the mercies that we could
ever consider, knowing what we are in ourselves, and there's
not one thing that was said of all the rebellious in this book,
that if left to ourselves, we wouldn't do. And we all know
it. It's by the grace of God that
we are what we are. Who maketh thee to differ? I'll
tell you who maketh us to differ. He did. Lord, have mercy on us
and cause us every time we study these blessed prophets that were
sent, that God would not leave His people to themselves. And
He would send them a preacher. Tell them what they are. Tell
Him who He is. Tell Him what He's done. Tell
Him how He's kept Him. Lord, keep us here at Katie for
Christ's sake. Amen.