All right, let's turn in our
Bibles to the book of Amos chapter 7. Amos chapter 7. Now the title
of the message this evening is in the form of a question. It
is, How Shall We Stand? How Shall We Stand? And I took
that title, if you'll look at chapter 7, There's a question
posed in verse 2 of Amos chapter 7, and the question is posed
again down in verse 5. And that question is this, it
says in verse 2, it says, 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. That's Amos interceding
for the people of Israel. And he asked this question, he
said, O Lord God, forgive I beseech Thee, by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small. And then that
question is posed again in verse 5. Then said I, O Lord God, cease,
I beseech Thee. There's Amos interceding for
the nation Israel again. By whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small. Now literally,
and you may have this in your center concordance or if you've
got one of those, literally the question is this, when it says,
how shall Jacob arise? It's literally, how shall Jacob
stand? How shall Jacob stand? And what
he's talking about is how shall Jacob stand in light or before
or in the face of the wrath of God? and his judgments against
the sins of the people. And when you think of Jacob,
that brings up all kinds of connotations in our minds. But we who are
sinners saved by the grace of God, we can identify with Jacob,
the person Jacob. Many times the name Jacob is
just used to refer to the nation Israel because Jacob is a type. He's a type of sinners. And sometimes
the Bible talks about Jacob in his pride, being lost and dead
in trespasses and sins. But then in other times it's
speaking of the remnant of God's grace. Those whom God chose out
and redeemed by the blood of Christ, justified by His righteousness
and called out by the Spirit as the remnant of Jacob. And
that's who we identify with, Jacob, not as a lost sinner,
but as one who is a sinner saved by the grace of God, and we'll
see that in just a moment. And so we ask the question, how
shall Jacob stand? And we could bring it this way,
how shall sinners stand before God? And then we'll bring it
down right home. How shall we stand before God? That's the issue at hand. Well,
back over in Psalm 20 that Brother Stan read, it talked about unbelievers
who trust in man, trust in their works, trust in their own goodness,
trust in their own power. It puts it this way, in verse
7, some trust in chariots and some in horses. But it says,
but we, that is the people of God, sinners saved by grace,
who've been brought to faith in Christ and true repentance,
we will remember the name of the Lord our God. We trust in
the Lord. And then it says in verse 8,
they are brought down and fallen, that is those who trust in chariots,
trust in horses, trust in man, whatever. But we are risen and
stand upright. Now, how are we risen? Well,
we're risen by the power of God in Christ. And how do we stand
upright? We stand upright by the grace
of God in Christ, and that's the issue that we're being confronted
with here in the book of Amos, chapter 7. Now, the last three
chapters of this prophecy of Amos, 7, 8, and 9, chapters 7,
8, and 9, consist mainly of five visions that God gave to this
prophet that were messages in these visions, there were messages
for the nation of Israel in general concerning the wrath of God against
the nation for their sins and there were messages also within
these visions to the remnant of God within that nation, the
remnant according to the election of grace. The first two visions
are in the first six verses of Amos chapter 7. and they express
the total, absolute destruction of the nation, the whole nation
for their sins. But they also reveal the salvation
of a remnant according to the election of grace. And that's
what he's talking about with Jacob. How shall Jacob stand
for he is small? The third vision is in chapter
7 also and that's of God's test, God's standard. by which he measures
the nation and all men, in essence, by which his justice is administered."
And then you have a vision that takes up most of chapter 8 and
then one in chapter 9. So, what I want us to do is just
read through chapter 7, make a few comments, and then I want
to conclude with some comments concerning the issue of the eternal
security of the saved. And that's exactly, really that's
what we're talking about when we talk about how shall we stand?
How shall we stand secure? How shall we stand before God
and be saved from the wrath of God which we deserve based on
our works, based upon our efforts, based upon our sins? Well, let's
look at it. The first three verses, here's
the first vision. It's the vision of the locust.
the locust. And it says in verse 1, thus
hath the Lord God showed unto me and behold he formed grasshoppers. You might have the term green
worms in your concordance there. What it's talking about is locust
in the first stages, in the larva stage. And these grasshoppers
in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth, And
lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings." Now,
let me explain what he's talking about here. Whenever they had
their green pastures, and when those green pastures had grown
up and they were plush, the first mowing of the grass was always
given to the king. It was like a tax. The king was
like the IRS. and it was like a tax and it
was given to the king and then there was another growth and
a second mowing and the people took the second mowing. And what
he's saying here is this, now you've already had the first
mowing taken away from you, you don't have that, but even that
which belongs to you, the second mowing, that's going to be taken
away too. That's what he's talking. In
other words, the picture here in this vision is Israel, because
you have rejected the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because
you have disobeyed and rebelled against Him, because you have
formed your idols and your religion in opposite, everything you have,
not just the first moment, but even the second moment, everything
you have is going to be taken away from you. Now, the opposite
picture of that in the Scripture would be like believers in Christ
who are recipients of the benefits of God's grace lying down in
green pastures. being fed with the Word of God,
being fulfilled with all the blessings of His grace. Well,
Israel's not going to have that. You see, without the God of all
grace, without Christ, there is nothing for a sinner. And that's what he's saying.
The king's taken the first mowing, the second mowing's going to
be taken away from you, you're going to have nothing. You're
going to be left with nothing. And this locust swarm is going
to take it. It says in verse 2, 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 beg you. By whom shall Jacob arise? By whom or how? Oh, in what way
shall Jacob stand? For he is small." He's small. Now, here's Amos interceding
for the people, specifically, as he says, for the remnant.
You see, there is no intercession for the nation as a whole. A
lot of commentators say, well, he's praying for the whole nation.
No, he tells you who he's praying for right here. He says, O Lord
God, forgive I beseech thee, by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small, a small remnant. Remember Isaiah in chapter 1
of his prophecy said, except the Lord had left us a remnant,
a small piece, we would have perished like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Here's a picture in this prophet, here's a picture of Christ interceding
for his people. Christ did that, interceded for
his people. You can see so many examples
of that when the Lord of Glory, based upon the accomplishment
of His finished work on the cross, stood for His people and prayed
for us, and how He even now is seated at the right hand of the
Father, ever living, the Bible says, to make intercession for
us. It's spoken of in John 17 with
His high priestly prayer when He prayed for His people. It's spoken of in 1 John chapter
2 and verses 1 and 2 when John spoke about our sinfulness and
the fact that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous, who is the propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins
and not for ours only. That is not for God's elect just
among the Jews, but for God's elect all over the world. He
intercedes for his people and that's what Amos is here. He's
a picture of Christ interceding for his people. How shall Jacob
stand? Well, look at verse 3. It says,
The Lord repented, or literally relented, for this. It shall
not be, saith the Lord. Now, that is said again in verse
6. Let me go ahead and read the
second vision before I make a comment on that. The second vision begins
in verse 4, and it's the vision of fire. Now, you have the vision
of the locust. The locust plague is going to
come and it's going to... And this is a spiritual language,
you see. And everything's going to be
taken away from them. And that locust plague here is not like
the one in Joel, which was a literal one. This is the army that God
is going to use to bring judgment down upon Israel. And they're
going to be left with nothing. Well, verse 4, here's the vision
of fire. The second vision, he says, thus
hath the Lord God showed unto me, and behold, the Lord God
called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep. Now
you know what the great deep is, in the Bible, that's the
sea. In other words, this is going to be a fire so hot that
it'll dry up the sea, that's what he's talking about. And
it says, and did eat up a part, and then said I, O Lord God,
cease, I beseech thee. Now here's the prophet, interceding
for the remnant again. A picture of Christ interceding
for his people. By whom shall Jacob arise? How will Jacob stand? For he
is small. Think about that. Twice he said,
for he's small. It means he's nothing. And it
says in verse 6, the Lord repented for this. This also shall not
be, saith the Lord. Now when it talks about God's
repentance, and we spoke of this before in the book of Hosea and
the book of Amos, God's repentance does not mean or refer to a change
of God's mind. This is not the prophet praying
so hard that he got God to change his mind. That's an impossibility. It doesn't refer to a change
in God's mind or God's being or God's attributes or God's
purpose or God's will. It has to do with human language,
God speaking on our level. It has to do with a change as
we perceive it in His treatment of men. But the idea here is
not that God changed His mind, but that He relented in the matter
of His just wrath over some by revealing to this prophet Amos
His eternal unchangeable purpose all along. God has a people out
of this nation. And he's going to spare them.
He always intended to spare them. And in fact, if you want to talk
about this thing about God repenting and God changing, read Malachi
chapter 3 and verse 6 in light of this, in light of these two
verses. This verse 2, alright? What does he ask? He says, By
whom shall Jacob arise? How shall Jacob stand? For he
is small. Verse 5, how shall Jacob stand
for his small? Malachi 3, 6, remember what it
says? For I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. These sons of Jacob
here for whom the prophet intercedes will not be consumed, that's
God's purpose all along. And that's what this vision is
teaching. It's a vision of woe. It's a vision of sorrow. Judgment
of God against sin. But it's also a vision of hope.
Both visions. Because there is a remnant. There
is some whom God's going to spare. Not because they're so good or
strong. They're small. And I thought
about that. Now, literally what the prophet
is referring to here when he says he is so small I believe
he's talking about the smallness of the number of the believers
that were actually in this nation at the time. But I thought, you
know, the first thing that came to my mind when I read that,
you know, how shall Jacob stand for he's so small? And I thought
about that because, you know, I think about the smallness of
ourselves in light of everything that comes against us. You know,
we're not big enough to save ourselves. We're not big enough
to defeat sin. We're not big enough to defeat
Satan. We're not big enough to defeat death. Think about death. Think about even physical death.
Listen, we can't even defeat physical death, let alone spiritual
death. We're all born dead in trespasses
and sin as we were ruined by the fall. We're not big enough
to defeat death. And look how small In form, death takes sometimes. All it takes is one little microscopic
cell to bring a 200 pound man down. And it doesn't take very
long. And I can identify this. How
am I going to stand against sin? How am I going to stand against
Satan? How am I going to stand against death and hell and the
grave? I'm so small. And how is anybody going to escape
the wrath of God? That's what Amos is concerned
with here in this nation. This whole nation is going to
perish never to rise again. You remember that over in chapter
6 or chapter 5. It's going to perish. And he
said in verse 2 of chapter 5, the virgin of Israel has fallen,
she shall no more rise. She's not going to come back
up again. So, how shall Jacob arise? How shall Jacob stand? Well, she's so small, he's so
small. He's so insignificant. There's
not many and the few that there are are so weak and pitiful and
sinful that we cannot save ourselves. How are we going to arise? How
are we going to stand upright? The Bible says the ungodly will
not stand in the judgment and will not stand in the congregation
of the righteous. How are we going to stand? Only
by the grace of God in Christ. That's the answer. That's what
these visions talk about. And so that's why he leads into
the third vision here beginning at verse 7. This is the vision
of the plumb line. A plumb line. My dad was a surveyor. And when I read this about a
plumb line, I knew exactly what a plumb line is or was. I don't even know if they use
them anymore. But a plumb line, it was a piece
of metal, it had a point on the end of it, the center, and it
had a string tied to it, and it hung down to the ground, and
it was supposed to show you a perfectly vertically straight line. And
they measured walls back then. If a wall was straight, they
could hold the plumb line up if the wall was standing upright
or if it was leaning to the right or to the left or if it was off.
And they held a plumb line. And that's what this vision is.
Look at verse 7. It says, Thus he showed me, and
behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line with a plumb
line in his head. That's a standard of measurement.
It's like laying down a straight stick beside a crooked stick.
That's how you know the stick is crooked because it doesn't
line up with a straight stick. And it says, And the Lord said
unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb line. And
then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst
of my people Israel, and I will not again pass by them any more. I'm going to measure them, and
that's it. And he says in verse 9, And the high places of Isaac
shall be desolate, In other words, these high places that are so
prominent and so conspicuous in which the people are so proud
and keep them safe. He says, the sanctuaries of Israel
shall be laid waste, their religious efforts, their religious places. They're going to be measured
by this plumb line, you see, this standard, this measurement. And he said, I will rise against
the house of Jeroboam. That was the king at the time,
Jeroboam II. And he said, I will rise against the house of Jeroboam
with the sword. There's God's standard of measurement.
Measuring the wall to see if it's straight. And it's not. Now you know what that picture
is. You know the lesson that it teaches. What is God's standard
of measurement for a sinner standing before Him? What is His standard
at the judgment? How many times have you heard
me quote Acts chapter 17 and verse 31? You could probably
quote it yourself by now. Anybody want to try? No. I won't
do that to you. But I love that passage because
it talks about repentance. It talks about how we, by the
power of God, must be brought to repentance. And it's on this
basis. It's on the basis of a plumb
line, a standard of righteousness wherein he says that God has
commanded all men everywhere to repent because He, God alone,
hath given a measurement. He's given a measurement, a standard,
a plumb line, and that standard is righteousness. And that righteousness
is seen and viewed by that man whom God hath ordained in that
He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised
Him from the dead. The standard, the plumb line,
of God is Christ and Him crucified and risen again. It's not how
you measure up to me. I'm not the plumb line. It's
not how you stack up to everybody else. You can always find somebody
you think you're better than. It's not how we measure each
other. It's how we stand up in line with Christ. Turn over to
Romans chapter 2 with me. That's what this vision of the
plumber... Now, the standard by which God measures All men
and women is by the law. But it's something specific now.
It's not the law as I see it or the law as you see it or the
law as I interpret it or the law as you interpret it. I had
a fellow in Louisville, Kentucky tell me that his whole hope of
salvation, he showed me a little bracelet and it had two pieces
of metal, one on the bottom and one on the top and two chains
on each side holding it together. And on the top was the first
five of the Ten Commandments, and on the bottom was the second
five. And he held up that bracelet and he said, that's my standard
right there. That's my hope, he said, keeping
the Ten Commandments. I asked him, I said, well, do
you think you keep the Ten Commandments? And he said, well, I do my best.
Well, here's the problem. You've just removed the plumb
line. You've just denied the plumb
line. You've just denied the standard of measurement which
is righteousness in that law. So it's not the law as I see
it or you see it or doing our best. Here's how it is. Now look
at verse 13 of Romans chapter 2. Here's the plumb line right
here. He says, "...for not the hearers of the law are just before
God." It's not the hearers. You can listen to it. You can
read it, you can talk about it, you can admire it, you can interpret
it, you can memorize it, and you can try to keep it. But understand,
it's not the hearers It's the doers of the law. But the doers
of the law shall be justified. How much of the law? It doesn't
say right here, but the implication here is all the law, but it says
in other places, Galatians 3.10, For cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. We'll look at verse 14 of Romans 2. For when the Gentiles
which have not the law do by nature the things contained in
the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves."
In other words, the Gentiles, they didn't have the Ten Commandments
like the Jews under the Old Covenant, but they did have the conscience.
Look at verse 15, "...which show the work of the law written in
their hearts, their conscience, That's the standard by which
we measure ourselves. And of course, you have to remember
that man by nature, his conscience is just as fallen as his heart,
his mind, affections, his will. And he says, also bearing witness
and their thoughts demean while accusing or else excusing one
another. Now look at verse 16. Here's
the plumb line. In the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. Now what
he's talking about here is however the gospel presents Christ. The gospel, the good news. However
the gospel presents Christ, that's the plumb line of measurement.
Now how does the gospel present Christ? We'll look back at Romans
chapter 1 and verse 16. It presents Him as God in human
flesh. That's the first part. His glorious
person. He is God in human flesh. Now,
why is that important? Because that's the kind of person
that it takes to save me from my sins. That's the kind of person
it takes to save Jacob's. Jacob's can't stand unless God
sends it from heaven. In other words, if whatever saves
me, it's got to come from heaven. And whoever saves me, he has
to come from heaven and he has to identify with me except in
one way. He has to be without sin. God
in human flesh. But look at verse 16, Paul says,
"...for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
justified, the upright, those who stand before God shall live
by faith." What is that? By looking to Christ. Who is,
how is Christ presented in the gospel? He's the righteousness
of God. Look over at Romans chapter 10. That's how he's presented. He's the one who kept the law.
Fulfilled it in every jot and till. Didn't break one law, didn't
commit one sin, had no impure thoughts, unholy thoughts. Perfection
incarnate, right? That's how the gospel presents
Christ. That's why when you talk about
Christ as a sinner, you're not talking about the Christ who's
presented in the gospel, you're talking about some other Christ.
You see what I'm saying? Now yes, he was made sin, which
means as a substitute, as a sin-bearer and a sin-offering by imputation.
But look at Romans chapter 10 and look at verse 4. It says,
but Christ is the end or the fulfillment of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. So that's how the gospel presents
Christ and how it presents the law. It presents Christ as the
fulfiller of the law, the justice of the law, the precepts of the
law. So now if I'm going to try to be saved, try to stand before
God, me or Jacob, If I'm going to try to stand before God based
upon my law keeping, then I've got to equal what Christ did.
And there's not a Jacob on earth who can do that. Not a sinner
on earth can do that. By deeds of law shall no flesh
be justified in his sight. Look back at Isaiah chapter 28.
You remember, you remember when the Babylonian
king, and I can't remember his name
all of a sudden, but anyway, you remember the handwriting
on the wall? It's recorded in Daniel chapter 5 if you want
to read it. Not Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar, there you go. I knew
somebody would remember that name, Belshazzar. Remember, he
was making a mockery of the vessels that they'd stolen out of the
temple. They were disregarding and disrespecting God. And God
sent the vision of the hand, the handwriting on the wall,
which said, mene, mene, something, upharsin. I can't remember all
this stuff, but I have to go back and read it. But anyway,
you remember what it meant, how it was interpreted? Thou art
weighed in the balance and found wanting. The plumb line, you
see, was laid. And you didn't balance out. Well,
look here at Isaiah 28, look at verse 16. He's talking about
Israel, the southern kingdom here, who had rebelled against
God. And it says in verse 16, Therefore
thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried or tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Now, that's a prophecy of Christ
coming to save His people under the judgment of God's law as
our substitute. The one who shed His blood as
payment for our sins and brought forth righteousness. Well, look
at verse 17. Judgment also will I lay to the
line and righteousness to the plummet. Like a plumb line. And
the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies and the water
shall overflow the hiding place. You see, there's no hiding place
from the wrath of God but in Christ. And if we're not in Him
and stand washed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness
imputed to us before God, we Jacobs will not stand. We're
too small. We're just too small. We're too
sinful. We don't measure up. And my friend,
now listen to me, if you're a sinner saved by grace, if you're one
of that remnant of Jacob that he's talking about, the only
way you measure up right now at your best moment, at my best
moment, is as I stand upright in Christ. Now you mark it down. You mark it down. That's the
vision of the plumb line. Go back to Amos 7 now. The testimony of the plumb line,
Paul states it in Galatians 6.14, God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the rule,
he said, that we walk by. But now, in verse 10, there's
kind of a historical interlude here, and here's what he shows
us. First of all, he shows us how
the natural man responds. And you might notice, too, that
in the vision of the plumb line, in the first two visions, Amos
interceded for the remnant. He was a type of Christ interceding
for his people. In the vision of the plumb line,
there was no intercession. Did you notice that? And you
know what the lesson there is? Listen, no righteousness, if
you don't measure up, it's futile for anybody to intercede for
you. And that's what it's telling us. Without Christ, there is
no safety, no refuge from the wrath of God. We must measure
up. And the only way we can measure
up is to look to Christ and to rest in Him and to believe in
Him. Any of us, the best of us, not
just the worst of us, but the best of us, Well, then he shows
us, first of all, how the natural man responds to this message.
Look at verse 10. Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel... Now, you remember Bethel, that
was a place of idolatry under Jeroboam. Beth-Avon, remember
Hosea called it? A place of evil. He sent to Jeroboam,
king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in
the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear
all his words. We can't take this guy. That's
what he's saying. Can't take him. conspired against
them. It reminded me of what Paul,
when he wrote to the Galatians and he said, am I your enemy
because I tell you the truth? Amos is just speaking the truth
here. Best thing Jeroboam II could have ever heard, best thing
this Amazigh, the priest of Bethel, this idolatrous priest could
have ever heard was this message. This message of the locust, this
vision of the fire, this vision of the plumb line, the gospel
of God's grace in Christ. And yet he says, the land's not
able to bear all his words. Verse 11, where thus Amos saith,
Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led
away captive out of their own land. He's not saying anything
good about us. He's not telling us how to win
friends and influence people. He's not saying, Jeroboam, be
the best you can be. Explore your potential. He's
not saying that at all. He's not saying, Jeroboam, live
your best life right now. He's telling me the wrath of
God's coming down upon me and this nation's going to be destroyed.
The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
Neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
This is the condemnation that light has come into the world,
but men love darkness and hate the light because their deeds
were evil." Even their religion. Even their efforts to keep the
law. And Amaziah didn't like it, and Jeroboam didn't like
it. So here comes the prophet's vindication. Look at verse 14.
He says, "...then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, I was no
prophet, neither was I a prophet's son, but I was a herdman and
a gatherer of sycamore fruit." What Amos is saying here is I'm
not a professional at this. I wasn't brought up in the school
of the prophets. I was a farmer, a sheep herder. But he says in verse 15, and
the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said unto
me, go prophesy unto my people Israel. I'm telling you these
things because I've got no choice. The Lord told me to speak. And
he gave me the words to speak. Amos spoke the word of God. He
didn't speak his own opinion. He had no choice in the matter.
He was like Peter and the other apostles when they were brought
up in Acts chapter 5 before the court and they said, we told
you not to preach in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And Peter
answered and he said, well, we ought to obey God rather than
men. And that's what Amos is saying.
I'm not a professional prophet. I didn't do this for a living.
I wasn't brought up in the school of the prophets. I was a farmer
and a sheep herder and God pulled me out and gave me this word
and I've got no choice but to preach it to you. And that's
it. That's his vindication. This
is God's word, not mine, Jeroboam. Well, look at verse 16. Here's
God's judgment upon the king, and upon the priest, and upon
the nation. It says, Now, therefore, hear thou the word of the Lord.
Thou sayest, prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word
against the house of Isaac. Notice how they say the house
of Isaac there. That's the promise. God's promised us something.
That's what they're saying. He says, "...therefore thus saith
the Lord, thy wife shall be in harlot in the city, and thy sons
and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall
be divided by line, and thou shalt die in a polluted land,
a foreign land, and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth
of his land." They thought they were secure. That's why they
pleaded what they pleaded. They said in verse 16, "...prophesy
not against Israel." We're the people of God. and drop not thy
word against the house of Isaac." God's promised us some things.
There's no security. There's no security for this
nation. Well, what's he talking about? Well, he's showing how
God's going to bring judgment upon all who reject the God of
all grace, the God of the true Israel, the God of Isaac, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. There is eternal life. in Christ,
but nowhere else. And the doctrine of eternal life
is the doctrine of eternal security. But here there's no security
for Israel. There's security for the remnant
of Jacob. How shall Jacob stand? We'll
stand by the grace of God in Christ. And when we're given
eternal life by Jesus Christ, it is eternal life. That's what
it's called. It's never temporary life. It's
never perishable life. It's not life until you sin. It's eternal life in and by Christ. And it's based on an eternal,
unchangeable righteousness in Christ, which is our plumb line.
which protects us and hides us from the wrath of God. It's the
righteousness of God himself. It's not the righteousness of
man. Adam had that in perfection and it could not last. It's by
Christ. It's not that a saved sinner
is saved no matter what he does. I've heard people say that. Well,
you all believe once saved always saved. That means you can be
saved and do whatever you want. No, no, no. That's not what that
doctrine teaches. It's that the life God gives
the Jacobs who stand before Him in Christ, the sinner saved by
grace, is life that preserves him in the faith and life in
which he will, by the grace of God, persevere. It's that life of God within. Eternal life is more than a mere
profession. These folks here had a profession.
Prophesy not against Israel. We're Israel. We're the people
of God. We're the house of Jacob. God's
made us some promises. That was their profession. But
as you see, eternal life is more than a mere profession. It's
a life lived in and by the grace of God in Christ. And those who
profess it and later turn completely away from it never had it. What
Scripture teaches? Somebody said this, perseverance
may be defined as that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit
in the believer. by which the work of divine grace
begun in the heart is continued and brought to its fulfillment.
God working in us to do his good pleasure. And we can see this
great truth of eternal security expressed here when Amos asked
that question, by whom shall Jacob arise? For he's small.
How shall Jacob stand? He's small. That smallness, as
I said, it describes their number. But it also describes the problem
that we all have. We're all too small. We can't
save ourselves and we cannot keep ourselves saved. Don't ever
imagine you can. It's a gift of God's grace and
power in Christ. He who saves us, keeps us. He's
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. Not I'm able, but he is. Now Israel's a nation, they'd
been given specific covenant promises from God, but Israel
was largely a nation who professed faith in God, but whose lives
were far from faith. But as the Bible says, God is
rich in mercy. He established a small remnant
who would be saved. They're not sinless. But they
would, by the grace of God, believe in the covenant truth of the
coming Messiah, the Redeemer King. And it's truly a remnant,
and so one of the purposes of Amos is to recover this doctrine
of eternal life, perseverance of the saints, eternal security
from abuse. And there was a lot of abuse
in Israel at this time, because they conceived of themselves
to be the people of God and had those promises, but they disregarded
and denied the Lord of glory. They didn't want to accept that
the promises of God made to the nation were temporal and temporary,
and that there was no eternal salvation and life in that covenant
or in their works, but only in the coming Messiah. Look to Christ. That was the purpose of this
covenant. Show them their sin and drive them to Christ. And
the sins of the nation, even their religion, exposed the emptiness
of their claims and their profession. And I'll tell you, it's the same
today. with those who claim to be saved today, even those who
claim to be eternally secure, but whose lives do not evidence
God's grace. Now I admit, we have to be careful
there. Sometimes evidences we're looking
for are not scripture at all, but merely self-righteousness.
But I'll tell you one thing, it's a life continually characterized
by looking to Christ, looking to Him, resting in Him, feeding
upon His Word, This is our life. Peter said, you have the words
of life. Where else are we going to go?
We're too small for anything else. We're sons of Jacob and
we're not consumed because of his grace. All right.