This is what the LORD says:
“For three sins of Judah,
even for four, I will not turn back my wrath.
Because they have rejected the law of the LORD
and have not kept his decrees,
because they have been led astray by false gods,
the gods their ancestors followed,
I will send fire upon Judah
that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”
This is what the LORD says:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not turn back my wrath.
They sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
as upon the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.
They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
they drink wine taken as fines.
“I destroyed the Amorite before them,
though he was tall as the cedars
and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots below.
“I brought you up out of Egypt,
and I led you forty years in the desert
to give you the land of the Amorites.
I also raised up prophets from among your sons
and Nazirites from among your young men.
Is this not true, people of Israel?”
declares the LORD.
“But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
“Now then, I will crush you
as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
The swift will not escape,
the strong will not muster their strength,
and the warrior will not save his life.
The archer will not stand his ground,
the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
and the horseman will not save his life.
Even the bravest warriors
will flee naked on that day,”
declares the LORD.
A Shepherd
Amos was a shepherd. He also tended sycamore trees. He was not a professional clergy or a professional prophet. He was not an author of best-selling books. He was not a TV personality, or a leader of a popular religious movement. He was just an ordinary person working an ordinary job for his day and time. Yet, he was an obedient servant of God. So, God called him to be his messenger to Israel and to Israel’s neighbors.
Amos wrote what the Lord showed him concerning Israel “two years before the earthquake.” He described the Lord God as roaring (like a lion) from Zion and thundering from Jerusalem. And, then he proceeded to tell each of Israel’s neighbors that, because of their many sins, God would not turn back his wrath. Then God addressed his people Israel, beginning with Judah, and told them the same thing. He would not turn back his wrath, because of their many sins. And, spiritual Israel (the church) today is no different.
Rejected the Law
They rejected the law of the Lord and did not keep his decrees. Under the New Covenant with God via Jesus’ shed blood on the cross for our sins, we are not under the Old Testament laws of the Old Covenant relationship between God and his people, but this does not make us free to indulge in the sinful nature just because we are under grace. Jesus summarized the law into two commands: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt. 22:37-40).
John said we know that we have come to know God if we obey his commands (1 Jn. 2:3), and he also said that love for God is to obey his commands, and his commands are not burdensome (1 Jn. 5:3). As well, he told us that love for God results in love for one another, but if we hate our brother, then we don’t really love God (see 1 Jn. 4:20). So, the law we are now under is a law of love. If we truly love God and we love our fellow man, then we are obeying the law. If we don’t love God, i.e. if we don’t obey his commands, and if we don’t turn from our sin, then we are rejecting both the law of the Lord as well as we are rejecting God himself. If we don’t love our fellow man, i.e. if we hate, cheat, steal, commit adultery against, murder, or take advantage of our fellow human beings, then that is not love. Love is giving of our own selves to meet the legitimate needs of others, including, and most importantly to meet their need to know Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior.
Been Led Astray
They had been led astray by false gods. A false god can be anything and anyone who replaces God’s rightful place in our hearts, minds, devotion and commitments. They are different for different people. A false god could be a false religion, a person we idolize, a spiritual leader we follow, teachings and philosophies of men, sports or sports figures, entertainment or entertainment personalities, games, movies, TV, recreation, relaxation, physical fitness, food, drugs and alcohol, pornography, gossip, careers, notoriety, fame, fortune, prestige, acceptance, and/or religious activity, etc. Anything that robs us of our pure devotion to Jesus Christ, which leads us into sin, and/or which consumes our time, heart, emotion, devotion, resources, energies and money can be a god in our lives.
One of the tests to see if something is a god in your life is to see if it is something you could do without. Could you remove it from your life today and not feel any pain or anguish over its removal? Another test is to see if your potential god is something that is leading you to sin. The Bible tells us that we need to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us, so that we might run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Some people struggle with lust and yet they take in movies and TV shows that promote sexual promiscuity, adultery, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. We can’t resist the devil if we are giving him audience on a regular basis via our entertainment choices. Still another test to see if something is our idol is to test it against the word of God and against our devotion to the Lord. What consumes most of our time, affection and attention? What do we talk about the most? What is uppermost on our minds throughout the day? Is it God? - Or our idol?
Sell the Righteous
They sold the righteous for silver and the needy for sandals. This has to do with taking advantage of people less fortunate than us or those who are truly in the right while we are clearly in the wrong. And, we do this for some type of reward. This one is difficult for me to identify with, as we don’t live in a society that makes a practice of selling people (literally). Yet, there are other ways we can sell people for some type of reward. Selling has to do with exchanging something for something else. It can involve persuasion in trying to sell someone on an idea or a philosophy, etc. Still, it can incorporate sacrificing one thing for something else you want, including sacrificing integrity, honesty, love for mankind, etc., in order to gain some type of reward. Marketing is usually involved, and marketing generally involves some kind of manipulation in order to convince people to buy a particular product.
My husband and I have gone through church planting training, plus we have been church planters, and have been involved in church ministry most of our lives (about 40 years). So, I speak from personal knowledge and experience here. In our training, we were taught to take advantage of people, to use people and then throw them away, and to manipulate people to do what we wanted them to do, etc., but we didn’t buy into that. I have seen church leaders do these things, though, because their goal of building a big ministry superseded the loss of a few human beings they had to stomp on in the process.
I have seen pastors lie, deceive, cheat, and manipulate their people in order to get what they wanted out of them or to reach some kind of goal for building a big ministry. I have seen or heard of pastors reject and even invite to leave those within their congregation who were not on the same path as them in trying to build these big ministries of men, i.e. they have rejected and cast aside the righteous in order to gain fame, fortune or success in ministry. So, many clergy today are guilty of selling the righteous and of trampling on the poor (poor in spirit – humble). And, God has even sent some of these righteous individuals to them as messengers to the church, and they have cast them aside because they did not say what they wanted to hear, because it didn’t fit with their man-made goals.
Promiscuous and Immoral
They were sexually immoral. I don’t have the statistics in front of me, but I know there is a very high percentage of today’s clergy here in America who have admitted to struggling with pornography. And, those are just the ones who have admitted it. Pastors work in offices alone, and today’s pastor has a computer and access to the internet, and oftentimes no or little accountability. Many pastors, by their own admission, watch much TV and movies, and not all of the shows or movies are G rated, either.
Many have extra-marital affairs or flirtations with women in their church congregations who come to them for counseling, or with their church secretaries, again because there has not been established a strong system of accountability for the pastor. Pastors are often overworked and underpaid. They take upon themselves the responsibility to make sure the church operates smoothly, often taking more upon themselves than they should. Oftentimes their prayer lives are sacrificed, which then just makes them more vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. Because they are falling into sexual sin, they are not able to help their congregants to not fall into sexual sin, and many pastors will revert to a watered-down gospel message that alleviates the guilt of their sin and the sins of their flock.
Since many of today’s churches have reverted to a false and watered-down gospel message, and they are teaching and are being taught that it is not necessary for them to turn from their sins or to obey God, and that God is pleased with them no matter what they do, then this removes the conviction of the Holy Spirit over sin, and the congregants feel as though they can continue in sin now that they are under grace. There really is not motivation to come away from their sin. They feel they have their ticket into heaven, and that is all that really matters, but they are missing the whole point of why Christ died and what the Christian life is really all about. Many will be told, “I never knew you; depart from me,” when they come before God on the Day of Judgment.
Judgment
We serve an awesome God! He is totally loving, forgiving, compassionate, gentle, kind, tenderhearted, merciful, gracious and patient toward us. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Yet, he is not complacent about our sin. He commands that we turn from sin and that we walk in obedience to him. If we don’t enter into relationship with him under that premise, then maybe we have not really come to know him. One day he is going to judge the earth and the people on the earth. And, he will judge his church for their rebellion, spiritual adultery, idolatry, and their refusal to repent. Right now he is speaking to us very gently. One day he will not be so gentle but he will roar and thunder. Yet, he will do so because he loves us. His purpose will always be to restore us and to renew our fellowship with him. Yet, don’t wait until he has to judge us. Turn from your sins today and obey him and follow Jesus wherever he leads you. You will be glad you did!
Keep On! / An Original Work / December 15, 2011
Praise the Lord! Praise Him now!
Before Him humbly bow.
Repent of your sins now.
Turn to Him; obey now.
Walk in fellowship with Him daily,
And abide in His truth.
He will forgive you,
And He’ll cleanse you,
And He’ll give you new life.
Trust in Him. He is truth.
He will not forsake you.
Rest in Him. Let Him lead.
He will meet all your needs.
Obey His ev’ry word to you,
And listen to all He says.
He will be faithful
In all His promises,
So rest in Him.
Do not bow – gods of men.
Let Christ rule in your hearts.
Do not stop – share your faith.
Keep on: speak Jesus’ name.
Share His truth with all He leads you to
Be a witness for Him.
Never yield to sin
Against your God.
Obey Him in ev’ry way.
http://youtu.be/3DB0CKmC1Gc
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