Vertically True in a Crooked World | The Book of Amos | Gary Hamrick

for today we're in The Book of Amos because we're closing out the Old Testament by looking at these last 12 books of the Old Testament which are commonly known in your Bibles as the Minor Prophets again they are minor prophets because the books that they write are generally shorter and their messages are more succinct and for that reason I'm taking one of the minor prophets per Sunday with the exception of course of the Christmas holidays when we'll focus on the birth of Jesus but for today we're looking at the Book of Amos and just kind of giving you a summary theme from each of these closing twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament and so as I've been doing I'm gonna give you just a basic background on the book itself and on the writer so a little bit of information on Amos he was a prophet who was an ordinary unschooled guy whom the Lord chose to be a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel though he was from the southern kingdom of Judah God called him to speak to the Northern Kingdom remember that Israel is divided at this time they've gone through a civil war and so the larger part of the country to the north is known as Israel but the southern part of the country is known as Judah and Amos grows up in Judah in a little tiny town called Toccoa which about ten miles southeast of Bethlehem but God calls him to speak to the Northern Kingdom of Israel he is not mentioned anywhere else outside of his book his name Amos is the same in English as it is in Hebrew and the meaning of Amos in Hebrew is burden so not not the nicest name for your kid you know what should we name our kid big burden let's just call him Amos but perhaps his parents already had insight from the Lord that this guy would be raised up and cold as a prophet and that he would carry a burden for God's people that's what his name means so he was not a prophet by vocation and he admitted that he felt super unqualified for such a task in chapter 7 verse 14 you can look ahead or just listen he admits in Chapter 7 verse 14 he says I was no prophet nor was I the son of a prophet like I don't come from a family of prophets I didn't I did not attend actually this is something that was common in the Old Testament the school of the prophets I'm not trained or equipped as a prophet God just called me in this way and it also tells us at the end of verse 14 of chapter 7 what he was doing at the time he says I was a sheep breeder and a tender of sycamore fruit which is basically figs and so he wasn't really a prophet by vocation he was basically a sheep farmer and a fig picker that's what he was when God called him and so he's just an ordinary down-to-earth guy and those are often the people that God chooses you know God wants to be most glorified and so he will often choose just ordinary people to do his extraordinary work and Amos was such a guy now you're gonna see in his in his writings that because of his background just as a farmer and a fig picker he's he's a very down-to-earth plain talker and because of that there are some times that he just he just shoots straight you kind of know people like that that you just you know where they're coming from because they tell you like they're right out in the open and so Amos has no problem in chapter 4 verse 1 calling the women of Israel fat cows of Bashan I mean he's a sheep farmer just like you know what these ladies they're just cows of Bashan that's just the way he talks like you know don't don't kill the messenger I'm just telling you some of the ways that he talks here he ministers during the reigns of two Kings that tells us in verse one during the reigns of King Uzziah who is King of the South and Judah and also during the reign of King Jeroboam who's to the north in Israel and so his ministry fits somewhere mid eight century BC 760 to 750 BC there there abouts and even though his name is not mentioned outside of his book his ministry would basically fit the time of second Kings chapter 14 and 15 so with all that background let's take a look here in chapter one I'm just gonna highlight the first two verses and then we'll read from chapter 2 but in chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 it tells us the words of Amos who was among the sheep breeders of Toccoa which he saw notice these are visions Lord gives him and then he writes it down 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 roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem the pastures of the Shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers and then you'll notice in the verses following which I won't read through but starting in verse three into chapter two God then basically denounces eight nations / regions for their various sins and he starts with Damascus the same capital city we're talking Syria one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the world Damascus he denounces Damascus Syria he denounces also in Chapter 1 Gaza the same area today known as the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean he denounces tyre which is up in Lebanon and he denounces Edom and Ammon and Moab which are parts of the region today on a map which Jordan occupies and then in chapter 2 if you'll look ahead to chapter 2 he God denounces his own people he starts with Judah the southern kingdom and then he moves to Israel the northern kingdom which is where Amos will direct most of his attention but here in chapter 2 I'll just read these two pronouncements against Judah and then Israel in chapter 2 starting in verse 4 thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not turn away it's punishment by the way that's loosely translated like this for three sins I've had mercy but the fourth one it's gonna meet my judgment and he says because they have reading still in verse four because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept his Commandments there lies lead them astray lies which their fathers followed but I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and then verse six he denounces Israel to the north verse 6 thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not turn away its punishment because they sell the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals they pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor and pervert the way of the humble a man and his father go into the same girl to defile my holy name they lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge and drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God let's pause there and pray father as we look into your word today we pray that you would use this ancient prophet to speak to our lives even today Lord we understand that your truth is timeless and you have revealed things in your word for all generations including our own and as we just humble ourselves before you we just make ourselves available to the work of your Holy Spirit in our hearts I pray that you would move in us Lord and among us that you would stir us that we would see ourselves in this story in the sense that Lord that you would speak to us in the same ways that you spoke to a mice's generation that we would take to heart these things that we would not read this story as some ancient book but we would understand your truth even for our lives today so we love you Lord and we thank you that you first loved us and sent Jesus to die no cross for our sins Lord just stretch us mold us shape us more into the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I thank you for all those who are here today and those who are watching online as we lift up our worship and song we now lift up our lives before you as we study your word together bless our time in your word we ask in Jesus name and everybody said amen this passage that I just read here from chapter 2 between verses 4 through 8 is a very overwhelming picture for Amos he is describing the spiritual condition of the people of first Judah to the south and then primarily he focuses on Israel to the north he speaks here as we just read about injustice in the courts he speaks here about idolatry in the land he even writes about prostitution in the temple where one man sleeps with the same prostitute that his son sleeps with on a different day a man who keeps himself warm with a garment extorted from the poor a man who toasts his success with wine bought with money dishonestly gained and so this is the condition that Israel is in at this particular time and then Amos focuses his attention on Israel that's where he's primarily called and he talks about in chapter 4 if you just want a glance ahead of chapter 4 he talks about how God tried to get their attention through various means and methods and I'll summarize in chapter 4 verses 6 through 10 where God says I sent famine to try to get your attention because of your sins but you wouldn't listen he says also in that same passage I withheld rain to get your attention but you wouldn't listen he says also in those verses I struck your gardens and vineyards to get your attention but you wouldn't listen he goes on in that section to say I sent plagues as I did to Egypt to get your attention but he says you still have not returned to me so God continues to try to get their attention through various means and methods he says you know I I sent famine I I sent drought I even brought upon you some of the plagues I brought upon Egypt so that you would kind of connect the dots and realize these are kind of similar to what God did in Egypt and maybe he's trying to get our attention but time and time again they did not heed the warning of the Lord and so what would it take you know what does it take in our lives for God to get our attention what would it take here for the people of Israel to finally surrender to the lordship of the Lord and so in the middle of all of this so in chapter 2 amos kind of describes here's the climate the condition the spiritual atmosphere within israel and then in chapter 4 he says this is what God did to try to get their attention but that in the middle of this book it's only nine chapters in the middle in Chapter five God inserts a remedy to all this it's like okay these are the things you're doing this is how I tried to get your attention here's how if you would respond to me there will be mercy for you so look ahead in your Bibles to chapter 5 and i'll read verses 14 and 15 in chapter 5 verses 14 and 15 here god inserts a remedy he offers a remedy to all of this chapter 5 verse 14 underlined seek good and not evil that you may live so the Lord God of hosts will be with you as you have spoken verse 15 underline hate evil love good establish justice in the gate it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph speaking about Israel and so God here talks about renouncing evil and embracing good he said if you want me to be with me if you want me to be with you if you want my favour to be upon you if you want my grace to be with you it's going to start with you renouncing things that are evil and embracing things that are good and that's what he calls them to that's how verse 14 begins at some verse 15 begins there in chapter five verse 14 seek good and not evil verse 15 hate evil love good but here's the problem what if your definition of good and evil are not God's what if your idea of what is good and what is evil is not God's idea of what is good and what is evil this is the problem plaguing Israel they were self-determining people they decided that they knew best in regards to what was right and what was wrong they decided that they would define what was right and what was wrong and when that happens they have no hope of being saved because God says it begins with you saying what I say is evil and living according to what I say is good and when the people were not on the same page with God in terms of what was evil and what was good then there was no remedy for them because this is what he's saying here in the middle of chapter 5 it starts with you hating evil and loving good it starts with you seeking good and not evil when you're on the same page with me according to what is right and what is wrong then there's hope for you but if you're not on the same Paige there's no remedy for you this is what was plaguing Israel and frankly folks this is still true for us today it is the very problem facing our own culture every single one of us must answer this question in order to understand what is right and what is wrong I'm gonna pose the question to you you don't need to answer out loud I just want you to ponder it through the course of our study here's the question who or what is the objective moral standard who or what is the objective moral standard every single one of us must answer that question in order to understand what is right and what is wrong what is good and what is evil now let me give you a few clues as to what is not the objective moral standard first of all government government is not the objective moral standard secondly another clue culture in terms of what the most popular opinion is and the majority of belief is that does not define an objective moral standard and last clue you eye are not an objective moral standard the answer to the question at least insofar as if you really believed God and believed the Bible if you are a follower of Christ the only clear answer to that question who or what is the only objective moral standard is God God is not government not culture not any single one of us this is the very thing that God was wanting through the Prophet Amos Israel to understand that their idea of an objective moral standard was not right because they had made them Sal their own objective moral standard and not God and God comes along and says no no no we got to get in the same page about what is evil and what is good and and so long as you all are defining for yourselves what is evil and good you have no hope of being saved if however you get to the place where you seek good and not evil where you hate evil and love good if you get there on the same page with me then there's hope for you otherwise there's not so in Chapter 7 if you'll turn your Bibles to chapter 7 here's what God says to kind of get them in that direction to help them get on the same page with him in chapter 7 I'll read verses 1 through 9 here's what here's what aim is right thus the Lord God showed me behold he formed a locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop indeed it was the late crop after the Kings mowings and so it was when they had finished eating the grass of the land that I said O Lord God forgive I pray o that Jacob may stand for he is small so verse 3 the Lord relented concerning this it shall not be said the Lord thus verse 4 the Lord God showed me behold the Lord God called for conflict by fire and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory and then I said O Lord God cease I pray o that Jacob may stand for he is small so verse 6 the Lord relented concerning this this also shall not be said the Lord God verse 7 thus he showed me behold the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line with a plumb line in his hand and the Lord said to me Amos what do you see and I said a plumb line and then the Lord said behold I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel I will not pass by them any more the high places of Isaac shall be desolate and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam alright pause there your attention that last part sounds a little doom and gloom but he's actually inserting some mercy there otherwise he says if they don't respond there's no hope for them and I'm gonna bring the sword against the household of Jeroboam but in this passage I just read with you God shows Amos three visions the first two are visions about impending judgment the last one is a vision about undeserving mercy so if you'll notice in your Bibles look again at what we just read there in verse 1 he says thus the Lord showed me in verse 4 thus the Lord God showed me in verse 7 thus he showed me so these are three indications of three different visions that God chose Amos and the first one starting at verse 1 is about impending judgment that may come in the form of locusts now we talked about this when we were in the book of Joel one of the ways that God got the attention of his people was through a plague of locusts it was spelled out of the book of Deuteronomy that when God's people were in disobedience to him one method he used was to bring a swarm of locusts to destroy the agriculture it would affect them economically in every way it was it was a wake-up call and God shows Amos in advance I'm gonna send a swarm of locusts and in the first vision when Amos gets this in verse 2 he cries out to God and asks for mercy and he and he says Oh Lord God forgive I pray o that Jacob may stand free as small he says please you know don't do this to your own people don't bring the swarm of locusts and so it tells us in verse 3 God relented which is a statement of His mercy God did not bring the intended consequence upon his own people why because Amos stood of the gap he interceded he prayed he asked God for mercy please don't bring this upon your people and so God relented 2nd vision not of locusts the second vision that starts in verse 4 is about fire God says I'm gonna bring fire upon the land it's gonna destroy it's gonna devastate the land and again Amos in reaction to this second vision he cries out in verse 5 he says Oh Lord God cease I pray o the Jacob may stand for you small cuz please don't do this please Lord in your mercy I pray cease from bringing this calamity and verse 6 again the Lord relented and he did not bring the disaster upon the people that he intended what a man stood in the gap to interceded and prayed don't underestimate your prayer before God and how the Lord may in fact respond to your prayers and give mercy where otherwise there would have been consequences this is what happens here and then God gives Amos this third vision starting in verse 7 where there's this vision of the Lord standing on a wall and the wall was made with a plumb line and the Lord says to Amos in the vision what do you see here what do you see me holding here and Amos says a plumb line and God says exactly he says that there in the in the middle of verse 8 behold I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel I will not pass by them anymore in other words I'm not going to overlook their sins anymore I am setting in their midst a plumb line so here's basically a plumb line this is what builders and masons use when they are trying to make sure that a wall that they are building is vertically true it's just it's just a plummet a weight at the end of a string you've seen this I'm sure and so it is hung so that then Mason's or builders can make sure as they're constructing let's say for example like a brick wall that they are lining it up with the plumb line so that it is vertically true without without this standard you you can't just eyeball it and and make sure that something is straight after a while if it's just slightly off and you continue in that direction it's going to be way off when you finish building the wall and so builders and masons use something like this a plumb line and and it just it's a weight that dangles at the end of a string so that then everything can be measured and aligned with the plumb line to make sure that it is straight this is what God is saying he's saying Davis listen I am inserting myself in the culture to remind my people that I am the plumb line and that they must decide that their lives will be measured against me that their values will be aligned with mine that they will understand what is right and what is wrong because they look at the plumb line they understand Who I am and what my standard is because otherwise it's going to be crooked everything that is not aligned with God is otherwise crooked the only way we can be vertically true is to align ourselves with the plumb line and God is saying through the Prophet Amos I am the plumb line I am the standard by which all things must be measured by which everything must be aligned in order to understand what is vertically true and he says basically here that if the people would measure and align their lives according to his standard they would be the recipients of His mercy and that if they were willing to call evil what God called evil and if they would call good what God called good then they would be vertically true otherwise they're crooked they're crooked this goes for us today this speaks to our own generation you know people who say well the Bible is just you know a bunch of old stories it really has no you know application for our lives today I'm like you're not reading the same book I'm reading from because what was true in the eighth century BC is still true for us today God is the perfect standard by which all things must be measured and aligned in order to be vertically true the sad reality is however that our culture wants to persuade you that God is not the objective moral standard man is and that man determines what is right and what is wrong which is why everything presently in our culture from gender identity to the definition of marriage to laws pertaining to the unborn have all been rewritten to suit the standard of man it was not always so our own founding document the Declaration of Independence stated that the very basis for common law in America was derived from quoting now the laws of nature and nature's God now that phrase is not some poetic prose that's actually a legal term that was lifted from the blackstone commentaries of law which was the basis for law in England and in America and in Blackstone's commentaries on law in volume one section two that phrase the laws of nature and nature's God is defined as quote the will of God for his creation as revealed to us in the holy scriptures end quote in other words our founding fathers when they adopted William Blackstone's commentary on law and his definition about the basis for common law in our country being the laws of nature nature's God defined as the will of God for his creation as revealed to us in the holy scriptures it means that our founding fathers believed that God and the Bible served to be the plumb line for our nation and our nation's laws that was the original intent but unfortunately in recent years we have seen a swift erosion of that principle and thus our culture is not vertically true this is not unique to our own generation every generation from the beginning of time has tried to determine and define right and wrong apart from God because man's basic instinct is to have man at the center of his world and so man thinks that he can best define and determine what is right and what is wrong and every generation that has tried to do that apart from God does so at its own peril we see it time and again and our generation is no different and that's why the Bible describes in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that's why the Bible defines every generation that is tried to define right and wrong apart from God as being the objective moral standard as a crooked generation that's actually the word that is used in Scripture in both the ancient Hebrew and Greek Old Testament New Testament I'm going to give you a couple of verses this is how our culture is defined this is how every generation has been defined by God when every generation tries to define right and wrong apart from him being the perfect plumb line as a crooked generation I'm gonna read from Deuteronomy 32 verses 3 to 5 you can just listen as I read for I proclaim the name of the Lord ascribe greatness to our God he is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways are justice a God of truth and without injustice righteous and upright is he okay so Moses is speaking there about out God's the bloodline perfect standard right and wrong and then he adds speaking about his own generation in Deuteronomy 32 verse 5 they have corrupted themselves they are not his children because of their blemish a perverse and crooked generation and then reading from the New Testament in Philippians chapter 2 and I'm actually going to put this verse on the screens because it carries with it a mandate for all of us that I want us to see and here's what Philippians 2 says verses 14 to 16 do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast the word of life in other words from this passage here in Philippians 2 God says that in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation I want you to be vertically true to me I want you to measure your lives by me as the plumb line that's what he's saying to us regardless of how the world might define right and wrong every generation since the beginning of time trying to do life without aligning itself with God is crooked that might be so but he says to us I want you to be vertically true in a crooked generation and he says it starts here with you and I being blameless and harmless are the two words used here in the passage blameless meaning not perfect but without accusation living a life in such a way that we don't give in to the crooked ways of our generation see in order for us to really effectively shine in a crooked generation we must first examine our own hearts to make sure there's nothing crooked in our own lives so he says I want you to be blameless without accusation and I want you to be harmless now other translations ESV use the words innocent instead of harmless the NIV uses the word pure instead of harmless but you get the idea God is calling us to a different standard and he says if you are a follower of mine I want you to align yourselves with me God is saying I am the perfect standard I am to be the plumb line of your life so I want you to live blameless and harmless lives in a crooked and perverse generation as you shine the light as you as you are an example of Jesus and as you hold on to the word of life which is Scripture as you align your lives with the plumb line of God and his word I want you to be witnesses in this crooked generation of Jesus this is what he's saying to us here in Philippians chapter 2 so it's both a warning and a calling the warning is we live in a crooked generation it's no different from every other generation we live in a crooked generation don't be crooked with it live your lives in a way that are blameless and harmless honorable before God a witness and an example in this generation and then the calling is as you shine forth Christ to be vertically true to God to be examples in our generation listen friends don't give in to the philosophy of this age or the customs of this culture whenever it does not align with God as the standard we have to be wise about these things the Bible warns us let me read from Colossians 2 verse 8 Colossians 2:8 says see to it that no one takes you captive through Hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ he says you know listen there's there's the chance and this is the warning there in Colossians 2:8 there's the chance of being taken captive of having our minds being held hostage to the philosophy of this world to the mindset of this world to the ideas and values of this culture and Paul writes circulate Colossians 2:8 says don't let that happen don't don't be taken captive by the philosophies and the traditions of this world rather than on the basic principles of Christ guard your hearts against it watch out for the things that are being taught and the things that are being espoused in our own day Romans 12:2 Paul says a similar thing in Romans 12:2 listen what he says be not conformed any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good pleasing and perfect will and he starts out there in Romans 12:2 by saying listen there's there a world mindset there's a pattern of this world do not be conformed to it any longer be transformed we have to have a new mind a new way of thinking new values new belief system so that he adds you may be able to test and approve what God's will is his good pleasing and perfect will probably the number one question I often get from people its pastor pastor G will you pray for me to know God's will for my life okay we all want to know God's will right we all you know we all want to make sure that we're in step with what God wants for our lives the problem is not as many or is willing to do what it takes in order to discern the will of God because in Romans 12:2 what I just read there in order to test and approve what God's will is is good pleasing and perfect will we have to first no longer be conformed to the pattern of this world how do we think that we're going to be able to discern the will of God if we are still living according to the pattern of this world so that's that's something we have to understand be not conformed any longer to the pattern of this world they say there's a pattern of this world there's an ideal of this world there are values of this world there are principles of this world and the Bible calls us to live according to God's standard so I revisit the question I asked earlier who or what is the objective moral standard of your life is God the plumb line of your life does he determine are you aligned with what God says is right what God says is wrong are you willing to live that way are you willing to surrender your life to the standard of God in terms of the way that you behave and think and some of the things you do and the way you speak and the way you interact and the way you treat your spouse the way you raise your kids the way you manage money everything about our lives must align with the standard of God is he the plumb line of your life and by the way when Christ returns everything that is presently crooked about our culture will be made straight because Isaiah the prophet tells us when Christ returns he'll make the crooked places straight again I close with the words of Isaiah the prophet from chapter 40 verses 4 and 5 every Valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken amen amen [Applause] [Music] let's pray together father examine our hearts see if there are any crooked ways in our lives things that maybe we have compromised along the way because we've aligned ourselves more with the standard of this world rather than on your standard it's easy to happen our culture is very influential there's pressure often to try to conform to the pattern of this world to embrace the mindset and the values of our world and yet Lord many times those things don't align with your perfect standard forgive us when we've compromised even maybe right now you're bringing to our mind different ways that we have conformed ourselves to the pattern of this world we've allowed this world to be the plumb line rather than you forgive us Lord we trust that the same exhortation you intended for a mice's generation is still relevant for us you stand on a wall with a plumb line in your hand and you tell us you are that plumb line you are the standard Lord have we aligned ourselves with you are we crooked in some way have we allowed the mindset of this world to shape and influence us we've drifted away from your perfect standard we've redefined things along with the world instead of holding true to what you say is vertical forgive us Lord how could we expect to shine the light of Jesus in a crooked world if we're crooked with it so Lord begin with us that we would change some things in our own behavior or language or practices so that we would be true to you as the plumb line of our lives and then use us Lord to shine forth the light of Jesus as we hold on to scripture as we make you known in our world to effect this generation one day you're coming again Lord and you'll make every crooked thing straight again but until that day find us faithful and use us in our own generation to shine the light of Jesus we pray in Jesus name and all God's people said amen god bless you you

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

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Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Chapel Leesburg Va, Bible, Sermons, Teaching, Faith, Christian, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, Hamrick, Calvary, Chapel, Biblical sermons, knowing God, Leesburg, Pastor Gary Hamrick, hamrick gary, Plumb line, standard, culture, what is your moral compass, what is your moral plumb line, vertically true, moral plumb line, what defines your moral standard, what is morality, morality is subjective

Id: VQ1dA_s7aic

Length: 40min 49sec (2449 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 09 2019