Thank you for listening to Servants for Christ. In all that we do, in all that we say, we want to give glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning us in as we get into the wonderful Word of God. For the next few minutes, let's take the beautiful Word of God and share it with each and every one of you as we have a sense of anticipation to take the Word of God and to listen to its truth for each and every one. As we continue on in our series in the book of Amos, amen. Amos was a profound and challenging prophet in the Old Testament. and as Amos is notable for his strong social justice and ethical spiritual message during the eighth century BCE. His ministry took place during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam II of Israel, a period that was marked by prosperity and moral decay. While the nation enjoyed material wealth and military success, There was an outward appearance of prosperity, but the reality was they were full of inequality and idolatry. They had disconnected and had formed some of the worst things in their life. In the book of Amos, they begin to fail to have true worship for the Lord God Almighty. When we look at the acronym of Amos, A-M-O-S, it spells us a spiritual message. The A spells out accountability to God. Amos 3.2, you only have I known for all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities. You see, God holds his people accountable for their actions. Israel's privilege brought responsibility and the same applies to us today. We must live in obedience to his commands for we are answerable to him. And so the A stands for accountability to God, but the M stands for moral justice and righteousness. In Amos chapter 5, verse 24, the Bible says, but let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream. Amos emphasizes God's demand for social justice and moral righteousness. You know, true worship of God is expressed not only in religious rituals, but in justice and fairness toward others, especially those that are poor and oppressed and less fortunate. And so the A is accountability to God. The M is moral justice and righteousness. The O stands for obedience over sacrifice. I'm glad that he tells us in Amos chapter five, verses 21 through 23, he says, I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. So God despises empty rituals and sacrifices that are not accompanied by a heart of obedience. He calls for genuine worship. that flows from a life of faithfulness and righteousness rather than mere religious formality. And then we look lastly at the S. Not only is the A accountability to God, the M moral justice and righteousness, the O obedience over sacrifice, But the S stands for sure judgment, but hope for restoration. Amos 9, verse 11 tells us in that day, will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. Although judgment for sin is inevitable. Amos ends with a promise of restoration. God's judgment is not the final word. He offers hope for renewal and restoration to those who turn to him in repentance. And so the book of Amos teaches us that God demands accountability from his people, calling them to moral justice, righteousness, and he values obedience more than sacrifice and religious observances. And so there will be a sure judgment for sin because God provides a message of hope for restoration to those who seek him. And so we talked about Amos chapter one, verses one and two, the fig picker turned prophet. And Amos chapter one, starting with verse three, all the way down to the end of chapter one and chapter two, all the way down to verse 16 of Amos chapter two, the lion's roll, a call to repentance, a man. And so as we look and we realize that as the lion began to roar, judgment on the other nations, it was a judgment against Ammon. Ammon was judged for violence against the pregnant women during the war. Devaluing human life and innocent lives will bring judgment, especially upon America. The judgment against Moab, the judgment against Judah, that began to come out, and the judgment against Israel. And then we saw in chapter three, a divine wake-up call in Amos chapter three, amen, because Israel's unique relationship with God, amen, that Israel's chosen status increases their responsibility to obey God. In other words, spiritual privilege requires accountability and those that are blessed with much are expected to follow God closely and the destruction that would be coming, amen. Amos chapter four, we talked about preparing to encounter the Almighty, amen, because judgment was on the wealthy women, that the wealthy women that oppressed the poor that faced the severe judgment. And so God's repeated warning, ye have Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord, amen. Despite many warnings through famine, drought, pestilence, and war, Israel did not repent. They were ignoring God's repeated calls for repentance that hardened the heart and that brought about judgment. He said, prepare to meet thy God, amen. And so the time for judgment was near. Israel must face the consequences. And then we, Talk about Amos chapter five, the way to life from destruction to deliverance. There was a call to repentance. Seek ye me and ye shall live. God calls Israel to repentance, offering life if they would turn back to him. God's desire is not to destroy. but to save. He invites us to seek him and to live, amen. And so it was the day of the Lord, amen. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord to what end it is for you. You see, Israel mistakenly seeks the day of the Lord thinking it will bring salvation, but it brought judgment. Be careful in presuming on God's grace without true repentance. And then we saw in Amos chapter six, that we saw God's invitation and indictment to Israel, amen, because the woe to complacent were the proud. And so woe to those that were at ease in Amos chapter six. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. The wealthy and the powerful in Israel were condemned for their complacency and their pride, their comfort and luxury that led to spiritual complacency. We must always stay alert to our spiritual condition. There's the certainty of judgment. And so we see the arrogance and the ignoring the plight of others that will always bring divine judgment. That brings us up to chapter seven. In this, we see fire on the horizon, God's judgment, amen, and mercy. And so in this, we look and we see that through that fire on the horizon, Amen of what the Lord is wanting to do in our lives a man each and every one of us a man We open up with a word of prayer and then we'll get in and read the Word of God father We come before you today with humble hearts asking for your forgiveness of our sins cleanse us from all unrighteousness help us to put on your full armor of God and each and every day that we may stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. Cover us with the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit. Teach us through your word today and let our lives be transformed by your grace in Jesus Christ. Thank you for our salvation, Lord. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. Again, we talk about fire on the horizon, God's judgment and mercy. You know, There was a story shared by a small town fire department that received a distress call about a forest fire that was spreading rapidly toward the town. And when the first responders arrived, they realized the blaze was consuming everything in its path, including the water sources that they had counted on for defense. With little hope left, They made desperate attempts to save what they could. Miraculously, just when the fire was about to overtake the town, a sudden downpour of rain extinguished the flames. The town was saved, not by their efforts, but by an act of mercy from above. Similarity, the prophet Amos witnessed a consuming fire in his vision, a fire of judgment set by God, a fire that divided all in its path, and yet, in the midst of judgment, mercy was extended. And so, I'm glad that when we look, we realize that here is a picture of judgment being turned back by prayer, amen, because some of the tragedies and the crisis that occur in our lives could be delayed or turned back at least for a while. And when we look at this, nevertheless, the teaching of God's holy words, severe trials can at times be pushed back or even prevented, a fact almost too wonderful to understand, because how can this happen? through inaccessory prayer is how it can happen. because the Bible teaches a great lesson on intercessory prayer. And so I'm glad that through that intercessory prayer, each and every one of us have that wonderful recognition that the importance of seeking the Lord in behalf of our family and our friends, as well as the matters on local, national, and international scale. And so we'll be talking about in verses one through three, vision one, the devouring locus, a picture of judgment turned back by prayer. In the second vision, a great fire, a picture of the power of continuous intercessory prayer. And then lastly, from verses seven down to verse 17, the plumb line, the third vision, a picture of the surety of judgment. Here, that first vision was that of a devouring locust. Amos actually saw the Lord preparing to discipline the nation of Israel through a locust invasion. First, the destructive attack was to take place right before the main harvest, the second crop that was harvested in the summer. In the early harvest, her first crop was turned over to the king as payment for taxes to support the government and the armed forces. In the vision, Amos saw the locusts strip the land clean. No growth whatsoever was left. The devastation threatened the very survival of the people and their livestock. The people were helpless, gripped by a spirit of hopelessness and despair, for they knew that only suffering and death by famine would follow. Amos was traumatized by the sight, jolted by the visionary state, and immediately he began to cry out to the Lord, begging Him to forgive the people of their sins. If the Lord did not forgive them, the nation would not survive. And so we look and we see that through this, that although the people consider themselves a great nation, in the sense of prosperity and military power. They were really very small when compared to the awesome power of God. Unless God had mercy upon the northern kingdom of Israel, there was no chance of survival. And so the prophet stood in the gap between the people's awful sins and the holy wrath of God. He stood as an intercessor in behalf of the people, begging God to forgive their terrible evil. And so, when we read He then turned back the judgment and gave the people more time to repent of their weakness. And in this experience, God demonstrated His long suffering, His patience with people, even though they had continually rejected and cursed His holy name. By withdrawing His judgment, the Lord demonstrated His love and the longing of his heart for people to repent and turn back to him. And so I'm glad that we look and we see, first of all, the punishment observed that is there, amen. And so Amos saw the vision of fire. a symbol of God's righteousness, amen. But I'm glad that here when we look and we realize that God is so good because Amos describes a vision God showed him in the vision, a swarm of locusts and grasshoppers that appeared right after the initial crops. Listen to the reading of the word of God in Amos chapter seven, verse one. Thus has the Lord God showed unto me and behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the ladder growth and lo it was the ladder growth after the king's mornings and so you know what When we look and realize that Amos, as he describes that vision, the locusts, the initial crops had been harvested for the king, because he got the first harvest. But the locusts were sent to destroy the latter growth, which was the remaining crops. This would be devastating for the people. And we see that he says, and it came to pass that when they 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. He's talking about after seeing the vision of the land being destroyed, that Amos pleads with God for mercy, asking him to forgive the people. Amos intercedes for Israel, referring to the nation as Jacob, and acknowledging that Israel is weak and unable to withstand such devastation. And then the third verse. The Lord repented for this. It shall not be, saith the Lord. In other words, God hears Amos' plea and he relents. promising that his disaster will not happen. Repeated, it means that God changed his mind in response to Amos' prayer. And so he intervened, praise God. Boy, ain't it good when the Lord can intervene? And so we see the first vision, the devouring locus, a picture of judgment turned back by prayer, amen. So the punishment is being observed, amen. the fire of God's judgment, His wrath, amen, that was a result of sin. And like fire, sin spreads and it consumes everything that it touches. And so, we see the destruction of the deep as well. Even the natural resources like springs and rivers were consumed, symbolizing the total devastation that sin brings. And so sin affects not just the sinner, but everything connected to them, according to Ezekiel. The soul that sinneth it shall die. And so the reality of that divine judgment as well, because God's judgment is real and no one can escape it unless they repent. And so we see that first vision of the devouring locust, a picture of judgment turned back by prayer in verses 1, 2, and 3. But then in verses 4, 5, and 6, we see the Word of God that talks about the great fire, a picture of the power of continuous and intercessory prayer that we read starting in verse 4, the Bible says, hath the Lord God shoot unto thee and behold the Lord God called to contend by fire and it devoured the great deep and did eat up a part." In other words, God shows Amos another vision and this time of a great fire that consumed not only parts of the land, but also the great deep, to all the water sources, symbolizing total destruction. In verse five, he said, then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee, by whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small? Once again, Amos pleads with God for mercy, repeating his concern that Israel or Jacob is too small and weak to survive such a judgment. And then, verse six, the Lord repented for this. In other words, this also shall not be, saith the Lord God. In other words, for the second time, God listens to Amos' plea, and he decides not to bring this destruction upon Israel. And so, what a tremendous blessing to see that what the Lord is doing, amen, through all of these things, amen. And so I'm glad that God gave Amos sermons to preach, amen, because so far there were eight prophecies and three sermons. And we, chapter seven, we read of five visions. In fact, these five visions take us nearly to the end of the book, to chapter nine and chapter 10. But God gave Amos sermons to preach. Well, we discover that God shows Amos some things to tell. And all of them come from God, the visions of doom. Through, we look at fire on the horizon, God's judgment and mercy. And so, when we look and we begin to see what God is doing, amen. we see that fire on God's judgment and mercy because out of this, we see that second vision that was of the consuming fire, a symbol of severe drought. In fact, the drought was so severe that it scorched the land, dried up all the waters, the entire water supply, the springs, the streams, the rivers had all dried up. All vegetation throughout the nation was withering, dying under the sun's blazing heat. People and animals by the thousands were suffering and dying from thirst. Once more, the prophet was jolted out of his visionary state and began to cry out to the Lord, begging him to forgive the people's sins. In comparison to God's awesome power, the people, the nation, were as nothing ever so small. But Amos again stood as the intercessory between the people's shameful wickedness and the Lord's holy perfect justice. Amos is an excellent example of an intercessor, a person who prays in behalf of others. And what remarkable example. Amos is pleading with the Lord in his people's behalf, state the hand of God's judgment. Every one of us should continually be interceding for others, standing in the gap between God and them, pleading with God to meet their needs. How many of us and family friends would have been delivered if we had stood before God as a true intercessor? Boy, my mother was an intercessor. She stood in the gap for our family many, many, many times. How many would have been saved from a life of sin, from disease, self-destruction, terrible accidents, grave misfortune, financial difficulties, divorce, irresponsible behaviors? God answers prayer. And he says, you have not because you ask not in James chapter 4 verse 2. Intercession means not just praying for others, but repetitively, persistently praying for them. It is laying hold of the Lord daily in the interest of someone else or an impending crisis. It is refusing to give up until the Lord hears and He answers, praise God. ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you, for everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Boy, thank God as there were fire on the horizon, God's judgment and thank you for God's mercy that we see, praise God. And so, each and every one of us as we go through life, we begin to realize that we see God's mercy that what God is doing, amen, with each and every one of us. We see the first vision, the divine locus, and a picture of judgment turned back by prayer, verses one, two, and three. But we see the second vision, the great fire, a picture of the power of continuous intercessory prayer in verses four, five, and six, amen. And so I'm glad that each and every one of us, as we look and we realize what God is truly doing, amen, in all of our lives, we see that punishment that was observed, amen, the prayer that was offered, amen, the heart of intercession, the need for mercy, praise God, the power of prayer, that the course of judgment that was altered, that God listens to the prayers of the righteous, amen. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. But third, we see the pity that is obtained because the Lord repented for this. And I'm glad that it brings us to our third vision, amen, that we have. because I'm glad that each and every one of us, as we look and realize, let me read verses four, five, and six, amen, and then I'm gonna go on and read verses seven down to verse 17, amen, because of the time. He said in verse four, for who lie upon beds of ivory, or hang on, excuse me, I'm in the wrong one. In verse six, he says, of chapter seven, there we go. He says, thus has the Lord God showed unto me, and behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep and did eat up a part. Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech you. By whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small, and the Lord repented for this. This also shall not be, says the Lord God. And so I'm glad that when we look and we saw that the fire and through the intercessory that God began to work a great miracle of mercy in the making. But it brings us again to our third vision, the plumb line, a picture of the surety of judgment. In verses seven, down to verse 17. We'll go ahead and read those and then get back and explain it because he says in verse seven, thus he shewed me, behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line with a plumb line in his hand. In other words, in the third vision, God shows Amos a wall built with a plumb line, a tool used to ensure straightness. And God Himself is standing by the wall, holding the plumb line, symbolizing judgment in God's standard of righteousness. In verse 8, we see also... 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 Israel, and I will not again pass by them anymore. God says that he's measuring Israel by the standards of the plumb line. He'll no longer overlook their sins. Judgment is coming because they failed to meet his standards. In verse nine, the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with a sword." God's declared that the places of idol worship, those high places, and the religious centers of Israel will be destroyed. And the dynasty of King Jeroboam will also face divine punishment. In verse 10, then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, said to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. Amaziah the priest of Bethel reports Amos to King Jeroboam, accusing him of treason and claiming that his prophetic words are too harsh for the nation to handle. In verse 11, it goes on, it says in the King James, for thus Amos said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. Amaziah is summarizing Amos' message, excusing him of predicting the death of King Jeroboam and the exile of Israel, which was a part of Amos' prophecy of judgment that comes out of this study. In verse 12, also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophecy there. Because Amaziah tells Amos, I want you to leave Israel. I want you to go to Judah in prophecy. Basically tell him to stop causing trouble in Israel and take his prophecy somewhere else. But in verse 13, the King James says, but prophecy not again anymore at Bethel, for it is the king's chapel and it is the king's court. So Amaziah tells Amos not to prophecy at Bethel anymore because it's the religious center of Israel, closely associated with the king's authority. But he goes on in verse 14. then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. Amos responds to Amaziah explaining that he wasn't a professional prophet by birth or by training. He was simple, a shepherd and a laborer who tended the sycamore trees and that his call to prophecy came directly from God. And verse 15, and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, go, prophecy unto my people Israel. And so Amos continues to explain that God personally called him to be a prophet while he was tending the flock and commanded him to prophecy to Israel, thus making it clear that he's on a divine mission. And verse 16, now therefore hear thou the word of the lord thou sayest prophecy not against israel and drop not thy word against the house of isaac so amos addresses his amaziah directly face to face repeating his command not to prophecy against israel or the house of Isaac as reference to Israel, but Amos continues by delivering the word of the Lord regardless. In verse 17, therefore thus saith the Lord, thy wife shall be a harlot in the city of thy sons, and thy daughters shall fall by this word, and thy land shall be divided by lime, and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. Amos delivers and he says I'm not gonna be stopped my message is going forth a judgment on Amaziah on his family that will suffer on the land that'll be taken and they'll die in exile and Israel will be taken into captivity as a part of God's judgment boy When we look at all of this And we see the third vision was that the Lord himself standing by a wall, holding a plumb line in his hand with a piece of string with a weight attached to the end and on that wall, that plumb line, that straight. Amos heard the Lord ask him what he saw, and Amos immediately replied that he saw a plumb line. It was then that the Lord explained what he was doing. The Lord was checking the people to see if they were plumb, in line, and straight with the word of God. And what God discovered was disastrous. The people were crooked and they were out of line. The plumb line was a symbol of God's holy word. I wonder how crooked America is today when the plumb line would be pulled across America and each and every one of the states through the White House and every country in our nation today. He found them to be anything but straight. They were disobedient, building their lives on a pattern other than God's Word. And so, they were out of kilter, disorderly, headed in the wrong direction. And for that reason, they were to be destroyed. Amos pronounced that both the worship centers and the government, the house of Jeroboam, were to be totally ruined under God's hand of judgment in verse 9. and Amos was preaching the message in the temple at Bethel. For when the high priest Amaziah heard Amos predict the destruction of the nation, he immediately began to oppose God's servant. And Amaziah quickly wrote a letter to the king, Jeroboam, accusing Amos of preaching a conspiracy against the government in verses 10 and 11. And he made two charges against the prophet. He charged Amos with the preaching So Amaziah felt strongly that Amos and his message of judgment had to be silenced. that out of all of this, the prophet, they wanted him to get out of the temple, they wanted him to leave Israel, they wanted him to go back home to Judah, but Amos, they did not want to hear him preaching the gospel. But you know what? Amaziah's eyes as he saw all of this, as he was listening to the message that he needed to hear, Amos was not about to be stopped. for he knew that he had been truly called by God. And he began to tell him so. And Amos courageously answered Amaziah by sharing his personal testimony in verses 14, 15, and 16. And in a very straightforward manner, Amos informed the priest that he was not a professional prophet, but rather a layman. He was a rancher, he was a farmer, former a farmer when the Lord called him. And the Lord then clearly instructed him to leave his business, to go and to proclaim God's word to his people. And so at this point, the Lord himself had a word for the high priest. In verses 16 and 17, and because of Amaziah's opposition to God's dear prophet, a five-fold judgment was to fall upon him. Amaziah, would see his wife so destitute that she would sell her body in order to survive. She would actually become a prostitute. Amaziah would see his children killed by the swords of the soldiers too. Three, Amaziah would lose his home and land and his entire estate. Four, Amaziah himself would die as an exile in a foreign nation. And five, Amaziah would see his nation Israel conquered and the survivors exiled to the conquering nation. And so if Amaziah had only listened to God's warning and repented of his sins, he might have been saved by the mercy of the Lord. Being a priest, this was exactly what Amaziah should have done, but sadly, He chose to reject the Lord's prophet and the warning of the coming judgment. Any of us who reject the Lord and His warning of coming judgment will suffer the penalty of God's condemnation. His judgment is surety. There will be no escape for any of us if we refuse to repent by turning away from our sins and turning to the Lord. And so, each and every one of us, when we look and we realize here that the pity that was obtained because we saw that the punishment that was observed, amen, and we see that through that punishment, amen, that each and every one of us as we go through the prayer that was offered and the pity that was obtained, God's mercy was in action. God's mercy does not last forever, amen. It's abundant, but it has a limit for those who refuse to repent according to Romans. And so, the call to repentance. You know, each and every one of us, A.W. Tozer said one time, God's mercy is infinite, but his patience is not. Grace is when God gives us what we don't deserve, and mercy is when God doesn't give us what we do deserve. And so, Amos' vision of fire reminds us that sin demands judgment. But even in the midst of judgment, God offers us mercy. If we turn to him in repentance, we must heed the warning that God's mercy does not last forever. So now is the time to intercede for others, to seek God's mercy, to live in alignment with His righteousness. I wonder what areas of your life are in need of repentance. How can you intercede for others who are under God's judgment? And so, as we go forth, amen, and each and every one of us today, how are you aligning your life with God's standards of justice and righteousness? We need to examine our actions and make sure that they reflect God's heart of justice and righteousness in every aspect of our life. Just like Amos, we're called to pray for others and commit to praying for those who are far from God. And so we see fire that was on the horizon, God's judgment and mercy. Thank God for the intercession of Amos, amen, on behalf of those ones that were there. The vision of the divine locus, the second vision of the great fire, and the third vision of the plumb line. I pray that you will listen to the message of Amos today. Father, We come before you once again asking for your mercy upon us. We pray for those who do not yet know you. that they would turn from their sins and seek your salvation. Forgive us, your people, when we fell short of your standards. Help us to walk in righteousness and to put on your armor daily. May you save the lost before it's too late. Help the saved to walk in repentance and obedience. And Lord, we ask your forgiveness. Lord, if there's anything that's in our life that's unconfessed, we plead the blood of Jesus, ask for your forgiveness, and we pray that your blessings will be upon our churches and upon our pastors. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen. so so