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Book: Amos
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Amos 4:12 Prepare to Meet Thy God
I. For some this is a beautiful thought. This is what is often called
the Lord's day, and when you got up this morning, your thoughts were
toward the Lord, and you were preparing with your family to come and
meet your God.
A. Perhaps you were listening to KWVE on your way to church.
1. As you drove into the parking lot, you rejoiced to see
all the other cars, and the anticipation began to grow,
to be in the house of the Lord.
2. So here we sit, opening our hearts to the word of God,
as we seek to learn more of His wonderful ways.
3. To some the gathering together here with God's people
is very special. Many have seemed to take for granted
what God is doing here, and the excitement you once had
has sort of waned.
a. We had a girl visiting from Austria a few
summers ago, and she would sit on the floor
down here at the front, and weep through the
entire service. She would have a big smile on
her face, but tears would be running down her
cheeks.
b. It is a sad day when the beautiful things of
God are taken for granted.
B. This kind of preparation to meet God is not at all what our
text is about today.
II. The conditions of the nation Israel.
A. They were a nation that were brought into existence by God.
1. God by great miracles delivered them out of Egypt.
2. God visibly led them through the wilderness, and daily
provided the manna for their sustenance.
3. God gave them the laws for a long, happy, successful
life.
4. God drove out their enemies from before them and gave
to them the land he had promised Abraham.
5. There was a general excitement about God.
6. As success and prosperity came, they gradually began
to lose interest in God as their interest grew in
other things, their houses, their crops, their
pleasures. These began to supersede their interest
in God.
B. God sent his messengers to plead with the people to not lose
their first love, to come back to that closeness they once
knew.
1. As the people continued to drift away from God, the
prophets began to deliver a stronger message, they
told the dire consequences of forsaking God.
a. You may think that you can get by quite well
without God, but sin has its own consequences.
b. The path of sin leads to sorrow, suffering and
pain.
2. As they began to experience some of the suffering that
sin always brings, the prophets pointed out to them
that these things were the result of worshipping other
gods.
3. God then began to allow national catastrophes to get
their attention, and to cause them to turn to Him for
help.
C. This is basically what our text is about today.
1. God had allowed food shortages. (cleanness of teeth
and want of bread) The purpose was to cause them to
return to God.
2. When that didn't work then He withheld the rain from
them allowed them a period of drought, in some sections
of the country there would be floods while in other,
little rain at all. Still they did not seek God or
return to Him.
3. He then allowed crop failures, plagues of locust. Even
that did not wake them up, and cause the to return to
God.
4. He then brought pestilence's such as were brought upon
the Egyptians. Who knows, maybe even the HIV virus.
Surely this will arouse them from their deadly stupor,
but it didn't.
5. He then allowed their young men to be slain in war,
their armies began to taste defeat in battle, still
they would not turn.
6. Some of the cities were exposed to damage from volcanic
eruptions, there were even earthquakes. Still the
people persisted in their evil.
D. All of the invitations of God were met with rejection, they
even began to act with violence against the messengers of God.
1. All of the warnings of God were ignored, they were
passed off as natural phenomena.
2. The love of God has been spurned, the grace of God has
been rejected.
3. The patience and longsuffering of God has been
exhausted, they are now to see another side of the
nature of God as the wrath of God is to be revealed.
PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD
E. In the book of Hebrews it declares that it is a fearful thing
to fall in the hands of a living God.
F. Paul writing to the Roman believers declared
(Read Romans 1:21-32)
III. Prepare to meet thy God, it is sheer folly to meet God as an
adversary.
A. The scripture declares, "Woe to Him who strives with His
maker."
Isa. 45:9
1. How could you possibly ever hope to win.
2. Some of you are striving with God today, the Spirit
has been convicting you of some of the things that you
have been doing, and you are fighting against the
Spirit.
3. Striving with God is a no win situation, for if you do
win by refusing to bow to His demands, then you will
be eternally lost.
4. Don't strive with God, surrender to God.
B. Someday all of us will have to stand before our creator, we are
going to give an account of ourselves. He knows every thought
and motive of your heart. How can I ever stand before Him.
1. God has provided an advocate for me.
2. Satan my prosecutor who has been accusing me night and
day is leering at me, he knows that he has the evidence
to convict me and he is pressing for the death penalty.
For the law says that soul that sinneth shall surely
die.
3. My advocate advises me to plead guilty. The evidence
against me is overwhelming. He says, let Me plead your
case before the judge.
4. As He approaches the bench, He says, "Father, the
defendant has entered a plea guilty as charged.
But this is one whoseg guilt I took, and I died in
their place, I paid the price for their redemption."
The gavel will come down, and the Judge will declare,
"Justified" Who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God who has justified. Who is
he that
condemneth? It is Christ who has died, ye has risen
again, and is even at the right hand of the Father
making intercession for us.
5. Others of you will be saying to the advocate, tell the
Judge how hard I tried to be good. Tell Him how I went
to church on occasion. I even sang the songs out of the
Hymnal, and dropped something in the bag every time it
came around. The advocate will look at you and declare,
"I don't know you." You will say but Lord, Lord, I did
wonderful things in your name, I gave to charity, and
was a community leader." He will answer, "Why do
you call Me Lord, when you never did the things I
commanded you?"
6. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that
the judgment.
7. Jesus said, "If you will confess Me before men, I will
confess you before My Father which is in heaven. But if
you deny Me before men, I will deny you before My
Father in the presence of the holy angels.
8. This is serious business, you need to prepare to meet
God. For someday you are going to be standing before
Him, and your standing will be in the righteousness of
Christ, or in your own righteousness.
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