Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

We live in an increasingly, post-Christian culture. As Christians, we accept and aspire to live by the Bible, the Word of God, but as time goes on, there is a larger portion of our population coming of age who know little if anything about God or His Word.

“In much of the Western world, despite the fact that Christianity was one of the forces that shaped what the West became (along with the Enlightenment, and a host of less dominant powers), culture is not only moving away from Christianity, it is frequently openly hostile toward it. Christianity can be tolerated, provided it is entirely private: Christian belief that intrudes itself into the public square, especially if it is trying to influence public policy, is most often taken, without examination, as prima facie evidence for bigotry and intolerance.” - D. A. Carson

Carson continued, “On the one hand, some Christians attempt to embed their faith in the culture, and run the risk “of dissipating Christianity into something indistinguishable from other options in Western culture.”10 On the other hand, some retreat so far from engagement with the world that they scarcely engage directly with it, creating for themselves an alternative rationality, largely defensive in posture, which Bauckham identifies with ‘fundamentalism.’”11

This is not the first time culture has moved in this direction. The Christian Culture of Jeremiah’s day was in full retreat from relationship with God into the depths of post-Christian culture. That was happening within the ranks of God’s chosen people, Israel, as the nation that God intended to be the “light on a hill” to the rest of the world. In Jeremiah’s day, that light was almost fully extinguished. Called by God, at great personal peril, Jeremiah accepted his role to stand up and proclaim, “Thus says the LORD...” The problem in Israel was that they had become so distracted by the world’s offerings, that they had forgotten who God was.

Daniel’s era was another ancient time when the culture moved towards post-Christian thought. In Daniel’s day, it was more broad than the confines of Israel’s borders. The message of Daniel contains the ripples of spiritual decay throughout the known world at the time. As a child of God, one must ask, “How did Daniel respond?” The book of, “Daniel teaches us that the struggle is not to make the culture Christian, but how a Christian can live in a hostile culture.” Tremper Longman III

From the pages of Daniel’s book in the bible, we can see that children of God, whether standing together or standing alone, can stand as a shining light, even in a culture that is fully in the dark to God’s Word and the knowledge of who God is. Daniel’s declaration to his culture that believed it maintained power over its own destiny was to declare there was One called, “The Most High [who was ruler] over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whom He wishes.” Daniel sought to introduce His Godless community to the God of Creation, the omnipotent God, the God who cares for and reigns supreme over mankind, creation, and all of history.

Long before Jeremiah and Daniel, Amos was led by the Holy Spirit to challenge the disintegration of Judah and Israel’s culture, to warn them of the path they were on that led to the Godless times of Jeremiah and Daniel. Even more than his desire to warn them of the consequence of judgment for their sin, he wanted them to know that...

Inevitably, any culture that turns its back on living for God, eventually becomes a culture who forgets God.

The book of Amos contains 3 distinct Doxologies. You might remember the Doxology many churches used to sing during or at the end of their worship services in days gone by. It went like this...

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise Him, all creatures here below

Praise Him above the Heavenly host

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost

- Amen!

It was meant to be a call to public praise of Who God is, God from whom all blessings flow, who all creatures here below exist to praise, who is above all the heavenly host, the only self-existent triune God. You might ask, “Why are such Doxologies so important for those of us who do know God?”

Proverbs 9:10–12 NASB

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

For those of us who know God, our proclaiming of who God is, our Doxologies, are exactly what a post-Christian culture needs most. Are we willing to accept accusations of bigotry and intolerance, as Carson put it, in order to shine a light on the person of who our God is? Solomon’s writing in Proverbs reminds us that scoffers will bear the consequence alone. These doxologies are imperative for God’s people that find themselves in a non-Christian culture such as ours. Doxologies are our opportunity to declare to the world around us, “You do not have to be alone, there is a ‘Most High [who is] ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes,’” who wants you to know Him. “For by [Him] your days will be multiplied.” What is amazing is that this God that is over all, calls you by name.

Believer, that is why these doxologies are important for us, so in compassion, we might share our knowledge of the God who saved us with a world who needs His saving.

Amos attempted to remind Judah and Israel, as they slid deeper into immoral secularism and idolatry, of who God truly is. In each of Amos’ Doxologies, we find 3 recurring themes or glimpses into who God is:

3 Recurring themes:

++God is the Creator

++God is the Revealer

++God is the Performer

Amos prepared his countrymen for his first doxology in Amos 4:12 as He warned them of the consequence of their rejection of God.

Look at v. 12 with me. Here in v. 12 Amos declares that for those who resist God, please know that resistance is futile. He tells them that if they refuse to turn back to God, if they refuse to meet with God, He will meet with them, whether they want it or not.

Please note, the book of Amos is not about a harsh God who just wants to punish sin and sinners. God’s judgment on Israel is rather an act of compassion so that they will turn back to Him and meet with Him so that they will not have to bear it alone. God wants to walk once more in fellowship with them and He will do, in compassion, whatever it takes to bring them back to Him.

For everyone here and everyone that will ever hear this message, please know...

God’s judgment for sin flows out of His compassion to turn His creation back to Him, which is the only place they can find full acceptance, purpose, and companionship for their present life and their destiny.

Amos 4:13, Amos 5:8-9, Amos 9:5-6

Believer, your life and your words are intended by God to declare that He is Creator of all, Revealer of all, and Performer of all (He can and will do as He has declared).

God is the Creator

Amos 4:13 - Mountains and wind

Amos 5:8-9 - Pleiades and Orion

Amos 9:5-6 - Upper chambers of Heaven, the vaulted dome over the earth

God is the Revealer

Amos 4:13 - Declares to man His thoughts and controls light and darkness

Amos 5:8-9 - changes darkness into morning and day into night

Amos 9:5-6 - Grabs man’s attention (all who dwell in it mourn)

God is the Performer

Amos 4:13 - He controls dawn and darkness, He treads down high places (what man worships in place of Him)

Amos 5:8-9 - darkness, morning, waters of the sea He pours out, He flashes forth destruction on the strong and their fortress

Amos 9:5-6 - He melts the land, rises up the Nile, Calls the water of the sea and pours it forth on the earth

The Christian ought to be a living doxology.

Martin Luther

Believer, your life and your words are intended by God to declare that He is Creator of all, Revealer of all, and Performer of all (He can and will do as He has declared).

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