Which One Speaks the Truth?
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Amos 7:9-17
Preachers are often not the most popular people in the world around them.
They often have to preach to encourage people to practice holiness that doesn’t set well with the world around us.
But there was probably not a preacher who was more unpopular than Amos.
Amos a sheepherder from Tekoa in Judah has come to the Northern Kingdom of Israel to declare what God wants them to hear.
We started our reading at the tale end of a vision, or the explanation of the third vision that Amos is declaring.
Then we see a confrontation between Amos and Amaziah the priest of Bethel.
Amaziah confronts Amos for his preaching, but Amos stands firm on what he knows is right.
We can see some very strong likenesses between Amos’ situation and ours today.
Like Amos, we often find ourselves coming against:
I. The Opponent of God
I. The Opponent of God
This opponent of God is a representative that was setup by the King of Israel, Jeroboam.
He represented all that was wrong with Israel at this time.
They had gone so far from what God designed for His people, and yet they had an outward appearance of the same things.
But once you look under the surface you see that things are not what they seem.
Let’s look at some of the things we see under this surface:
A. The False Priest
A. The False Priest
v10 - “… Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel...”
This was not the priest that God had setup for His people.
They were not doing it God’s way.
31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
These were not Levites.
They were false priests.
They worshiped false gods along side sacrifices to the one true God.
This was not God’s design for His people.
we see a similar false representatives of God appearing around our country today.
What is God’s design for the Pastor?
He is to be the Husband of one wife
I believe This means he cannot divorced, at least for my life I would rather take the safer route here.
this means he must be a man
This means he cannot be a woman.
I’m sorry if that offends people today, but this is clear in scripture.
If any ignore this, they ignore God.
Men are not better than women, they just have different roles according to God.
He is to be above reproach
This means that he cannot live a life that others can accuse him of unholiness.
He must be spiritually mature
He must be a lover of good
He must be humble, gentle, peaceable, and a faithful steward of God’s church.
The pastor cannot be involved in spreading worldly and unholy practices.
I saw a couple of videos recently, where a church leader was wearing a rainbow stole with LGBTQ+ written on it, trying to explain away verses in the Bible that are clearly written.
i don't mean to be mean or hateful in any way.
There are verses in the Bible that clearly explain what is sin, some try to explain it away by saying particular words were mistranslated…but even if…and I don’t believe they were…but even if they were…it doesn’t change the other verses in the Bible that tell us the same thing.
We don't need to be hateful, but we need to preach the Word of God, whether we agree with it or not.
We need to preach the truth in the church whether it is popular or not.
I saw a woman church leader just this last week with a stole around her neck with the Planned Parenthood logo on the stole.
She was trying to preach that abortion is not murder, but compassion.
These are False Priests, my friend.
We don’t have to hate, we don’t have to be mean…no we need to love the people around us…all of them.
But when it comes to God’s house we must lovingly stand firm on the Word of God and the plan that he has for His pastors that God has revealed in His Word.
We see in verse 10, that this False Priest was spreading...
B. The False Report
B. The False Report
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
Amos hath conspired.
Conspiring means to make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act.
Amos was not making secret plans jointly with other people…he was clearly and openly telling them what God was going to do.
But Amaziah decided to lie and stretch the truth to make Amos look bad…he was giving a false report.
What did Amos actually say?
9 And 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 the sword.
He didn’t say that Jeroboam himself would die, at least not yet... but that the sword would rise against his house.
But in verse 11, in response to Amaziah’s attack he does make it clear… “…Jeroboam shall die by the sword...”
The true man of God, that is yielded to God’s Holy Spirit, will always speak the truth no matter if it’s uncomfortable, no matter if it is unpopular.
But the false preacher will often twist scripture to try to prove their belief.
We should never, ever try to find Scripture to try to prove our beliefs.
We need to get our beliefs from what Scripture says.
God judged Israel because they worshipped false gods.
Their leaders led them there.
Oh, How important it is to follow the right person!
Then thirdly we see...
C. The False Church
C. The False Church
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el ...
13 But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.
This was the very problem right here.
It was the king’s chapel, in the king’s court, but it was supposed to be God’s temple, in the courts of God.
But Jeroboam didn’t want the people to leave Israel to worship God in Jerusalem, so he established false centers of worship, and mixed the worship of the One True God with false gods.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.
30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
Jeroboam established a false place of worship, and false priests, who shared a false gospel.
And God is declaring before them now, that judgement is coming…not only to these false places of worship, but to the king himself.
The one who led them to this sin.
Today we have far too many false churches.
I am not going to stand here and say that our church, or our denomination, or only those churches that we fellowship with are the only churches preaching the truth.
There are many churches of varying denominations that preach the truth of the gospel.
Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus the Christ.
Now beyond the gospel there are denominations that interpret parts of the Bible differently, and therefore their church begins to look and feel different.
But they are still a gospel preaching church.
But there are far more out there that call themselves churches who preach untruth.
They preach you have to work your way to heaven
church attendance
baptism
communion
good works
belong only to their church
Some preach that Jesus was not virgin born
If He was not virgin born then He was born a sinner.
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Jesus was not just born of woman, but was also given to man (unto us a son is given).
This fulfills God’s plan and prophesies from the Old Testament.
They preach what the people want to hear
sending questionnaires and surveys on what they want to hear, rather than being led of God to preach what He wants them to hear.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
They preach fresh revelation outside of Scripture
God has given us the complete revelation that He desires to give us.
Satan uses these false teachers to lead people astray.
And they often come from people who claim to hear from God a different truth than the Bible is teaching.
Whether it is Joseph Smith, Ellen G. White, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jake, Joel Olsteen, Creflo Dollar, or any others that preach a new revelation or prosperity gospel.
This includes the Catholic church as well, that puts much less stock in what the Bible says and puts emphasis on what the Pope reveals.
Be careful who you listen to!!!
The nation of Israel is being condemned because they were following false leaders who established a false church, who were preaching a false report.
But now let’s see...
II. The Prophet of God
II. The Prophet of God
When we look at the other person involved in this story, we see the true prophet of God.
In Amos we see...
A. The True Prophet
A. The True Prophet
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
Amaziah told Him, go back to Judah, and eat bread, and prophesy there:
Amaziah speaks as if Amos were paid for his prophecies and tailored what he said to get paid.
Micah 3:5 speaks of prophets who decided what they would prophecy based upon what they would get.
But Amos tells him, I am not a prophet by trade…nor was a prophets son …I didn’t grow up this way…I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit.
I was just sitting minding my own buisiness watching over the flock and the Lord told me to Go, prophesy to my people in Israel.
His words were actually that the Lord took me…and told me to go.
I trust a preacher like this far more than many of the professionals out there!
I don’t care how many degrees you have, did God call you to this?
I’ll take a pastor with no college degree over a stuffy, know it all pastor who thinks they have to explain away the Bible.
I’m not against anyone else calling themselves this, but I have a hard time using the title Reverend.
I guess I’m just a nobody that wants God to use him, in any way that He sees fit.
The title reverend seems too formal for me.
I know a lot of good men who use the title....like I said there is nothing wrong with it… it just doesn’t seem to fit me.
I may not be a shepherd or a gatherer of fruit…but I’m just me, no one super special to anyone except God…and I can’t really figure out why that is.
I just want to be available, And I want to be used!
That is what a true prophet, a true preacher is.
God takes the shepherds and makes them into kings and prophets.
You say, I’m nothing special…perfect then God can use you!
Amos was the true prophet because He was truly called by God!
He told Him to Go, and he went!
The true prophet went and told them ...
B. The True Report
B. The True Report
16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, And drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
This was the true report - hear thou the word of the Lord.
The true report only comes from the Word of God itself.
Paul told Timothy -
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
There are many preachers that spend their time preaching philosophy, or history, or even psychology more than they are preaching the gospel.
The true Report - the true message can only come from God’s Word -
Not my thoughts
Not my opinions
Not the opinions of the pope
or other preachers
or other churches
or religious books
or creeds
or anything else - The True Report will only come from God’s revelation to man!
Amos told Amaziah, You tell me to not prophesy against Israel, not drop the Word against the house of Isaac, but I’m going to obey God, and speak what He tells me to say!
That is the true message!
And the true message will see...
C. The True Result
C. The True Result
Amaziah will see first hand what happens when you speak against God’s representative.
Amos tells Amaziah exactly what God says, He says...
17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, And thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, And thy land shall be divided by line; And thou shalt die in a polluted land: And Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
His wife would end up being a prostitute in the city.
His sons and his daughters will die in the battle.
The land he owned would be divided up by a measuring line - or a measuring reed which was 6 cubits, or about 10 feet.
His land will be split up into tiny little parcels.
And you, Amaziah, God tells him…You yourself will die on polluted land, most likely speaking of him being taken captive to a Gentile country and there he would die.
And he reiterated - Israel shall surely go into captivity from this land.
I have very little doubt, we are not told, but I have very little doubt that Amaziah probably scoffed at Amos and blew him off, but as each of these prophecies began to come true, Amaziah would realize…Amos, that prophet was true, his Prophesy was True, and the Result will be true!
Far too often people get mixed up with the wrong things, it may sound like the real thing…but there is only enough truth to make it look real…but digging a little deeper you find this is not right.
My wife’s family were helped greatly be a group of Mennonites, and it was very attractive to my father-in-law…He was saved as an adult, and wanted to protect his family from the evils of this world, and the Mennonite lifestyle seemed to be right.
But the longer they went to church there the more they began to realize that this wasn’t right.
They are good people, but it stops being about grace…and it ends up being about works.
I know of a young man who was just converted from a non-denominational church that taught the Bible to the Catholic church.
But the Catholic church centuries ago have left the truth behind.
I hope he sees the truth soon.
I knew a young lady that got saved, attended church a few times, and was approached by a couple young men that wanted to do a Bible study with them, and as they came and met with her and her family, everything sounded good, but soon things began to show up in the studies that just didn’t sit well.
Soon she realized that these Mormon Missionaries believed things that did not line up with what she had been learning in church.
Things like the doctrine of eternal progression where men can eventually become gods themselves with their own kingdom planet, and generate their own spirit children who will one day become their human subjects.
This is just plain heresy and never revealed in scripture.
Or that God the Father was once a man on another planet.
Or that God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are separate gods.
This idea of eternal progression is the same lie that started in the garden - you can be like God, Satan told Eve.
There are similar false doctrines and truths from every false religion that comes from additional revelations, or special revelation that no one else sees or understands.
These are dangerous!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Whether it’s Jehovah Witness, or Seventh Day Adventist, Mormon, Catholicism or any other gospel, God says...
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
It brings judgment - this word accursed is the word anathema, it means to be given up and devoted to destruction.
Which one speaks the truth?
The one who preaches the Word of God and only the Word of God!
The one that the world doesn’t agree with …usually that’s a good sign!
The one who speaks even if it is uncomfortable or unpopular!
Read your Bible yourself, don’t just be spoon fed…at least know what is on that spoon!
Pray continually - Ask God to reveal if there are false teaching that you have been listening to.
A while back I began listening to a preacher, he had a pretty big church, that was growing, his preaching style was dynamic and exciting.
He had some good truths, that really helped me where I was at the time.
But pretty soon I began to hear him say things that did not line up with what I read in my Bible.
He began to twist scripture to fit his sermon.
He began to go off on politically motivated topics that had nothing to do with the Bible.
He began reading one verse, and then began “preaching” all kinds of things that the verse never even said.
It was exciting, it was bombastic, but it was a motivational speech and that was pretty much it!
We need to preach the whole counsel of God.
I really didn’t want to do this series.
I read through Amos over and over and over, and I kept going back to God…are you sure?
Amos?
But the truth is we need to hear it’s message.
The things Amos dealt with in the nation of Israel is very similar to what we are dealing with in our nation.
A false representation of the gospel
False preachers and teachers
A place that is called a church but is not the church of the living God, because it has mixed the Bible with other gods.
What are you going to do?
I’ll tell you what you need to do!
Just like me, You need to get in to the Bible more than you ever have before.
Read,
Study,
Meditate,
Memorize it.
So that when the counterfeit comes you will recognize that something is not quite right!
You need to walk circumspectly - looking all around because the devil is sly, and he even use religion to steer you away from the truth!
Which One Speaks the Truth - the one that was sent by God, Jehovah, and only speaks for the One true God!