Playing with Fire

Playing With Fire (4 of 6)

Series: Amos

Amos 5:1-6:14

This morning, I continue a sermon series through the book of Amos. I have called this series Let Justice Flow. The title comes directly from Amos 5:24 where it says, ''Let justice flow down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.'' (ON SCREEN) This morning, we're looking at Amos 5-6 in a sermon entitled, Playing With Fire. READ 5:1, 6, 14-15 - PRAY

*California Fires

We don't know yet what started these blazes but we do know the most common causes of wildfires. Sometimes, fires occur naturally, ignited by heat from the sun or a lightning strike. However, most wildfires are because of human carelessness such as arson, campfires, discarding lit cigarettes, not burning debris properly, playing with matches or fireworks.*

The number one reason for destructive and devastating wildfires is human error, carelessness, or foolishness. The same thing is true in our lives. When we play with fire, we get burned. And the number one reason we get burned is because of our own carelessness or foolishness. Here, verse 6 gives a warning, Amos 5:6 (HCSB) 6 Seek Yahweh and live, or He will spread like fire ⌊throughout⌋ the house of Joseph; it will consume ⌊everything,⌋ with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

(ON SCREEN)

This tells me that when we refuse to live by God's standards, we are playing with fire. And when we play with fire, we are going to get burned. Here in these two chapters we see five signs that we are playing with fire.

When we depend on our ability instead of God's anointing: 5:1-20

Explanation

Amos begins his sermon with a familiar phrase, ''Listen to this message...'' Each of his sermons begins the same way. He calls his hearers to pay attention and listen intently to what the Lord is saying. This is not the message of Amos, it's the message of God that Amos is delivering. *Amos didn't write the paper, He's just the delivery boy.*

Amos pronounces Israel's defeat before it even happens. He paints the picture of a young girl who was slain on the battlefield. READ 5:1

Amos 5:1-2 (HCSB) 1 Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel: 2 She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.

He's speaking figuratively in advance of their defeat. The people probably looked around and had no clue what he was talking about.

When they looked around, they saw prosperity and affluence. Things were going good in the Northern and Southern Kingdom. Wages were up, unemployment was down, the stock market kept hitting record highs, and people were generally happy. But the blessings of God had made the people lazy. Spiritually, they were apathetic. They depended on their blessings and on their ability.

So, God says, ''You're going to be defeated. And whatever strength you thought you had will be wiped away.'' READ 5:3

Amos 5:3 (HCSB) 3 For the Lord GOD says: The city that marches out a thousand ⌊strong⌋ will have ⌊only⌋ a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred ⌊strong⌋ will have ⌊only⌋ ten left in the house of Israel.

And when Amos, or anyone else for that matter, tried to speak out against it, they just wouldn't listen. READ 5:10-13

Amos 5:10-13 (HCSB) 10 They hate the one who convicts ⌊the guilty⌋ at the city gate and despise the one who speaks with integrity. 11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. 12 For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the gates. 13 Therefore, the wise person will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil.

God had sent prophets to warn His people, but they wouldn't listen. They believed that their prosperity economically was a sign of God's blessings spiritually. That just wasn't the case. “For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable...'' God always knows. Nothing can be hidden from Him.

Illustration/Application

*Don't we do the same thing today? We depend on material success, financial gain, or worldly possessions to protect us instead of following the will God. Listen to me carefully; no amount of money can buy the favor and the anointing of God. It takes holiness, righteousness, and surrender. When we value our own ability or our possessions above God's presence, we are playing with fire.* READ 18-20

Amos 5:18-20 (HCSB) 18 Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. 19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him. 20 Won’t the Day of the LORD be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?

When we depend on our ability instead of God's anointing

When we focus on religion instead of a relationship: 5:21-27

Explanation

I heard someone say recently, ''God hates religion.'' Now, I wonder if that statement is a little harsh. I might put a qualifier on it like God does in the New Testament. God loves ''pure and undefiled'' religion. But God does hate cold and empty religious activity. And sadly, many people substituted religion for a genuine relationship with God.

God's people had continued to be religious, they just hadn't been living right. Amos calls them out. He began with their hypocritical worship. READ 21-23.

Amos 5:21-23 (HCSB) 21 I hate, I despise your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. 22 Even if you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept ⌊them⌋; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

They honored special days on the Jewish calendar, called sacred assemblies, offered sacrifices, brought offerings, and sang songs of worship. Their meetings looked so beautiful and holy, yet God not only refused to accept their worship, He hated it!

Illustration

*They came to church on Sundays, showed up for SS. They even came to an occasional Sunday Discipleship Class. They would drop a little in the offering plate every now and then, sing during worship, smile a lot, and shake a few hands. But their hearts were far from the Lord. Religion had not changed their lives. They were hypocrites.*

Argumentation/Application

This reminds me of what God says in Malachi 1:10. READ Malachi 1:10

Malachi 1:10 (HCSB) 10 “I wish one of you would shut the ⌊temple⌋ doors, so you would no longer kindle a useless ⌊fire on⌋ My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

Here, God isn't asking for people to come to worship, He's asking for someone to close the doors of the temple so people quit worshipping in vain. He says, “I wish one of you would shut the ⌊temple⌋ doors,….. I am not pleased with you,”

Don't you think God knows when we show up at church and our heart is not right? Don't you think God knows when we sing our songs and we don't mean it at all? Don't you think he knows when we'd rather be anywhere else, but we come because it's just the thing to do? God wants a real relationship, not mundane, dead religion. READ 5:24

Amos 5:24 (HCSB) 24 But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.

When we depend on our ability instead of God's anointing

When we focus on religion instead of a relationship:

When we desire our comfort instead of God's calling: 6:1-7

Explanation

Another sign that we're playing with fire is when we get a little too comfortable in our Christianity. God has not called us to comfort, He has called us to boldness and to sacrifice. Amos calls out the people of God because they had grown complacent and comfortable. READ 6:1

Amos 6:1 (HCSB) 1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria— the notable people in this first of the nations, those the house of Israel comes to.

They called themselves ''firs of the nations...'' and enjoyed an unwarranted false confidence for several reasons. They believed that their geography protected them. Situated on Mount Zion, Jerusalem was considered impregnable and Samaria also had a seemingly secure position. But when God decided to deal with these cities, nothing could stop the enemy.

Illustration

*As for their prosperity, government, and military strength, Amos had already exposed the folly depending on them; for the heart of each nation was corrupt to the core. The notable men in Israel's government gave their opinion that the nation was safe and secure, and the people believed them, just as people today believe the political ''experts'' and the polls. False confidence that's based on expert advice, statistics, and material resources and that ignores the spiritual dimension of life is sure to lead to shameful defeat.*

Amos mentioned areas in Syria and Philistia that had already fallen to the Assyrian army and then asked two questions: ''Are you better than these kingdoms'' If the enemy had already destroyed places bigger and stronger than Samaria and Israel, what hope was there for the Jewish people, especially when the Jews were living like the Gentiles and were disobeying the Lord? *God doesn't look at the talent of national leaders, the nation's army, or its economy. God looks at the heart, and the heart of His people was far from the Lord.*

Argumentation/Application

Listen to this description of lavish and comfortable living: READ 6:4-6

Amos 6:4-6 (HCSB) 4 They lie on beds ⌊inlaid with⌋ ivory, sprawled out on their couches, and dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. 5 They improvise songs to the sound of the harp and invent their own musical instruments like David. 6 They drink wine by the bowlful and anoint themselves with the finest oils but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

Complacency is an insidious sin, (proceeding in a gradual and subtle way but with harmful effects) because it's based on lies, motivated by pride, and leads to trusting something other than God. Like the people in the church of Laodicea, complacent people consider themselves ''rich, and increased with goods'' and in need of nothing. In reality, however, they have lost everything that's important in the spiritual life. When the Lord sees His people becoming complacent and self-satisfied, He sometimes sends trials to wake them up.

When we rest in our pride instead of God's power: 6:8-14

Explanation

One of the most dangerous sins of a Christian is the sin of pride. If you truly know Jesus and are walking with Him, pride won't even be a part of your life. The closer you get to the Lord, the farther away you get from pride and arrogance. But the reality is, pride has crept in to our churches and to our denominations. READ Proverbs 16:18

Proverbs 16:18 (HCSB) 18 Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

Amos declares this message from Lord to the prideful people of God: READ 6:8

Amos 6:8 (HCSB) 8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—⌊this is⌋ the declaration of Yahweh, the God of Hosts: I loathe Jacob’s pride and hate his citadels, so I will hand over the city and everything in it.

Then, Amos begins to declare how God is going to take away all of the things that have brought them pride; all of the things that they have depended on. READ 6:11

Amos 6:11 (HCSB) 11 For the LORD commands: The large house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.

The summer houses and winter houses that the wealthy enjoyed and boasted about would one day be nothing but ashes and fragments. The Babylonians would even burn Judah's beautiful temple.

READ 6:12

Amos 6:12 (HCSB) 12 Do horses gallop on the cliffs; does anyone plow ⌊there⌋ with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—

Horses are too wise to gallop on slick rocks, where they might slip and fall. Farmers are too wise to try to plow the rocks or the sea, because the plow won't accomplish anything on rocks or water. (Remember, Amos was a farmer.) Plain common sense convinces us of the truth of these statements. Then why would God's people ignore the call of God to ''do justice and love mercy...''?

Verse 13 tells us that they took pride in their military conquests and victories. They believed that they wont these battles, ''by our own strength.'' God says, ''You who rejoice in Lo-debar.'' Do you know what that word means? It means ''nothing!'' That's what God thought of their victory! They boasted that the victory came because of their own strength, and their false confidence would lead to their destruction.

Illustration/Application

*At one point in his ministry, noted preacher Harry Ironside worried that he was not as humble as he ought to be. When he asked a friend for advice, his friend suggested that Ironside make a large sandwich board sign with the plan of salvation in Scripture written on it and walk through the busy shopping district of downtown Chicago for an entire day. Ironside did as his friend suggested. When he had finally returned to his apartment, he thought about how humbling the experience had been. But as he removed the sign, Ironside caught himself thinking, ''There's not another person in Chicago that would be willing to do a thing like that.'' Pride is something that even the most godly Christians sometimes struggle with.*

When we prefer to live in rebellion instead of repentance: 5:14-15

Explanation

To conclude, I want to go back to two of the most powerful verses in this section of Scripture. And it gives the remedy, the antidote to everything we've been talking about this morning. How can we overcome our pride and complacency and live in the power and anointing of God? We have to repent of our rebellion and trust in the mercy of Christ. READ 5:14-15

Amos 5:14-15 (HCSB) 14 Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed. 15 Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Look at that powerful phrase, ''Seek good and not evil, that you may live...'' (ON SCREEN)

Is there any hope for such a wicked society? Yes, as long as the grace of God is at work. “Perhaps the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph...'' (ON SCREEN) Disaster was coming to Israel, but who knows what God would do if only a godly remnant turned to Him and sought His mercy?

Illustration/Conclusion

*You may have heard of the late, great A J Gordon, a famous preacher from England who came to a very dead, dull, formal, church in downtown Boston, Mass. He was a fiery preacher, who refused to wear a robe, which was mandatory in that church and he preached ''Jesus'' to those people with such fervor, they sat out there shell-shocked, and after a month, they were ready to fire Gordon. One Sunday he preached a sermon called ''The funeral of the church'' and this is what he said, ''ecclesiastical corpses lie all around us. The caskets in which they repose are lined with satin and are decorated with solid silver handles and abundant flowers. like all caskets they are just large enough for their occupants with no room for converts. These churches have died from the disease of formalism and have been embalmed in complacency. If by the grace of God this church has any life left in her, I warn you that those that buried thy sister churches will be at thy door to carry thee out, because I predict this church, will be dead soon, because I hear the death rattle.'' After he preached that sermon, six men came through the back doors carrying a casket, and he had them put it at the front of the church and open it and then he asked everybody in the church to walk by and see their dead church. As they walked by, they looked in the casket and you guessed it-they were looking at themselves, in a mirror!*