Sermons
Please Leave Your Message After the Tone
Sun, Oct 15, 2017
Teacher: Tom Blackford Series: Sunday Sermons PM - 2017 Scripture: Amos 1:1 & Amos 7:14-15
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Please Leave Your Message After the Tone
Amos 1:1, Amos 7:14-15
INTRO:
Good evening. This evening I’m going to take my sermon mainly from the book of Amos.
I would like to look at how we respond when God calls us, and how we should respond when we hear His message. In my working life, I developed a dislike for answering systems, be they automated answering systems or home machines. I don’t know about you, but I find them annoying. It is difficult to know what to say to capture the other person’s attention and express the message. Possibly it is my age, but it’s really uncomfortable knowing you’re speaking to a machine.
Can you imagine if one day God decided He isn’t going to listen to our prayers anymore and put an automated answering service in place? I can imagine it might be a bit like this. “Thank you for calling heaven. Please select one of the following: For prayer request, press one; For thanksgiving, press two; To confess sins, press three; For anything else please press four. To return to the main menu please press the hash key.” In frustration I would probably press “0” in an attempt to speak to someone. Then I might hear; “Unfortunately everyone is busy at the moment, please hold the line - your call is very important to us”... followed by celestial “on-hold” music.
What about us though, I wonder. How frequently do we put God on hold? When God calls us, we really should do what he tells us rather than ask Him to leave a message, shouldn’t we? I suspect, though, many times we are the ones with the spiritual answering machine because we are “too busy” to pick up.
Let me first share a bit of background information about Amos. Amos’ mission was around 750 BC probably a little earlier. Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa which is a town in Judah and was located some miles south of Bethlehem. The town of Tekoa is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. Its ruins lie on an elevated hill, which spreads itself out into an irregular plain of moderate extent near the wilderness.
Let’s look at Amos 1:1 – “The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” “The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders”. This is sort of unusual in the books of the prophets in that it says Amos had an occupation. He was a shepherd from Tekoa.
Then let’s jump forward a few verses and look at Amos 7:14-15 – “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: And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.” Here it say’s he was neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet. Amos was an ordinary man with an ordinary job from an ordinary place and he had no real Biblical grounding prior to His call. God is going to use the ordinary to preach an extraordinary message. God called him to go out from Judah, his native country, as a prophet to Israel, the Northern Kingdom. In obedience to this call, he went to Bethel, where the sanctuary was, and delivered his bold prophecy.
As an aside for those that wonder, the Sycomore Fruit mentioned here is probably from the “Ficus sycomorus” tree which is a fig tree with mulberry like leaves.
The leaders of Israel were no longer following God. Generations had fallen away and they were continuing in their own wicked ways. Amos was called by God to preach to the people of Israel who had fallen away from God. Their king at the time was Jeroboam II.
Turn in your Bibles with me to 2 Kings 14:23-24 – “In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Jehoash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.”
God is going to send His message to the people of Israel using Amos. The name Amos means “Burden bearer”, and he is on his way to bear God’s burden—that is, God’s message, to the people of Israel.
I remember times in my life when I had the unfortunate job of being the person to deliver bad news to my family. Those of you who have been in this type of situation know that it is extremely unpleasant. You know that the news you’re bringing is not going to be well received. People are going to be upset and maybe shocked. It makes you feel really, really uncomfortable.
I’m sure that the news Amos was going to deliver was going to upset people.
Unfortunately, Amos knew it had to be done.
I. The call from God. As we saw in Amos 1:1 and 7:14, a person does not have to come from a church background or from a prestigious background to do the work of God. We saw in Amos 7:15, Amos was called by God, and he answered the call.
A. In the New Testament, we see people like Simon Peter and his brother Andrew who answered a call. These men were fishermen from Galilee, and they were called to become fishers of men and sent to preach the gospel.
B. Let’s now look at Matthew 4: 18-19 – “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew fishing. Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
C. God isn’t looking for the extraordinary. He uses people from all walks of life to deliver His message and to do His work.
D. I suspect many of us will be thinking, that is all well and good, but how does God call us?
II. How does God call us? In the former day, God called the prophets in many ways, visions, dreams, even using unique methods such as from a burning bush (Exodus 3:2-6) and even a talking donkey (Numbers 22:28-30). He then used His prophets to transmit His message to the people of Israel and as witnesses writing down these messages (Exodus 24:4). These written messages became the book we call the Bible.
A. Looking at Hebrews 1:1-2 we read; “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” Alright God now speaks to us by His Son. How does He speak to us through His Son today? By the Bible, of course.
B. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14–17 – “14. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” , Paul says “You, however (he’s talking to Timothy) continue in the things you have learned, knowing from whom you have learned them, and from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
C. It is the holy word that convicts us. It convicts our hearts to move and gives us all of the tools we need to do God’s work.
III. Answering God’s call. When God does call us, how and when should we answer? In Amos 7:15 we see Amos followed God’s instruction by leaving his flock of sheep and going to prophecy to God’s people in Israel. In Matthew 4:20, we see that Simon Peter and Andrew got up and left their nets “immediately”. Not in a week, not in 5 minutes, not when they felt like it, but when the Lord called. We should be willing to drop whatever it is we are doing to do what God has convicted us to do.
A. Our response to God grows and matures and deepens over time. It is a process, not an event. Paul writes to the Corinthians that “I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it.” (1 Corinthians 3:2) God will give us what we need. If we are beginners, or if we are troubled and weak, God will give us milk. Later on we will have solid food. All along the path we will be answering God’s call to “follow me.”
B. Our response to God has a particular quality to it. Our response is a response. God initiates; we answer. We do not strike out on our own. We are to “follow.”
C. How often though do we tell God “I’ll do it... but when I’m ready?” or “I’ll do it... when my situation has improved?” or “I’ll do it as long as it’s not going to burden me and my life.” Paul tells the church in Rome in Romans 8:28–30 - “28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
D. It says “we know that in all things” (all things means all things, not just what we consider good things but things we might not desire, sufferings, sorrows, infirmities) “ in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.”
E. All of us that are called by God were predestined, not predestined as in selected, predestined as part of God’s plan. The plan was predestined. It was all a part of God’s plan. It’s all a part of God’s will. We are called together for His purpose, not our own.
F. Paul tells us those that were predestined were called to obey God, those of us that are called to obey God are justified by obeying the gospel and those of us who are justified by the gospel are glorified by God. How amazing is that? That all of us that are called by God are to be glorified by God. WOW! Paul goes on to say in Romans 8:31 – I paraphrase “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
G. What an ally we have in God. The same God that created the world, the same God that rescued His people from Egypt... the same God that let his chosen people be persecuted for going astray.
IV. Putting God on Hold. Amos 1:2 says – “The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.” God had become angry with His chosen people because they had strayed from Him and His law.
A. They had put God on hold. Because they’d put God on hold, God sent Amos to deliver His message telling them God was angry and the punishment was going to follow.
B. God is about to leave a message on their answering machine.
V. God leaves a message. When God is put on hold, He becomes angry plain and simple. He then leaves a message. He used His prophets to deliver His messages directly to the people. He doesn’t mess around.
A. How Amos delivers God’s message, in my opinion, is shear brilliance. He gets the people of Israel onside, that is in play if you will, by telling them how God is going to punish all of their neighboring enemies (Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab and Judah). We’ll look at this more in depth at another time.
B. After Amos has delivered that message and gotten them onside, he tells Israel how God is going to punish them. I can just imagine it. Amos is telling them how God is going to punish their enemies. You can imagine the Israelites are standing up, cheering, shouting and whooping, but then he delivers God’s message that is for them. Telling the people of Israel where they have gone astray.
C. All of a sudden I can imagine there is silence. Followed by heckles and scowling, quite possibly even anger and rage at this point, and people wanting to have Amos lynched. What makes matters worse is they are in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Amos was from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. He was preaching God’s message in the Northern Kingdom.
D. It’s interesting that the message God has Amos take to Israel was a message of Judgment and rebuke. Israel and Judah didn’t see eye to eye and there was a major rivalry between the two Kingdoms.
1. I guess to put this into a more modern perspective, it would be like a person from England coming over to the US and telling us where we are going wrong.
2. There’s another perspective. Can you imagine being Amos, coming from a rival country and preaching rebuke and Judgment to these people? How scary would that have been, knowing that these people might turn on you? Amos wasn’t the first to preach in an alien land however. Moses and Aaron had done it many years before in Egypt. Remember the story that Moses had stopped the two Hebrews from fighting and being upset with him, one asked Moses if he would kill him like Moses had killed the Egyptian. Then in Acts 7:29-30 – “Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.”
E. They had not dwelt in Land of Egypt for 40 years. Then they were called by God to preach to Pharaoh to free the Israelite slaves. It says in Exodus 7:8–13 – “And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.” “The Lord told Moses and Aaron “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miracle,’ then tell Aaron, ‘Throw your staff down before Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh called his magicians and they each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aarons staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.”
VI. Listening to God. Here we see two examples. One of Moses and Aaron answering the call of God and obeying His command and second, we see Pharaoh not listening to God, or not listening to the prophets, not heeding the message.
A. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. Just like the people of Israel in the book of Amos. Often that is just like the world today. It’s just like when we are corrected or told to do something we don’t want to do or are told something we don’t want to hear. We need to become humble people, soften our hearts and get rid of self-pride.
B. Someone related this experience from their childhood. He was a young person when the original Star Wars came out and was quite attracted to the story. So much so that he used to collect the figurines of all the different Star Wars characters. His mother, every other Monday, would take him into the mall and let him pick a new figurine he didn’t have in his collection.
1. One day, however, he had miss-behaved, and his mom said he wasn’t allowed to have a figurine that next Monday, and she pointed out the reason why.
2. When that Monday came he was as good as gold, hoping his mom would notice the change and change her mind about his punishment. He asked her, since he had been such a good boy, would she change her mind? She told him that acting the way he had didn’t warrant a reward and the only way he would learn is from her actually standing by her rules. This is true in raising children, training animals and even in dealing with adult people. Every time a rule breaker receives a just punishment that sends a signal, and every time that just punishment is rescinded or set aside a different signal is sent. The resulting mixed signals result in a watered down understanding of the rules.
3. This young man realized that if he broke his mother’s rules then he wouldn’t receive his reward. The message was received and it was clear. The point I’m making is we need to think about what we have done wrong and realize that God won’t reward us if we continue in our fleshly ways.
C. While we are in Exodus let’s look at Exodus 17:1–7 – “1. And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? 3. And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?4. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.5. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.6. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.7. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?” There was no water in the desert for the people to drink and the people of Israel were complaining to Moses. Moses asks them “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?” Moses asks God what he should do. God said I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this, and water came forth. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
D. Massah means testing. Meribah means quarrelling or arguing. This event is mentioned by the Psalmist many years later in Psalm 95: 7-8 – “7. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8. Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:”.
CONCLUSION:
The Israelites were sinning against God. They didn’t understand why God was angry or why they were being corrected. Their hearts had become hardened and eventually over the course of time, they stopped taking God’s calls. All they wanted to be told was what they wanted to hear.
Paul warned Timothy that the world is like this. In 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – “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.”.
I have never been a fan of heavy metal bands like Metallica, but on occasion I have heard of some songs that make a great deal of sense, assuming you can pick out the words. James Hetfield the lead singer of the hard rock band, once sang in one of their songs
“Hearing what you want to hear, but knowing only what you heard.”
So many people have selective hearing. Nina might accuse me of that on occasion but it is true we want our ears tickled with things we want to hear. What happens when we are told something we don’t like? It’s a hard pill to swallow. Even when at the end of the day we’re corrected out of love, it is still hard to swallow. We have to get rid of pride and be humble about being corrected when we are wrong.
I said earlier that our response is a response. God initiates; we answer. We do not strike out on our own. We are to “follow.” To follow means that we adopt a kind of active passivity toward the action of God. “Active passivity” is a spirituality of attentiveness, of watching and waiting. We are like Psalm 123 – “Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God,” How can the servant know what his master needs if he does not pay attention? Same with the maiden and it is the same with us. If we are not attentive, paying attention to what God tells us how can we answer, how can we obey? To do that, we need to study His word and pay attention to what it says. Grow in the knowledge of our Lord. We are loved by a God who loves without limit. We love him in return. What more can we do to love him?
Let me ask this then: when God calls us, are we going to answer? When the word of God convicts our understanding of something that requires our response will we answer? Or are we going to let the answering machine pick it up so we can respond when and how “we” want to respond? Let me ask all of us here, what is it God is saying to you today? What is God telling you today? Is it, “Come to God? Press 1.” Is it, “To serve God? Press 2.” Is it, “To share the gospel? Press 3.” Is it, “To stop sinning? Press 4.” Don’t be like the people of Israel, when God calls, we must listen and obey His word.
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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.
Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.
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Based on sermon by Martin Huburn
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Chardon, Ohio 44024