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[0:00] The picture of the Amorites. I forgot to put that up there. So we've covered these accusations and judgments! against six Gentile nations surrounding Israel,! and then Judah, the kingdom to the south, the seventh accusation.

[0:21] And now the focus comes in a little bit stronger and a lot more detailed on the kingdom of Israel, that northern kingdom. Amos was from the south, sent to the north to preach to them.

[0:33] What we did the last time together was began this portion, starting in verse 6, and we saw the accusations against Israel, and there were several. And so I'll just reread that portion and then pick it up where we stopped.

[0:48] So verse number 6 says, Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. Because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes, that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek.

[1:06] And so these portions dealing with them taking advantage by their abuse of their power, or even as we cross-reference back into chapter 8 and verse 6, they're deceiving them, they're trying to take advantage of them, gaining their property and their possessions.

[1:21] And if tragedy strikes a home, then there's some people ready to pounce and try to get their hands on whatever they can get on. And so continuing in verse 7, it says, And a man and his father will go in under the same maid to profane my holy name, which is just some perversion that defiles that land.

[1:43] And now verse 8, They lay themselves down upon clothes, laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God. This is where we cut it off, and I remember making just a brief comment, I don't even know, I think I did, about just wine and the attachments of maybe some drunkenness and some other vile things that would go on in their worship ceremonies.

[2:07] But I got looking at that a little bit stronger, and it just struck me the phrase, The wine of the condemned, and it just didn't sit well with me, that kind of off-the-cuff statement, just assuming, oh, they're just having these drunken, who knows what, in their heathen worship ceremonies.

[2:25] So it caused me just to ponder it, to study it a little bit, and I want to just start today by backtracking just a little bit on this. In verse number 8, it's talking about them having clothes that they've pledged.

[2:39] And I ran you some references in the Old Testament in Exodus 22, I believe it was, and in Deuteronomy, showing you that when the poor have nothing to offer, they offer or pledge literally the shirt off of their back, their raiment.

[2:55] And the command under the law was that that is to be returned to the person before the sun goes down, that you're not allowed to keep it. If that's all they have, then they get to keep it, and God is requiring them to show mercy.

[3:06] And the Lord even said in one of those passages that if you do that, if you return it to him and you show mercy to him, that that will be righteousness to you. And so God expects men to show mercy to the poor and the impoverished and the widows and the fatherless and all that.

[3:20] And if they don't do that, the Lord, and you read your Bibles, you see this pop up several times. God says, I'm going to hear their cry and I'm going to plead their cause. Now, that's what's happening in verse number 8.

[3:32] They're taking advantage of somebody. And then at the end of the verse, they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God. So when I just read that the first time, the wine of the condemned, it just made me think, yeah, they're getting drunk in the house of their God.

[3:46] And I just assumed with the words around it, condemnation and idolatry and wine, that that's all what's going on. But I don't really believe that to be accurate at all now that I'm studying it and looking at it.

[3:58] The word condemned does not always refer to guilt because of sinful behavior. The word condemned sometimes just has to do with somebody, the guilt over a responsibility toward a payment.

[4:16] And I'll show you what I mean by that. I'll give you a cross reference. Look at 2 Chronicles. Come back to your left there a little bit quickly. 2 Chronicles 36. Last chapter of 2 Chronicles.

[4:35] Before we study what this wine of the condemned or drinking the wine of the condemned is, we're not going to really focus on what they're drinking, calling it the wine of the condemned, but they're drinking the wine of somebody else, of somebody who's condemned.

[4:51] And let's study what that might mean here. 2 Corinthians 36. Oh, no, Chronicles. Chronicles 36. And so at the beginning of the chapter, this king of Judah gets it handed to him here.

[5:09] And verse 3, this is what we need to see. Verse 3 says, The king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem and condemned the land in a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

[5:22] So what does that mean? It doesn't mean that he's declaring that the land is guilty of sin, but this is a tax. This is a payment that must be made to the king of Egypt. And so it's a tax levied by a king, and it's something that they're required to pay.

[5:37] And this is the word condemned. The land was condemned or required. It was their responsibility to pay this that was due to this other king. So sometimes, most of the time, the word condemned has to do with sin and somebody being guilty of sin and they're under condemnation, their guilt.

[5:55] But in this case, I don't believe that's the way the word's being used in Amos chapter 2. When it says they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God, somebody here is condemned, meaning the person owes another.

[6:10] It's not the wine of the sinful people or the wicked people, but it's rather that somebody owes somebody else and they have nothing to pay except like earlier in the verse, the shirt off of their back or the food or the wine, the drink of their household.

[6:27] And when you think about food and drink or the clothes off of your back, remember in 1 Timothy 6, I think it is, where God's speaking about servants and then he connects it to us saying that having food and raiment, let us be there with content.

[6:42] Food and raiment, just like that's the basic necessities for living is food and raiment. And here in this passage, I see the raiment and the wine or their drink that is being taken into the house of their God and they're drinking it, but where did they get it?

[6:58] They got it from somebody who owed them, somebody who was condemned under a certain responsibility to pay up. They had nothing to pay, so they basically took whatever they could get their hands on and they would either take their coat or they'd go in and take what's in their cupboards, if you want to consider it like that.

[7:17] So somebody's condemned under a payment to another, they owe, the other one is taking that from them and then taking what they get into the house of their God to offer it to that God or to use it as a, in a ceremony or a feast to their gods.

[7:39] And they're not taking it because they need it, because they need to feed their family, like you owe me and I don't have anything and I have to take this. But no, they're taking it and using it in a ceremony, in a feasting or in a partying atmosphere.

[7:52] It's just showing you their selfish and ungodly and unjust nature and behavior. So I think that's what the statement's really saying completely, that they're drinking the wine of someone who is condemned, they've taken that from them, and now they're going into their God and offering this, which is not even of their own.

[8:12] They're either offering it or they're using that when they should have left it with the person who has nothing else. Instead, they're taking it and just completely flaunting it or just pouring it out in a sense.

[8:23] It's just not, it's not a necessity in any way. Now, in these instances, the law that God has established for this people to follow, the law requires mercy in these instances.

[8:35] And yet these people care nothing for their brothers, nothing for the widows, nothing for the poor. But what God desires is for them to show mercy. Flip back to Hosea, just a few pages to chapter six of Hosea.

[8:49] And you're going to see a verse here that shows up, the Lord Jesus Christ quotes this more than once on the Jews that he, in his generation. Hosea chapter six.

[9:00] What God desires is to see his people show mercy to others rather than them take, take, take, and then even show up and offer sacrifices.

[9:11] Now, granted, the context of Amos has to do with their God. It's not the true God. But God himself says, I don't want anything to do with your sacrifices if this is the way you're going to be treating others.

[9:22] Look at chapter six and verse six. For I desired mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

[9:35] But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant. And on it goes. There's the thought there is what God desires to see in their spirits and in their relationships with their fellow brothers and sisters is that they show mercy one to another.

[9:53] But when they refuse to do that, when they always are taking advantage, the Lord shows them here, I have no interest in your sacrifices. I'd rather that you knew me. I'd rather that you showed mercy like I show mercy.

[10:04] And so that's the first round of the accusations against Israel. And now we'll just move past that into the second portion of Amos chapter number two. So the accusations come out.

[10:16] They're guilty of all this. They're always looking to take advantage of somebody else. They're against the law. They're selfish. They're ungodly. They're unjust. And now what the Lord does is, I want to show you first the accusations, now the appeals.

[10:28] He's going to put forth three appeals in the next few verses where He appeals to what He has done for them. And it just, it's very understandable to consider. We would do this ourselves when we make, you know, put our case out there to somebody else.

[10:43] We want you to do this. Well, consider what I did for you or consider, you know, that's just common. So to see the Lord do this just resonates and it's easy to receive. 9, 10, and 11. This is what God's appeal.

[10:55] Number one, yet destroyed I the Amorite before them whose height was like the height of the cedars and he was strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath.

[11:06] Also, I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you 40 years through the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up your sons for prophets and of your young men for Nazarites.

[11:17] Is it not even thus? Oh, ye children of Israel, saith the Lord. And so there's his appeals and then he's going to close the chapter saying, but you turned and went and he's going to accuse them some more.

[11:29] So let's study quickly these appeals that God puts forth, the arguments that he makes for why they should be loyal to him and obedient to him and allegiant to him. And the first thing is that he eliminated their strong enemies, the Amorite.

[11:43] Verse 9, I destroyed, destroyed I the Amorite before them. Now, that may not really sink into you. And I'm not going to go all the way through with this, but I'm going to give you a little Bible study on this.

[11:58] So come back to Genesis 15. Why is he talking about the Amorite? There was 10 nations that God spoke of to Abraham back here in Genesis 15.

[12:11] The Amorite, that's just one of them. And if you're at Genesis 15, look at the last three verses. You see where God promises that Abraham's seed is going to inhabit a land, a land from the river of Egypt, the great river Euphrates.

[12:27] And then he mentions in 19, 20, and 21, 10 peoples or nations. And it's in verse 21, the Amorites are just one out of 10. But there's something about them that makes them stand out far above all the others.

[12:43] And to show you this, look back a little bit earlier in Genesis 15, when God is making his covenant with Abram. And he's telling him that his seed is going to go down into Egypt and they're going to be there 400 years in verse 13.

[12:58] And in verse 14, also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge. And afterwards shall they come out with great substance. Now shall go to thy fathers in peace. I'll be buried a good old age. But in the fourth generation, they shall come hither again.

[13:11] And notice this, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. The Amorites, not the Hittites and the Perizzites, not the Canaanites, the Girgashites, the Jebusites, the Amorites.

[13:24] Now why is God singling them out? Well, I don't think it's just specifically like them, but they are by far the most dominant people in this entire region. There was 10 people groups or nations mentioned here.

[13:38] Furthermore, when Moses and then Joshua, when they're going in to conquer the land, there's seven of them that he mentions by name. But by far, without question, the most intimidating was the Amorites.

[13:50] And this is where I wanted to have that picture up there for you to show you the land that they kind of dwelt in. If you can picture in your mind the nation of Israel with the Mediterranean Sea on the far left and then the nation with the Jordan River kind of coming down the middle.

[14:04] And then on the east side of that Jordan River is where some of these nations dwell that he's already mentioned that surrounded him. If you recall, oh boy, I'll get them wrong, but it was Syria to the north.

[14:17] Then Bashan's going to come up in a minute, but that wasn't named by one of them. This is the Amorites. Ammon, Moab, Edom to the south.

[14:30] And I think I'm missing one. Philistines, Tyre. So, the land that if you can, I'm kind of banking as you might remember a little bit what you saw the other week.

[14:42] Coming up on the east side of the Jordan River, there was this shaded area which is all filled for the Amorites. And then across the Jordan River into the land of Canaan was all kinds of shaded area for the Amorites.

[14:54] Like, the majority of the land was dominated by the Amorites. Even though these other peoples were still there and around, they were not at all dominant. They were not ruling. So, they dwelt in the land that we know of as Israel, but also east of the Jordan River.

[15:09] And they were a very formidable, they were a very established nation. Flip over to Joshua chapter 2. Because there were two kings of the Amorites that the Lord God, before they crossed over Jordan, they came up against them.

[15:33] And they confronted, they were confronted by two kings of the Amorites. One's name is Sihon and the other's name is Og. And when, this is at Jericho, when they do cross, getting ready to cross over, look at the testimony of Rahab, the woman, the harlot that lived there in Jericho.

[15:53] Look what she says about these two kings here. Verse number 9, it says, She said to the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

[16:08] For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, one, and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side, Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

[16:23] And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath and off she goes.

[16:37] So those two kings get mentioned right in the same breath as God drying up the Red Sea and drowning out Pharaoh's army of Egypt.

[16:48] There's two kings of the Amorites that when they heard that this nation, this pilgrim nation wandering for years out in that wilderness, they come upon these two kings who are fortified, established, dominant.

[17:05] There is no earthly reason why Moses and Israel should have defeated these kings. There's not even a chance they had against these guys. So when Rahab and the people of the land here, you defeated who?

[17:20] They're shaking in their boots. They're dead men because they defeated those kings. These are extremely notable victories. Look at Psalm 135.

[17:32] Psalm 135. When Joshua, a little later in chapter number 12, he records the history of them going into the land and conquering.

[17:45] And does anybody know how many kings were in the land that they fought and destroyed? Did anybody know the number? I'll give you a hint. It's like Baskin Robbins.

[17:59] Yeah, you know that one. 31 kings. There were 31 kings not outside of, not Og and not Sihon, not on that side of the river, but after they crossed the river and beginning there with Jericho and Ai and going down the list, there was 31 of them mentioned by name in Joshua chapter 12.

[18:21] 31 of them in the whole land. But the ones that are outside, these two kings that we're talking about, these kings of the Amorites, they are far more powerful and they get all the credit.

[18:33] The victories over them is what stands out above everything else. So notice this in Psalm 135. This shows up all over the Bible, all over the Old Testament, these two kings by name.

[18:44] Psalm 135, he smote the firstborn in Egypt in verse 8. Verse 9, Tokens wanders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, Pharaoh's servants, who smote great nations and slew mighty kings.

[18:59] Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan. There's all 31 of them right there. But who gets named? Sihon, king of the Amorites, Og, king of Bashan.

[19:11] They're both Amorite kings, it'll say elsewhere. Look at 136. This is that famous psalm that has, for his mercy endureth forever after every, at the close of every verse.

[19:23] And I'll not read through the entirety, but you see him smote Egypt in verse 10, and their firstborn, brought out Israel from among them. In verse 13, divided the Red Sea.

[19:35] Verse 15, overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, led his people through the wilderness. 17, to him, which smote great kings, and slew famous kings.

[19:48] Name them. Sihon, king of the Amorites. Verse 20, Og, the king of Bashan, and gave their land. Those guys get mentioned by name. I'm trying to get you to understand.

[19:59] These are just not, just one and done victories, like, oh, we just smacked him around, and him, and then went on. They were powerhouses. These are the Amorites. These guys are running the land.

[20:12] There's giants of the Amorites. Was it Og? Is he the one in Bashan that had the bedstead of iron or something? I'd have to look that one up, but there's absolutely mention of giants.

[20:24] In these Amorite civilizations. And so, to defeat these two kings revealed something to Israel. It revealed to them that no enemy, no earthly enemy, could stand before their God.

[20:38] They had no business whipping those two in battle. And yet, God appeals to this when he's reminding them, I destroyed the Amorite before you. I destroyed his height, he said in Amos, verse 9.

[20:52] It was of the cedars. He was strong as the oaks, and I laid them flat. His fruit from above, his root from beneath, I wiped them out for you. Now, why have they forgotten this?

[21:04] God appeals to this when he's reminding them of the great things he's done. Why have they forgotten about this? Why have they fallen so deep into their sins and forgotten what God has done to give them this land, the enemies he defeated?

[21:17] It makes me consider that it would do you and I good to remember those early battles in your Christian life. I can remember some of mine. And when I think about it, it just becomes very clear.

[21:31] It comes back very clear to me that how there was times where I was weak and worldly, and I'm seeking God, and all I want is God, and open my heart to him 100%.

[21:43] And I can remember those crying out to him for help and for mercy, and the Lord just strengthening me and picking me up, and it was as if all the things that I feared of the ridicule of the old friends and the old lifestyle and going to work around the people that I'd lived wickedly amongst and just feeling like I can't show my face around them anymore.

[22:04] Now that I'm trying to live for God, and the Lord just picked me up and just won some victories in my early Christian life. When I tried to stand on my own feet and do what's right, God did a work for me.

[22:16] I could talk about it for a while, and I won't bore you with it, but it's special to me because it's something God did for me in my wilderness journey, bringing me through some things, and only he could do that.

[22:30] He wrought a work in my life, and sometimes those days, they feel pretty distant. It feels like, man, I was so far back when I was doing this and doing that.

[22:41] But when I read here, the word of God brings those two kings up more than any other battles, more than anything else they did. It was those victories where they gained their confidence, and where they grew in an understanding of who their God was and what he was capable of if they believe him and obey him.

[22:58] And that was some good stuff for them going forward. And he keeps bringing it up and bringing it up, and right here he appeals to that. He says, I destroyed the Amorite, didn't I? He doesn't talk about all those other 31 kings.

[23:11] He's not talking about the Philistines or what he did with Samson or the judges. He's saying, those guys, Og, Sihon, you remember what I did there? And so it would be good for you and I to allow those thoughts to come back and meditate on them in the right time.

[23:29] And I think it's a good thing for you to kind of, I guess, center you. Keep you from feeling like it's way back there and I'm not that person anymore. But just to remember what that was, what he brought you out of and what he brought you through.

[23:43] He appeals to that in expecting them to obey him. So that should make some sense for you. The next thing he does is verse number 10. Also, I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you 40 years through the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite.

[23:58] The next thing he does is he appeals to what he's done when he escorted them from Egypt to Canaan. He escorted them from Egypt to Canaan.

[24:09] And this is also a big deal because 40 years, 40 years, that's no small thing. If we could just kind of focus in on it for a minute.

[24:20] In Egypt, they were completely helpless to escape that king and that land. They were many, many Israelites, yet they were helpless to break the bonds and to get away.

[24:32] And yet they walked out. They were poor. They were servants. They were oppressed. And yet they walked out with great substance as we read earlier.

[24:42] The Bible says they went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. Only God could have done that. I brought you up from the land of Egypt is what he said. And then he says, I led you 40 years through the wilderness.

[24:55] And when they brought them out of Egypt, they were not only helpless to escape, they were ignorant of the way that they should go. The most obvious way is to go back the way they came when Jacob came down there.

[25:06] We should go. But God said, no, if you go that way, you're going to run into the Philistines. That's hostile territory. They're not going to be happy to see you and you're not going to be prepared for them. You're going to repent when you see war and you're going to turn and head back to Egypt.

[25:19] So follow me this way. And off they went down to the south and across the sea and totally circumvented all of this stuff to Mount Sinai. But they were ignorant of what the right move to be would be.

[25:31] For them, they wouldn't know. They would have just done the first thing that came natural and it would have been wrong and it would have destroyed them. And the Lord's reminding them, I didn't just break you free from all that with a mighty hand, but I led you in a way that you could actually walk and live and survive and I provided for you.

[25:49] They were incapable of sustaining themselves for one year, much less 40 years. Two million people. Where are they going to get the water? Where are they going to get the food?

[26:00] In the wilderness. Where are they getting any of this stuff? And so the Lord himself provided for all of those mouths, all of those miles, the whole way he fed them and took care of them.

[26:13] And they were inexperienced when it comes to these Gentile nations that they were knocking on their doors. They would have been sitting ducks out there and yet the Lord protected them.

[26:24] These people had no defensible fortresses built. They had no cities where they could defend themselves against the attacks. It was God the whole way. And all of that stuff, I don't want to just wear you out, but every single point of that is a picture of your Christian life, of escaping something you could never escape and coming out with more than you could ever imagine or dream and then not even know the way to go and the Lord guiding you and not even being able to sustain yourself but the Lord sustaining you and not knowing how to fight but the Lord fighting battles and lifting you up.

[27:00] And so God appeals to this. This time in their history appeals to this. The overwhelming magnitude of what he's done for this people. Look back with me at Psalm 78.

[27:12] Psalm 78. There ought to be some allegiance to a God that did all of that for them. At the very least some gratitude.

[27:25] But they have a problem. And the problem is they quickly forget what God has done. Psalm 78 78. And look at verse number 42.

[27:43] 78, 42. They remembered not his hand nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. How he wrought his signs in Egypt. They remembered not that.

[27:55] His wonders in the field of Zohan had turned the rivers into blood. They forgot that. The diverse sorts of flies, the frogs. Forgot that. Continuing through all of the destruction that he did upon Egypt.

[28:09] The firstborn in verse 51. Verse 52. But made his own people to go forth like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely so that they feared not.

[28:22] And yet they forgot, forgot, forgot. And now God is reminding them and appealing to what he's done in the past to say, why are you living the way you're living?

[28:34] Do you not remember what I did for you? It seems that remembering the great acts of God might have kept them from where they are. Had they remembered what God has done.

[28:47] He should not have to call this to their remembrance. He instituted a Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That was supposed to keep that in front of them every single year and remind them and make them sit and stop for seven days and remember the haste.

[29:03] Remember the bloodshed and the lamb. Remember them escaping with their lives. Something God instituted for us is the Lord's Supper to do in remembrance of me.

[29:15] That would match the Passover. I wonder if this stuff would ring true in your life of God bringing you up out of the land of Egypt and leading you through your Christian life through a wilderness and sustaining you and caring for you and protecting you and teaching you to war.

[29:31] I wonder if that would ring true in your life if you took some time to think about what God has done for you. Not just have communion and remember Calvary but that was just getting out.

[29:43] Then what about the journey? What about this week? What about 2025? A few of you had something to say about it. Praise the Lord. There should be something that comes out of your mouth for how God has led you in this last year through the wilderness.

[29:57] Don't forget it. Don't have him come to you and say, have you not remembered what I've done for you this year? Has it just gone through your mind? You're just not paying attention to me at all?

[30:10] You're looking to gain? You're looking to take advantage of people? You're looking to get things for yourselves? You're forgetting what I've done for you? Because this is the Lord's appeals to them. And there's one more that we'll just close with this one in Amos chapter 3 who is not only the enemies, eliminating the enemy, getting them out of Egypt to the promised land, but here's another one that's interesting to me.

[30:38] And here's what, I'll just call it this, he instituted influencers. Everybody likes influencers today. Well, God instituted influencers, literally, this is real, into this nation.

[30:50] Verse 11 says, I raised up of your sons for prophets and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus? It's like, isn't it true?

[31:01] Isn't that, I told you, yes, it's true. O ye children of Israel, I raised up prophets and Nazarites. What are we talking about? What's God appealing to? God brought up in those generations of people, preachers.

[31:17] He brought up instructors to teach the next generation how to follow and to stay right with God and obey the word of God. He did not just leave them to the, imagine he just takes them into the promised land, gets the enemies subdued and says, this is yours.

[31:31] Okay, I fulfilled my promise to Abraham. We're good. You're good. Now remember, obey me or I'm coming back to destroy you and just left them. You know what the Lord knows?

[31:44] He's already seen it bear out in the wilderness. He knows this people is a stiff-necked people. He knows that this people was bent on their rebellion. He also warned them over and over to not be messing around with the idols of this land, to wipe them out and get rid of all of it, break it all down, destroy it all because you're going to learn it and you're going to follow it and then I'm going to come and visit you and it's going to be bad.

[32:06] But what the Lord did was he instituted some influencers for them. Holy, separated men that were given to the Lord that had surrendered to preach his word to lead a sanctified life.

[32:20] God purposely raised up of their own sons prophets and Nazarites to help them, to help keep them right, to influence them, to stay with God, instructing them in the way of righteousness.

[32:34] These are men. They did not take this calling upon themselves. They did not say, well, I want to be a preacher. I want to be a prophet so everybody come to me and listen to me. But no, it was a work of God to raise up of their own sons.

[32:48] Imagine a family, they're just normal folks doing the thing and then their son comes up and starts, thus saith the Lord. Like the Spirit of God moving on him and there's even signs going with some of this stuff that was evidence and proof.

[33:03] The Lord just, his hand alive in that. The Lord led them to the promised land. He knows their wicked hearts. He knows it's just a matter of time. So he does something, he builds in a safeguard into their culture, an attempt to keep them from falling away.

[33:21] He raised up preachers. He raised up men that would live separated holy lives. Men that wouldn't bow the knee to Baal. men that would have some convictions and some commitment with the Lord God that ran deep inside of them that they would even stand up to a king and say, you're wrong king and I'm not going to worship your God.

[33:43] And you know that God still operates that same way today. God moves inside of a heart of a young or old, whoever it would be. You can't see it happen, but they can feel the Lord in their heart.

[33:57] He calls them to preach, to put, he puts a burden on a man. It's a spiritual work. It's a, it's a gift to the body of Christ according to Ephesians chapter four.

[34:09] It's a true modern work of God today when he raises up a young man or an old man or whoever he is to assist and encourage and to lead his people. And yet people today say, well, I don't follow a man.

[34:24] We're not supposed to follow a man. But reality it is, that's pretty much all that anyone's ever done. Ever. Like, from the Bible on. And I'll show you this and we'll close.

[34:35] We'll flip over to 1 Thessalonians. There's a load of references on this. I'm just going to put a couple that are real close together. So look at 1 Thessalonians chapter one.

[34:47] We're not supposed to worship a man, but following a man that's led of God, that's the Lord's way. Notice this in 1 Thessalonians chapter one.

[35:03] And I'll start in verse five. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. As you know, what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

[35:15] What manner of men we were among you. Why? For your sake. Why? Because they're trying to train them and teach them. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word of much affliction.

[35:26] I want you to see the, I'm not going to make a big point about this, but most of the brethren that make the comments about not following men, they would never put that order like that Paul did. They would say, we're followers of the Lord first, and then a follower of men.

[35:39] But Paul says, you became followers of us and of the Lord. because Paul taught them how to follow the Lord. It came from his life and his testimony.

[35:50] They could see it with their eyes and hear him with their ears. They learned how to walk with God by following that example that God gave them. So look at chapter 2.

[36:04] 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse, I'll start in 13 and then verse 14. For this cause also, thank we God, without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

[36:23] For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. And he goes on from there. They're following other brethren.

[36:34] The church is following another church. Look at 2 Thessalonians now chapter 3. This is it. Last passage. 2 Thessalonians 3. And we'll read 7, 8, and 9.

[36:52] For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us. For we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you, neither did we eat any man's bread for naught, but wrought with labor, travail, night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you.

[37:08] Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves and ensample unto you to follow us. Now there's a load, at least three verses that Paul says, be ye followers of me.

[37:21] Paul's telling the whole church to do that. And yet there's even cases where believers learning from other believers, and we've gone enough on this, but you get the idea here that this is a work that God did back in Israel's time.

[37:35] He still does it today, where he raises up men that are just as normal and carnal as you and just all of us. But he does something in their heart. It's a work of God.

[37:47] And it doesn't mean that any man that's a preacher, pastor, or missionary, like they all of a sudden are elevated to something. You know that. But it's true that they're not what they were. That God has come in there and he's done something.

[38:00] It's his work. You have to acknowledge it. And the right thing to do is to follow it and just allow God to do what he did. These are influencers. These are people that God has instituted for the church, for the body of Christ.

[38:14] He did it for Israel. He did not leave them to themselves to just say, go figure it out. Here's the law. Go figure it out. Here's your King James Bible. Go figure it out.

[38:25] Some people pretend that they don't follow a man. They have the Bible. I follow the Bible. And when they make that statement, the things they believe out of the Bible, often they were taught by a man.

[38:37] And they don't even see their own hypocrisy. So we'll stop with that. But God hears, the last points here from Amos is that he accuses, but now he's appealing to them and showing you, this is what I did for you.

[38:49] This is what I did for you. This is what I did for you. And next time, we'll see how they responded to him giving these men, these influencers, these preachers, they basically said, stop preaching.

[39:00] We're done listening to you. So we'll come back to that next time we come together. And let's be dismissed with a word of prayer. And then we can head on our way. Lord, thank you for tonight. Thank you for your word.

[39:12] Thank you that these, these, the hand that you displayed in the Old Testament in many ways is just as visible in our lives and in our church today.

[39:23] please help us to be faithful to you. Please help us to acknowledge your word and to seek it and to understand it. Please give us wisdom in these matters. Help us to do what's right. I want to thank you for bringing us through this past year and we anticipate what you have in store for us this future.

[39:40] We pray that you'd come and get us. We pray that we wouldn't have to see another year. And Lord, if it be your will, that would be great with us. If that's not your will, then Lord, that's great with us too.

[39:51] We're going to trust you. We're going to be patient. We're going to serve you and do the best we can. We ask you just give us what we need to keep on keeping on through this next year. I pray that you'll bless our upcoming meeting.

[40:03] We anticipate a good one. We want you to be present and stir in our hearts and move in us and change us. I pray that you'll bring some visitors out, that you'll bring some friends along, that we can rejoice together in Christ.

[40:14] And we pray this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. All right. Drive safely. God willing, I'll see you Sunday morning. God willing, Amen.