| THE MORE THINGS CHANGE --THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME By: Rev David Wayne Embry Preached at Bloomfield Wesley United Methodist Church, July 8, 2007 |
Amos 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that
speaketh uprightly.
Amos 5:11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye
take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye
shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not
drink wine of them.
Amos 5:12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins:
they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the
gate from their right.
Amos 5:13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an
evil time.
Amos 5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD,
the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
Amos 5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the
gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the
remnant of Joseph.
Amos 5:16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus;
Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas!
alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are
skillful of lamentation to wailing.
Amos 5:17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee,
saith the LORD.
Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is
it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amos 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went
into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Amos 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even
very dark, and no brightness in it?
Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your
solemn assemblies.
Amos 5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I
will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat
beasts.
Amos 5:23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not
hear the melody of thy viols.
Amos 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a
mighty stream.
This Scripture was what was scheduled for June 3 in the Sunday School
Class. As I was reading it I started noticing many similarities in what Amos
was saying to what is occurring in our lives today. The northern kingdom of
Israel that Amos was prophesizing to was as some scholars have stated
"no different from the solemn assemblies we call the church today." With all
the projects many churches have going on today, many of these churches
have forgotten what Amos told us we must do in verse 24. True Justice is
so often put on the back burner that it has been replaced with what many
call Justice but it is not justice for the oppressed, but it is justice that
oppresses.
Many times today people who are victims are not given the justice they
deserve. In some cases the criminals who commit the crimes is considered
the actual victims and at times are not punished for their crimes.
The actual real victims in the crime has sometimes been made to pay a
second time for the crime committed against them. First when the crime
was committed and second when and if the criminal was harmed. Some
victims have had to pay damages and pain and suffering to the criminal,
due to injury of some type, physical and/or mental.
Not only in the courts but in the legislation that is passed are the righteous
persecuted and the unrighteous rewarded and given liberty to commit
further injustices against others but more importantly against GOD. Denial
of justice is one thing that God specifically forbid in his covenant with Israel
in Exodus 23 verses 1 - 8 and Deuteronomy 16: 18 - 20. Penalties for
violations listed in Isaiah 10: 1 -4 and 29: 20, 21 while severe in the eyes of
the Lord is so very commonly ignored today.
One example is: Today two bills before the House and Senate, HR. 1592
and S. 1105 known as the "Matthew Sheppard Local Law Enforcement
Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007", while being a bill that would make
crimes like those committed against Matthew Sheppard punishable as a
hate crime, are written in such broad terms that the bill is made ineffective.
More importantly if enacted could touch this very church and others in a
real way. It could make it a hate crime to preach or teach on certain
scriptures particularly those that condemn homosexuality such as Romans
1 and 1Corintians 6 and others, from either the pulpit or Sunday school
class. Things such as this is what Amos was speaking about in verse 13.
People do not want to rock the boat so they keep quiet. It was true in
Amos's day and is so much more the truth today.
As we have heard in news reports many groups and even the government
has tried and in many cases are or have succeeded in wiping God out of
the schools either by the prohibition of the Ten Commandments or
removing God out of the Pledge. Also by not allowing religious activities,
prayers, or Bible study clubs on campuses before or after school.
Recently two children were reprimanded by a bus monitor for talking about
what they learned in Sunday School to themselves not to anybody else.
But many schools are requiring that kids be taught sex education as young
as in the 1st grade. They are also being taught that same sex relationships
are okay, normal and should be allowed. Sadly this has also spread to
some churches and denominations as well. In some cases they have
twisted the Word of God to fit their beliefs or in some cases even instead
of the Word of God
Now this does not mean that we need to shun those who are trying to
Punish us for doing what God has commanded us to do. God has told us
that we need to reach out to those who oppose us and to help them to
come into God's grace. But in this day and age people are so sensitive that
they mistake true Christian fellowship and the act of trying to help a person
to turn away from sin as an attack on them. Some churches has taken the
Word of God in such a skewed way that they see verbal and even physical
violence against sinners as what God is recommending. THIS IS NOT
WHAT GOD TOLD US! But so many churches and politically correct
groups have taken the idea that inaction and acceptance of the sin into our
churches and lives is the right thing to do. WRONG.
God told us in no uncertain terms to love the sinner but not the sin. To
forgive a sinner means accepting the person as a child of God whose sins
can and will be washed away by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But
in no way does it mean we can allow the person to continue in the sin that
they are committing. As Paul preached to the Corinthians in chapter 5 of
1Corinthians concerning the man that they were trying to expel because of
his continued sin. What Paul told them to do, so should we do today. But
we are afraid to because of the threats to us by the very sinners we are
supposed to be saving. As Paul stated in 1Cor.5:11 allowing a person to
continue in their sinful and immoral lifestyles is reprehensible and gives a
false testimony to Christ. Allowing these things give the world at large the
idea that sin is acceptable to us and we are willing to accept it. This
inaction dishonors Jesus Christ and makes us susceptible to laws and
regulations such as those being proposed today. Doing nothing will
condemn us to what Amos said in vv. 16 -18, 20
How many of us today worry about God’s acceptance of our prayers to
Him? We all do. But many churches who think they are pleasing God are in
fact probably not. They are most likely receiving what Amos told the
northern kingdom in vv. 21 -24. By their empty prayers and their rejection
of parts of the Word that they dislike, by acceptance of the sinful acts and
abominations that God will not accept, many are condemning themselves to
a life of unbelievable torture and punishment. By acceptance of man’s law
and the rejection of God’s law because it might hurt feelings sin has
overtook any common sense they may have.
God will be the ultimate judge to punish those who will not give up their
sinful ways but he expects us to exercise spiritual discipline over the
professing believers in our church. Part of this includes being ever vigilant
to guard against our spiritual lives being taken away by those who want to
abolish the dominion of God. We need to be ever cautious of the attacks
being made against us and help each other to secure our everlasting souls
to God Almighty. Let us pray,
Almighty Father, help us to be ever vigilant to your Word. Help us to
accept the sinner and not the sin. Help us to not be like the northern
kingdom of Israel that Amos was prophesying to and be faithful to You
in Word and deed, now and forever more. Amen.
Copyright 2007, Rev David W. Embry, Sandridge Evangelical Christian
Ministries
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