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Intro: This morning we come to the third vision that Amos has from the LORD.
In the first two visions God had prepared disastrous calamities to come upon the nation in the form of locusts and famine.
Amos interceded for the nation and God did relent for a time to give Israel opportunity to repent of their sin.
I’ve thought this week about this chapter and I wonder if in the life of Billy Graham, if God used him like Amos, calling nations back to the Lord.
If that was the case, then the vision this morning is the last straw of God’s grace before judgment.
Let’s look at “God’s Plumb Line”
Text: Amos 7:7-17
1. God’s Plumb Line; 7-9
A plumb line is a tool used in carpentry and mason work.
A cord with a weight at one end used by masons to check if walls are vertical.
The Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line.
Israel [northern kingdom] was established with the plumb line of the Lord.
[1 Kings 11:28-38]
The Word of God [Law] is his Plumb Line.
The Word of God is the standard by which all people are measured.
Especially his own!
God laid a sure foundation and set the standard by which Israel would thrive as a nation.
All they had to do is keep themselves plumb.
[8-9] God placed His plumb line [Law/Word] in the midst of His people to guide them in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Unfortunately Israel had become morally and politically corrupt [v.
9]
They set up pagan altars throughout the land, they desecrated Bethel the house of God a holy place, into an altar of foreign gods, and the government of Jeroboam II was evil in the sight of the Lord [2 Kings 15:8-10].
America was founded on the same principle as Israel, God’s Plumb Line!
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence.
The phrase gives three examples of the unalienable rights which the Declaration says have been given to all humans by their Creator, and which governments are created to protect.
So what happened to America?
The same thing that happened to Israel!
We started interpreting scripture to meet our needs instead of upholding the Plumb Line of God’s Word.
We measured ourselves by others instead of by His Word.
Religion- we often compare ourselves with other churches and congregations often compare their pastor with other pastors.
How foolish of us!
Other churches and other pastors are not our standard, God’s Word is our standard!
Government- God’s Word was given to guide kings/governments on how to properly grow a nation of people to walk after the Lord and be prosperous and successful in Him.
But man began to think they knew better than God.
There are more than 4,500 recorded, public quotes by our Founding Fathers about the Bible, God, and the importance of ethics based on Christian principles.
All of these statements were delivered while government leaders stood on government properties.
History shows that Judeo-Christian ethics are at the foundation of the United States of America.
Morality was never seen as relative — it was always based on Natural Law and the authority of Scripture.
As hard as it is for some to accept in this 21st century pop-techno-culture, this country and its moral backbone were founded on biblical principles and the freedom of religious expression.
In the early 1960’s when the U.S. courts started redefining our moral compass as a nation.
The notion of “separation of church and state” was popularized at that time, removing Judeo-Christian principles from the public arena.
[Drive Thru History]
2. My People Israel; 8b
This is the first time God addresses the northern kingdom as His people.
But He didn’t have good news for them.
“I will not pass by them anymore”- God had placed His plumb line in the midst of his people and found that they were crooked and He would spare them no longer.
This was their third strike and they were out.
Notice that Amos does not try to intercede because He knows God is just in His judgment because every effort has been given and He judges by His Word!
God has a plumb line.
He has a standard.
He knows where He wants us to be and how we should get there and He has provided a path for us if we are willing to take it.
If your plumb line is based on your parents, friends, society, or any other standard the world offers, then your plumb line is not secure.
And neither are you!
Folks, God does not negotiate His laws for anyone and He does not change with the whims of culture.
3. Israel’s Response; 10-13
Rejected God’s Word- Amaziah was the high priest of the northern kingdom and the personal priest of king Jeroboam II.
He wrote a letter to the king telling him of the conspiracy of Amos against him [die by the sword, which he did, 2 Kings 15:10]
Rejected God’s Prophet- Amaziah then railed against Amos and told him to go home and quit preaching the Truth in the “kings sanctuary”.
God’s house has become the kings/people’s house.
Nobody wanted the truth!
America unfortunately has followed suit.
4. Amos’ Rebuke; 14-17
Amos reminds Amaziah that he didn’t ask for this job, God gave it to him and he would do what God said and not worry about what men say!
The LORD Himself had a word for the High Priest.
⇒ Amaziah would see his wife so destitute that she would sell her body in order
to survive.
She would actually become a prostitute.
⇒ Amaziah would also see his children killed by the swords of soldiers.
⇒ Amaziah would lose his home and land, his entire estate.
⇒ Amaziah himself would die as an exile in a foreign nation.
⇒ Amaziah would see his nation Israel conquered and the survivors exiled to the conquering nation.
Close;
This morning there are two types of people here.
Those who have built their house on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, and those who have built their house on the shifting sands of this world.
If your life is built on the Rock, how straight is you vertical life?
Are you staying in line with God’s Word or are you out of plumb?
If your life is built on the standards of self, others and this world, you have no vertical life at all!
Your life is a mess and out of plumb!
But if you will place yourself in the hands of the Jewish Carpenter, Jesus Christ, He will get you in plumb with God!
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