Know Your Role!
Minor Prophets: Around and Around They Go • Sermon • Submitted
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Opening & Intro
Opening & Intro
Have you ever experienced a power trip? Either someone going on one or having one yourself?
I have been in both shoes.
We all have to learn how to be leaders and one major part of that is also learning to be led.
Talk about power trip at Wildwood...
Talk about lack of power at Piankatank...
But it was through those failures in my life that I learned how to lead more effectivly.
That’s the key. We can fail but it is what we do with those failure that matters. Do we learn from it or keep doing the same thing until we burn out?
Do we know how to listen? DO we know who is in Charge.
Last week we talked about turning to God for help and looking to Him for answers. This week. We need to ask ourselves
Main Point
Main Point
Do we have a health understand of Who God is? IS God ours or are we His?
Why Does it Matter
Why Does it Matter
It is a big difference. Because if we think God belongs to us to do our bidding… we are in for a rude awakening. This was a big probelm for the Israelites in this time period. They forgot just whose they were and who God was. They thought He existed for their pleasure and to make THEIR lives easier. But sadly as we will see. It is the other way around.
Scripture
Scripture
1. The Lord's lion like roar can call for return or threaten judgement. This case is judgement. He rebukes northern shrines of worship stating that God in the ordained temple in the Davidic capital.
2. This is the "messenger Formula" - 1) Thus says YHWH 2) General accusation 3) Specific accusation 4) Announcment of judgment 5) Eleboration of Judgement 6) CLosing "YHWH said" (AMEN)
3. This is theologically important because:
1) It is evidence of Amos' authority
2) People outside of God's chosen people are also under His authority
Ignorance of the law is no excuse but what is more, there is law wirtten on our hearts that we know it is wrong. Moral law. Don’t kill, Don’t steal, don’t sell people, stuff like that. All people are held to account especially when they are treating thse around them like they aren’t even people.
We are going to pick up in Chapter 2 verse 6.
This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Damascus,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because she threshed Gilead
with sledges having iron teeth,
I will send fire on the house of Hazael
that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.
I will break down the gate of Damascus;
I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven
and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,”
says the Lord.
This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Gaza,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because she took captive whole communities
and sold them to Edom,
I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
that will consume her fortresses.
I will destroy the king of Ashdod
and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
till the last of the Philistines are dead,”
says the Sovereign Lord.
This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Tyre,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom,
disregarding a treaty of brotherhood,
I will send fire on the walls of Tyre
that will consume her fortresses.”
This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Edom,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he pursued his brother with a sword
and slaughtered the women of the land,
because his anger raged continually
and his fury flamed unchecked,
I will send fire on Teman
that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah.”
This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Ammon,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to extend his borders,
I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah
that will consume her fortresses
amid war cries on the day of battle,
amid violent winds on a stormy day.
Her king will go into exile,
he and his officials together,”
says the Lord.
3) The wrongs up to 2:4-5 are all acts of inhumanity then it switches to being judged by the standards of the day Cruelty of civilians, sellng people into slavery, treaty violations...
God cares about how we conduct ourselves. We have no rights as visiters in this land but we also do not have the right to remove rights from anyone else.
4) Judgement: Their walls will no longer protect them. What made you safe will soon become useless.
This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.
They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
they drink wine taken as fines.
“Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them,
though they were tall as the cedars
and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above
and their roots below.
I brought you up out of Egypt
and led you forty years in the wilderness
to give you the land of the Amorites.
“I also raised up prophets from among your children
and Nazirites from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
“But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
“Now then, I will crush you
as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
The swift will not escape,
the strong will not muster their strength,
and the warrior will not save his life.
The archer will not stand his ground,
the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
and the horseman will not save his life.
Even the bravest warriors
will flee naked on that day,”
declares the Lord.
Application
Application
5) We belong to God not the other way around.
We have a tendancy to treat God like a genie. Then when he doesn’t give us what we want, we sulk or get mad. We call him out and we act like he owes us something.
The truth is, He DOES owe us something, Death.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
And look at this:
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
You see? We forget ourselves and want more. We forget we are here for God. The fact that we are alive today and able to experience life with God is a blessing.
Then we get an afterlife.
This is MORE than we deserve. THAT IS WHAT GRACE IS.
Let’s not tell God where he can and can be. We need to be consistent. We need to meet Him and give our live over to him.
Maybe we hid a little bit behind God…
“God wants me to do this… God told me to do this.”
God will never tell you to do something against his character and expect you to go through with it. EVER!
He is not here to get us our own way.
Closing
Closing
We need to know our role. which is:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
That’s our role. Teach people to hear God and respond. How can we do that if we don’t do that ourselves.