It is a popular view that history repeats itself in an endless cycle, but Scripture makes it clear that we are actually progressing toward a final conclusion point, the Day of the Lord. The nation of Israel assumed they would fare well on that day, but Amos confronted them with their hypocritical, profitless religion. Alistair Begg warns today’s Church that religious routines and fascination with prophecy are ultimately useless unless they produce obedience and righteous living.
18Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light,
19as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
Amos was not a learned man, but a shepherd from a small town. He was not an innovator; he simply reminded people of facts they already knew. The only remarkable thing about Amos was how unremarkable he was. It was a time of prosperity, corruption, and compromise. God’s people played at religion and toyed with sin. God used Amos to remind His people that religious profession was meaningless unless accompanied by obedience, holiness, and wholehearted worship. He warned them that while God was merciful, He was running out of patience.
In this series, Alistair Begg explains why the prophetic words of Amos remain relevant to today’s Church, which often focuses on religious experiences while denying the truths of biblical doctrine and reduces biblical imperatives to personal options. Like Amos, Alistair urges us to align our worship and lifestyles with the truth of Scripture and renew our relationship with God today, knowing that His judgment is imminent.
Message | ID | Scripture | Buy | Free |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amos, An Introduction
ID: 1352
|
1352 |
Amos 1:1 |
CD | |
This is What the Lord Says, Part One
ID: 1355
|
1355 |
Amos 1:3-16 |
CD | |
This is What the Lord Says, Part Two
ID: 1383
|
1383 |
Amos 2:4-16 |
CD | |
The Lion Has Roared
ID: 1357
|
1357 |
Amos 3:1-8 |
CD | |
Divine Alienation
ID: 1360
|
1360 |
Amos 3:9-15 |
CD | |
The Point of No Return
ID: 1362
|
1362 |
Amos 4:1-13 |
CD | |
A Funeral Song
ID: 1363
|
1363 |
Amos 5:1-17 |
CD | |
The Day of the Lord
ID: 1365
|
1365 |
Amos 5:18-27 |
CD | |
The Curse of Complacency
ID: 1367
|
1367 |
Amos 6:1-14 |
CD | |
The Sovereign Lord
ID: 1369
|
1369 |
Amos 7:1-9 |
CD | |
The Making of a Man of God
ID: 1370
|
1370 |
Amos 7:10-17 |
CD | |
Dark Days and Shaved Heads
ID: 1373
|
1373 |
Amos 8:1-14 |
CD | |
The Dawn of a New Day
ID: 1374
|
1374 |
Amos 9:1-15 |
CD | |
Complete volume: | 13001 | MP3 CD Series CD Series |