Asleep In The Light

You deserve a break today is the familiar slogan of Macdonald’s. It has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it! It has a certain allure that catches our attention. I do deserve a break today. With the pressures of our school, work and family, with our hectic busy schedules sometimes we feel like “Yes I do deserve a break today.

In fact the Bible says in Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

In Psalm 25:13 it says: His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

The weeping prophet had this to say in Jeremiah 46, “and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid…for I am with thee”

As believers we are promised a time of rest. We are promised that Jesus Christ will be the peace of our lives. In times of struggle we can go to the rock that is higher than I and find a place of refuge. Indeed rest and peace are marks of the Christian life. These are distinctives which set us apart from the rest of the world. In the world you can find no rest.

Deuteronomy 28:65 - And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest:

The Bible says the wicked are like the troubled sea which cannot rest; whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

But in Jesus Christ you can find rest and comfort and peace.

Let’s praise him for the rest and peace we can have in him.

There is another sense in which the word rest can be used. It is a carnal rest or a fleshly rest. I am talking:

® not about confidence in Christ, but about a hardening of the heart, a callousness to the things of God.

® not about the security of one who is on the rock, but about the abandon of one whose house is on the sand.

® not about the peace of God which comes with the knowledge that you are being used of God, but about growing lazy and apathetic to the cries of a hungry world.

The message of the book of Amos speaks to the people of God concerning the danger of growing apathetic in our walk with God.

The message of Amos was to the people of God and not to the heathen. Because the best thing that God can do for the heathen is to get the people of God right. And when the people of God get right we will be revived. And when revival breaks out in the Church among the people of God, then we will begin to reach the world and change the world.

The prophet Amos was the son of a humble herdsmen from Tekoa. He probably did not have the finest of education. But with what he did have he preached an awesome message in the book that bears his name. He prophesied in a time when The Jews were divided. In the northern kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam was the king and in the southern kingdom of Judah, Uzziah was the king.

Amos preached with a message that burned within his heart. Amos had heard from the Lord. He said “the Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem” He said (Amos 3:8)

“The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?”

And prophesy he did. He preached a masterpiece sermon. He is prophesying to Israel the northern kingdom, but he does not start with them. First he starts with the nations round about and slowly brings it closer home. He pronounces the judgment of God upon the sins of the nations.

Amos 1:3 - Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

Amen Amos preach it!!

Amos 1:6 - Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:

Amos 1:9 - Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:

Amos 1:11 - Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: