May 25, 2008
Morning Worship
Text: Amos 8:11-14
Subject: The Word of God and the End
Title: A Revival of the Word
Well, our big week has come and gone. Ric Gorden was great on Saturday night. His music and humor really fit into this church. So did the Word of God that he shared.
Sunday morning with Pastor Ray was awesome as well. The word he shared for Sunday School as well as his message in church were significant. The Spirit of God was moving to prepare you to hear that word he preached.
Sunday night was good. Pastor Tim came and preached his heart out.
Do you remember the message and interpretation from Monday night? The Lord spoke to us about a revival of the word.
Tuesday night was incredible. The healing service – healings of every kind were taking place. Some have told me that they can’t wait to go to the doctor so he can confirm what they know has already happened in their bodies.
Then our last night was the call to action. What are you going to do with what you received from the Lord this week?
You know, the really significant thing that I walked away with from this week is that God is ministering to our young people. I’m not just talking about youth, but those who are young in the Lord. During this revival week we saw five people saved. Many of our new Christians came forward and received great spiritual blessings at the altar this week. The desire is there to get closer to God. And now it is our responsibility to help them do that and the only way to help them draw closer is to help them understand more about Him, and the only way to do that is to open the scriptures to them. And that is where we want to be today.
There is an epidemic in the church today among the young and not so young, and it is an epidemic of ignorance of the Word of God. In our youth group we have kids from many different denominations. The one thing that they have in common is that they have a minimal understanding of the Bible. It is time for that to change. If you look around at youth groups in the area most of them are geared toward entertainment as a way to attract more kids. It is time for our youth to become Bible based and to grow in the Lord, and not just hear but to be doers of the word and to experience God like they experienced Him this past week.
This message is a warning that the time of the end is near and what we must do to prepare our young people and young Christians to be overcomers. This message is for mature Christians as well to help you understand your role in growing the church.
Open our ears to hear and eyes to see as I read the word to you today.
I. THIRST FOR HEARING THE WORD (11) “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. I want you to get a picture if you would of the continent of Europe. In the centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire Europe became the purveyor of Christianity. You can go there still and see the wonders of architecture displayed in the magnificent cathedrals and churches. Jesus Christ was exalted in Europe for many centuries. Then the spirit of religion began to sweep across the continent and dead religion began to replace faith in Jesus. Little by little darkness crept into the church till the light of Jesus Christ was extinguished. Go to Europe now and look at the churches. They have become museums – a testimony to a religion that no longer has any value in a godless society. Aren’t you glad that it is Europe and we are the US? But listen, as Europe goes the US will follow. You don’t realize it right now because we live in the Bible belt, but if you get a picture of America in your mind you can see that both the east and west coasts of our great nation have been inundated by spiritual darkness that is displayed in Hollywood and Broadway. Look to the north and you see the liberal social agenda is overtaking the conservative beliefs that Christians hold dear to their hearts. Look to the south along the gulf coast to see a city that was once “sin city” in the US – New Orleans. All along the gulf coast satanic worship and voodoo religion prevails. It has made its way up the Mississippi River and the occult has established strongholds in river towns from Louisiana to Minnesota. Darkness has engulfed the perimeter of our nation and is closing in on us and in fact geographically dividing the nation. Frustratingly enough even in our churches darkness is rising up to the point where all people want to get from church is the good feeling that keeps them going till the next week. People are starving and they don’t even know that it is the Word of God that they desire. In this passage from Amos, the problem isn’t that there was no prophet in Israel. The problem was that the people had hardened their hearts to what God was saying. How did that happen? How did they get to that place? Because they disregarded the Word of God in the scriptures and had begun to practice “religion”. The sacrifices at the temple had replaced a loving relationship with Yahweh. Special feast days and holidays held more significance than the God who ordained them. It wasn’t that the word was not available. They just didn’t want the very thing that they needed – the inspired Word of God. America is at that place right now. Our society in general has hardened their hearts so that the Word of God has no place in America any longer. The Bible is no longer relevant. But Jesus said that His words would always be relevant. Matthew 24:35, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Did you notice that Amos said that there would be a famine? The root of the Hebrew word translated “famine” means “to suffer in hunger” That’s a pretty dire prediction of how Israel would become. And America as well. Again, the famine is not because the Word of God isn’t going forth. It is because nobody wants to hear it anymore. There is a great ignorance of the word even in the church. The story has been told about several famous preachers, but it actually happened to Joseph Parker, minister of the City Temple in London. An old lady waited on Parker in his vestry after a service to thank him for the help she received from his sermons. "You do throw such wonderful light on the Bible, doctor," she said. "Do you know that until this morning, I had always thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were man and wife?" Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, Moody, 1984, p. 213. That is total ignorance of the word.
II. DANGER OF IGNORING THE WORD. (12) Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. The word that is translated as “stagger” in the NIV or “wander” in the KJV means to waver. The idea is that people will be so hungry for a word from God that they will literally search from the east to the west, the north to the south looking for it and won’t find it. The reason they won’t find it is because they are looking for something that will tickle their ears. That’s not the inspired Word of God but man’s “feel good” interpretation of the word. The inspired Word of God has been right in front of them but they have rejected it. They waver over the word. Turn over to Romans 4. Look at what Paul says about wavering. 18Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Abraham did not waver in his faith, but notice where Paul says wavering comes from – unbelief. That is where much of the church world is today – wavering, staggering, wandering around in unbelief. That’s where staggering comes from. But the apostle Paul tells us how we are supposed to respond to the Word of God, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. The Word of God is already at work in you if you are a believer. It is drawing you closer to Him. It is revealing His nature to you by the spirit. The word is showing you His will for your life. The question is, “now, what are you going to do with it?” Do you read the word and see something you like and say, “I’ll take that.” And then see something that doesn’t make you feel too good about yourself and you reject that. You see, if your going to claim the promises you have to take the instruction that goes with it. You can’t just have grace without rejecting the flesh. You can’t have Holy Ghost power without understanding the great commission that goes with it. You can’t have an eternal relationship with Jesus and ignore His warning about sin. But if you do know Him the word is at work in you.
III. A REASON TO GROW IN THE WORD. (13-14) 13“In that day “the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst. Do you see here that it is the young who are at risk. It doesn’t matter what your age is. This is referring to those who are not mature in the Word of God. I don’t have any doubt that we are in the last days. There is such a battle going on in the spiritual realm and it is taking its toll in the natural realm in the lives of young people everywhere. You know for years I have been working with youth here at this church. I have taught them the basics over and over again and I almost thought that they got it once. I wanted to make sure they knew who they were in Christ. But I have made a mistake. Hebrews 6:1-2, 1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. We have to get new Christians past that stage. Hebrews 5, 11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. It is the solid food of the Word of God that will keep young people in the church and will keep them steadfast in their relationship with Jesus. Now let’s go a step further. I have also taught the young people about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I’ve gone through what the book of Acts says. I’ve explained that Jesus is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. I’ve explained the need and purpose for the baptism. Yet, nothing ever happened. But, at our revival services this week you saw what happened when our young people and those who are young in Christ experienced the Holy Spirit. That is what we are expecting to see as people everywhere begin to seek the Word of God and then stand on that word to experience the benefits of God’s promises. It is through experience that the word comes alive. Now, verse 14 tells us what happens to those who are hungry for the word and don’t even know it (that’s talking about the whole world). 14 They who swear by the shame of Samaria, or say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.” Those who have given in to idolatry (living their lives for something other than Jesus) will fall victim to those idols. And they will never rise again. That’s a scary final statement. But those who abide by the word will live victoriously in the name of Jesus. John 15:7-8, 7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
The new minister was asked to teach a boys’ class in the absence of the regular teacher. He decided to see what they knew, so he asked who knocked down the walls of Jericho. All the boys denied having done it, and the preacher was appalled by their ignorance. At the next deacons’ meeting he told about the experience. "Not one of them knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho," he lamented. The group was silent until finally one seasoned veteran of disputes spoke up. "Preacher, this appears to be bothering you a lot. But I’ve known all those boys since they were born and they’re good boys. If they said they didn’t know, I believe them. Let’s just take some money out of the repair and maintenance fund, fix the walls, and let it go at that."
The second coming of Christ is near. There is a famine of the word.
But…
There’s going to be a revival of the word in this church.
Then there’s going to be a revival of application of the word.
Then there is going to be a revival of experiencing the word.
Then watch for the explosion of the word out of the church.
