On the Run and Fleeing from God
By Pastor Jim May
If you have ever watched some of wild police videos on TV you know that there are really crazy people in our world. How people think that they can run from the police while they are being chased by 20 police cars, a helicopter with heat sensing radar, several motorcycles and even a satellite in the sky, and get away, is beyond me.
Southern California is earning a well-deserved reputation as the "freeway-chase capitol" of the world. At least once or twice a week in California, the evening news reports on another nearly brain dead criminal who believes he can outrun the police and all their technology.
Recently one chase was especially interesting. The suspect took off and tried to outrun the cops but didn’t get too far before he ran out of gas. Now there’s a smart guy. Next time you decide to run, check the gas gauge first dummy. he jumped from his vehicle and took off on foot. Then, he wasn’t watching where he was going and jumped over a guard rail right off the edge of a very steep 400 ft high embankment . The bottom end was a straight vertical 75 foot drop to the rocks at the canyon floor.
He broke his pelvis, both shoulder were dislocated, and he suffered multiple head and body lacerations, scrapes, bruises and cracked bones. He was arrested in the hospital after being treated for his injuries. Sadly though, the police and local authorities are gearing up, expecting him to file a major lawsuit saying that they were the cause of his injuries and financial losses. (And as crazy as the courts in California are, He stands a good chance of winning his case and becoming a very rich criminal with no criminal record.)
This morning I want you to know that are also stories of people in the Bible who tried to run. They were running from the Lord, but they were never able to escape from his all seeing eye.
Genesis 3:8, "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden."
Adam and Eve were on the run. Fig leaves, bushes and the entire Garden of Eden weren’t big enough for them to hide from God. He called them out already knowing what they had done, but he had to hear their confession before he could deal with their guilt.
Jonah 1:3, "But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD."
That old prophet Jonah, the fisher of men that became the bait for the fish, was on the run too. He didn’t want to carry the message to the enemy of his people. He had some issues of sin in his own heart to deal with first before God could use him to preach repentance to anyone else. Jonah is a picture of just how far down in life some people must go before they finally realize that God is still the only answer and serving him is their only choice for real life.
There are also instances throughout the Old Testament especially where a whole nation would go on the run from God. Israel was on that constant spiritual roller coaster ride. Their means of approaching God, and their ways of running from the Lord are given to us in God’s Word for us to learn from, so that we won’t make the same mistakes. Sadly though, we often refuse to learn that easily, so we are destined to be on the run from God ourselves if we aren’t careful.
Turn with me to the Book of Amos this morning because I believe that the Holy Spirit has appointed me to bring you a message from the Word of the Lord this morning.
At the time of Amos, Israel was a nation that was facing impending doom because they had continued to run from the Lord and chase after idols. There judicial system was corrupt and their religious leaders were behaving in unethically. As a result, God began to deal with them through a number of judgments that he brought against the nation.
Let me read what God had to say to Israel in Amos 4:6-12, "And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. (Economic hard times) And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. (As we said last week, floods in one place, droughts in another; fighting over water rights, and the ruining of summer crops are all happeing right now) I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."
We can see our own nation all throughout these verses. God is trying his best to get the attention of America. I am also convinced that God is doing his best, through messages like this one, and the past few weeks especially, to get the attention of his church. I feel as though God is warning us to be prepared for some rough times ahead, and they won’t be long in coming.
As we read a little further we will see that God is speaking to his people, those who are called by His name and who lay claim to the fact that they are of the family of God.
Amos 5:18-19, "Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him."
I believe that this passage of scripture contains a warning to those who are running from the Lord, shirking their commitment to Christ or just simply playing church. Amos, is speaking to those in God’s House who like to try to fool people by acting holy, putting on a front, or trying to appear to be more than they truly are.
We have to realize that we can fool man, but we can’t fool God! Man is easy to fool because man’s assessment and evaluation of people is based on what man sees ‘outwardly.’ But Amos is letting us know that there is an ‘unseen eye’ that sees all we do and an ‘unseen ear’ that hears all we say. That unseen eye and that unseen ear belongs to God... and God sees things and knows everything about you that nobody else knows.
One thing that we must be careful of is to not be too quick to judge people based on “what you think you know” about them, because you really don’t know them! The truth of the matter is that some people are good; “really good”, at being one thing around you, but something else behind closed doors. We kind find some actors in the church that would rival anyone that Hollywood could produce. I’ve met some people in the church that I believe could have won the Academy Award for acting like a Christian, but don’t under that façade, they weren’t Christians at all.
Now I don’t want anyone here to start pointing fingers at anyone else because we would all be uncomfortable if that person sitting next to us suddenly knew some of the stuff that we said or thought, or did when no one else was watching. Maybe you should turn and look at them right now and say, “I wonder what you do, or what you say, or what you say about me when you are with someone else!”
In the eyes of the flesh we all have limitations. None of us are like Superman who is supposed to have X-Ray vision, to see what’s on the inside. We can only see what’s on the outside.
While I’m on the subject of X-Rays, just as a quick note, I want to tell you that if you fly, your privacy has the potential to be violated in ways that you never dreamed. The TSA, the security forces of Homeland Security that check out every passenger and bag that goes onto our airlines, has come up with a new machine that is supposed to beef up security a several of our major airports, and probably will be in all of them before it’s over. With this machine, technicians watching a color TV screen in another room can actually see through the clothes you are wearing, at your naked body, to see if there are any hidden weapons. The faces and privates are supposed to be blocked out, but I don’t trust anyone or any man-made machine that much. To me that is the ultimate invasion of privacy in the name of security. I’ve really gotten to the point that I dislike flying anymore. I suppose it won’t matter for most of us much longer because the cost of fuel and airfare will be far beyond the reach of anyone other than the rich. We had better get ready to drive instead.
God has the power to look through man’s outward appearance too, well beyond the power of X-Ray machine, right into heart and soul of a man, and determine what he is really all about.
In Amos’ day the same problem existed that happens today in churches across the nation. Some people, who claimed to be God’s people, who were going around talking about how glorious it will be when the Lord comes.
You won’t have to stand around long in many places before you’ll start hearing people start to testify, about their salvation. They sound so convincing, but saints of God, the proof is in the pudding.
Some people sing, “After you’ve been there 10,000 years, or maybe two, look for me cause I will be there too.” I don’t know how they are going to stand Heaven for 10.000 years if they can’t even stand just 2 hours in church. How can we believe that anyone is going to enjoy living with the Living Word when they can’t stand sermons from that Living Word that are more than 15 minutes long? Why should people look for them in Heaven when they can’t seem to get along right here and now? How can we say that we love Jesus, he heard my cry and cleansed my heart if every time your name is mentioned it’s connected with some kind of ungodly activity?
If anyone in this church is playing church, acting and not being true to the call of God in your life, then you had better get serious with God and do it now. Time is coming to a close. The days of playing church are over. You’d better get real with God, or you will be left behind to face the day of Jacob’s Trouble with every other sinner on earth. I don’t know when Jesus is coming, but he’s coming soon. It could be months, days or even minutes or seconds, but it’s just a matter of time and we don’t have time to play around with God.
Amos was trying to warn Israel, and I’m here to warn the church, that destruction is coming!
Amos 5:16-17, "Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD."
Amos is warning us that God’s judgment and devastation will be so complete throughout the land that there will be sorrow on every street! Travelers on the highway will see it every place they go! Farmers and vineyard workers will find the burden of sorrow more pressing than the care of their crops, and it will lead them to mourn instead of working in the fields. Man will live in shock and awe at the power of God demonstrated in the judgments and won’t be able to function for fear! The crops will die in the field and business will go unattended because the hearts of men will fail while they try to search for answers, and there will be no answers outside of Jesus and his Word.
Who would profit from the judgments upon the land? Amos says that the only ones who will profit from this judgment will be the professional mourners. Back in the times of the Old Testament, there were professional mourners in Israel who would go around crying and howling in misery at the death of your loved one – for a price.
These mourners lived off of the calamity and disasters in other people’s lives.
Do you remember what happened after Hurricane Katrina and Rita? Who profited from those disasters? Who do you think will profit from all the disasters in the Mid-west where the flooding is happening right now?
Were they judgments from the Lord; a wake up call to a nation steeped in sin? What about the attacks on 9/11; where they part of God’s dealing with America to repent? What will it take to get our attention? I wonder if we are not like Israel, completely ignoring the judgment and warnings of God until it was too late to turn around.
Those who profited were those who seized the moment, seized the money and put their time and concern into meeting the needs of those who were devastated – all for a price. The name of the game in our time is to get all you can, can all you can get, and seize every chance to make a profit, no matter what the reason, or what it cost others.
There were many who became as these professional mourners by taking money that was meant for those in need, simply because it was easy to get and free for the taking. Ethics and honesty went out the window because of expediency and greed.
There was a time in Israel during the days of Jeremiah when God even instructed the prophet to stop praying for Israel because they had gone too far.
Jeremiah 11:14, "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble."
I hope and pray that America hasn’t crossed that line. We still need to pray for our country, our leaders and our neighbors while God is still listening, hoping to hear cries of repentance for sin. But in reality, God will not deliver a people who won’t serve him and continue to serve idols. Our prayers should be focused upon souls. God, in your wrath, please save the souls of our loved ones, friends and family who don’t serve you.
Amos says that there will no place in the land where God’s judgments are not plainly visible to all. People will cry and lament the losses, and worry about what else could happen, and much more would come. The troubles would multiply, increase and get worse in their impact. Is that not what’s happening in American today?
Look at our cities these days, and just about every place you cast your eye there is wailing in the streets, on main street, side streets, highways and byways. Everyday, you hear about another person being murdered, mugged, raped, or robbed. It’s not safe to walk the streets alone at nights. Nowadays, when you get out, you almost have to carry mace or pepper spray, or a stick or something to protect yourself in case you’re attacked. Even the elderly are carrying loaded guns in their purses and automobiles.
But not only are our streets in a bad way. Our homes are in a bad way. Children are rising up against their parents. Parents are killing their children. Husbands and wives are living in the same house, but there’s no love there!
Our schools are in trouble. Metal Detectors now stand as sentinels at the school house door. Police officers patrol the hallways. Drug sniffing dogs are being brought in to sniff lockers that once held only books and homework! I’ve head of kids being called out of class and forced to open their lockers, missing out on their class assignments because a drug-sniffing dog sniffed out their lunch instead. They haven’t been able to train the dogs to not be hungry.
Parking lots of our industrial plants and factories are patrolled by armed guards, bomb sniffing and drug sniffing dogs. Our country is in a real mess!
I can understand the condition of the world because sin is so prevalent in the world these days. Sinners are going to be unruly and ungodly, because worldly people are basically pawns in the hands of Satan.
But God’s house is supposed to be made up of regenerated people, who are becoming sanctified, who are on their way to becoming glorified. Regeneration means: you have turned from sin, and turned to Christ, born again by Spirit of God. Sanctified means: You’re still not what you ought to be, but you’re not what you used to be and everyday you’re getting better and becoming more like Christ. And then, Glorified is what you will become after Christ returns in the rapture when we see Him as He is and we become like Him!
Those are the people you expect to find in the church. But we find that there are a lot of Cubic Zirconium Christians. They claim to be polished diamonds in the hands and will of God. They look like diamonds. They sparkle like diamonds. But they have little real value in the Kingdom of God. They’re just here to look cute and try to fool somebody!
We also have some Discount Christians. They look like good church people. They carry around a huge Bible so that everyone can see how holy they are. They wear a cross around their neck, a tract in their hand, and put on their religious music but it hasn’t any effect upon their heart. Sometimes they have on a robe of the ministry, but they aren’t real and you can always tell it by the fruit they bear.
It is to these people that Amos is speaking. They say that they will be glad when Jesus comes, but Amos says, “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord...” They say that they wish it would come because they don’t believe it will ever come; nor will they believe it unless they see it!
And because they don’t believe it; they don’t fear it. And if they do believe it, they’re doing nothing to get ready for it. And because they’re not doing anything to get ready for it; when it happens, it’s going to blow their minds, because it won’t be a day of glory for them; it will be a day of darkness! Only those in a right relationship with God will survive to enjoy the benefits of the Day of the Lord. If you are ready for the rapture you might even escape most of the devastation I talked about a few minutes ago, but none of us will escape being effected by the judgments of God unless God takes us home first!
That’s what Amos means when he says it will be like a picture of a man who escapes from a lion and while doing so, he runs into a bear. He gets away from the bear and makes it to the safety of his house only to relax in his home and in his exhaustion leans against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake!
I’m coming to the close, but I have a few questions for you first.
-What are you going to do when Jesus comes back on a cloud (just like He said He would?)
- What are you going to do when all of the demons are loosed and there are no limits o or chains to restrain evil in the hearts of men and in the world?
- What are you going to do when time is no more and the sky rolls up like a scroll?
- What are you going to do when the earth is consumed in fire and the moon and stars fall from the sky?
Somebody’s who’s been playing church is going to run to the church for real this time and cry out, “Have mercy on me Lord!” But will God even hear you then? Will he have turned away from you and refused to hear your cry?
Why take that chance? Why wait until it happens? Get right with God and do it now! In that day, God may not hear your prayer, or answer you, so don’t take the chance.
When Jesus comes He will separate the Wheat from the Tares! We may look like grass now, but God will know who is really a weed!
When He comes he will separate the Real from the Fake! When he comes he will separate the Saints from the Aints!
I don’t want to miss Heaven, and I don’t think that anyone here would want to miss it either, so listen to the warnings of this message.
Don’t be among those who try to escape the lion by fleeing from the call of God on their lives. You might think that you are safe for the moment, but there’s a bear in that cave where you are hiding, and it bares your soul before God. And if you run and try to escape that bearing of your soul, when the Holy Ghost convicts you of sin, and you run again, there’s a serpent waiting from whom you cannot escape. Satan is that serpent, and in the end you’ll die from his bite. Just when he has blinded you to fell like you’ve arrived in a place of comfort, he will give his final eternally fatal strike.
Come to Jesus today and surrender your will to God’s will. Don’t run from the light. Run to the light. Heaven is real, and hell is real. Make your calling and election sure so that you may enter into Heaven’s gates.
