A Famine in the Land
Amos 8:11-12
What we listen to
will determine what we believe!
Prepared for Bossier City First Church of God
Rev. Johnny Creasong, Pastor
November 28, 2004
Jay Leno does a “man-on-the-street” interview, and one night he collared some young people to ask them questions about the Bible. “Can you name one of the Ten Commandments?” he asked two college-age women. One replied, “Freedom of Speech?” Mr. Leno said to the other, “Complete this sentence: Let he who is without sin...” Her response was, “Have a good time?” Jay then turned to a young man and asked, “Who, according to the Bible, was eaten by a whale?” The confident answer was, “Pinocchio.”
Amos 8:11-12
"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.
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.” (NIV)
We need to start early teaching our children lest they have to get it later. The Illinois public schools do not allow students to read the Bible, but the Illinois penal code requires the state to provide a Bible for every inmate.
What we believe determines what we become which determines what we beget!
What we listen to will determine what we believe!
Romans 10:17
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.” (NIV)
The Word of God is POWERFUL!
a young Colombian Girl who received a new testament in her school. She read the new testament until one day her father caught her reading it…and told her not to read it any more because it was full of lies and fantasy..
But the girl kept on reading until one day her father came home unexpectedly found her with the NT grabbed it from her hands and put it in his pocket.
The father went off to work where he was a mining engineer. Several hours later sirens went off in the community there had been a cave in at the mine. The father was trapped in the mine. The rescue workers took 5 days to finally reach the men, but it was too late. All 31 men died including the father of this little girl
Curiously, workers found the man clutching the NT between his praying hands.
When they opened the front cover they read a note
“To my daughter” Keep reading this NT, it is true and right, and I will see you one day in heaven.
Then they turned to the back page where the father had signed the commitment card after having said the sinner’s prayer.
But that was not the end of the story,
Turning the page there were signed the names of the other 30 workers.
Did you ever read something in the Bible and it be exactly what you needed at that moment?
1) It CONNECTS with us!
Hebrews 4:12
“For the
Word of God is LIVING and ACTIVE ...”
(NIV)
The Bible is full of DIVINE Life, Supernatural life, the very life of God Himself! Every other book is a dead book, its pages devoid of life. The Bible is always relavent, always fresh, never obsolete, never stagnant!
Pastor Vsevolod Lytkin from Siberia, recently spoke at a church in Minneapolis, Minnesota during a US visit. He described his personal journey to faith in Jesus Christ. Listen to his struggle:
His parents were atheistic university professors at a local university who raised their son to “think for himself”. During his teen years, he struggled with many spiritual questions. When the communists told him there was no god, he reasoned that their might be a God and so began a search for reading material where he might find the answers.
The only books of religion available at his local library were atheistic, but they often quoted verses from the Bible to mock or refute them. His greatest discovery was a set of encylcopedias on atheism from which he copied every Bible verse by hand.
It was not very long before he began to pray to God and ask Him to forgive his sins.
2) It CONVICTS us!
Hebrews 4:12
“....Sharper than any double-edged sword, it PENETRATES even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (NIV)
The Bible never fails to cut! There is no blunt side to it! It is two-edged. It cuts both ways. It is able to tear down AND to build up. A woman went to the post office to mail a Bible to her son who was in college. "Ma’am," asked the postal clerk, "does this package contain anything breakable?" "Only the Ten Commandments," she replied.
3) It CONVERTS us!
1 Peter 1:23
“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of IMPERISHABLE, through the living and enduring WORD of God.” (NIV)
4) It CONFORMS us!
1 Peter 2:2
“...as newborn babes, DESIRE the pure MILK of the word, that you may grow thereby...”
(New King James Version)
There’s a story I heard once, about a man who was trying to cut costs, so he began to gradually substitute sawdust in the oats of his mule. Everything was fine for a period, and the animal was satisfied with sawdust. Then he died. We see the same in spiritual life. We exchange truth with error in our believer’s lives and it’s great for awhile.... but before you know it they are dead.
5) It COUNSELS us!
Psalm 119:105
“Your WORD is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (NIV)
6) It CONQUERS every foe!
Ephesians 6:17
“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD of God.” (NIV)
YET the Word of God is
POWERLESS
until we
BELIEVE
and OBEY!
In Am 8:11-12, we read of a famine for the Word of the Lord that would befall Israel, which occurred when they were taken into Assyrian captivity. Let’s be sure that we do not experience a self-imposed famine of the Word by neglecting to study and glean from such prophets like Amos. A famine in our country, our homes, and our church. We CAN avoid the devastating effects of a famine, through solid, Biblical based teaching and preaching.
I want to challenge you this morning to
1. Make a commitment not to neglect the all-powerful Word of God.
2. Read daily the Word of God, which holds our knowledge of His saving grace.
3. WORK daily on spreading this Word.
