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Well, if you'll take out your Bibles and turn to the book of Amos if you have not already done so I'm going to ask my daughter to please pass out our handout for tonight If you're listening to this Via audio, which I know there will be people who listen to this later I just want to mention that we just finished watching a video from the Bible project on YouTube on The book of Amos and you can look that up and watch that at home How many of you found that helpful? Sort of as a quick overview just to get started and now now you understand sort of what I was talking about Sunday Remember how I introduced Amos and I said we're going to study Amos and I said almost the whole book is a book of judgment only the last five verses deal with God's mercy and grace, but the rest of the book is is is coming down on the People of Israel and So tonight We're going to be looking at chapters 1 & 2 For our study you say now pastor, how can we do two whole chapters in one night? Well You're going to see that in Amos chapters 1 & 2 There's a lot of repetition Remember there are different types of literature in Scripture There is what we call narrative Which is what we get in like Genesis and Exodus where it tells the stories of people's lives and we draw from the narrative truth And then there are things that we call didactic literature that's like Paul's writings when he's writing down specific doctrines that we need to learn didactic simply means teaching literature and and Typically those you can break down into compartments and compartmentalize and put into outlines and things like that But then you have something called Apocalyptic literature, which is something like we find in Revelation, but you also find some apocalyptic literature in the prophets because in prophetic literature there's often a reference to what's coming an Apocalypse the revelation of what is going to take place and so oftentimes in that there's a lot of Repetition so we can make larger strides than in this book At certain points then we might be able to say in the book of Romans where we might have to stop and camp out At one point for three weeks or something like that So I I think we can get through the first two chapters tonight if we move Briskly, but if we don't and we have to come back next week, I'm We're gonna come back anyway, but if we have to finish next week, I don't mind doing that either So I do want to begin by simply reading The first few verses and then we're going to break down Starting at verse 6 the outline of the repetition that I was talking about.
It says in Amos chapter 1 verse 1 the words of Amos Who was among the shepherds of Tekoa? which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and In the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel two years before the earthquake and he said the Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem the pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers thus Says the Lord and right there at verse 3 is actually where he's going to begin calling out all of the nations But before we get to that, I want to have you turn in your little sheet.
Well, don't turn if there's only one page To the outline and so we can look at what we're going to look at tonight The outline that I've given you for the first two chapters is very simple One is the introduction which is what we just read the prophets introduction and then the second thing that we're going to look at is the condemnation of the nations and then finally The third thing that we're going to see tonight is the conclusion not the conclusion of the book But the conclusion of the introduction actually when you look at the book of as a whole the first two chapters Give us the introduction to the book because Amos's focus is to call the people of Israel the northern kingdom of Israel to Repentance and to proclaim upon them the judgment of God that they have brought upon themselves But He doesn't do that without first giving a lengthy introduction About all of the sins of the nations that surround Israel So let's look first at the prophets Introduction who he is and when he prophesied Amos lived in the southern kingdom of Judah now.
I don't know how many of you were here I know at least a few of you.
I know the Fraziers were here.
I think the hillards were here the Foskey's and Mr.
Richard and Miss Sybil were here when we did the the Old Testament survey a few years ago.
Do you guys remember that? One of the things that I think is so valuable and I try to do it every few years It's to try to do a survey of the Old Testament for the sake of the fact that most people when they read the Old Testament Do not know where they are Historically in time because we have done a bad job of Putting the books in order in the Bible and I can say that because the order of the books is not inspired I'm not offending God by saying the order of our books is not correct.
In fact Richard I'm gonna I'm gonna let you for a moment.
Tell us What is the difference between the Jewish canon and the in the canon that we use today of the Old Testament? If people were asking immediately, which ones were left out? None of them.
24 books include what is represented in today's Old Testament.
Yep, we today if somebody asks you how many books are in the Bible you say 66 How many books are in the Old Testament you say what? 39.
You know how to remember how many are in the New Testament, right? Well 66 minus 39 or 3 times 9 is 27.
That's how many books are in the New Testament.
So that's kind of an interesting little just if you remember 39 and 3 times 9 is 27 That'll remind you how many are in the New Testament, but we have 39 books in the Old Testament But if you go to a Jewish Bible They do not have 39 books.
They have 24 books and like Richard said somebody asked the question Well, which ones do we have that they don't have? none They simply number them differently Yeah, well, okay we have a New Testament, I mean the Old Testament, but you're not wrong We have a whole new covenant book that they don't have But they have the Old Testament of 24 books, which they combine The minor prophets there's 12 combined together as one.
They don't have first and second.
Go ahead That's counted as one book Yeah, and then you have first and second Kings is only one book and the Jewish canon They don't have it broken up.
Why was it broken up? What tradition says was because it was two different scrolls because they're so long You have two different scrolls.
So you had the first scroll and the second scroll, but we don't we don't have that issue anymore But it's still identified as first Kings second Kings first Chronicles second Chronicles.
So when we break it down There's 24 books and in the Jewish canon It's easier to realize where you are by how everything is written for instance the book of Amos happens prior to the fall of Israel to Assyria All right, when did that happen? Anybody know right off Okay, thank you 722 BC 722 BC Israel falls to the Assyrians then in 586 BC Judah which is the southern kingdom falls to the Babylonians The southern kingdom of Judah is exiled for 40 years after which under King Cyrus they are Liberated and allowed to go back to their home, right? So there's a 40-year period where the people of Israel I'm sorry, the people of Judah taken into captivity and they're allowed to go back home, but the people of the northern tribes never restored there's never a time where the northern tribes have a Coming back out when Assyria comes in in 722 BC and totally wipes them out There is never a recollection of that.
In fact What do we see in the time of Jesus? We see a group called the Samaritans.
What were the Samaritans? They were Jewish and Gentile mixed population those who had had a mixed Maybe Jewish father Gentile mother or vice versa and they weren't accepted by either side so, you know considered half of both and that's a result a part of what happened in The fall to Assyria there was a destruction of the people, but why did that happen? Well, we see it in the prophets We see what happened because long before this there was a king named Solomon Remember Solomon, right? Solomon is the son of who? He's the son of Bathsheba He's not a David.
He's a he was a son of Uriah's wife That's the way she's never called David's wife.
He's always called the wife of Uriah and that son Became the king at David's death and when that son died There was a division in God's kingdom the southern kingdom of Judah Along with the small kingdom of the small the southern rather the southern tribe of Judah along with Benjamin the smallest of the tribes Came together and formed the southern kingdom of Judah under Rehoboam Rehoboam was the son of Solomon the northern kingdoms followed after Jeroboam who was a servant of Solomon who led a rebellion against Solomon and sought to codify his power after his death and after the death of Solomon Jeroboam the first as you saw in the video Brought in the reign of the false gods and it was through that and through many successive generations that we end up with Jezebel Remember that story and you remember who came against them the Prophet Elijah and all of that situation, right? All of this is happening in the northern kingdom of Israel.
They are offending God Israel the northern kingdom never had a righteous king the southern kingdom Had good and bad and I do believe that's why we see an almost 200 year reprieve From the time of the fall of the northern kingdom to never return to the time of the fall of the southern kingdom for a 40-year a captivity where they would return and I do believe it was because there were times of righteousness in the southern kingdom Where there was no reign of righteousness in the northern king.
So when we get to Amos 1 it says that We it tells us there the words of Amos who was among the shepherds of Tekoa now Tekoa is in the southern kingdom near Bethlehem But he saw Concerning Israel now this time Judah would have been the southern kingdom Israel with northern kingdom So he's seeing this regarding the northern kingdom, even though he's in the southern king He's seeing this regarding the northern kingdom and it's in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah So in the southern kingdom we have Uzziah.
Uzziah was a good king.
He had some problems But I've never met a politician yet didn't have some problem.
I've never met a leader yet That didn't have at least some failures on his record but Uzziah did have Some I want to read a little something here King Uzziah was 16 years old when he began to reign He reigned for 52 years in Judah He did according to Scripture 2nd Chronicles 26 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father Amaziah had done King Uzziah sought the Lord during the days of Zechariah the prophet who instructed him in the fear of God This Zechariah is most likely a godly prophet to whom Uzziah listened and as long as Uzziah made a point to seek God God made him prosperous Unfortunately after Zechariah the prophet died Uzziah made some mistakes later having lost that godly influence in his life He did veer toward the end, but his life was marked by relative righteousness as a leader in Israel You remember Isaiah 6? Isaiah 6 is when Isaiah goes into the into the temple and he sees God sitting on his throne and the Seraphim around him with the wings that they fly and with two wings that cover their face with two that cover their feet and they Say, holy.
Holy.
Holy remember that What was it? What does it say the beginning of Isaiah 6 in the year King Uzziah? died Why is that even an issue for Isaiah? Because here's this righteous King who has died there's a question in the land what comes now So Isaiah the prophet gets taken into the temple and shown the true King Yes, you've lost the earthly ruler who has been relatively righteous and leading But just because he has died does not mean that God is off of his throne so so Isaiah the prophet receives a promise and a vision of God's righteousness and his sovereignty But like I said We see King Uzziah is in the northern kingdom but in the southern kingdom There is Jeroboam the son of Joash Mm-hmm.
I'm sorry.
You're right.
Thank you.
The northern the southern kingdom is Uzziah The northern kingdom is Jeroboam.
This is not the same Jeroboam as who led the revolt against Solomon This is several generations later.
This is Jeroboam the son of Joash who was known historically as Jeroboam the second Not because he was the junior But because he took the title of the one idolatrous King and he would take that same Title for himself and be just as wicked He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord So again, the prophet Amos seeing this situation Is I read one commentator? I love this He said I he said Amos was fed up and I like it when things are sometimes just simplified You ever get fed up with unrighteousness.
I mean really This is where the prophet is He's fed up with unrighteousness He's fed up with what he's what's going on.
So he goes and speaks on behalf of the Lord and in verse 2 We see what he says It says and he said The Lord roars From Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem Now as I was reading that and I was sort of trying to in my mind envision What it is Amos is trying to say I began to think about Another passage of scripture in first Peter 5 8 Mike taught on first Peter a few weeks ago But you don't have to go there.
You'll remember it as soon as I mention it first Peter 5 We we hear of another one who who who prowls around like a roaring lion.
Who is that? Satan Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and As I was thinking about this it says the Lord roars from Zion I Got to thinking about the the way that Peter references the roaring of Satan and obviously there is a difference Satan roars against righteousness Satan roars against God and Satan roars against God's people Because Satan's desire Because he is irredeemable According to scripture.
There is no Savior for Satan he is condemned from the beginning and Because there is no hope His desire is to see as many follow him into hell as possible his hatred for People his hatred for God his hatred for good it's shown by Peter to be that of like a lion and He's like a lion in a cage and he looks for ways that he can devour people He looks for ways that he can destroy people's lives, and that's what he seeks to do Thank God he's on a leash Satan is not Sovereign and by the way, some churches treat Satan like he's sovereign some churches treat Satan like he has all control And I hate that when I go into churches and I hear people preach and they just well, that's the devil That's the devil.
That's the devil Now I realize the devil's at work and we are fighting battles with the principalities of the air And and he is called the prince of the power of the air, but he is not sovereign He is not in all control he doesn't even know for certain what's going to happen Except for what has been prophesied about him.
He knows his end But when he's called the roaring lion, it's in reference to his destructive capability Satan is like a lion and I tell you what if you set a lion loose to just do what a lion does he will destroy You put him in a cage and He'll fight to get out of that cage You put him in a position where he's got something he wants to destroy or eat or devour and he will do that And that's the picture Peter gives us of Satan But that is not the picture That Amos is giving us of the Lord and That's the distinction.
I want us to make Because when Amos says the Lord roars from Zion he is referencing Very much the fact that the Lord is called the Lion of Judah but not in a Destructive way that we would think of as being absolutely mindless fury But God's power and Majesty is such that when he roars the nation's tremble Because no one questions the power of the lion in the jungle No one questions the power of the Lord in The world or should and that's the picture is the power of that roar.
Yes, sir Absolutely, no question and So we see here God is compared to the lion not as Satan is compared to the lion But God is compared to the lion in his in his majesty and power and when God roars the nation's Tremble and it says here and I like this and I put this I think I don't know if I put this in your notes I didn't But I like the fact that in verse 2 it shows how the world Responds to the roar of God.
It says the Lord roars from Zion and Utters his voice from Jerusalem.
That's what we call a parallelism Anytime you see something that's saying the same thing twice, but in a slightly different way, that's a poetic parallelism It's attempting to simply make a point double the the impact of the point he roars from Zion He utters his voice from Jerusalem Zion and Jerusalem being Equated there and the roaring and the uttering of his voice being equated there.
So we see that as a simply as a as a Parallelism but then the second part of that the pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers What is that referencing? It's referencing the fact that the world Responds to God you realize that The world itself Was created by the voice of God and the world itself responds to the voice of God think about when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt and they were being chased by the Egyptians and they come to the Red Sea and everybody says what are we going to do? What are we going to do Moses walks into the sea puts a staff into the sea and the sea Opens up and it stands as a as a heap on both sides.
Why? Because Moses was a magic magic man.
He was a magician No, because the elements obey the Word of God and when God roars from heaven the elements Shrink back in fear and you say well, they're not personal.
Yes.
This is called an anthropomorphism This is taking a personal human trait and applying it to that which is impersonal pastures can't mourn Not in a real sense But in a sense they can because they're part of God's creation and the Bible says that the earth What? trembles and it says that the earth is yearning for redemption The earth itself yearns for redemption every time we see an earthquake devour Part of the earth the earth is yearning for redemption every time we see a tornado kick up and destroy Something this is the earth yearning for redemption.
It is under the curse of sin Before sin entered the world there were no weeds There were no thorns There were no hurricanes or floods But after sin entered the world The world itself began to rebel against us and now people have come home and have their whole home Swallowed up in a pit where the earth just literally fell out from underneath their home the earth is is rattling in response to this sin curse that it's under and when God roars The earth does respond and Carmel by the way, if you're if you're unfamiliar you remember When the prophet was with was was going against the prophets of Baal.
Where were they at? Mount Carmel that that reference there is to a mountain.
So it's saying Carmel withers Even a great mountain With foundations miles wide can't stand against the Word of God And so he begins with just a reminder of the greatness the power the majesty the absolute authority of God and then starting at verse 3 we begin the condemnations of the nations So looking now at your outline at part 2 the prophets condemnation and Again, these are relatively repetitive and what we see is a repetition of this phrase for three transgressions and for four I'll read just the first one referring to Damascus it says thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not revoke punishment Because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-Hadad And then the next one in verse 5 I will break the gate bar of Damascus and cut off the inhabitants from the valley of Avon and Him who holds the scepter from Beth Eden and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kerr says the Lord so Damascus gets this terrible promise God is going to break you down verse 6 thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Gaza and for four so we see there in verse 6 the same thing that we saw in verse 3 for three transgressions and for four why that particular phrase It is idiomatic Three transgressions expresses plurality and to add the addition and for four is to express the idea of Multiplicity it's hard to find an analogy to today But if you said to someone you are always Doing wrong you are continually erring You're always rebelling this is the prophetic way of saying that for three transgressions for multiple transgressions and for four a multiplicity of transgressions You are under the judgment of God and he takes it Damascus to Gaza to Tyre to Ammon to Moab and To Judah now, what is Judah go to chapter 2 and look at verse 4 Thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Judah and For four I will not revoke punishment Because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his statutes But their lives have led them astray Those after which their fathers walked so I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem see Judah is not perfect in this either and they too have a judgment to look forward to I've already told you it's coming and 586 it would come and it would come with a vengeance and they would be led away from their people For 40 or led away from their land for 40 years.
Their young men would be put in to re re instruct re-education camps That's what Daniel if you read the book of Daniel The book of Daniel is about the young men of Israel of Judah being taken to re-education Camps and basically being taught how to be Chaldeans rather than being Israelites rather than being Hebrews They were taught how to be a different type of person and Daniel stood up to that and you all know that that story But that's this is coming this promise of this judgment on Judah is coming But here's the key up until verse 5 of chapter 2 Everyone in Israel would have been saying oh, yeah Get a mamas Because up until verse 5 of chapter 2 they agreed with everything Amos came out the Lord roars from Zion He utters his voice from Jerusalem and he utters it against Damascus.
Yay He utters it against Gaza.
Yay and on and on Edom and Ammon and Moab and especially Judah because there are There are southern brother who we have been battling now for some 200 years them too But verse 6 is when the Prophet turns The entire narrative on its head because at verse 6 of chapter 2 he says thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Israel You see that's the reason he's there He did pronounce judgment on all those other places.
And yes, they all deserve judgment God is the judge of all nations not just Israel So the judgment that he proclaimed against Ammon and the judgment he proclaimed against Gaza and Damascus and the rest of them They're all righteous judgments, but that ain't why Amos has come Amos has come For verse 6 of chapter 2 to begin for three transgressions of Israel and for four I Will not revoke punishment because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted a Man and his father go into the same girl So that my holy name is profane They lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge and In the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been Fine now, I want to stop right there because before I get to verse 9 Because in verse 9 He lays even more judgment against him But what we see here and this is in your outline you see four different things that he brings against them One is ruthlessness regarding the poor.
This is in your outline, right? Ruthlessness regarding the poor that's verses 6 and 7 And I and I wish I had time to just go back and break these down But if you can just read it and see what is the ruthlessness that he's talking about he says They sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They're selling people into debtors prison and for nothing a Pair of sandals is not worth the life of a man But men were being sold into slavery over a pair of sandals Debtors prison is nowhere to spend a man's life and yet this is where they're putting righteous men Verse 7 those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted They don't listen to those who are hurting they don't care about those who are afflicted and they push their head to the dust The end of verse 7 is not even really to be repeated in polite company It speaks of a man and his son Engaging with the same prostitute.
It doesn't use the word prostitute but the assumption here is that because of the way that Sexual practices were used Inappropriately at this time as worship to false gods that men and their own sons would violate themselves With the same person verse 8 they lay themselves down beside every altar This is their this is their religion They'll go and worship beside any God It didn't matter who and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those Who have been fined they are not only robbing from people, but they're taking those fines that they have taken Maybe putting those people in prison and taking what they have and they drink it in joy as those people are rotting in debtors prison They're enjoying the wine of those they've taken from while those people rot verse 9 Shows that they also forgot God's provision And this is the part I I I love this portion verses 9 through 11 Because God is speaking remember the prophet is speaking, but God is speaking through the prophet So when he says yet it was I That's God speaking yet.
It was I who destroyed the Amorite before them Whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the Oaks I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath Also as I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you for 40 years in the wilderness to possess the land Of the Amorite and I raised up some of your sons for prophets and some of your young men for Nazarites It is it not indeed.
So O people of Israel Declares the Lord.
This is gotta say look at what I've done.
I Took you out of Egypt And I put you face to face with an army that you couldn't defeat and I defeated them for you I defeated them through you and I gave you their land and now you worship false gods How dare you worship false gods when I did this for you, and you have forgotten me in this part the verse 11 Is understood in light of verse 12, and I know we didn't read it yet verse 11 He says I raised up some of your sons as prophets and some of your young men as Nazarites Remember a Nazarite was a person that from birth had taken a vow to a certain life of seclusion from from the Lifestyles of men their hair would grow long and that was part of what they did and they would also not drink wine It was part of their rule that they weren't to drink any heavy drink or any strong drink.
They were separated They were considered holy men And what is verse 12 say but you made the Nazarites drink wine And commanded the prophets saying you shall not prophesy See not only did they forget what God had done but they took what God had made holy the Nazarites and the prophets and They spit on them and they said don't prophesy and here drink this one I know you're not supposed to drink it anyway and Violate the vow that you have made to God or your parents have made to God on your behalf so verse 13 we see the beginning of the end of the chapter Behold I will press you down in your place as a cart full of sheaves presses down Flight shall perish from the swift and the strong shall not retain his strength nor shall the mighty save his life He who handles the bow shall not stand and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself Nor shall he who rides the horse save his life and he who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away Naked and that day declares the Lord and ultimately all of that is simply to say this the oppressive System is about to be pressed down and no man no matter how fast no matter how good he is with a bow and arrow No matter how good he rides a horse is going to make it out of this one No, mighty man will stand in the day of the Lord.
That's the that's that's making it simple Simplifying it out.
Go when God comes when the lion roars when the lion of Judah roars, no one will stand and That leads us to the end of The first two chapters, so let me now take you.
I know we're over time I'm only going to ask you for another few minutes Please give me just just two or three minutes to give you the application I don't want to have to start with that next week.
I'd rather finish it tonight the application of this first two chapters I See is this number one all? nations Lie under the jurisdiction of God and are subject to his law All nations lie under the jurisdiction of God and are subject to his law He said why do you why do you even mention that? Because God in his purpose for Amos is to is to bring a pronouncement of judgment on Israel But he doesn't start with Israel.
He starts by demonstrating that he's the God of all nations I'm the God of Gaza.
I'm the God of Damascus.
I'm the God of Amman I'm the guy and all of you are under my authority because I'm about to bring justice and judgment on all of you It would be unrighteous of God If he were to bring justice and judgment on a people that were not under his authority but God is righteous and His demonstration of his justice and judgment is a demonstration of his authority And you say now wait a minute Pastor what about the person who doesn't have God's law? How can they possibly be subject to God's law? We don't have time to go there tonight, but write down in your Bible Romans chapter 2 verses 14 through 16 and I'll give you just a very quick of what it says Romans 2 14 to 16 Says that the reason why all people in every place even the deepest darkest tribes Even the deepest darkest cave dwellers are subject to the law of God is because he has written his law on their heart and they are subject to that law the Universal moral law of God is what brings the universal condemnation of God And no man is outside of that universal condemnation This is why we go to the people overseas and bring them the gospel Because if they were saved without the gospel, we shouldn't bring it to them If they were saved without hearing the gospel simply for being ignorant, then we should let them remain ignorant We go to them because they're not ignorant they're condemned and They need the gospel People say well, what about the good person in the field who has never heard of the gospel? I say the good person goes to heaven find me one The Bible says there is none good No, not one if there was such a good person.
God would be obligated to save them But there is none good No, not one So that's the first thing I see here is that we see the Universal jurisdiction of God and the universal condemnation of God because we're all under his jurisdiction.
We're all under his law second thing When God is in covenant with a people their blessings and Responsibilities are magnified their blessings and their responsibilities are magnified This is why I believe that Israel receives such a hard condemnation because they were God's covenant people They were given the Word of God They were given the Word of God in written form and they were given the warnings of the prophets over and over and over I will tell you this and I believe this with all my heart and I don't want to start preaching too long But I will say this the people that are going to experience the harshest Judgment at the end of the age will be those who sat every Sunday in church Weekend and week out never having any care in their heart to bend the knee to Jesus Christ But only being there for whatever reason social construct social Responsibility, whatever they were there without Christ in their heart and they will see the Lord and they will know that they had never received him judgment begins at the house of the Lord and It will be the most furious there So I see that in the second thing when we are in covenant with God we have blessings Oh beyond measure but we also have responsibilities beyond measure third and finally God will not turn a blind eye to the iniquity of his people God will not turn a blind eye to the iniquity of his people people say well, I'm God's person.
I have favor with God Paul told us Shall we continue in sin so that grace Will abound certainly not For how can we who died to sin? still live in God doesn't turn a blind eye God holds us to a standard Now living to that standard doesn't mean that that's how we're saved and please don't confuse that But know this that as believers We people say well, you know and I hear people say this and I and I want you to know that I understand this So, please don't argue with me later.
Just know that I understand people say don't look at me.
Look at Jesus I know what they're saying, but I love what Paul said.
He said follow me as I follow Christ Not that he was a perfect example But because he was trying to seek after Christ and he looked at people and he said come follow me as I follow Christ Do we even think about that do we think about our responsibility as believers To live before people as noble people as Trustworthy people as people of honor and people of character and people of dignity and people of integrity Do we care? Doesn't matter it should it's not how we get saved.
But brother it should be how it's a person behave Finally And we don't have time for discussion, but take this home and discuss it with your families Do we see an example in the New Testament of God's people being challenged for allowing sin to go on? without rebuke in the church And if you can't think of one, I'll just give you for answer first Corinthians 5 read it If you if you don't already know there's an example of sin in the church not being dealt with and what does Paul say? So I encourage you with your family to spend some time with that.
It might be good for family worship I know I take you long.
So let me pray Father, I thank you for this time of study.