Amos #8: an exposition of Amos 7:1-9. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, July 6, 2014.
Intro:
Doctrine divides. That’s its purpose. It divides between truth and error/right and wrong. This is why doctrine matters and it matters supremely. What you believe determines how you live. Your conduct is the direct result of your worldview or your core values. I would argue that the key doctrine is your doctrine of God. Who is God? What is He like? What does He require? Can He be known? Has He revealed himself? If so, what has He revealed? Can you see how that is going to affect everything else? What is your doctrine of God? Of course we must acknowledge at the outset that your doctrine of God – whatever it is – is inadequate. He is infinite. He is beyond description. Language cannot contain Him. Your mind cannot adequately conceive Him. You can’t put Him in a box, you don’t have a box big enough! We also must acknowledge we can only know what He has revealed. He has revealed himself in the Scriptures. This book is His book. Its purpose is to reveal Him.
From the book we know He is:
- Holy
- Righteous
- Loving
- Merciful
- Gracious
- Kind
- Jealous
- Full of wrath
- Powerful
- Creative
- Transcendant
- Everywhere present
- All knowing
- Eternal
- Savior
- Redeemer
- Comforter
- Trinity
- Just to name a few.
He is all of these and more. We must also understand that God is not a composite of all of these parts. He is all of these. He is not loving with a little wrath mixed in along with a pinch of transcendence. He is love. He is wrath. He is transcendant. He is fully all of these things. That means when we speak of Him we are constantly seeking to maintain the balance of the biblical picture. That is often a difficult line to walk. This is especially true when we deal with His righteous judgment. Our text this evening is found in the 7th chapter of Amos.
Text: Amos 7:1-9
Chapter 7 begins another major section of the book.
We find a series of visions given to Amos concerning God’s judgment of Israel.
Chapter 6 made it clear judgment is coming.
That judgment will be devastating.
As we work our way through the 3 visions given here in the opening verses of chapter 7 we are reminded that…
Thesis: Biblical preaching seeks to maintain the balance between God’s mercy and His righteous wrath.
There are 3 things I want to point out along the way.
- God graciously yet sovereignly declares the coming judgment.
- The prophet passionately intercedes on behalf of God’s wayward people.
- God is patient and merciful but judgment ultimately comes.