LTCi Chapel - 7/08/2011 - Amos 5

Amos 5:1-6

Sunday 7 August 2011

Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up
concerning you:
2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel,
   never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
   with no one to lift her up.”
3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to
Israel:
   “Your city that marches out a thousand
strong
   will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
   will have only ten left.”


4 This is what the LORD says to Israel:
   “Seek me and live;
5 do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
   do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
   and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
6 Seek the LORD and live,
   or he will sweep through the tribes of
Joseph like a ﬁre;
it will devour them,
   and Bethel will have no one to quench it.


The Rebuke

Purity
Dependence
Passion
...and much
more - lost


Their, and our,
Response

Seek the
Lord
and
live
Amos 5:4, 6


OT and NT words for
"seek" mean:
to seek the face of
God;
to desire;
to seek earnestly;
to crave;
to pursue.
Seeking the Lord
means seeking his
presence

Oh give thanks to the LORD;
call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who
seek the LORD rejoice!
Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
Psalm 105:1-4


...you will seek the
LORD your God and you
will ﬁnd him, if you
search after him with all
your heart and with all
your soul.
Deut. 4:28


If then you have been raised
with Christ, seek the things
that are above, where Christ
is, seated at the right hand of
God. Set your minds on things
that are above, not on things
that are on earth. For you
have died, and your life is
hidden with Christ in God.
Col 3:1-3


Our (failing) Response

Never
starting
Giving up
We don’t
know
God’s
desire


Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will ﬁnd;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matt 7:7
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Isaiah 55:6
...devote your heart and soul
to seeking the LORD your God.
1 Chron 22:19


By myself I can do
nothing; I judge
only as I hear, and
my judgment is
just, for I seek not
to please myself
but him who sent
me.
John 5:30


The Remedy

repent
seek God every
day
read the Bible
pray


set your heart upon
him
listen
ask for the Holy Spirit


"God does
nothing except
in response to
believing
prayer."
John Wesley


Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask for in
prayer, believe that you
have received it, and it will
be yours. And when you
stand praying, if you hold
anything against anyone,
forgive them, so that your
Father in heaven may
forgive you your sins.”

“One day George Mueller began praying for
ﬁve of his friends. After many months, one
of them came to the Lord. Ten years later,
two others were converted. It took 25
years before the fourth man was saved.
Mueller persevered in prayer until his death
for the ﬁfth friend, and throughout those
52 years he never gave up hoping that he
would accept Christ! His faith was
rewarded, for soon after Mueller’s funeral
the last one was saved.”


Faced with a pile of
problems, we may say with
our lips that only prayer can
solve them, yet we talk more
than pray, worry more than
pray, and scheme more than
pray. In sum, we put
everything before prayer;
Watchman Nee


The Reward

God


What is more, I consider everything a loss
because of the surpassing worth of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have
lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I
may gain Christ and be found in him, not
having a righteousness of my own that comes
from the law, but that which is through faith
in Christ—the righteousness that comes from
God on the basis of faith. I want to know
Christ—yes, to know the power of his
resurrection and participation in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and
so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection
from the dead.


Intimacy with God
and the fullest
fellowship and
partnership with Him
comes as you desire
and seek to know
Him, His plans, His
will and His ways.
Prayer and spending
time with God is all
about a desire and
passion for God
Anonymous

Seeking the Lord means
seeking his presence.
“Presence” is a common
translation of the
Hebrew word “face.”
Literally, we are to seek
his “face.” But this is
the Hebraic way of
having access to God. To
be before his face is to
be in his presence.
John Piper


"Don't seek God's hand; seek
his face.
Don't seek God's face; seek
God's heart."

God’s hand = God at work
God’s face = God loving me.
God as he is.
God’s heart =God's heart for
Others, what he values,
loves, hates, etc.


Faced with a pile of
problems, we may say with
our lips that only prayer can
solve them, yet we talk more
than pray, worry more than
pray, and scheme more than
pray. In sum, we put
everything before prayer;
other things are placed in
prominent positions while
prayer is relegated to last
place; it is the only thing
which is not so important.
Watchman Nee


LTCi Chapel - 7/08/2011 - Amos 5

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LTCi Chapel - 7/08/2011 - Amos 5