SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/13/2015
10:03 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
Hypocrisy PT-2
Bible Reading & Mediation Reference: Amos 4:4-5
Message of the
verses: “4 “Enter Bethel and
transgress; In Gilgal multiply transgression! Bring your sacrifices every
morning, Your tithes every three days. 5 “Offer a thank offering also from that
which is leavened, And proclaim freewill offerings, make them known. For so you
love to do, you sons of Israel," Declares the Lord GOD.”
As we continue looking at this subject of hypocrisy that Amos
is writing about it makes me think of what our Lord said about the Pharisees in
Matthew 23:1-12 “1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2
saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair
of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do
according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 "They tie up heavy burdens and lay them
on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much
as a finger. 5 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they
broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 “They
love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7
and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. 8
“But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is
in heaven. 10 “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is,
Christ. 11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “Whoever
exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” These things that Jesus speaks of that the
Pharisees were doing the people of Israel in Amos’ day were doing similar
things.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “The application to today’s church is
obvious. It ‘s very easy for us to join
a large, happy religious crowd, enthusiastically sing rousing songs, and put
money in the offering plate, and yet not be changed in our hearts. The test of a spiritual experience is not ‘Do
I feel good?’ or “Did we have a big crowd and a good time?” The real test is ‘Do I know God better and am
I more like Jesus?’
“The people in Amos’ day didn’t return home determined to
help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the widows and orphans. They went home with the same selfish hearts
that they had when they left home, because their ‘worship’ was only and empty
ritual (Isa. 1:11-17). Any religious ‘revival’
that doesn’t alter the priorities of Christians and help solve the problems in
society isn’t a ‘revival’ at all.”
Now we see that Amos mentioned music and that is a very
important part of the worship of God but what the Jewish people thought was
beautiful was nothing but noise. “"Take
away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of
your harps.” We have similar problems
with believers today as Dr. Wiersbe pointed out that believers will pay a lot
of money to go to a Christian concert but will not take the time to go to a
free Bible study. It is possible that
what we think of music is nothing but noise to the Lord.
I have to give one more quote from Warren Wiersbe “Whether
it’s evangelism, education, social action, world missions, or feeding the
hungry, everything the church accomplishes for the Lord flows out of worship. If the fountainhead of worship is polluted,
the church’s entire ministry will be defiled.
Like the Jews in Amos’ day, we’re only going to Bethel and sinning! Therefore, it behooves God’s people to
examine their hearts and make certain that their motives are right and that what
they do in public meetings glorifies the Lord.”
We will look at the sin of “obstinacy” in our next SD
from the 4th chapter of Amos.
9/13/2015 10:27 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment