God always prepares before He acts. Let's talk about it on this edition of Keylight. You kind of get tired of doctrine without application, religion without reality, and cliches without truth. If so, you come to the right place. The place, Keylight, the teacher, Steve Brown. Thank you, mind if you had your Bible open into the book of Amos. We're going through the book of Amos, and I'm your tour director. Now, as you know, in these Old Testament surveys, I am not doing it line upon line and precept upon precept. We just don't have that kind of time. And so what I'm doing is introducing you to each of the books of the Old Testament. They're written by friends of mine, whom I love, and I want you to love them too. And so I'm telling you something about these people, and giving you some exogetical handles that will help you understand. And then for each book, I become sort of a tour director, lifting up particular significant verses in these particular Old Testament books. And my hope is that you will learn to love and know the Old Testament because it is the Bible. The New Testament is the Bible, and you don't have the Old, the Old Bible, until you have both. And we're looking at the book of Amos, and I'm taking it through the book of Amos. If you have your Bible, open it to the third chapter, and we're going to look at verses three through eight. Can two walk together unless they're agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth if it has not caught anything? If a trumpet is blown and a city will not the people be afraid, if there is calamity in the city, will not the Lord have done it. Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals he's secret to his servants, the prophets. A lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord God is spoken, but who can prophesy? Now, of course, what Amos is saying here is that the lion is roared, and that God is preparing to do something, so listen up. In other words, God doesn't just do something in a vacuum. He prepares, but the interesting thing in this is the classical argument for God is one that has to do with cause. In effect, Thomas Aquinas had four cosmological arguments for God. He said, if there is motion, it presupposes a previous motion. If there is cause, it presupposes a previous effect. If there is the conditional, it requires the absolute. If there is the imperfect, it presupposes the perfect. Aquinas uses that as the arguments for God. That doesn't mean anything except that you're going to press your friends with the fact that you know the cosmological arguments for existence of God. That in 25 cents will get you a cup of coffee. But I want you to see what Amos is saying here. He's saying, listen, God is preparing to do something, and he doesn't just do it, he warns first. There is a cause and effect thing that builds up before God acts. Amos said, do you hear that lion roaring? Be very careful. The reason I'm against sin is not because it's just dirty or offensive to God, but because sin leads to more sin, leads to more sin, there's a cause and effect system. And if you've got an addiction right now, the easiest time to stop it and fix it and get some help is right now, because the causes and the effects will multiply, and it will become bigger and bigger and bigger. God, Alexander, Sojan Eatson said to America one time that we had so much that we were blind. See what he was saying is you've got to be careful because that's going to lead to something that is even worse. So Amos uses some wonderful imagery here when he says, the lion is roaring. Do you hear that lion? That's the beginning of God's action. You better listen up because this is a scary thing. Now, if you have your Bible, look at the 12th verse of the third chapter of Amos. That says the Lord. As a shepherd takes from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece in an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out, who dwell in Samaria, in the corner of the bed on the edge of the couch. Now, what is Amos talking about here? Well, he's talking about a remnant. He's talking, and you'll find this. You'll find this in Romans 11, 1 through 5 in Romans 9, 27. And in fact, you find it throughout Isaiah, throughout Jeremiah, and in many books of the Bible, that there is a smaller group within the group. John Wesley did that. He talked about the Ecclesia within the Ecclesia. Ecclesia is the word for the church, the cold out ones. And he said there was a church within the church. He was talking about a remnant, and he got that from God. And God always calls that core of believers to change the entire world. You'll find it under Asbury, the great awakening. You'll find it in the Jesus movement that God starts with a few, a remnant, and through them he works a great work in the world. In 1st Kings 19. You remember Elijah had gone through all of his stuff with the prophets, and he had been faithful, and he had been quite successful. And then he says, I only am left. And God said, that's enough. A small group committed can change the world. Now let me give you this idea of a remnant. We won't see much more of it in Amos, but you'll find it throughout the Bible. And I don't know where I got this. I'd give credit if I know it's not mine. But there are five signs of a remnant within the church. A remnant amongst God's people. And these are the people that changed the world. Let me give you this five. First, a non-emotional commitment to obedience. In other words, somebody who says, I don't like this. I wish I could be some other place else. But God put me here, and I'm here. And I am going to be obedient. Secondly, you can tell if you're a part of the remnant because you have a fear of a herd mentality. If everybody seems to be drawn to it, everybody else seems to be doing it. Everybody else is smiling the same way and doing the same things and saying the same things. And something in you says, whoa, I don't like this. You might be a part of the remnant. Then thirdly, a sense of being chosen. The sense of being set apart, the old moody said, God, you call me, and I will be faithful. And fourthly, you can identify the remnant by an absolute trust in God, even when circumstances do not seem to confirm your trust in God. Have you ever seen those people who just go through tough stuff and somehow they keep on hanging on even if circumstances aren't good? And then finally, you can identify a remnant because the remnant has a concern for the non-remnant. And so Amos lifts up the idea of the remnant and his prophetic work. And maybe you are a part of that. Maybe when you look at your church, you think they're not very committed, but I can't help it, I am. And I can't get out of this. It may be that God is making you a life-changer, changing the world. Well enough about that. We could spend another three or four weeks on the idea of the remnant. Now look at, let's go on to the fourth chapter of Amos. Now give me a second here. I flip my Bible some of the place. Oh, here. The fourth chapter of Amos. And look at verses one through three. Hear the word. You're not going to like this of your feminist. You cows, a boshan. We're on the mountain of Samaria who oppressed the poor. He's talking about the women who crushed the needy, who saved your husband's brainwine, and let us drink. The Lord God is sworn by His Holiness, behold the days shall come upon you, when he will take you away with fish hooks, and your posterity with fish hooks. You will go out through the broken walls, each one straight ahead of her, and you will be cast into harm on, says the Lord. You say, well that's pretty sexist. No, it isn't. Is he Amos understood the power of women? He understood that women have a tremendous influence on the world, by hand that rocks, the cradle, rocks the world. Men and women aren't the same. Thank God. But women are very, very powerful. Keep talking about empowering women and women at power. Do you know who has the most power in our family? My life. Do you know who's the biggest servant I've ever met, in the sense of Christ being a servant, is my life? Boy, when my life to this day speaks to our daughters, or to our granddaughters, or to me, and asks something we consider it a command, because she has power. Now she's submissive. She understands the idea of the husband being the priest and the family, but I want you to know she has tremendous power to influence me. There are times when I wanted to give all this up, when I just didn't want to do it anymore, and my life said, honey, you can't do it. God called you to do this. You keep at it. And don't you cheerly, shall we? And so Amos is mad at the women. He's saying, you know, you had powerful influence in your culture and you blew it. You became a moral drag on your entire culture. You should have stood up. You should have spoken up. You should have made a difference. Women are very, very important. Do you think about that? I'm in. Hey, listen, you're a part of our key life tape, and I must say CD family. We just made the executive commission a decision around here to include a CD format. Now this is not going yet, but it's going to happen soon. We're moving forth with to offer CDs, as well as Gazette. So if you'll let us know, you'd like to be a part of it. This is how it works. 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