That Amos does not issue this warning, War
be to those who are at ease in
Zion.
He does not issue this warning to the
drunkards, to the adulterers, to the God-haters
of his day.
This is issued to those that are spiritually
complacent.
They're indifferent toward God.
Tragically, in our own culture of affluence, we
live Christianity on a lounge and we forget
that it was born on an old, rugged
cross.
We have become so consumed with pleasure that
we see the life of self-denial a
threat to our happiness, and certainly something that
is unnecessary for eternal salvation.
It was Charles Spurgeon who warned, Doeth that
man love his Lord, that would be willing
to see Jesus wearing a crown of thorns?
While for himself he prays a chapel of
laurel?
Shall Jesus ascend to his throne by the
cross, and do we expect to be carried
there on the shoulders of applauding crowds?
Be not so vain in your imagination.
Count you the cost, and if you're not
willing to bear Christ's cross, go away to
your farm and to your merchandise and make
the most of them.
Only let me whisper this in your ear,
What should a man profit, be profit if
he should gain the whole world and lose
his own soul?
You recall the hymn writer, George Bernard, who
penned the words to that blessed hymn, The
Old Rugged Cross.
One of those stanzas goes like this, Oh,
that old rugged cross, so despised in the
world, has a wondrous attraction to me.
For the dear Lamb of God left his
glory above to bear it on dark Calvary.
Milton, my theory is today that the cross
of Christ has lost that wondrous attraction to
the average professing Christian in the church.
Stanley, the cross no longer possesses that attraction.
It is looked upon with such contempt within
the church in this day and hour that
many are ashamed of it.
Those who sought to forget the ultimate judgment
of God by immersing themselves in the affluence
of the mountain of Samaria here in our
text are like the vast multitude in the
church of North America.
Our generation has attempted to remove coming judgment
from its thinking and preaching so that lost
people are made to feel comfortable in church.
Now, please don't misunderstand me.
I think we need to minister to lost
people.
I think we need to go out of
our way to accommodate them and help them
in the spirit of gentleness.
The servant of the Lord must not strive,
but be gentle unto all men.
But I tell you, friend, sometimes it seems
as if many churches are watering down the
influence of the Word and apologizing for the
effect that their lives have upon people that
are dead in trespasses and sins.
Our generation has attempted to remove judgment from
its thinking and preaching so that these lost
people feel comfortable in church.
Tragically, many, not a few, but many are
sleeping the sleep of spiritual death because of
the unwillingness of preachers to proclaim the reality
of impending doom.
Listen to me, brethren.
The day the tsunami came and swept tens
of thousands of people away during Indonesia and
the surrounding countries, many people were unconscious of
the potential devastation because they were intoxicated on
pleasure.
That is the picture we have here in
Amos chapter number 6.
Now, I want to make this very simple
this morning.
I agree with Spurgeon there is a blessing
in brevity, but I want to share with
you some things that God is burning on
my heart, and I trust that He in
turn will burn upon your heart this morning.
First of all, I want us to consider
what it means to be at ease in
Zion.
That's our text, verse number 1.
Woe to them that are at ease in
Zion.
What is the definition?
What is an applicable definition?
But what is, first of all, the biblical
definition of being at ease in Zion?
It means to be careless or secure.
You see, the idea here is these people
were resting on their religious laurels, their religious
traditions, and their prosperity, and this affluence had
bred a deadly complacency.
John Gill said Zion was a stronghold, the
city of David, the seat of the kings
of Judah, where their court was kept and
the princesses and chief men resided and thought
themselves safe, the place being well fortified with
walls, towers, and boards.
At ease here is referring to an easy,
prosperous, comfortable circumstance of life.
That is a picture of our churches in
North America.
The idea is that they were resting on
the laurels of their own tradition.
Now, what does it mean more personally to
be at ease?
Listen carefully.
When one is at ease, they neglect God.
They neglect God.
You know, my problem with coming to conferences
like this is that oftentimes all this does
is jumpstart some cold, carnal people that have
been that way for years.
Can I say this to you?
If you've been cold and carnal, if you've
been dabbling in things that are wicked and
abominable in the sight of God, if your
life has been the living example of a
hypocrite friend, I tell you, perhaps you don't
need a touch of God or a Bible.
You need to be born again.
I agree with J.C. Ryle.
Where there is no holy living, there is
no holy ghost.
And if you're in Christ, I tell you,
he will make you holy.
Doesn't mean you're perfect, friend.
We're not talking about perfection.
We're talking about perseverance.
We're talking about rising up when we do
stumble, when we do sin, when we do
grieve the Holy Spirit.
But to stay in a constant state of
complacency and apathy for month after month after
month and year after year is not a
good sign that we've ever been born again.
Perhaps you're sitting there today and you're a
stranger to the grace of God because God's
grace will make you holy, make you like
his beloved son.
What does it mean to be at ease?
It means to neglect God.
It means to live indifferently toward him.
It refers to a people who profess to
know Christ but live carelessly.
There is a neglect of prayer, holiness, obedience,
family worship, and the life of consecration.
You see, when one is at ease, biblical
truth is not altogether denied but neglected.
God's word no longer governs what they do,
where they go, what they watch on television,
or how they think.
Guarding their hearts, their tongue, and their time
is often looked upon as legalistic.
They desire a Savior that delivers from hell
but not one that delivers from self and
sin.
It's interesting, friend, that one of the purposes
of Jesus dying on the cross And by
the way, oftentimes we only glean the benefits
that man receives in Christ's death on the
cross.
But there are stores of redemptive purposes in
Christ laying down his life on the cross.