Text: Amos 9:11-15
Title: "Where God Plants You-- Stay"
Subject: When God saves you, and where God puts you is where you should stay

Intro: In what book of the Bible is Amos found? In what section of the O.T. In what section of the prophets? It is the 4th book of the minor prophets.

Amos was a southerner who God directed to preach to the northern kingdom of Israel. By occupation he was a master shepherd, but by calling he was a prophet of God. He preached in Bethel, a center of idol worship. He called the people to repentance as the only escape from imminent judgment, and he reminded the people of the future blessings of the millennial kingdom.

Of course his message was not popular with the self-centered, materialistic, I-want-it-now crowd! So he was run out of Bethel by king Jeroboam and his priest Amaziah. But before Amos left he uttered a prophecy that has followed mankind like a bloodhound down through the centuries.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:"

"Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." This hearing is not just sounds vibrating your ear drums, but the assimilation or taking in of the Word of God into your very being. It is the weaving of it into the fabric of your life so that it becomes part and parcel of all your are, so that the Words of the Lord are the controlling factor in every aspect of your life. This was the missing factor in the Nation of Israel, and this is the missing factor in contemporary Christian life.

Therefore, "they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." And thus we see aimless, clueless Christians wandering and squandering their lives, forever seeking God's will for their lives, yet never seemingly finding it. Young people, it is not God's will that you never discover God's will! It is God's will that you be planted, settled and grounded in your service for Him. On this truth Amos ends his prophesy by revealing the Day of the Lord and its blessings.

Amos 9:11-15 -- "Planted To Stay" -- prayer

Note: I have said before that we are not O.T. Jews, so when preaching out of the O.T. the contextual interpretation belongs to them, but the application belongs to us!

I. THE DAY OF GOD'S DOING (v11)

Note: I like the fact that God is in the "doing business." He is not disinterested, nor distant, but is continually active in His creation and His creatures. And His day is present and future.

A. God Raises Up (God is in the business of raising up!)
1. He raises up in salv. that which has fallen

Note: Adam and Eve fell in the garden when they disobeyed God. That fall has been passed down through the centuries and has landed with a splat! right on you and I! "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" Rom 5:12. Has God spoken to you about being saved? He is speaking to you right now! Are you?

2. He raises up a Tabernacle (Place with the presence of God)
a. Moses built the Tabernacle (as the Jews wandered)
b. David built the Temple (when the Jews were established)
c. God built a Tabernacle [body] for Jesus Christ

"Wherefore when He [Jesus] cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou [God] wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared (knitted) Me" Heb 10:5

d. God designed your body to be a Temple

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 1 Cor. 3:16

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" 1 Cor. 6:19

"...for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." 2 Cor. 6:16

e. Christ gave us His church
"In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Ephes. 2:22

3. He raises up your ruins ("the result of destructive activities")
a. Before salv. and after salv.

B. God Closes Up the Breaches (not the beaches) ("opening, weak spot, gap, bursting forth")
1. Each of us has breaches in our character that allow sin a weak spot to enter. God closes them, but we often reopen them!

C. God Builds Up ("build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue")
1. As in the days of old. Building up or edifying has always been an activity of God

II. WHAT IS DONE BY GOD IS DONE IN HIS NAME (v12)
A. It is the Lord's Doing (v12c)

Note: Whatever is done for good in your life or mine is the doing of the Lord!

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..." Rom 7:18, 25

B. It is Done in the Lord's Authority and Power (v12b)
1. God's "Name" represents all He is (Trinity)

C. It is Done That We Might Possess the Remnant of Edom
1. "Possess" = to seize, inherit, take possession of
a. The remnant (what's left!) of Edom (descendants of Esau)

Note: You will remember that Jacob and Esau were brothers, and that Esau sold his birth right to Jacob for a pot of porridge. Jacob then became Israel, the chosen of God, and Esau became Edom the enemy of God's people. When we trusted Christ we became a new creature, but the remnant of Esau stills dwells within each of us. God says we can have authority over that sinful, inner man.

2. All the heathen (including the Edomites) called by His Name
a. Things &/or activities in our life that we attribute to God, but are actually not of God

III. THE BLESSING OF GOD'S DOINGS (v13-14)
A. There are Days of Blessing to Look Forward to (v13)

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philip. 3:13-14

1. United with others in a common cause (harvest/plowman/reaper)
2. Abundance of (spiritual) harvest (grains/fruit)
3. Abundance of spiritual refreshing (mtns)
4. Abundance of spiritual provision ("hills melt" = covered with flocks and herds)

B. There is Captivity to be Released From (v14a)
1. You are held captive by the world, the Devil, and your sin-nature

"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Eph. 2:2-4

2. You are released by the mercy and love of God

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us" Eph 2:4

3. You are quickened by the power of God

"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" Ephes. 2:5

C. There is a Bounty of Labor to be Engaged In (v14b-d)
1. There are wasted cities to restore
2. There are trampled hillsides (vineyards) to replant
3. There are neglected valleys (gardens) to sow
4. There is a bountiful harvest to enjoy (fruits of your labors)

IV. THE PERMANENCE OF GOD'S DOING (v15)
A. Planted by God Upon Their Land
1. "Planted" = fasten, fix, establish

"For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:" Acts 2:25

2. Stay (predetermine to)
a. Faithful
1) To God, Bible study, prayer, church, your mate, your ministry
b. Obedient
c. Moldable/conformable
d. Dependable
3. Upon your land (that place God wants you to serve)

B. Secured by God Upon Their Land
1. If you will stay, God will secure you (spiritual ground taken for God is never given up)

C. Personally Promised by God
1. Saith the Lord thy God


Concl: There is a famine in the land. Not of food nor drink, but of hearing and applying the Words of God. Without God's Word we are tossed to and fro like a ship without a sail. Make a decision to trust the Lord with your life, and as He places you in His harvest field, determine to stay to enjoy the blessings of obedience, and the joy of being planted by God.