216 Tuesday, August 4, 2009

216 Amos 4 – 6; Acts 25

Have you ever asked, “What will it take for that person to come to Christ?” Maybe you have asked this question, “What will it take to bring that Christian back to the Lord?” When you read the prophets they are mostly about the second question and a little about the first question. God knew His people had lost their way home. At first God sent messages through His prophets to warn them. Each time that God was ignored it got worse for the chosen people. In Amos we find these words,

Amos 4:8 (NIV)
8 People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord.

When you read this first chapter of Amos it is like a “whose who” of disasters that had been brought upon Israel. They would not change their evil ways. This is not all that God had to say as we find God speaking to them again,

Amos 5:4-6 (NIV)
4 This is what the Lord says to the house of 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 house of Joseph like a fire; it will devour, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

Israel had disconnected the life line from them. Life is found in seeking the Lord. Life is found in our union with God almighty. They had totally forgotten what it meant to be the people of God. We must be so careful to not fall into Israel’s ways of doing life. We must remember to always be doing life in Christ.

In the book of Acts we still have Paul dealing with the false accusations that have been brought against him by the Jewish leaders. In this case notice how Paul is very familiar with Roman law.

Acts 25:8-12 (NIV)
8 Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar."
9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?"
10 Paul answered: "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.
11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!"
12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!"

Paul made his appeal to Caesar. Paul knew he could do this under the law. It is good to know where you live and what the law is. I am afraid many Christians do not bother with the law as if they are above it or have no use for it. You do not find this attitude in Paul. We need to know our rights as Christians in this increasingly pluralistic society.