Hunger Mountain Christian Assembly

Then He showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was checking it with a plumb line to see if it was straight. 8And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?"
I answered, "A plumb line."  And the Lord replied, "I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins.

 

Introduction: God is in the process of showing the Prophet Amos three visions. The first is of locusts, the second is fire, and the third is a plumbline. It is when He is showing Amos the vision of a plumbline that He asks Amos, “What do you see?” Amos answers a plumbline and God explains to him what He is going to do. I believe that God has raised a plumbline again for the church and asks us, what do we see? What do we see in the world, this nation, this state, the church, this body and our lives? And so my message this morning for all of us that are here, “What do you see?”

 

What do we see in:
1. The world.
   • Wars and rumors of wars.
   • Natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes exploding, tsunamis, floods, fires, and riots in the streets.
   • World economy in disarray.
   • Muslim immigration and implementation of Islam.
   • Does this look like Matt. 24?

 

2. Our nation.
   • Oil spill.
   • Socialist and possible Muslim President.
   • Worst economy since the “Great Depression.”
   • Illegal immigration.
   • A national debt that cannot be paid for.
   • States that cannot pay there bills.
   • Tremendous unemployment.

 

3. Our state.
   • The most liberal in the nation.
   • People are leaving because it’s so expensive to live here.

 

4. The Church.
   • It is split between liberal and conservative.
   • We have priests and pastors molesting children.
   • We have stopped evangelizing & making disciples.
   • We want to be entertained.
   • We no longer study to show ourselves approved.
   • The Church is apathetic & unemotional.
   • The Church compromises its beliefs and standards.

 

5. This body.
   • Things are better than they have been for a long time.
   • We must have a passion for the lost.
   • We must make disciples.
   • We must know the Word.
   • We must complete our mission. “Our mission is transition, transformation, and training for common people of our region to become uncommon followers of Jesus Christ.”
   • We must prepare for the future.

 

6. Our lives.
   • What can we learn from our past as we examine our lives?
   • What do we see in the present that needs change and are we where we want to be, doing what we want to do?
   • What do we see for our future? Will we fulfill our potential and reach our destiny?
   • What do you see?

 

There is a plumbline by which God measures all people and all things.
 1. His Son Jesus Christ.
 2. His written Word, the Holy Bible, both Old & New Testaments.
 3. How does what you see measure up to what God wants us to see?

 

Conclusion: God asked Amos “What do you see?” He asks the same thing of us today as we look at our world, our nation, our state, the Church, this body, and our lives. He measures all things by the plumbline of His Son, Jesus Christ, and His Holy Word, the Bible both Old and New Testaments. If we are honest we will see that nothing measures up the way that it should. What does that mean? It means that we have to change all things that are out of plumb with God and His Word. It starts with us first, this body, the Church, this state, this nation, and finally the world. God has sent His Holy Spirit to empower us to do the things that need to be done. We just need to get rid of our apathy and let God fill us with passion for Him and His Word. We can do it, but first we have to look and see that the fields are white for harvest. What do you see?

 

Close: John 9:1-41 (NLT)

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2"Teacher," his disciples asked him, "why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?"
3"It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered. "He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him. 4All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, because there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end. 5But while I am still here in the world, I am the light of the world."
6Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and smoothed the mud over the blind man's eyes. 7He told him, "Go and wash in the pool of Siloam" (Siloam means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing!
8His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, "Is this the same man—that beggar?" 9Some said he was, and others said, "No, but he surely looks like him!"
And the beggar kept saying, "I am the same man!"
10They asked, "Who healed you? What happened?"
11He told them, "The man they call Jesus made mud and smoothed it over my eyes and told me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash off the mud.' I went and washed, and now I can see!"
12"Where is he now?" they asked.
"I don't know," he replied.
13Then they took the man to the Pharisees. 14Now as it happened, Jesus had healed the man on a Sabbath. 15The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, "He smoothed the mud over my eyes, and when it was washed away, I could see!"
16Some of the Pharisees said, "This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath." Others said, "But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?" So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
17Then the Pharisees once again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, "This man who opened your eyes—who do you say he is?"
The man replied, "I think he must be a prophet."
18The Jewish leaders wouldn't believe he had been blind, so they called in his parents. 19They asked them, "Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he see?"
20His parents replied, "We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21but we don't know how he can see or who healed him. He is old enough to speak for himself. Ask him." 22They said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23That's why they said, "He is old enough to speak for himself. Ask him."
24So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, "Give glory to God by telling the truth, because we know Jesus is a sinner."
25"I don't know whether he is a sinner," the man replied. "But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!"
26"But what did he do?" they asked. "How did he heal you?"
27"Look!" the man exclaimed. "I told you once. Didn't you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"
28Then they cursed him and said, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we don't know anything about him."
30"Why, that's very strange!" the man replied. "He healed my eyes, and yet you don't know anything about him! 31Well, God doesn't listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32Never since the world began has anyone been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33If this man were not from God, He couldn't do it."
34"You were born in sin!" they answered. "Are you trying to teach us?" And they threw him out of the synagogue.
 
35When Jesus heard what had happened, He found the man and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
36The man answered, "Who is He, sir, because I would like to."
37"You have seen Him," Jesus said, "and He is speaking to you!"
38"Yes, Lord," the man said, "I believe!" And he worshiped Jesus.
39Then Jesus told him, "I have come to judge the world. I have come to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind."
40The Pharisees who were standing there heard Him and asked, "Are you saying we are blind?"
41"If you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty," Jesus replied. "But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.

What do you see?