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Amos 4:11, "I have overthrown some of you, as
God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out
of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD."
This morning, professing Christians ignore two important Scriptural
tenets: salvation by grace alone and the importance of organized,
public, and truth-centered worship. Of course, without being grounded in
the first, we cannot hope to worship God in a truth-centered way,
thereby failing the second. However, before attempting to look at both
of these concepts from our study verse above, consider another often
over-looked or ignored principle from Scripture: a man is known by the
company he keeps. (I Corinthians 5:11) Too many times, people today are
blinded by the prideful mindset, "It doesn't matter who I hang around.
I'll be a good influence on them, not vice versa." Like the old analogy
of a rotten apple spoiling the barrel, so our associations and close
fellowships can ruin us if we associate with "rotten apples." Therefore,
let us examine the concepts of salvation by grace and truth-centered
worship from the viewpoint of our company and fellowship.
The book of Amos is quite a sorrowful book, as the Lord takes a simple
herdsman - Amos - to prophecy Israel's impending captivity. Some of the
prophecies are quite severe, such as a famine of God's word without the
interaction of fellowship with Him. (Amos 8:11-14) However, even in
books that freely speak of God's judgment against His people (such as
Amos or Jeremiah), we still see - as light peeking through the dark
canvas - thoughts that show God's overarching love for His people
regardless of their circumstance. (Jeremiah 31:3) In our verse, Amos
employs a term "firebrand plucked out of the burning" to describe God's
mercy for His people even in the midst of previous chastisements.
(Verses 7-10)
This term "firebrand plucked out of the burning" could be adequately
stated "poker pulled from the embers and coals." God describes Israel's
deplorable condition as a poker engulfed in flame with no hope of being
rescued from the fire, save by the arm of God to pull them from that
state. What is the condition of an object engulfed in flame? The heat,
temperature, and other immediate circumstances are the same for the
object as everything else in the flame. In other words, the brand in the
fire shares the same identical circumstances as all other things in the
fire. We, by nature, share the same identical condition and circumstance
as a child of wrath. (Ephesians 2:3) Thankfully, we, like the analogy of
Israel of old, were plucked from that state by God. He did for us what
we could not do for ourselves.
Notice that the condition of the brand in the fire fits the analogy of a
man being known by his company. By nature, we shared the company of all
wretched, dire sinners, for we share that company and relation in Adam
with everyone else. By simply being the offspring of Adam, we are known
by that company and relationship to be sinners - both by inherent nature
and eventually by observed practice. However, what happens when a
firebrand is plucked out of the burning? It no longer shares the same
heat, temperature, and other circumstances as the rest of the fire.
Parts of the brand that were red-hot moments before begin to cool and
take on the immediate properties of its new surroundings. So, when God
plucked us out of the burning, we ceased to have the condition and
circumstance of damnable depravity, but rather, we took on the
properties of the new surroundings of God's rich grace. By taking away
the burning of death and depravity, God wrote upon our hearts the
burning of His laws and precepts. (Jeremiah 31, Hebrews 8)
Notice from our last sentence that we employed the word "burning" to
show our new state by God's grace. Scripturally, I believe it fitting to
employ the thought that what God has done for us by His grace equates to
a state known by circumstances though vastly different circumstances
than our previous state. Paul employed the terms "captivity" and
"captive" when describing God rescuing us. (Ephesians 4:8) We were once
held in the captivity and burning of sin. God led us from that
captivity, and holds us captive in the burning of His love. Whereas
captive, overwhelmed, and engulfed, the fire of sin and death, now we
are captive, overwhelmed, and engulfed in the fire of God's love. How
long will something in the fire keep the heat of the fire? The amount of
time that the heat and other fire-driven properties remains on the
object is dependent on the amount of time it remains in the fire.
By nature, we should have remained in the fire of sin forever, thereby
experiencing its properties and consequences for as long as that fire
burned. By grace, we do experience the fire of God's love forever,
thereby eventually rejoicing in its fullness world without end. One might
now inquire, "So what does any of this have to do with organized, public
worship of God in spirit and in truth?" The last phrase of the study
verse shows, by the mouth of Amos, that despite God's marvelous mercy to
pull them from the fire, they had not shown or returned the same "in
kind." While their lack of respect for God did not change their position
that He had placed them in, their condition was eventually going to
greatly suffer (captivity) for not returning unto God. Notice that Amos
says "returned" showing that even though God has plucked us by His grace
we have labour to put forth serving Him.
By putting forth the labour, we have the rich treasure here in this life
to enjoy the "grace fire" with temporal blessings and enjoyments with
other "firebrands" that have been plucked from the fire of depravity.
Going back to Ephesians 4:8, God did not just lead us captive by His
love and grace away from the fire of sin and hell. Rather, He also laid
rich gifts and treasures in men to expound upon this grace as a comfort
to the church here in this life. God gave these gifts specifically to
build up and edify the church while we sojourn and traverse through this
world. In this sense, we enjoy the "earnest of our inheritance"
(Ephesians 1:13-14), thereby experiencing some of the enjoyment of
overwhelming and engulfing fire from the power of God.
Again, being known by the company that we keep, we might associate with
the firebrands of sin in this world, thereby experiencing the evils of
the fire of sin. No, we will not throw ourselves back into the eternal
misery that we have been plucked from, but we might experience quite a
lot of heartache, death, and pain from that multitude of sins. (James
5:19-20) Or we might be known from the company of other firebrands that
attempt to enter into the embers of "grace fire" as it descends from
heaven during meeting times within the pavilions of God's church. By
worshipping Him according to His precepts and dictates (John 4:24), we
experience that fire of assurance and peace that we are His and someday
will see Him face to face.
As with the previous analogies, the effects and properties of the fire
will only last dependent on the time in the fire. Our first state in the
fire of sin in Adam would have been forever for us, but not for the
grace of God. Our current state in the fire of grace is forever by the
eternal work of God of salvation to us. However, the properties of
life's daily "sin fires" and "grace fires" are dependent on the time we
spend in them. While removing ourselves from the "sin fires" of daily
life will begin the process of cooling from them, we may experience a
period of heat from our time in that lifestyle and company. So,
likewise, we may enjoy and remember some of the heat from God's
spiritual service in His church after we have ceased attending, but that
will eventually cool without some re-entering the blaze with the other
firebrands.
How much stock do we put in ourselves to "influence others?" No matter
how cool the firebrand is before going into the fire, it will heat up.
Knowing that we are influenced by others (probably more than we would
like to admit), may our walk seek to enter the fires of spirit and truth
with those that seek the Lord in that manner. May our steps flee from
those fires of idolatry, adultery, heresy, envying, strife, and all
other works of the flesh. Certainly, God has plucked us from our
captivity of sin and death to rest in the captivity of His love. Still,
like Israel of old, we can fail to return to Him, thereby experiencing
the captivities of Assyria or Babylon. May we return to Him and
continually enjoy the blessed warmth of the fires of Canaan's Land that
are lit from the eternal fire of grace from heaven's pure world.
In Hope,
Bro Philip |