Amos 8:11-13
11 "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord God,
"That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it.
13 "In that day the fair maidens
And strong young men
Shall faint from thirst.

I believe that we are living in this time. I believe we have a famine of the truth of God and it is growing increasingly more severe as time passes. This unique famine is not caused by the absence of the Word of God, but a refusal of it. Look back at all the famines of history. Food and water were not completely gone, but they were severely limited. During famine, food is very hard to come by but there are people who survive. What is unique about this prophecy is that it is a scarcity of truth even though the word exists everywhere around us. The Bible is more available in more languages and with more resources than at any time in history. Yet we can see that individual knowledge of the Bible is less than at any time in history. The average person that identifies themselves as a Christian spends less time in the Word than any other activity and very few believers can quote any scripture, let alone give a biblical explanation of why they believe what they believe.

World religions are appearing at an explosive rate. Why? Because there is a hunger to fill the emptiness inside. The other day I was reading some profiles on Hollywood actors and actresses. I found it interested how many of them hop from religion to religion. They find ‘enlightenment’ in one religion, but when the excitement wears off, they become disenchanted and follow another. One actor gave a list of 4 or 5 religions that he has picked through over the last several years. He picks ‘truths’ that suit him and adopts those into his universal religion. The world belief is rapidly shifting to ‘relative truth’. Many believe that nothing is absolute and everyone must decide for themselves what truth is. Relativism is self-contradictory. Truth cannot be relative. Truth is an absolute. Either something is true, or it is not. It is impossible to claim truth is not absolute because something must be absolute in order to be true.

We can look at the world today and see the words of Amos in motion. Our culture is searching more today than anytime in history. Everyone seems to be searching, yet at the same time there is an intolerance to the truth of the scriptures. The Bible and those who follow the Bible are called intolerant and are quickly dismissed as not being an option in the search for meaning and fulfillment. Why is this famine occurring? I believe it all boils down to the believer. Jesus made it clear that we are the salt that flavors and preserves the world and at the same time, we are the light that draws the world out of darkness. Jesus said, "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Luke 14:34-35. The world cannot be influenced and drawn to God by any other way than by the church. This is the method God has chosen. If Christians loose their focus on God and no longer have the seasoning of God, what effect will this have on the world? The effect will be an ineffective witness and will cause the Word of God to be discounted as a poor option.

I believe there are three things that make the church an ineffective witness for God. First, Christians become polluted by the world. James 1:27 warns us not to become polluted by the world. Look at 1 John 2:15:

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Also look at Luke 8:14, "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity." This was the parable about the sower who sows seed and only the word that falls on good ground will increase. The ground is our hearts. If our hearts are polluted by caring for the world and living outside of God’s will, the Word will be choked and will not be productive in our lives.

Second, God’s people have no desire for God. I believe that this is a direct result of the first cause. If we are focused on the world and our cares are for this world, then we will not have a desire for God. Some common questions I hear are, "Do I believe in eternal security?" Absolutely. "If I sin, will God forgive me and will He still love me?" Absolutely. "Then why shouldn’t I live my life the way I want?" You absolutely have that option. There are a few things everyone should realize when deciding the direction of your life. The first principle of eternal security is, are you absolutely sure you have salvation? When a person becomes a Christian, they literally invite Jesus into their heart. The Bible says that when we give our hearts to Christ, we are born into God’s kingdom. Heaven becomes a permanent birthright I believe. The Bible also says that when we are born into God’s kingdom, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Look at 1 Corinthians 3:16-17:

16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

If you have the Spirit of God inside of you, how can you live in a sinful lifestyle without being convicted? If you can live in sin without conviction, you may not have that eternal security because you have never really invited Christ into your heart.

If someone has made Jesus their Lord, they can still become choked by the world. The world constantly bombards us with temptations, distractions and vain promises of gratification. A Christian can easily be drawn away and then face the decision of whether to pursue God or pursue pleasure. If we pursue pleasure, God indeed still loves us and He will forgive us. That is not the question. The real question is, "Is it worth it?" There are consequences to bad choices and there are lost blessings that have been promised but bypassed by our lifestyle. Is it worth sacrificing intimacy with God and eternal promises in exchange for a temporary sinful pleasure? Is chasing a world-centered life that is not specifically sinful but is apart from God’s will worth the trade-off? In Luke 9:23-24 Jesus said,

23 "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
24 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

This is where faith comes in. It doesn’t take any faith to pursue the ‘here and now’. To focus on living solely for what I can see and earn doesn’t require faith. God calls us to step by faith. Do we really trust Him? If we do, let your life prove it. Lose your life and let God be the one who saves it. If we trust Him, we will be willing to let God do our fulfilling. We indeed can pursue our life’s desires. We can live our own life and choose our own ways. But in doing so, we sacrifice the promises of God.

Third, Christians fear the world more than they fear God. In recent years, the world has developed an intolerance for the Bible and the true God. Religion is OK as long as it does not present concrete absolutes that are not willing to accommodate sinful lifestyles. This intolerance for Christianity will only increase as the famine grows in the world. One important note is that intolerance to sin and loving the souls of the world are not exclusive. We are to love those who are in the world while at the same time not loving the world and the world’s values. There is nothing more valuable than the soul of an upright citizen who obeys the laws and tries to do what is right. There is nothing more valuable than the soul of the most morbid sinner in the darkest prison who has violated every law and everything that is morally right. All souls carry the same value. We value people based on their actions and we cannot look beyond someone’s actions and see their worth, but God looks deep inside and longs to rescue each soul of each person. Each person was created in God’s image and has infinite value.

We see the tension growing between the pro-life and pro-abortion groups. We see tension growing between the church and the pro-homosexual movements. It is the responsibility of the church to stand against evil, but at the same time we must not focus on the evil itself but the soul entrapped by satan. We are commissioned by Christ to rescue the souls hidden behind homosexuality, prison bars, alcoholism, drug addiction, sex addiction and often even religion can be bondage to a soul when it shifts the focus away from Christ and away from grace. If not for the black eye it gives the church, it is almost amusing to see the protestors holding up a sign quoting Leviticus 20:13 (the Bible’s command to put homosexuals to death). Why did they leave out the rest of the sins that were punishable by death? What about the many Old Testament lists that includes adulterers, disobedient children, defilers of the temple, those who take God’s name in vain, those who fail to keep the Sabbath, and many, many sins punishable by death under the law?

When people don’t know the scriptures and only pick the verses that support their pet ideas. The scriptures can be used to promote any way of thinking if taken out of context. Let me give a humorous example.

Suppose I believe the Bible teaches women shouldn’t drive. Also suppose that I only believe the King James Version is inspired. The book of Acts proves that women should not drive. Here is my proof:

Starting at the end of Acts 27:15, "We let her drive", "and so were driven"(27:17), "all hope that we should be saved was then taken away"(27:20).

Obviously, this is an over dramatization of scripture twisting, but I share it to make a point. If we search only for scriptures that support our viewpoints, we will miss what God is trying to tell us. Are homosexuals worthy of death? A better question is who is worthy of death? Romans 6:23 says, "for the wages of sin is death". Romans 3:23 adds a little insight, "for all have sinned". We could stop here and determine that we all are under the condemnation of sin. But the second half of Romans 6:23 says, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" and Romans 3:23 indeed says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but 3:24 says, "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus". This passage goes on to tell us that faith is how we obtain God’s gift of life.

We must take the Bible as a whole. If we try to make it a scriptural salad bar, we miss what God is trying to give us. God does not honor scripture twisting. I believe scripture twisting falls under the command, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:7. This is the first of the Ten Commandments. What greater vanity can we do to the name of God than to misuse His word which God states is equal to His name. If the Word of God means nothing, then the name of God means nothing. Nothing is greater than the Word of God because it is what God has revealed about Himself. We are surely commanded to be intolerant to sin, but in doing so, we can’t sacrifice the greatest treasure God has created – the soul – even the soul trapped by the sin. Jesus gave us a prime example with the woman caught in adultery. She was clearly guilty. By the law, she was commanded to die. Jesus never compromised truth. He did not justify her actions, nor did he allow her to go unchallenged. Yet He forgave her, rescued her from her accusers and commanded her to continue without sin. That is our example. Stand firm and be intolerant of what God has said should not be tolerated, but love those trapped by the world and rescue those who are willing to be rescued. It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance, Romans 2:4.

So we should not fear the world and should not become tolerant of what is wrong. We should not put so much focus on the sin that we loose sight of our calling. As with the woman in adultery, Jesus did not show tolerance to the adultery, but it was not His focus. He focused on her heart and the value of her soul. Stoning her would not have rescued her from her sin. I believe that is our example. At times we may have to make a stand, but never loose sight of the soul trapped behind the barricade of sin. "And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:11. Part of fearing God is standing firm in the face on challenge, "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14.

Fearing God is not only standing firm in the face of opposition, but also standing firm in the face of temptation. As I said earlier, we do have the option of choosing our own way. The special rewards of God are to those who are willing to lose their lives for Christ’s sake. Losing our life takes a strong faith. Sometimes our fear is the fear of missing out. People often sacrifice a life in God’s will out of fear of missing out on the pleasures this world tries to offer. It is hard to see what I want, knowing I can take it, or knowing that working hard will gain it for me and then choosing to sacrifice these wants to follow Christ. When I follow Christ, I don’t know if I will get everything I want. I don’t know what kind of blessings God will give me. I do know that I am promised rewards in heaven and God’s blessings here on earth, but God doesn’t reveal exactly what I will get. I believe there is a reason for this. God wants to be our focus and the object of our affection. If I am pursuing God’s will to gain something for myself, God is not my focus, then the prize becomes my focus. I would also become focused on my own abilities to achieve these rewards as well. When I am living by faith, my focus is on God. My heart is set on Him, not a possession, I trust God to provide and rejoice in His goodness. When I can become God-dependent instead of achievement driven, I learn how to walk depending on Him.