Do Not Look Forward to Judgment (Amos 5:16-20)

Do Not Look Forward to Judgment (Amos 5:16-20)

God has just offered His grace to anyone who will repent. He will forgive anyone who will turn to Him, and they will escape His coming judgment.

No one will escape

The people are not listening to Amos and are not turning to God. They have rejected God’s way of salvation. In light of this God’s judgment is going to come. No one will escape. It does not matter where you live; if you reject God’s offer of salvation there will be nowhere to hide when God’s judgment comes. This is just, and the judgment is literally on your head because of your own decision to reject God’s offer of grace.

All have sinned

We mistakenly always view judgment as for others, especially those who have wronged us or opposed us. In our pride we can look forward to the day that we are vindicated and they are condemned. Amos warns us against this. We must not be so arrogant as to suppose that we are innocent before God. In everything we have committed some sin against God. We have a beam in our own eye; we just do not see it. We always view God’s Word as being directed at someone else, so we mistakenly look forward to judgment. Because of our sin, we must realize that at the day of judgment we will be declared guilty.

Run to Jesus

In light of this truth, we must run to Jesus for forgiveness. We cannot hope to stand before God in our self-righteous pride. We must humble ourselves and confess our sins. Our standing before God is based upon Jesus’ death and resurrection alone. I must remember this as I live my life. Christianity is not based upon how right I am. It is based upon how gracious God is. In all my personal dealings I must remember that I have sin and that if I do not reconcile quickly I will stand condemned (Matthew 5:25.) This is much easier to do when I realize my own faults and failures and God’s grace in my life.

Application

What are you trusting in as your standing before God? Is there pride in your life that is causing you to not see your sin in different situations in your life? Will you humble yourself before God and others?

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