BBB:True to Plumb  by Mark S. Camp

Amos 7:7-9

"Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will
spare them no longer." (NIV)

In the seventh chapter of Amos, the prophet Amos is given a
vision of three judgments which are about to come upon the
people of Israel. The people are at a low ebb spiritually and
had repeatedly abused the abundance of grace which had been
given to them by the Lord. This abuse, coupled with an empty
religiosity, was going to be the cause of God dealing severely
with his people. Amos sees that Lord standing beside a wall
with a plumb line in his hand. The Lord is measuring the wall
to see if it is standing true and straight as when it was
originally constructed.

The wall represents the people of God and the plumb line
represents the divine standard by which they are judged. The
law had been given as the plumb by which men and women, boys
and girls, could measure their stature before a holy God.

Today, the completed Scripture, the Bible is the divine plumb
line by which we are to test and prove ourselves to see whether
or not we are standing true to God's design.

The religion of Israel, much like religion today, had become
superficial and lacked devotion to God. In fact, the people
had departed so far from God's standards that they had
incorporated wordly ways into their worship. The places that
were supposed to be places of worship and adoration of Almighty
God had become centers of arrogance, pride, and false teaching.

Unfortunately, the same is still true today. Many so-called
churches are not even close to being true to plumb when
compared with the Word of God. The preaching of modern
Christianity in large measure is a false gospel of prosperity,
health, wealth, and success. In fact, much preaching today is
little more than an adaptation of "the power of positive
thinking." We are told that we only have to "name it and claim
it" in Jesus' name. On the other hand, there are those
churches who preach and teach something close to the gospel,
but the gospel is so man-centered that Jesus has been dethroned
as a Sovereign King, and has been relegated to the position of
a pathetic beggar who pleads with people to be saved but is
powerless to accomplish anything unless the free-will of man
allows him. The worship service, instead of being a time of
falling prostrate before God and honoring him with the
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, has become a hyped-up,
Madison avenue feel-good session where the principle idea is to
have one's needs met!

It is time, my friend, for Christians everywhere to examine
their character, conduct, and creed with God's plumb line, the
Bible. It is time for Christians to demand that their
preachers and teachers make every effort to proclaim the whole
counsel of God. It is time for Christians to turn to a deeper
personal study of the Scriptures. It is time that we quit
getting our beliefs about the latter days out of the newspaper
and started getting them out of the Bible. It is time that we
quit focusing upon man in our churches, and started focusing
upon the Sovereign, Holy Judge with whom we have to do.

In closing, we can learn four lessons about God's judgment.

First, it is fair. We have been warned long enough and God has
been more than patient with his people. When judgment comes,
no one will be able to say that God acted wrongly. 

Second, God's judgment is certain. O, it may not come today, it may
not come tomorrow or next year - BUT! it will come. Of that
you can be sure. 

Third, God's judgment is terrible. It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Fourth, God's judgment is detailed. No stone will be left
unturned when he comes with the winnowing fork. From the high
places to the low places, judgment will come.

There is but one way to avoid the perils of divine justice -
REPENT! Let us repent of our "church playing" and return to
God-honoring, Christ-glorifying worship; let us repent of our
lack of evangelistic zeal and lack of diligence in Bible study;
let us repent of our self-sufficient pride and cast ourselves
upon the sovereign mercy of God. Let us turn unto God with
renewed hearts, seeking an increased measure of his grace upon
us, "so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed
before him at his coming" (1 Jn. 2:28).