© 16 Colin Melbourne
Who will not Fear?
The lion hath roared, who will not fear?
Amos 3:8a KJV
Oh Glory, what a word! And he follows that with… Amos 3:8b KJV
The Lord GOD hath spoken
… the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
Where is The LORD speaking? Halleluia… in our hearts! Inditing, simmering… ready to be released…
Who can but Prophecy?
Isn’t that exactly how it is Saints? The Lion’s Heart roars inside each believer, to be loosed, to put your enemies to flight, and demonstrate His eternal victory.
He demands only two things; Your consent, and your faith: Believe and obey.
Honour the word of the Lord in your heart, yield and obey; He then works wonders in your midst.
As grieving Martha discovered when Lazarus was raised from the dead. Jn. 11:25-26 KJV;
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
He put the same question to a brace of blind men in Mtt. 9:27-30a KJV;
And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened;
Christ touched their eyes, they were opened, and the only requirement was the blind mens’ consent and faith.
If you are blind, or deaf, or dumb, incurable, or dying, take heart, Christ is the same today. He merely requires of you what He asked of them, of Jairus, and many others, indeed everyone who comes to Him for anything. Mk. 5:36b KJV;
Believe ye that I am able to do this? …Be not afraid, only believe.
Believe Jesus will fix your problem now.
Believing includes acting upon the word: Fulfilling and proving you believe it, and then continue believing, keep proving it, and He makes good His promise every time.
There’s not one chance in a million that His word will fail you (Jos. 1:5): Only believe, put your faith into action, be a doer of the word, persist in your doing, and you will see His promises confirmed.
Make-believers quit if they don’t see instant results: Bible-believers act on what the word says, regardless of what they see or feel: Because it is written, it must be and is so! They are the ones who get Bible results every time: Join them.
The Lord GOD hath spoken
Almighty God visited us two thousand years ago, and promised; salvation, forgiveness of sins, and healing, to every person who truly believes in Him.
This is no secret: It’s a central fact of Christ’s Gospel.
It’s been in the Holy Bible, clear as day, ever since it was written.
His resurrection proves the validity and integrity of His message, and the witness of His Life in your heart is the tangible proof of His resurrection.
If you haven’t got that proof, you’re not even saved yet, so make sure you have His Life now.
Not an angel, nor a prophet, but God in The Flesh, promised to fix whatever is wrong or broken in your life: Only believe and obey Him.
Who can but prophesy?
True believers cannot hold back what Almighty God has spoken to their heart. His word must be declared, it cannot be restrained: And the LORD is pleased to confirm it with signs following whenever anyone believes it.
That is how it is when God speaks through yielded believers. It’s not a matter of reciting Bible verses from memory, even religious sinners do that. No, it is the Spirit of God inditing your spirit, churning, bubbling up to your mouth, and giving you His words to speak.
The believer doesn’t fully understand the word they bring, like Peter in Acts 2:14-21 who declared Joel’s prophecy fulfilled, yet the Apostle didn’t comprehend it himself until ten years later at Cornelius’ house.
The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
Our text is from Amos chapter 3. Read the whole Book of Amos, it’s beautiful, rich, and specific. But don’t tell me the Prophet grasped his message. He had only the vaguest notion what he was prophesying, yet it all came to pass, and is still being fulfilled today in ways Amos could not have known or understood.
In any case, God didn’t need to tell Amos the import, what the words meant, He merely required use of the Prophet’s heart and mouth to speak for Him.
Amos yielded, and we have the written record of God’s word for eternity because he prophesied.
Have you given your heart and mouth to Christ yet. He doesn’t accept a piece of you, He wants you completely: All or nothing.
The Herdsmen of Tekoa
Amos was neither a scholar, nor a theologian, he’d never been to Bible-school, let alone “prophet-school”; he was a humble Jewish herdsman tending cattle (kine) in Tekoa, Judah. Hired shepherds and cattle drovers were the lowest social group in Bible days. They still are in most places today.
As a veterinary surgeon, I’ve spent much time working alongside shepherds, and cattle farmers, all over the world, and find they are generally quiet, somewhat shy individuals.
That’s understandable, because they spend their days alone, chewing figs, quietly contemplating ruminating livestock, much like David the shepherd boy.
Yet read how Amos burns with Holy Fire as he declares the word of God from his heart. Here’s his opening salvo as a prophet, Amos 1:2 KJV;
And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
Halleluia! He has roared, He has spoken, and He will again, very soon!
Amos continues in that vein, repeatedly prophesying searing divine judgments against the enemies, and against the nation, of Israel.
Each prophecy is spot-on: Not one word has failed.
The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
The Lion of Judah has roared: Jesus has come, and commanded believers to go and proclaim His message to the ends of the Earth.
Our hearts burst with love, and joy unspeakable, because of what He has done for us.
Our chains fell off, our sins rolled away, He gave us new hearts washed with His Blood, and kneels today washing our feet with His word. That’s my Saviour: Is He yours too?
The world is clueless, they don’t know Him, and care even less, whilst they totter over a bottomless pit of burning sulphur.
We ask; “LORD what do I say to them? How do I wake them up?”
He answers; Yield your heart to me and go. Then open your mouth, and words and wisdom will be given you that no man can gainsay or refute. Then leave the rest to me.
So we venture, following the way of Love, and discover He’s upon us, and with us as He was with Amos: We rejoice with the herd-man of Tekoa, because the LORD God has spoken.
Who can but prophesy?
Wigglesworth, the Complete Story: A New Biography of the ‘Apostle of Faith’ Smith Wigglesworth: Working class hero; they don’t come any better than this true account of the Yorkshire plumber, Smith Wigglesworth. God took him around the world planting, and demonstrating, the power baptism, with spectacular healing miracles. You will learn a great deal from studying this man’s life and preaching.
© 16 Colin Melbourne
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