Sermon 225

SERMON 225 – REFORMATION OR FAMINE

Text: Amos 8:11–14 (Read vv. 1–14)
Date in manuscript: October 30, 1949
Preacher: G. S. Kok

INTRODUCTION

Reformation Day reminds us of God’s mighty work through Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. The Reformation was God’s answer to a spiritual crisis. Amos also warned of a crisis: a coming famine of hearing the Word of the Lord. This danger threatens every generation. The choice remains: reformation or famine.

I. THE NATURE OF THE REFORMATION NEEDED

A. Israel of the ten tribes had forsaken God’s Word
1. They abandoned Jerusalem and worshiped at Dan and Bethel.
2. They rejected God’s Word and worshiped according to their own ideas.
3. Their concept of God and salvation no longer agreed with Scripture.
4. The root of all their evils was that they forsook the Word of God. They trusted in external worship, sacrifices, ritual, and false prophets.

B. Before the Reformation of the 1500s, the medieval church had done the same
1. The Bible was closed to the people.
2. Church tradition replaced Scripture as the rule of faith.
3. They forsook salvation by faith and replaced it with works, ritual, penance, and indulgences. Christ’s finished work was buried under man-made teachings.
4. What was needed was what the Reformers proclaimed: back to the Word of God, back to salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. Unlike Israel, multitudes in Europe heeded the call.

C. The same situation exists today
1. Churches and individuals depart from Scripture.
2. Many base hope of salvation on personal goodness, general mercy, church membership, or contributions.
3. Some become contributing members rather than worshipers.
4. Society ignores Scripture in moral, educational, and political decisions. God’s law is mocked, homes neglect the Word, schools remove Scripture and prayer. Today we need another Reformation: a return to the Word of God.

II. THE FAMINE TO BE AVOIDED (vv. 11–14)

A. God warns of a terrible alternative: reformation or famine
1. It was so in Amos’s day.
2. So in the Reformation era.
3. So today.

B. The nature of this famine
1. Not a famine of food or water.
2. Not bodily hunger.
3. But a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord. People will listen, but God will not speak. They will seek His Word but find only silence, like a radio in a blackout.

C. Why this famine is dreadful
1. Man shall not live by bread alone.
2. Without God’s Word nations perish, churches die, and souls starve.
3. The ten tribes experienced this: They rejected the prophets; God said, Leave them alone; when they wanted to hear, it was too late.
4. Amos describes people running everywhere seeking a word, but none is found. The young faint, the strong fall, the nation perishes before dumb idols.

D. Its relevance today
1. America is in danger of this famine.
2. If the nation will not return to God’s Word, God may withdraw it.
3. If churches abandon Scripture, they will perish.
4. If families neglect the Word, they will reap destruction. A famine of the Word is the darkest judgment a people can face.

CONCLUSION

In the 1500s God raised up Reformers, and multitudes heeded the call; thus the famine was prevented. If Europe had rejected the Reformation, the world would be in darkness. And America will face the same darkness if she does not return to God and His Word. With the Bible removed from schools, Scripture ignored in public life, and many homes without daily reading or prayer, we stand at Israel’s crossroads: reformation or famine. Which will we choose?