WE sing glibly "Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war", but do we take on board what we are singing? Paul speaks to Timothy so that he may 'fight the good fight'. Paul also tells Timothy to endure hardship like a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Paul tells the Ephesians to put on the whole armour of God, because the battle may be severe and they will not stand without the armour. These are just some of the references in the New Testament which speak of the Christian in terms of soldiers in a fight. Then we have Paul speaking of himself as a servant, the Greek words is slave, of Jesus Christ. This picture of the Christian life is what we see illustrated in the life of Amos in these verses of narrative in the life and experience of the prophet. The truth is that the bible never speaks of the Christian life as a 'bed of roses' but much more of a struggle and a fight. There are times when we 'rest in green pastures', but most of the time we have to wrestle and fight. The moment we truly believe we receive a pardon from God, and new life, and a place in God's family; but we also have been enlisted in the army of the Lord, and we are on the Master's service. Because of this we are joined in battle against the world, the flesh and the devil. This we need to realise, and we can learn about the fight from the experience of Amos in these verses before us. Let us examine what they reveal.

THE ENEMY WE FACE.

The immediate enemy which Amos faced was the prophet of Bethel, Amaziah. Behind him was the king of Israel, Jereboam II. Amaziah attacked Amos, abused him, threatened him, and told lies about him to Jereboam. Amaziah was working in the background to stop Amos from prophesying. We see this is the fact he told lies about Amos to the king. He told half truths. The correct words of Amos we saw in 7: 9. Amaziah changed them around somewhat to make the words of Amos a direct threat to Jereboam and not just to the nation. On top of this Amaziah ridiculed Amos, see verses 12 & 13. Amaziah sought to make the task of Amos as difficult as possible and make his name odious in Israel.

However the fact was that Amaziah was the servant of the devil. Bethel was one of the sanctuaries set up by Jereboam 1 to replace the sanctuary of the Lord in Jerusalem, and so discourage Israelites from returning their allegiance to the king of Judah. Jereboam I had made golden calves for Bethel and the other sanctuary he set up. He appointed priests who were not Levites, to serve at these sanctuaries, so Amos was declared not to be a prophet of the Lord. Amaziah was under the dominion of Satan, and he was fighting Satan's battle. Paul in Ephesians 6 speaks of the Christian as not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The devil infiltrates the church of God as he did in Israel, and he raises up idols and leaders and ministers in the church who, like Amaziah, are not servants of the Lord.

As soon as a person is converted Satan wages war, and seeks to make the life of the believer as difficult as possible. He knows that the life of the believer is hid with Christ in God, and so he can't gain them as subjects again. However he wishes to make their life as difficult and troubled as he can, and seeks to prevent them from serving their new Master, Jesus Christ.

IN THE MASTER'S SERVICE.

Amos was serving his Master, the one who had called him to be a prophet. What can we learn from Amos about the 'Master's Service'?

a. FAITHFULNESS.

The most prominent lesson about serving Jesus Christ in the spiritual battle is that of faithfulness. Amos was faithful to God in spite of all the opposition he had to face from Amaziah, in spite of all the threats and assaults. There is always the temptation in the Christian life to hold back from testimony because of the opposition we know we will receive. So in conversation we will remain silent when an opening is given by the Holy Spirit to witness to the truth. We hold back because we fear the reaction we will get. We hold back because we don't like being treated with contempt. When we do speak, for fear of the opposition, so often believers are afraid to speak the whole truth, and instead of declaring the word of truth we know, we water the testimony down to avoid offence. When the believer is asked a question about the bible or things concerning God's truth and action against unbelievers there is a tendency to avoid direct answers, and like politicians say everything but never really answer the question. Amos was not like this. God had given him the message, and come what may, he remained faithful to the word, and faithfully declared it. The greater the opposition, the firmer he became in standing for the truth, and proclaiming the message God had commissioned him to give. He was faithful to him who had called him. How we need to seek the Lord for strength to be as faithful as Amos.

b. COURAGE.

In the attack Amos received from Amaziah, and the fear of the response of Jereboam to the report of Amaziah against Amos, both of which spelt danger, and possibly humiliation and even harm, Amos remained firm. He showed great courage. He remained faithful to the Lord in spite of the possible pain and hardship, even death, it may bring.

The Christian life needs courage. Such courage is not a natural thing, but something the Lord has promised to instil into his servants. Sometimes this means standing entirely alone for the truth, and facing the criticism of the majority who are against us. It such circumstances we need to go back to the bible to be sure that we believe and witness to the truth. If this is found to be so, then with the courage from the Lord we must stand firm. Paul's experience was this. He suffered greatly for the truth, but he was faithful to the truth and to Jesus who had called him into service.

c.THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD.

Amos preached the whole counsel of God that he had been given to proclaim. The message he was given was not a comfortable one. It was a message that the people of Israel, the prophets of the sanctuaries and the king did not want to hear, but it was the word of God and from God, and specially the particular message given by God to Amos to proclaim to Israel. It was a message of judgement and retribution. It was a message of God's wrath against sin. This is a truth that is plainly taught in the bible amongst all the revelations of the love of God in Christ. Even in the message of the cross, the message of the wrath of God against sin is present, because the cross was where God exhausted his just wrath against sin, and fully satisfy his holy law, so that he could be just in the justifying of sinners. Because God in his holiness could not overlook sin, and that sin had to be punished, if sinners were to be saved from his wrath, a substitute had to take the place of sinners. God gave his only begotten Son as that substitute, and cancelled the debt of sin in the death of Jesus.

Amos was given this message of judgement. It was a terrible one. It was a warning of the entire annihilation of Israel. It was a hateful message to Israel. It brought opposition. However, Amos remained faithful. The message which seemed so threatening was in fact a message given in love. When Amos preached there was still opportunity to repent and return to the Lord. God's threatenings are always a demonstration of love. Israel knew the way of the Lord and God had no obligation to warn them of the judgement he had always said was the wages of sin. Yet God sent Amos to preach it.

Amos never changed, or watered down, the whole counsel of God. It would have been much easier for him if he had. Today the wrath of God against sin has been largely eradicated from preaching. It is denounced as unworthy of a God of love. Human wisdom has judged the word of God, the revelation God has given in the bible. Souls are perishing because of this. Amos preached all that God had revealed to him. We must do so also. This is being true to the Master's service.

d.HUMILITY.

In seeking to learn from Amos what it means to serve our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, we may observe one last expression of this service. It is that of humility. No servant in the service of God can be proud. There is no place for pride or arrogance or cock-sureness in the Master's Service. We have nothing for which to be proud. Our standing before God; our ability to service; any success in witness; any good example we give; everything in the character and ability of the Christian is given, and it is from God alone. God is the one to receive all the glory. We can claim no glory for ourselves.

Because of this, for a servant of Christ to be proud is unthinkable. We must be humble under the mighty hand of God, and this is what is demonstrated by Amos in verses 12-16 of our passage. Amaziah, in his abuse of Amos, implied that Amos was setting himself up and was above himself. In reply Amos claims no glory for himself. He claims no personal authority. He clearly states his humble origins, and says he has no claim to being a prophet. In this humble position he testifies to Amaziah that he was only preaching in Israel at the call and command of God, and that the message he preached was not his own, but given to him by God.