73.3 Social Evils

(Micah 2:1-10)

How terrible it will be for those who lie awake and plan evil! When morning comes, as soon as they have the chance, they do the evil they planned. When they want fields, they seize them; when they want houses, they take them. No man's family or property is safe.

And so the Lord says,"Iam planning to bring disaster on you, and you will not be able to escape it. You are going to find yourselves in trouble, and then you will not walk so proudly any more. When that time comes, people will use the story about you as an example of disaster, and they will sing this song of despair about your experience:
     We are completely ruined!
     The Lord has taken our land away
     And given it to those who took us captive."

So then, when the time comes for the land to be given back to the Lord's people, there will be no share for any of you.

The people preach at me and say, "Don't preach at us. Don't preach about all that. God is not going to disgrace us. Do you think the people of Israel are under a curse? Has the Lord lost his patience? Would he really do such things? Doesn't he speak kindly to those who do right?"

The Lord replies, "You attack my people like enemies. Men return from battle, thinking they are safe at home, but there you are, waiting to steal the coats off their backs. You drive the women of my people out of the homes they love, and you have robbed their children of my blessings forever. Get up and go; there is no safety any more. Your sins have doomed this place to destruction."

73.2 The Greedy Will Be Hungry. (Hungry For Food And For The Word Of God)

(Amos 8:4-12)

Listen to this, you that  trample on the needy and try to destroy the poor of the country. You say to yourselves, "We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and fix the scales to cheat our customers. We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find a poor man who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him a slave."

The Lord, the God of Israel, has sworn,"I will never forget their evil deeds. And so the earth will quake, and everyone in the land will be in distress. The whole country will be shaken; it will rise and fall like the Nile River. The time is coming when I will make the sun go down at noon and the earth grow dark in daytime. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will turn your festivals into funerals and change your glad songs into cries of grief. I will make you shave your heads and wear sackcloth, and you will be like parents mourning for their only son. That day will be bitter to the end.

"The time is coming when I will send famine on the land. People will be hungry, but not for bread; they will be thirsty, but not for water. They will hunger and thirst for a message from the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. People will wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean and then on around from the north to the east. They will look everywhere for a message from the Lord., but they will not find it.

73.1 Justice Is Condition For Happiness

(Jeremiah 22:13-16)

Doomed is the man who builds his house by injustice
and enlarges it by dishonesty;
who makes his countrymen work for nothing
and does not pay their wages.
Doomed is the man who says,
"I will build myself a mansion
with spacious rooms upstairs."
So he puts windows in his house,
panels it with cedar,and paints it red.
Does it make you a better king
if you build houses of cedar,
finer than those of others?
Your father enjoyed a full life.
He was always just and fair,
and he prospered in everything he did.
He gave the poor a fair trial,
and all went well with him.
That is what it means to know the Lord.

72.4 God Cares About The Lowly

(Psalm 138)

I thank you,Lord, with all my heart;
I sing praise to you before the gods.
I face your holy Temple,
bow down, and praise your name
because of your constant love and faitfullness,
because you have shown that your name
and your commands are supreme.
You answered me when I called to you;
with your strength you strengthened me.

All the kings in the world will praise you, Lord,
because they have heard your promises.
They will sing about what you have done
and about your great glory.
Even though you are so high above, you care for the lowly,
and the proud cannot hide from you.

When I am surrounded by troubles,
you keep me safe.
You oppose my angry enemies
and save me by your power.
You will do everything you have promised;
Lord, your love is eternal.
Complete the work that you have begun.

72.3 Set Aside A Part For The Poor

(Acts 11:27-30)

About that time some prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and by the power of the Holy Spirit predicted that a severe famine was about to come over all the earth. (It came when Cladius was emperor.) The disciples decided that each of them would send as much as he could to help their fellow believers who lived in Judea. They did this, then, and sent the money to the church elders by Barnabas and Saul.

72.2 People Were Assigned To Take Care Of The Poor

(Acts 6:1-6)

Some time later, as the number of disciples kept growing, there was a quarrel between the Greek-speaking Jews and the native Jews. The Greek-speaking Jews claimed that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of funds. So the twelve apostles called the whole group of believers together and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the preaching of God's word in order to handle finances. So then, brothers, choose seven men among you who are known to be full of Holy Spirit and wisdom, and we will put them in charge of this matter. We ourselves, then, will give our full time to prayer and the work of preaching."

The whole group was pleased with the apostles' proposal, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor,Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a Gentile from Antioch who had earlier been converted to Judaism. The group presented them to the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on them.

72. 1 The Rich Man And Lazarus

(Luke 16:19-31)

"There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day. There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man 's door, hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried, and in  Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side. So he called out, "Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!" But Abraham said, 'Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain. Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.' The rich man said, 'Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house, where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.' Abraham said, 'Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.' The rich man answered, 'That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.' But Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death."

71.4 God The Savior Of Men In Distress

(Psalm 107:23-43)

Some sailed over the ocean in ships,
earning their living on the seas.
They saw what the Lord can do,
his wonderful acts on the seas.
He commanded, and a mighty wind began to blow
and stirred up the waves.
The ships were lifted high in the air
and plunged down into the depths.
In such danger the men lost their courage;
they stumbled and staggered like drunks--
all their skill was useless.
Then in their trouble they called their distress.
He calmed the raging storm,
and waves became quiet.
They were glad because of the calm,
and he brought them safe to the port they wanted
They must thank the Lord for his constant love,
for the wonderful things he did for them.
They must proclaim his greatness in the assembly
of the people
and praise him before the council of the leaders.

The Lord made rivers dry up completely
and stopped springs from flowing.
He made rich soil become salty wasteland
because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
He changed deserts into pools of water
and dry land into flowing springs.
He let hungry people settle there,
and they built a city to live in.
They sowed the field and planted grapevines
and reaped an abundant harvest.
He blessed his people, and they had many children;
he kept their herds of cattle from decreasing.

When God's people were defeated and humiliated
by cruel oppression and suffering,
he showed contempt for their oppressors
and made them wander in trackless deserts.
But he rescued the needy from their misery
and made their families increase like flocks.
The righteous see this and are glad,
but all the wicked are put to silence.

May those who are wise think about these things;
may they consider the Lord's constant love.

71.3 Not Children Anymore, But Grown-Up People

(Ephesians 4:14-16)

Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful men, who lead others into error by the tricks they invent. Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head. Under his control all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided, so when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love.

71.2 We Thank God For His Continued Help

(1 Corinthians 1:4-9) 

I always give thanks to my God for you because of the grace he has given you through Christ Jesus. For in union with Christ you have become rich in all things, including all speech and all knowledge. The message about Christ has become so firmly established in you that you have not failed to receive a single blessing, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be faultless on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.

71.1 The Apostles Urge Us To Hold Fast

(Acts 13:42-43)

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to come back the next Sabbath and tell them more about these things. After the people had left the meeting, Paul and Barnabas were followed by many Jews and by many Gentiles who had been converted to Judaism. The apostles spoke to them and encouraged them to keep on living in the grace of God.