* This is one of the best pro-life verses in the Bible.

* Fearfully, in the Greek, implies reverence and respect.

* It’s the same word used to describe our fear of God.

* Wonderfully means unique.

* God has not made someone like you in the past, present, or future - you are 100% unique.

* God wants to use the uniqueness of you to present the uniqueness of Him.

* Take these two qualities and apply them in your relationships with others.

* Other people, whom God has place in your life, are uniquely designed by God different than you on purpose, and they are worthy of respect.

* So when the clash happens, remember God made you different for a reason and that in the process you need to show them respect.

* This will give you a firm foundation upon which you can build a lasting relationship.

* God waited to send the locusts (judgment) to the land until the second growth of grass.

* This was a merciful move on His part.

* The first growth was the most important.

* If the locusts showed up then then the grass would’ve never come in for that year.

* Then, God let Amos in on His plan.

* I believe it was to spur Amos on to intercede for the people.

* Amos did, and God relented.

* This happened twice!

* Amos did the opposite of what Jonah did.

* When God shows you the backside of a person or people, it’s so you can intercede for them.

* But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to tell them the truth.

* Amos still had a hard message to deliver to the people he prayed for.

* These verses show how God and Amos were both merciful to the people who needed punishment.

* What do Amos, Elisha, Jesus, and the Disciples all have in common?

* They were gainfully employed in business when God called them.

* They were shepherds, farmers, carpenters, accountants, doctors, fishermen - all men of business.

* Why?

* I believe the marketplace is the best place to train people - it’s the great “sifter” of men.

* How?

* If you don’t bring real value in the marketplace you don’t make it!

* In vocational ministry you are often judged by your INTENTIONS.

* So if the event didn’t go well or your lunch meeting went 3 hours too long, then it must have been God’s will.

* But in the marketplace you are judged by your ACTIONS.

* If the event didn’t go well or you took 3 hours too long in a meeting, you could get fired!

* That trains you to stay on point and bring real, tangible value.

* Amos was a poor country farmer, but God gave him a powerful word to speak.

* What does this say about you and me?

* We are God’s ministers in the marketplace!!!!

* Although the church in Ephesus had let their love grow cold, God applauded them for hating what He hates.

* You can’t just love what God loves you must hate what He hates.

* True love always has a hate component to it.

* If you love your spouse then you hate anything that would threaten that love.

* EX: a man watching the Cowboys and the camera goes to the cheerleaders.

* If he doesn’t hate what that can do in his mind then he’ll find himself looking.

* Here in this verse the church at Ephesus hated what the Nicolaitins stood for.

* What was that? They turned what God called black and white into a strange shade of grey.

* But the church in Pergamum tolerated them (vs 2:15).

* In the church today, we should hate that which would stand in the way of people coming to Christ - a true knowledge of Him.

* Jude pointed out three sins of old that people in his day were committing.

* The sins of Cain, Balaam, and Korah.

* 1) The sin of Cain - he didn’t bring his best to God.

* He felt like he could do his thing his way.

* 2) The sin of Balaam - he used his gifting for monetary gain.

* He was for hire - he was willing to sell out for profit and promotion.

* 3) The sin of Korah - he wanted authority that wasn’t his.

* Just like Satan lusted after God’s throne, Korah felt like he deserved a position of prominence.

* Jude reminds believers of this so they would remember how these men were punished.

* It should strike holy fear into them.

* Vs 16 - When Arioch showed up to give Daniel the news of the kings order to kill the wise men, Daniel went directly to the king to ask for time.

* The king gave it to him.

* God gave Daniel the interpretation.

* Vs 24 - But notice Daniel went through Arioch to deliver the message.

* He couldn’t gone directly into the king.

* Daniel honored the authority structure, and Arioch liked it.

* Vs 25 - he “hurriedly” brought Daniel in to the king.

* He was so pumped Daniel would include him that he quickly sought to do the job.

* Notice his salutation - “I have found a man…”.

* Who do you think became a big fan of Daniel’s after that?

* Most likely Arioch!

* When you’re persecuted for doing what’s right, you owe NOBODY an explanation.

* You answer to God.

* These boys essentially said, “we bow to God, not you.”

* Vs 18 - They wanted to “let it be known” they wouldn’t bow.

* They were willing to go public.

* Where do you think they got that courage?

* Jeremiah - he modeled it and wrote about it.

* What’s the result?

* Vs 28 - the king worshipped the true King!

* Because these boys rightly worshipped God the king could now worship Him.

* But it involved a confrontation.

* Daniel continually rose in power, causing other Babylonian leaders to be jealous.

* They had to devise a way to get him to fall.

* The only way they could do that was to get his faith to contradict the law of the land.

* They convinced the king to enact a new law according to the Medes and Persians.

* This is key - it was a law that could not be revoked, even by the king himself.

* This made the matter even worse - or so it seemed.

* But the beauty is that the king couldn’t revoke it.

* God WANTED Daniel thrown into the lion’s den so He could deliver him out of it.

* But God didn’t let Daniel in on this plan - Dan had to walk it out in faith.

* So what was the result?

* Vs 24 - Because of this law, the very people who sought to destroy Daniel were themselves destroyed.

* The gospel brought newfound freedom to many people.

* So Peter had to talk about how to handle that freedom.

* He spoke about the necessity for continued submission in three core areas:

* 1) Submission to government (1 Peter 2:13-17) - believers didn’t need to attempt to overthrow Roman rule.

* They needed to submit to the “institution” of government, not necessarily every law (if it went against the law of God).

* 2) Submission to employers (1 Peter 2:18-25) - slavery was the employer/employee relationship back then, and slaves needed to submit to their masters. Why?

* So their masters would be won over by their respectful conduct.

* God’s way of abolishing slavery was to do it in the heart first.

* 3) Submission in marriage (1 Peter 3:1-2) - women were finally honored as first-class citizens in Christianity.

* But some women would want to divorce their unbelieving husbands because of this freedom.

* So Peter cautioned them against it, and told how women could win over their husbands - by submitting to his need for respect (vs 2).

* Vs 7 - Women were so elevated now that the husband’s relationship to God was tied to how well he treated his bride.

* Men didn’t see their wives as equal to them, but now, with the gospel, they had to.

* Submission is about WINNING. The gospel would win people over through submission in these core areas.