Amos 6;8

 Amos 6:8 says, The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.  God swore by Himself, because there was and is no greater One to swear by.  God is the ultimate authority, and if He commits Himself to something by His word, there is no power that can overrule Him.  God said that He hated the houses of the people of Judah and Israel because they were built on false gods.  Verse nine adds, And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.  God said that those who escaped the sword would still die by famine or some other means.  People today may escape one tragedy, but they will not escape death, and if they have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, then they will face everlasting separation from God.  Verse ten continues, And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.   Matthew Henry says that the fact that an uncle was burying someone meant that there were no closer kin to do so and that the younger people were dead, since the uncle would be an older man.  We are told that those who were left, what few they were, would not be allowed to even speak the name of God.  I believe that this may have been because they still were not calling out to Him in repentance and faith, but were calling out to Him thinking He would have to save them no matter what since they were His people in name.  God does not have to save anyone no matter whether they profess to have put their faith in Jesus Christ or not.  Someone may call themself a Christian, but unless his or her relationship with Jesus Christ is real, they will find that God is not obligated to save them because of an empty claim to be His.  Verse eleven states, For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.  Amos said that God had pronounced His judgment on them and that it would be carried out.  God has pronounced His judgment on those who will not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and one day it will be carried out.  Of this we can be certain.  Verse twelve asks, Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:  God asked what it would accomplish to attempt to grow things on rocks.  Matthew Henry says this refers to the people of Judah and Israel refusing to allow God to turn their hearts into fallow ground.   Verse thirteen adds, Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?  God sends His warning to those who believe that they have been successful by their own strength and not by His power and blessings.  Some people today say that they really don't need God because they are being successful by their own abilities, but one day they will find out how wrong they are.   Verse fourteen declares, But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.  God said He was raising up an nation to defeat the people of Israel.  Once they stopped being obedient to their part of the covenant relationship with God, they sacrificed His protection and earned His punishment instead.  We cannot expect God's protection in the world today, even if we have become His through accepting Jesus Christ, if we are then not obedient to His leadership.  Again, we will not lose our salvation if we have it, but we can certainly lose all the peace and joy that our salvation should bring.  We cannot expect God to just bless us or matter what.