Amos： Do You Show Mercy？ - Part 1

Okay, Amos. Amos is nine chapters. They're not the longest chapters in the world, but it might surprise you. Amos is probably one of the longer books in your Bible that you hardly know anything about. Amos. So let's meet the prophet. There really are three verses in this letter that show us who Amos is. The first one is the first verse. Amos 1:1. So here you are. The words of Amos, so that we know that's who wrote the book, who was among the shepherds. Okay, he was among the shepherds because he was a shepherd. And we're going to see that established when we look at the other two verses I want to look at. He was among the shepherds of Tekoa. Now that's interesting. Let me tell you something. We're going to find that this prophecy is primarily directed at Israel. Israel is the northern kingdom. Tekoa is in the southern kingdom. This is kind of like a prophet getting sent from Scotland or Wales over here to England to bring a message. Closely related, yes, but coming from another place, from another country even. Tekoa is supposed to be somewhere south of Jerusalem. And so he's from the southern kingdom. He's from Judah. And so, these are the words of Amos, who was among the shepherds there in the southern kingdom, south of Jerusalem, in this place called Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel, the northern kingdom, in the days of Uzziah. And now we know that time frame because Isaiah lived then, Hosea lived then. We know that from their prophecies. They mention Uzziah. Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. And we've talked about him as well, king of Israel. Two years before the earthquake. And you know what's interesting about that? Zechariah also mentions that earthquake. Zechariah basically talks about the earthquake in the days of Uzziah. So it was a bad one. They didn't have skyscrapers, but undoubtedly it still created a lot of chaos. So there's something about Amos. Now if you go over to Amos chapter 7, verse 14, then Amos answered, and Amos is talking here to one of the priests of the northern kingdom. Specifically says it's Amaziah, the priest of Bethel. And he says, Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet nor the son of a prophet. You probably heard that saying. Not a prophet nor the son of a prophet. Well, that's where it comes from. It comes from right here. He's saying this, I was no prophet nor prophet's son. I was a herdsman, a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock. You see, he was among the shepherds. He followed the flock. He was a farmer. He was a herdsman. He was a dresser of figs. And while he was doing all this, in this farming capacity, shepherding capacity, the Lord took me from following the flock. And the Lord said to me, go prophesy to my people Israel. Go to the northern kingdom. I got a message for them and I want you to take it. It's very unlikely individual. So the next question is this, what was the message that God sent this shepherd prophet to the northern kingdom to say to them? And we want to pay attention to this because one of the things that we know for certain is God doesn't change. And the God that we have to deal with here is the same God that is the living God today. And so Amos gives us nine chapters. Let me tell you something about these nine chapters. I thought I was going to preach through all nine of them today. And I've been planning that for the last two weeks. And then this morning, I just said I can't do it. I know the way my own notes go, even though I was able to fit it on four pages, which usually makes for about an hour. I just knew it was going to go way beyond that. And so it's going to be two-parter. I'm going to deal with the first eight and two-thirds chapters, because here's the thing, nine chapters. Do you know what? All of it is judgment. Virtually all of it. Judgment right up until the last third of the ninth chapter. And then you have something glorious. So eight and two-thirds chapters of judgment. You ready for that today? Threats of impending judgment. Just look at chapters 1 and 2. I mean, just get a feel for the flavor and the atmosphere of this letter. Chapter 1, verse 2, the Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem. The pastors of the shepherds mourn. The top of Carmel withers. And you see what He does. Verse 3, for three transgressions of Damascus. Damascus is the capital of Syria. He says, I will not revoke punishment. You go to verse 6, for three transgressions of Gaza. That's the Philistines. He says, I will not revoke punishment. You go to verse 9, for three transgressions of Tyre. 11, for three transgressions of Edom. Verse 13, for three transgressions of the Ammonites. Chapter 2, verse 1, for three transgressions of Moab. You see what's happening. One nation after another. And you know what happens by the time you get to chapter 9? Is God's going to touch the whole earth and melt the whole thing and all who dwell in it are going to mourn. So you know what He's doing? He's hitting all these nations that are around Israel. And He's saying, God's going to judge them all. And by the end of this letter, He says, God's going to melt the whole earth. God's going to wipe sinners off the face of this earth. He just pans out to the judgment of the whole world. Here's the thing. No one likes this message. Messages of judgment are heavy and they are hard. But listen folks, the question is not whether messages of judgment are hard. What we really have to ask is, are they true? Because if they're true, oh, I remember Spurgeon, some sermon I read years ago, he said, tell me the worst of my case. That's a wise man. Tell me the worst of it. You know, it's like the person that has cancer and they don't want to know. They just avoid the doctor. That's foolish. No, tell us the worst of the situation. That's the issue. Tell us whether it's there, whether it's not. Whether I have cancer, whether I don't. And you see, if these things are true, what's most important is that we awaken to the danger. That's always the most important thing. Not to take issue with me. Oh, he's preaching judgment. Or they took issue with Amos. You want to see them take issue with Amos? We just looked at this. Go to chapter 7. Listen, when people come along and they preach judgment, it brings the wrath of the hearers. But the thing is, why do they get so stirred up? Well, they don't like the message. And so they want to attack the messenger. They want to say, well, it can't be true or we don't want to hear this. It's the same today. It's no different. Man is no different. Man is no different from Amos' day to our day. Because you go down to the city center and people respond just the same. Look how Amos chapter 7 verse 10, Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword. By the way, that's a lie. Amos never says that anywhere. And you know what? Jeroboam did not die by the sword. This guy is basically lying about Amos. Now, is he bringing threats of judgment? Yes. But this guy is interpreting it the way that he wants to. He's adding his own bent to this. But Jeroboam shall die by the sword and Israel must go into exile away from this land. Amaziah said to Amos, O seer, go flee away to the land of Judah. In other words, go home. Eat bread there. Go back where you came. Prophesy there. Never again prophesy at Bethel, for it's the king's sanctuary and it's a temple of the kingdom. Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet nor prophet's son. I was a herdsman dresser of sycamore figs. The Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, go prophesy to my people Israel. Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I mean, you see what he's saying. God told me to go prophesy. And so that's what I mean to do. And by the way, God has a word for you specifically, Amaziah. You want to hear it? You say, do not prophesy against Israel and do not preach against the house of Isaac. Therefore, thus says the Lord, your wife shall be a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line and you yourself shall die in an unclean land and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land. Now you could say that's harsh. But brethren, let me tell you something. What we really have to recognize is the holiness of God and the awfulness of our sin. We tend to think of the awfulness of God and we don't see that the real issue is with us. This book speaks of judgment and the purpose of these kinds of threats is always to wake people up. Look, if God didn't intend to warn people to wake us up, you know what? He might as well just stay silent. God could have stayed silent. God could say nothing and then just execute judgment when it's too late. He could do that. But if we're wise, we'll pay attention. There's a message in Amos if we have ears to hear. It's not just, I'm going to punish you. There is a message here and I want you to see it. So, first thing I want you to notice. Go to Amos 5:18. It's very interesting and very helpful. Amos 5:18. Listen to how this reads. Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. Why would you have the day of the Lord? Now, let me ask you this. What is the day of the Lord? Just a reminder. Listen to these. Don't turn to them. Isaiah 13:9. Behold, the day of the Lord comes cruel with wrath and fierce anger to make the land a desolation and destroy its sinners from it. If you want to know what the day of the Lord is, it is the day when those who are sinners will be punished. They will be destroyed. That is what the day of the Lord is. Obadiah says this. The day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. No nation escapes here. As you have… Now, catch this. The day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you. If you've done wickedly, you will be punished. Your deeds shall return on your own head. Now, that's key. Because what happens on the day of the Lord? Our deeds are brought out. Every one of them. Okay, 2 Peter 3:10 says this. The day of the Lord will come like a thief. In other words, not when you think it's coming. It's going to come on a sunny day like this when it seems nice and you're already making plans for what you're going to do. It's going to catch us by surprise. A thief. And then the heavens will pass away. That means the day of the Lord when sinners are removed, this world is done. Everything about this world is going to be eradicated. And it says it's going to pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. You want to get that again. The works that are done on it. And those are works that we did, folks. They're all going to be exposed. They're all going to be brought out in the open. Luke 19 says this, but as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me. Now this is tough language. Slaughter them. Slaughter who? Those that would not have Christ to reign over them. So here it is. Now think. Look, we don't want to bury our heads in the sand. This is a coming day and we need to see it for what it is. Judgment Day. It's the day when God destroys all the sinners, purges the world of those who have not been willing to have Christ reign over them. That's what's going to happen. And in Amos' day, there were actually people, you see it there? 518. They desired the day of the Lord. Now why would they desire that? Why would anybody desire that? For one reason. Because the Jews believed that the day of the Lord would be when all the pagan nations, all the Gentiles would be destroyed and Israel would be vindicated. Now guess what? That's true, just not in the physical sense. It's true in the spiritual sense. All spiritual Jews will be vindicated and everyone else, including those of Israel, because not all Israel is Israel. That's what Scripture speaks to us. You see, the Jews believed that they were God's chosen people. They believed that the day of the Lord, God's going to judge the nations, and they have most favored nation status. And so basically they were going to be okay. They're not going to be judged. They're going to be vindicated in that day. Their desire to have the day of the Lord was a desire to have God destroy their enemies. You see, they felt like, oh yeah, we want this day to come, because we don't like those Ammonites over there. We don't like those Moabites. We don't like those Edomites. We don't like the Philistines. We don't like those guys from Moab. We don't like these folks. Syria and all these people. No! We want this day to come. We want God to wipe them out. And you know what? What I want to emphasize is this. Precisely because I'm afraid that a lot of people think like this. I'm afraid a lot of people think this way. You know what? Most people think God's going to judge others. But somehow they're going to be spared. Somehow God's not going to deal with them. He's going to be more lenient with them on judgment day than with others. Most believe God is going to show them partiality. Now you see, I'm not saying that people run around and say, oh, we want the day of the Lord to come. But I'm just saying this. Most people have this idea that it's going to fare pretty well with them. Oh, but you got the ability to look at others and say, oh, they're awful people. You see, people have this expectation of partiality, favoritism, preference. That God's going to somehow deal with them differently. Don't believe that. Don't believe it. You can imagine how these folks in Israel would have responded. You remember how the book started? You can imagine these folks in Israel that were wanting the day of the Lord to come. And here comes Amos. And what does Amos do? He pronounces judgment on Syria, Damascus. They're like, that's exactly what we thought would happen on the day of the Lord. And then they're saying, he's going to go after the Philistines. He's going to go after those entire Edom, Ammonites, Moab. And they're just like, well, yeah, this is exactly what we thought was going to happen in that day. Yeah. Well, we love Amos. He's a great guy. Judas, send us more guys like this. That's precisely what we expect. All our enemies are going to be thrown down. Oh, but then Amos mentions Judah. You know, the thing about Judah is that's kind of hitting close to home. The reality is that even though Judah and Israel, you remember they divided under Rehoboam. Jeroboam took up in the northern kingdom. And they were divided. And they would fight against each other. But you know what? They all were descended from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. They were brothers. They were brothers much closer than the Edomites. You know, the descendants of Esau. They were much closer than that. And so now all of a sudden judgment's coming against them. You can imagine they probably went silent right at that point. But notice this. Notice what happens in chapter 2 verse 6. For three transgressions of Israel and for four. You might just notice that to all the other countries, they were given basically three verses apiece. Now from Amos 2:6 until two-thirds of the way through chapter 9, all the judgment is against Israel. These people that thought, oh, God's judgment's going to come upon our enemies. And we're going to be spared. This is why Amaziah said, Amos, we can't bear your words. I mean, he comes in there and he says, this is not going to turn out the way you guys thought this was going to turn out. Not at all. And on and on it goes. And you know what? This is why he says, woe unto you who desire that day. Why? Because it's not going to go well. For you. Now look at this. Amos 6 verse 2. Critical passage. He says this, pass over to Chalna and see. And from there go to Hamath the great. Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. You see what he's saying? He's saying, go visit these Gentile nations. Are you better? Wow. You see, that's the issue. You have to grasp this. Are you better? And you see, that's where people tend to assume things about them. We need to ask that question. Am I better? And I'm not talking better like the hypocritical Pharisee when he's there saying, Lord, I thank you that I'm not better. And we're not talking about that. We're not talking about the guy that's all stuck on himself and proud. That's not what we're saying. But the question in the hour is this. Notice Amos 8 verse 7. Notice the issue. The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, surely I will never forget any of their deeds. You see what the issue is. The day of the Lord always has to do with the deeds. What did you do with your life? Are you better? When your deeds are brought out on the table, are you any better? It's not a matter of which nation you came from or which family or which church. Listen, you can't hide in this church. It's not like, well, I was a member of that church. And so on judgment day, somehow that's going to be protective. I came from a Christian family. You children that make professions, your family doesn't protect you. There's only one protection. It's not what church you went to. It's not what family. It's not the nation. But a lot of people don't think that way. Listen to this. Just listen to two verses from the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 5:10 We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. This is such a prominent characteristic of the day of the Lord. Matthew 16:27 The Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what He has done. Now, you see, you can't say this. Well, I believe in the imputed righteousness of Christ. Therefore, therefore what? I mean, basically what Scripture is telling me is if you've got the imputed righteousness of Christ credited to your account, then you also are going to have connected with that a people zealous of good works. Isn't that what our Bible teaches us? By this you prove to be my disciples, by your much fruit. We looked at that just Wednesday. Folks, you can't get away from this. God doesn't play favorites here. And remember what the Lord said. You remember this from the Sermon on the Mount? If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? I mean, the people that are going to be judged on judgment day, they do the same. If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? The people that are going to be judged on judgment day, you're not doing anything more. You see, your works, that's what's going to be brought out. God doesn't play favorites. There's no favorite nation status here. You know what God is after? Was there true and genuine righteousness. In the life. Now here's a question worth answering. What characterized Israel? This is key. Two things stand out. Look at Amos 5:21. Amos 5:21. I know something about the people in this room. We are religious. You may not like the word, but you know what I mean by it. If somebody asked you if you're religious, well, we have ideas. I mean, it used to be the term religious or religion used to be more synonymously used with Christianity. Today, we don't use it. Today, it's more like it's a cheaper word. It's a fluffier word. But these people were religious. Look at Amos 5:21. I hate, I despise your feasts. So they had religious feasts. I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. They would gather together. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings. So they have feasts. They have assemblies. They offer burnt offerings and grain offerings. I will not accept them. And the peace offerings of your fattened animals. I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs. They sang to the melody of your harps. I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters. And righteousness like an ever flowing stream. Have you noticed that in God's word, God's revelation, have you noticed how often that what God reveals seems to be directly contrary to how men think? What? God gives, think about this, God gives a way of salvation. But what is it to the Greek? Foolishness. What is it to the Jew? A stumbling block. You see, what is wisdom to God is often just doesn't connect with men. It's just the opposite of how a human mind naturally thinks. Folks, I'm talking about the matter of religion. That's what we're talking about here. Most people immediately think, oh religion's good, right? It's a good thing. Most men suppose, well if there is a God, then you know what? Going to the meetings where his people meet, that's a good thing. Singing, that's a good thing. Participating in whatever feasts or maybe you could put the Lord's Supper in there. Whatever. These are all good things. These are all matters of religion. You see, religion is basically the natural man just thinks, it's basically pleasing to God. You talk to somebody about, are you going to heaven? I go to church. You see what they're saying there. They want to tell you about, I remember talking to a girl in San Antonio. I sing on the choir. I remember another guy. He's like, I'm a deacon in my church. You see the credentials that, you see the importance people put. But is that how God thinks? Actually, it's on the contrary. God is first and foremost interested in our love for him and our love for others. Those are the two chief commandments. And the only thing pleasing to God is that which is genuine. And that which is genuine, there's going to be genuine thankfulness coming from us. There's going to be obedience. There's going to be a genuine trusting of him. If this is not true, not only is God not pleased, you see what he says at the beginning of this verse? He's very much displeased. He hates it. He despises what we do if the religious thing has no heart behind it. If we're just apathetic and indifferent toward others, have no regard for how God wants us to love and care for others. Folks, these people were religious, but God doesn't think a whole lot about it. Now, here's the other thing that I want you to see. Because this jumps out. As I read this book over and over and over and over, this jumps out. You can't hardly get away from it. Notice the common denominator. And go back to chapter 1. Notice the common denominator in the pronouncements of judgment made against all these pagan countries. Notice verse 3. What were the Syrians doing? They threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. What is that? Well, Gilead was part of the northern kingdom. The Syrians came in and they obviously used brute force against them. You drop down to verse 6. What was it the Philistines did? They carried into exile a whole people and delivered them up to Edom. Go to verse 9. What was it the Tired did? They delivered up a whole people to Edom and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. Verse 11. What did Edom do? He pursued his brother with the sword, cast off all pity. His anger tore perpetually. He kept his wrath forever. Go to verse 13. What did the Ammonites do? They ripped open pregnant women in Gilead that they might enlarge their border. You see what they were doing? They were getting rid of all the next generation. Getting rid of all the new soldiers that would come along. Ripping the pregnant women open. Chapter 2, verse 1, Moab. He burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom. You see the common denominator? A sin against the most basic human relations. A violation of the basic code of human behavior. They didn't have the law of God. But you know what? God looks at them and He says, all these people, unnecessary cruelty. They didn't show mercy to one another. A violation of human rights. You can see it. But you know what? Now when you go to chapter after chapter after chapter of denunciation against Israel, what's the thing God keeps calling out? Notice it. Amos 2:6 Thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Israel, and for four I will not revoke punishment. They sell the righteous for silver. The needy they sell for a pair of sandals. They trample the head of the poor into the dust. They turn aside the way of the afflicted. A man and his father go into the same girl, that's probably a temple prostitute, so that my holy name is profaned. They lay themselves down beside, you see there's an altar there. But notice this, they're laying on garments taken in pledge. It's taken from the poor. And in the house of their God, they drink the wine of those who have been fined. They're fining and taking pledges from the poor. That's the issue there. As we move through here, look at Amos 3:9 It says, Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod, to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria. You want to see what's happening here. God is basically saying, Gentiles in Ashdod, Philistines, Gentiles in Egypt, the Egyptians, come and assemble on the mountains of Israel. And you know what you're going to see? See what I see. The oppressed in her midst. Come see that. It's almost like he's saying to the Gentiles, come and be amazed. These are supposed to be the people of God. See their cruelty towards one another. Go to Amos 4 verse 1. This is speaking to the women in Israel. Hear this word you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy. Who say to your husbands, you see it's women, because they're speaking to their husbands here. These women, they oppress the poor, they crush the needy. Look at Amos chapter 8 verse 4. Hear this, you who trample on the needy, and bring the poor of the land to an end. You see, here's the thing, you want to catch this. These people wanted the day of the Lord to come. They thought God, God's going to wipe out the pagan nations, and bless Israel. But how is Israel better? That's the thing. You know what God's looking for? Mercy. Let me tell you something about the day of the Lord. Let me tell you what makes somebody different. What makes somebody better? It's not your religion. It's following Christ. Living in the power of God, and showing mercy. This is a big deal folks. There's no true seeking after God. That's not at the same time, a seeking to show mercy, and shun evil. This so resonates with, just listen to this. If you haven't felt this, I want you to feel it now. We know this. The beatitude. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. And I'll tell you, one of the times they're especially going to receive mercy, is on judgment day. Listen to this. Psalm 41 verse 1. Blessed is the one who considers the poor, in the day of trouble the Lord delivers him. Day of the Lord? That's a big day of trouble. And he's going to get, the Lord protects him, and keeps him alive. How about this? James 2 verse 13. Judgment is without mercy, to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. You want to triumph in the day of judgment? Here it is. It is pouring out your life for others. Because listen, the two great commandments are to love God, with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. And you know what John teaches us? You can't say that you love this God who you don't see, if you don't love your brother who you do see. That's exactly how scripture speaks to us. Listen to this. When it comes to religious activity, God says, I despise, I hate all these things you do. Because you come in here, and you're all religious, but you didn't show mercy. He says this in the Old Testament, in Isaiah. Is not this the fast that I choose? In other words, your religious activity, you want to know what I want? You're fasting, and you're wondering why I'm not responding? Because I hate it. It's no good. You want to know the fast that I desire? Here it is. Loose the bonds of wickedness. Undo the straps of the yoke. Let the oppressed go free. Break every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry. Bring the homeless poor into your house. When you see the naked, cover him. Don't hide yourself from your own flesh. And you know this full well. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, here's the day of the Lord. When He comes in His glory, He is going to have His angels with Him. And He will sit on His glorious throne. And before Him will be gathered all the nations. And He's going to separate. Now here's the separation. How are you going to make it on one side? Because you were better than the others? Absolutely. And it's going to come down to this. In the power of God, did you demonstrate mercy in your life? And you know what Jesus says. You know exactly what He says. What's the basis upon which He separates the people? One from another. As a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He's going to place the sheep on His right hand. The goats on the left. The King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed by My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I was hungry. You gave Me food. I was thirsty. You gave Me drink. I was a stranger. You welcomed Me. I was naked. You clothed Me. I was sick. You visited Me. I was in prison. You came to Me. Then the righteous are going to answer Him. Lord, when did we see You hungry? Thirsty? When did we see You stranger? When did we see You naked? When did we see You sick? When did we see You in prison? And the King will answer them, Truly I say to you, As you did it unto one of the least of these My brothers, You did it to Me. You see, the day of the Lord is the day in which Yahweh, the great I Am, He's coming, He's going to return in judgment, and He's going to wipe sinners off the face of the earth. He's going to punish sin. He's going to deal with us according to the things that we've done in our bodies. That's the terror of this judgment seat of Christ. Some in Israel, they wanted that day to come. They thought this day was going to be a day in which God was going to judge the Gentiles and exonerate and praise Israel. And that's why they were so upset with Christ when He came, because they thought that was going to happen. Here's the Messiah. He's here to praise us. And He condemned them. And John the Baptist, His forerunner, said right off, Don't you even say we're children of Abraham. Don't go claim that. The ax is laid at the root. You need to bring forth fruit. And what was it? Well, if you've got two coats, you share one. You see, that's the kind of thing. Amos' point here is that this coming day, it's only going to be a blessing for those that are in a right relationship to God, which is going to be shown, not primarily by our religious activity, folks. Well, yes, if you're a Christian, do I expect that you worship the Lord and gather together with His people according to His Word? Absolutely. But I'll tell you, the real basis upon which we're going to be judged on judgment day is not what church you went to. That's not what it says. It's not even the theological position necessarily that you held to. I was a Calvinist. Did you care about anybody in prison? Did you have a heart for the widow and the orphan? Did you think about the stranger? What does this mean for us? I mean, the question we have to ask, the question that was asked them, are you better? How are you better? You're not better than the nations that I'm going to judge. And see, we have to ask that. Has Christ done something? I'm religious. Yes, so were they. But are you better? That's it. Do you have a Christianity that's better? And you know what it says? In Amos 5:19, it says, this day of the Lord, it says, if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him. You see what's happening? It's like, we got to get away from this. And this lion, this is the God lion, is coming at me. Then I turn to run and what? There's a bear. This is the God bear. I can't get away. In Amos 9:2, it says, if they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them. If they climb up to heaven, from there I'll bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them. If they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent and it shall bite them. If they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword and it shall kill them. I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good. And that is a fearful thing. Because listen, salvation is being offered to us. And if we get to the day of judgment and we have not embraced the true salvation of Scripture, which is going to show itself, folks, in mercy. It is going to. And that is the basis upon which we're going to be judged. That's how real it is in the life of true Christianity. And if we're not prepared, you see, that's what it says in this book. It says, Amos brings it out. We need to prepare ourselves to meet this God. Are we better? Where can you hide from the Lord? There's nowhere to hide. The fact is, God's inescapable. And this is God's word to our generation as well. This is a choice for us to make. We all do well to weigh the consequences. Look, there's always hope for those who turn to Christ. But this is what I want you to recognize. You see, so often when we evaluate Christianity, or somebody asks, is it well with your soul? Are you going to heaven when you die? What's the classic response? I've never killed anyone. That's a classic response. Why? Where does that come from? Because most people think, well, if I don't do the bad thing, that's not primarily what God is interested in. God wants you to shun evil. No question. But you recognize, God doesn't just want you to not do the bad thing. So often we tend to think, well, I don't watch pornography. I don't beat my wife. I don't do these things. But you see what God's saying? You're missing it. What I want you to do is love somebody. You're my witnesses in this world. I want you to go out and win them. I want you to go out and seek to harvest the world. I want you to go out to the fields that are white for harvest. I want you to go find those widows. I want you to go find those orphans. I want you to go find people in need. I want you to have your eyes open to the brethren in the church and brethren in other places, Christians around the world and to their needs. You see, when we're talking about the biblical Christianity, if you talk about being saved, what do you need to be saved from? You know what you need to be saved from? Not being irreligious primarily. You need to be saved from being selfish and indifferent and apathetic to the needs of others. Listen, that's all over this book. How you deal with the poor. How you deal with the needy. Who can stand in this day? Yes, those of us that have taken refuge in Christ. Remember, Christ redeemed us to make us a people that are zealous of good works. He redeemed us to be these. You can't get away from it. He redeemed us to be the merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they are the ones that are going to find mercy. When He divides them, what separates the people? Were they better? Yeah, they were better. They did good. They genuinely did good. I was in prison and isn't it amazing? It's like in their humility. They don't even know they did it. When did we do that? Well, as much as you did it under one of these. You see, if you call upon... Here's the thing, if you call upon Him to save you, do you see the main things we need to be saved from? What? Not loving God, not loving our neighbor. Those are the two chief commandments. Those are the two chief things we need to be saved from. We don't love God. We don't love our fellow man. We have an unmerciful ability to see people in need and not only to not help it, but to turn our backs to it. We don't want to see it. Don't show me that. Don't show me pictures of that country. I don't want to go to that part of the city. God forbid I should go to that part of the city. I might actually see somebody in need over there. You better stay away. I remember I worked with a guy in San Antonio. He's an electrical engineer. And he just said, you know, he was talking about how his daughter was just appalled that they would even drive through a certain part of the city and that her dad worked over here on the southeast side of San Antonio because that was just such a horrible place to go and just driving up and down the streets. You see what we need to be saved from? You know what it means? It means that when we come here to worship the living God, it ought to be that we're bringing into this place lives over the last week that are full of things like strategizing over ways to love others and help others and care for others. And I already said it, but I'll say it again. If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And you know what John says? John says love is this. If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? It doesn't. And the opposite of love is hatred. You see, hatred isn't I go up and punch somebody. It's not that I go up and I break their windows on their car. You see what hatred is in scriptural estimation? You see what the people on the left did? When, when you didn't visit me? No, but we went to church. We fasted. We took the Lord's Supper. What do you mean we didn't visit you when a stranger take you in? When did that happen? Lord, you know, we put money in the offering box. You see what the issue is? It's just what you don't do. So often we get so hung up on, you know, I don't do that. Okay, well, that's good. But you see what Jesus is interested in? What we do. What is in our life? And this is the issue of Amos. Because these people that are thinking, oh, it's going to go bad for those people. We're God's people. We're in. We're the religious people. We're God's chosen. We got the favored nations. Those people over there, they're in trouble. And God says, woe unto you that think that, because you're just like them. You are unnecessarily cruel to people just like they are. And it's going to be our works, folks. It's not going to be the country we come from. This is the issue. This is what we're faced with. God wants us coming into the place of corporate worship. Not just avoiding pornography this week. Oh, that's great. But that's not righteousness. That may be, all that is, is a lack of certain evil. But that's not the righteousness that characterizes what God is looking for. That's not it. God wants us to come to this place having plotted and schemed and strategized over ways that we as a church are going to have to deal with. Help people in need. That's a reality. That we're mindful of them. You know what Job said? I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. And he said, I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him I did not know. I like that. I searched out the cause. We ought to be a church that's searching. We ought to be a church that doesn't just sit here passive and say, you know, well maybe God will drop something in our lap. Sometimes he does. But we ought to be a people that are looking. We ought to, on purpose, drive through the worst part of Manchester. On purpose, you ought to start looking at what happens in Madagascar. What happens in India? You ought to think about the sex traffic out of Nepal into India. You ought to research it. They've made documentaries on it. You know what? You start watching some of that. Instead of watching some of the other things that you might watch, you start looking. You start looking at the, watch something about the streets of Honduras. See how dangerous it is there. Look at Bangladesh. A country that floods all the time. It's the poorest country on the face of the earth. Look at these things. Study them. Somebody put together something called Dispatches to the Front. It's a missionary. He goes into these different countries. Look at things like this. We need to study things like this. We need to search out the cause. We need to be like Job. God would not have us to be the kind of Christians, you know, we can sing the song, onward Christian soldiers marching as to war, and then what happens? We whisper, have me excused. We don't want to be involved in that. Folks, one of the things is, we can become very, very consumed with living for a certain comfort level, and a certain amount of income, and we can be very involved in our own lives. If you're a Christian, there's a work to be done. There are strangers. There are homeless. There are imprisoned. There are hungry. There are hungry people out there, and they don't even know what they hunger for. Brethren, if you're a Christian, there's a work to be done. This is no time for ease. Look at Amos 6:1. Amos 6:1. This is where this verse comes from. Woe to those who are at ease in Zion. Do you want to notice that? This is the person who concerns themselves with their ease, their comfort, their standard of living, their stuff. Look at verse 4 here, Amos 6:4. Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory, stretching themselves out on their couches, eat lamb. That's what the English do, right? Nice sofas, eat lamb. Calves from the midst of the stall who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp. So they're listening to music. You know, they've got their classical music on, and they've got their nice couch, and they're eating their lamb. They invent themselves instruments. They drink wine in bowls, anoint themselves with the finest oils. You see, they're just kind of given to their own lifestyle. And they're not grieved over the ruin of Joseph. And what's the main ruin? The ruin is that they're not righteous. Righteousness is left to people. We need to get busy. There's much to be done. We don't want to be those people who are at ease in Zion. By all means, folks, we need to do some spiritual good. We need to be proactive. We need to be zealous of good works. We need to be people that are zealous of doing the kind of fruit that Jesus said proves that you're my disciples by your much fruit. The tree is known by its fruit. This is what Scripture talks about. And on Judgment Day, this is exactly the basis upon which the people are separated. And I just appeal to you this way. If God has saved you, if God has put His love in your heart, if God is at work, if you possess His Spirit, the first attribute of this fruit of the Spirit is love. And we need, listen, one of the ways to stir it up and provoke it is simply to see the needs out there. Don't shelter yourself. Don't just stay between your four walls all the time. Don't hide. James Montgomery Boyce said, there are tens of thousands of Christians, but I would suppose that in most cases, thousands of these never do anything exceptionally good. What a statement. The vast majority of Christians just never make it their aim to do anything exceptionally good. Or they make it their aim, but they procrastinate all the time, and they get to the end of the life, and they never did it. Procrastination is a killer here, folks. Don't go that route. Think of the people who go through the formality of observing religious customs, but they think little of the suffering in this world, and the value of human souls. Instead, they just throw themselves at career, throw themselves at money, retirement. You know, are you more concerned about your house than souls? Are you more concerned about your retirement than the fact that whole nations are sometimes in far more ignorance than you can imagine? And if, I mean, you have more wealth of knowledge on your bookshelf a lot of times than, quite honestly, you visit a lot of countries, the pastors in a lot of countries don't know what you people in this room know. And are you better? That's the question. How are you better? This determines judgment day. And so, that was only going to be half my message, and I was going to try to fit the other half in. Folks, last chapter, look at this. Amos chapter 9, verse 11. All of a sudden, you have this sudden shift away from all the judgment. In that day, I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, repair its breaches, raise up its ruins, rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name declares the Lord who does this. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes. Him who sows the seed, the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit, and I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them, says the Lord your God." And so that is a great promise of spiritual revival, but that is for next time. Listen, I'll tell you this. We have a compassionate Savior, and one who is willing to save us to the uttermost. And the way we need to be saved, is we need to be saved from being selfish. That's obvious. We need to be saved from being unloving, and indifferent, and apathetic to the needs of others. And so you ask, confess it, if that's been a reality, a trademark, a hallmark in your life, you confess it, and then ask Him. Ask Him for grace to help in time of need. And this is our great need. Brethren, this is what, I mean, listen, there's not going to be any curve here. I know this on Judgment Day. Those of you that sit here, that trusting Christ, and full of the Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit, you gave yourself to mercy, and to helping, and to giving, and to sacrificing for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of God's people, for the sake of reaching the lost. You poured your life into that. You know what? You're going to hear the well done. You're going to hear, I was this lost guy in Myanmar, and you helped. I know the times you prayed. I know the money you gave. I know what you did. Listen, the church is a body, and we have different gifts, and different members of the body. And we're not all going to do the same thing. We're not all going to pack up, and go to Cambodia. But you know what? We all want to be part of the machine. We want to do our part with the gifts that we have, and the resources God has given to each of us, the money. Don't be stingy. Listen, Judgment Day is coming. And then when you stand there, nobody is going to be disappointed that you gave too much money. Nobody is going to be disappointed that you went and evangelized the city center too many times, or on too many rainy days. Nobody is going to be disappointed that they gave of themselves to the point of exhaustion, even sickness, and even unto death. Nobody is going to be disappointed if you gave your all to serve Christ, and to be these kind of people. Nobody's going to regret it. Nobody's going to say, I did too much. I gave too much. I did... No, we'll only have regrets. We didn't store up more treasure in heaven. Only have regrets we weren't more like Christ. But listen, this is what is going to separate us on that day. And so I just say this to you, looking to Christ, with your eyes ever on Him, see what He did. He went about doing good. And you know what He says to you? Follow Me. Follow Me. And so we want to put our feet in His footsteps. And that doesn't mean just sitting at home passively in our four walls of our house, while the world runs to hell. It doesn't mean that. So we want to strategize. We want to be thinking. You see, we're supposed to stir up one another to love and good works. That's why we meet together. That's one of the main reasons. To stir up one another to do the kinds of things that Jesus is going to commend on that day. We want to be infectious. You know how little leaven leavens the whole lump in a bad way? Well, we want to be that kind of leaven that leavens the whole lump in a good way. We want some people here with some passion. Some people here that want to do something. Some people here that are crazy. We need that. Every church needs that. We don't need a bunch of wooden Indians. We need people that have enthusiasm about something. About doing something. About touching lives. Some crazy things. I love a church full of crazies. So may God give us that and help. May God help us, those that have some little infectious spark to just be contagious and afflict all of us with that disease that they have. Right? Father, we pray that this would be a reality. This life would just be breathed upon us. There'd be fire here. Passion. Lord, spare us from dead religion. Spare us from it. Spare us from indifference. Lord, we know. There have been needs that we've turned our backs to. Lord, I know many in this room. We can say we are not what we used to be. We are new creations. But oh, we desire more Christlikeness. More, more, more. Lord, do a deeper, greater work in each of us. We desire this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. You are dismissed.