If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, I'd love for you to join me in the Old Testament minor prophet book of Amos. You say, pastor, that portion of my Bible has very white, clean pages to it. Can you give me a marker? Yes, it's easy to find. It's just between Joel and Obadiah. Does that really clarify for you? Amos is sandwiched in there, and I will tell you that studying in the Minor Prophets is of utmost importance to us to understand the whole counsel of God. Also, throughout all of Scripture, we have the unfolding story of redemption. And it's never more clear than it is in the book of Amos. And I know that certain books grab people's attention. I don't know that anyone has ever asked me in all my years of pastoring, when are you going to do a series on Amos? But maybe they should. Because as I have studied through this book, I have found that the time of the ministry of Amos was much like ours here and now. Affluence was a very real thing. Exploitation was no doubt going on. Profit seeking. These were just some of the most notable features of the society of his day. Sometimes we think of books like the Minor Prophets and it gets shrouded in mystery. Our view of this period within scriptures kind of foggy and the language seems antiquated and it seems like it wasn't really human beings living here and now, it was just some kind of age that's almost poetically communicated. But these were very real people interacting and living very real lives and hearing a message from God. In this affluent society, I find that many people owned more than one home. It's written in Amos 3 when he says, God's now speaking, I will smite the winter house and the summer house. The house of ivory, the great houses, they shall all have an end. Multiple houses owned by affluent people. People who were seemingly prospering under the blessing of God. They had over the top expensive house goods. It's fact. They didn't lack for any physical satisfaction. I love the verbiage of Amos 6 and verse 4. He says they lie upon beds of ivory. They stretch themselves upon their couches, eat lambs out of the flock, calves out of the midst of the stall, chant to the sound of the vial, invent instruments of music, drink wine in bowls. and anoint themselves with chief ointments. They're literally drinking wine by the bowl full and they're lathering themselves in fragrant lotions. They have houses for summer and winter. Great ones and small ones. Houses of ivory stretched on their couches. On the other hand, the poor were really poor and were being exploited. They were being bought and sold. They were being refused justice and equity. They were being tricked. The markets were being controlled for gain of the wealthy. Amos 2.6, he says this, I will not turn away the punishment thereof for Israel, because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes. He'll come back and He'll say they afflict the just, they take a bribe, they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. What He's saying is the poor are being bought and sold. And when they come into the gate to seek justice on their behalf, The gatekeepers, the elders in the gate are turning them aside from their right judgment just because they're poor. He'll say in 8 and verse 5, when will the new moon be gone that we may sell corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat? He says this, the needy we can sell for a pair of shoes and we can sell them the refuse of the weed in verse 6. Now I grasp every verse that I read has some ancient language wrapped up in there. There are cultural dynamics that are foreign to us. But the idea of affluence, the idea of exploitation, the idea of thinking they were prosperous and being blessed by God is certainly something that we understand. You say, well, were there religious people? Oh, there were religious people. In fact, the religious centers were packed. The religious centers of the day were busy. Sacrifices were still being offered up. Now, until you study it and we'll get there, you don't really get the sarcasm here, but there's sarcasm in chapter 4 when we read this, come to Bethel. and transgress. Come to Gilgal. Multiply transgression. Bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings. For this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, sayeth the Lord. Keep up your religious charade. Maintain your religious facade. This is just like you, Israel, saith the Lord. Keep showing up at Bethel and offering your sacrifices. Keep bringing your tithes every third year. Keep doing this, thinking this is what I'm after. Interestingly, the musical side of worship was heavily emphasized in this era. had no basis outside of the mind of man. But often in here, God will reference the noise of their songs, the melody of the violin, the songs of the temple. The religious were really zealous. One said this, they were zealous in offering up worship to the Lord in the way of solemn assemblies, cultic feasts, worship songs and tithes, and by observing the Sabbaths. I mean, the religious were really religious, and society was really polarized. There were really rich and really poor, and the really rich were hiding behind their insincere religion and imagining that God had made them prosperous because of the facade that they were maintaining. There was no equity, there was no justice for the poor. In fact, the markets were controlled so that they were adversely affected. The religious were still showing up, church buildings were still packed, songs were still being offered up, smoke was still leaving the altar, but all of it was empty. The fact is, the shrines of Jeroboam at Bethel and Dan were still operational. You say now, okay, you've hit me with some Old Testament stuff. What is the shrine of Jeroboam at Bethel and at Dan? At this moment in time, the nation of Israel is divided. Ten tribes are in the north, they maintain the name Israel. Two tribes are the southern kingdom, and that is down there, it's called Judah. They have two different kings. And we learn in 1 Kings that when Jeroboam was the king of the newly seceded northern kingdom, he didn't want people to go down to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. They'd have to go to Judah. So he went to Dan and Bethel, two cities. and he built little buildings there and he commissioned two golden calves to be built. He put one golden calf in Dan and one golden calf in Bethel. He called on a line of priests and he set up pilgrimages and a whole religious system around these golden calves and these things are still operational and these places are packed with activity and you're smart enough to know anytime we're worshiping a golden calf in the Old Testament, it's not good. So we know this isn't good. But these religious centers are busy, they're packed. Insincere religiosity has replaced sincere spirituality. So he's living in a day of affluence. He's living in a day of extremes between the rich and the poor. He is clearly living in a day of insincere religion where the religious centers are packed, but it really means nothing. He's living in a day of national disunity. Now that's not like ours at all, but that was humor interjected. National disunity. I find it striking that there's a polarizing difference between the north and the south here in the kingdom of Israel. It is so stark and so sharp, the contrast, that actually at one point civil war breaks out and the northern tribes come down and they actually decimate 600 feet of the protective wall around Jerusalem and have the audacity to plunder the treasure of the temple and take it back with them. affluence and extremes, busy religious centers, a time of national disunity, and there was a priest, but he didn't want to hear anything from God. In fact, Amaziah is the name of the high priest when Amos begins to proclaim his message. Here's Amaziah's response to the mouthpiece of God, Amos 7. Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, Go flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there. But prophesy not again any more at Bethel, for it is the king's chapel and the king's court." Society hated righteousness. Society hated correction. They hated any truth that was being taught. Whenever the Old Testament speaks of those in the city that are seated at the gate, they're basically talking about the town council, the leadership, the political elite. Here's what we read of them in Amos 5.10. They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. If anybody went to town council, or they went to the commissioners of the village, and they began to proclaim righteousness and truth, they were hated, their message was silenced, and they were put off to the side. National leadership wasn't facing the real issue, which was spiritual, but rather they were blind to what was happening around them. The standards of morality were at an all-time low. Amos speaks of sexual indulgence. He speaks of transgressions. He uses the term mighty sins. He actually discusses within here the murdering of the unborn. All of this is happening in the time of Amos, and I get it. It's Old Testament language. It seems antiquated. It's shrouded in mystery and fogged by history, but these are real people, and God is trying to get their attention. All the while, God is desperate for the nation of Israel to turn from their sin and return to obedience to Him. He shoots shots across the bow. He's desperate to get their attention. In fact, they're warning shots of his displeasure. I'm gonna read a passage, I want you to hear it, and I'm gonna emphasize a specific word. Now, God is, he's cataloging for Israel. Here's how I've tried to get your attention, and you refuse to listen to me. Here's what he says in chapter four. I have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. You say, well, isn't that a good thing? God set up a dental program for the people of Israel. He's gifted them cleanness of teeth. That means they have nothing to eat, so their teeth remain clean. I have given you cleanness of teeth in your cities, and want of bread in all your places. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest. And I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One peace was rained upon, and the peace whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. There still wasn't enough water. Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord? I have smitten you with blasting and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmer worm devoured them. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord? I have sent among you the pestilence after the manor of Egypt. Your young men have I slain with the sword and have taken away your horses. And I have made the stink of your camps to come up to your nostrils. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord? "'I have overthrown some of you, "'as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, "'and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. "'Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord?' "'I know that that is again heavy language, "'shrouded in some words we don't understand.'" Those are warning shots, grace shots, mercy shots by God. I can remember growing up. It's getting harder with every passing year, but I can remember growing up. My father would do a couple of things to get your attention. One, is he would snap his fingers. He would snap his fingers to get your attention. So if you heard a finger snap, you knew, ooh, lock in. I'm heading towards death and there's not much that can stop it at this point. Like this, just a pop. Then there was, that's a little step up. You get that pop? I know what that symbolizes. I know what that means. So if you were ignorant to this, then you would get this, and if you did not respond to that, the lion was loose from his cage. Now I'm not trying to be flippant, and I'm not trying to be too light, But what God is doing is very thoroughly cataloging His grace and His mercy. His finger pops and His hand claps saying to the nation of Israel, I have tried again and again and again to get your attention. I have sent blasting and mildew. I have sent stuff that has ruined your crops. The palmer worm has come. There has not been rain. There has not been enough water. There's not been enough food. Some of you I've overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah. Some of your children honestly have been slain by the sword and yet you won't turn to me. You won't obey. I've done everything I can. And now you've survived the finger pop and the hand clap. The lion is loose from the cage. And God will still be merciful. How does God show his mercy when this is what society of his chosen people looks like? It's stunning, and I want you to grasp the sarcasm here. God does exactly what we would expect an almighty God to do in order to get his entire nation of people's attention. He picks a shepherd from 10 miles south of Jerusalem, gives him a vision, puts a message in his mouth, and sends him to the northern kingdom to begin to tell the truth." That doesn't sound like a good plan, does it? So what we're going to do to interrupt a nation that already looks down on and exploits the poor, whose morality is at an all-time low. They are already in the gates. Leadership wants nothing to do with the truth. They're busy worshiping golden calves, and the religious centers are full. You're gonna pick a sheep herder from the village of Tekoa, send him away to another nation, make him go stand at Bethel, and start to tell people, God's gonna judge you. This isn't gonna go well. That's the whole book of Amos. Notice with me verse one of chapter one. You say, this scares me every time. We're well into the sermon and you're just now at chapter one and verse one. Scares me too. Here's what he says in verse one. Now this is just telling us what we're about to read. The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa. which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. Again, real people, right? Don't let it get shrouded in mystery and fogged by history. This is real life society and real people. There was a shepherd from Tekoa named Amos who hears from God. God gives him a vision of judgment that is going to befall the nation of Israel. And then he gives us two historical markers. He says, and this happened while Uzziah was king of Judah, the southern kingdom, and this happens while Jeroboam, who was the son of Joash, was king in the northern kingdom, and it happened two years before the big earthquake. Now we weren't alive then, but everyone that was reading this was like, oh yeah, the earthquake. I know exactly when this went down. And this great earthquake is mentioned in some of the other minor prophets. Tekoa was about 10 miles south of Jerusalem. Actually, and I believe this is intentional by God, there is very little personal information we can find out about Amos. I mean Amos. His name literally just means to carry a load or a burden. It enlightens me that sometimes God flatly calls people to be burden bearers. That's your job. Your job is to have a heavy task all your life. But I believe, as one scholar believes, Amos was probably given the name Amos by those who were receiving his message. And in effect, what they were saying is, here comes that guy Amos, what a load to bear. Here comes that guy Amos, what a burden. In effect, here comes Amos to tell us the truth, what a pain in the neck Amos is. I think it's interesting that by the time we get to verse 2 and 3, we know that Amos knows he has a message from the Lord. He is burdened to communicate this message. There is a phrase that is used here that is striking. He says this in verse 2, the Lord will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem. The habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither. Note this phrase, thus saith the Lord. Now when I was preaching a few weeks back, I said, gird your loins. And I asked, is there any better Bible phrase than gird your loins? But I think a lot of people, when they think of scripture, they think of those words, thus saith the Lord. It's scary. It's imposing. Thus saith the Lord. What that means is Amos is leaving with the awareness that he has a message in his mouth that comes from God. The lion has roared and judgment is coming and he better go tell people the truth, no matter how he feels about himself. Here's something you and I must understand. When God picks individuals to convey his message, more often than not, he picks the ordinaries. He picks a shepherd from Tekoa, puts a message in his mouth, and sends him on his way. He picks Elijah the Tishbite, who was a strange-looking, hairy guy who dressed in animal clothes to go to the palace to preach his message. He uses John the Baptist who ate locusts and wild honey and dressed in animal skins out in the wilderness to tell people the truth. And Jesus said, as the crowds massed around him, what did you come out here to see? A man dressed in soft raiment? No, that belongs in king's palaces. When he surrounded himself as Christ with the disciples, he cast off fishermen, Peter, James, and John, and Andrew. He uses Matthew, who was a publican, a societal outcast. He has a reformed zealot on his team. I can say to you with assurance, Jesus uses misfits and weirdos. You say, well, the weirdo part we knew, because you're pastoring, so we'd put that together. But he uses misfits like you and like me. For some reason we imagine if we're ever gonna do anything big for God, we have to have some lineage, we have to have some history, we have to have some circle of influence, some status, we have to have some gift or some outstanding ability. And this is a fatal blow to that thought. Jesus decimates that over and again. In fact, as I read through this, Amos is never shy to tell anybody he's a shepherd from Tekoa. I think he's comforted by it. It frees him from having any level of expectation for success. It releases him from the pressure of having to do something great. He's acknowledging, I'm only a shepherd. I'm here because I have a message from God. If anything good comes of this, it's because God has done it, not me. Rather than use his limited skill set and his background as an excuse to do nothing, he actually used it as a springboard to do everything. I'm saying there isn't one person in this room that is off the hook. There isn't one person in this room who is outclassed. There isn't one person in this room who doesn't have enough to do something for God. He will use every single one of us who are obedient, even a shepherd who's coming out of a village 10 miles south of Jerusalem to tell the truth to other people. Now before I get too far, I want to be very careful. Amos is delivering a message to God's covenant people. This is not a message about America. This is genuinely God's covenant people, Israel, were required to obey God, and if they obeyed God, He would bless them. And if they refused to obey God, the fact is, they would be under the curse of God, and that is where we find ourselves here and now. I've tried to get your attention, God says, but you are so smug because you're prosperous. You are so content in your self-righteousness, you won't listen to me. I'm on my way to burn this thing down, but before I do... I'm gonna give you one more chance, and the chance you're getting is in the form of a shepherd from Tekoa who's gonna come tell you the truth one more time. Will you listen? And he says, the roar of the Lord. That's striking. If a lion roars, it would get your attention, wouldn't it? How many of you are good at camping? There's a few, very few though. I'm not a camper. I'm afraid of about everything, everything. Like you say, it's just a raccoon. Yeah, they're rabid. It's just a squirrel. They're fast. It's just a non-poisonous snake. They're gross. It's just a grizzly bear. Come on, it'll eat you. I do know this. If I was out in the wild and I heard a lion roar, I'd want to get out of there. A lion roars to paralyze its prey with fear, and a lion will also roar when it pounces. That means I'm already committed to the attack. In the Hebrew, the roar of the lion here is the second one. It's I'm already committed to the attack. I'm mid-pounce. I'm coming, and here comes Amos to tell you the truth. Now this is striking scripture. Because we're about to walk through a passage of scripture where judgment is going to be pronounced on nations surrounding Judah and Israel. And this is being preached now to the nation of Israel, these northern tribes, and I have no doubt in my mind, because they're prosperous, they own multiple homes, and they're stretched out on their ivory couches, and they've got bowls of wine and fragrant lotions, and nobody's bothering them, they think everything's great. And as Amos begins to break down the judgment of God on the surrounding nations, they're probably clapping, oh, it's so good to see them finally get what's coming to them. Those wicked sinners, those vile God haters, he's gonna judge them. But Amos fearlessly is gonna end his sermon in a strong way. Just take a walk with me. Now Amos is gonna preach. And he's going to start referencing the judgment of God on these external nations. Now be careful to note something. None of these other nations have ever received any special revelation from God. There is no Moses in their history. There's no Moses or Abraham in their history. God's never sent a prophet to these nations. And yet they're going to be judged. In fact, each judgment is beginning with the phrase, thus saith the Lord. Meaning, God sees every single sin. Everyone. He sees the great big ugly public ones and He sees the tiny little secret private ones. He sees their sin. He sees your sin. He sees my sin. He sees all sin. And He is sovereign over every nation. Every nation. Nothing happens on the globe without His approval or His movement. That's what this is teaching us. And if God is gonna judge this harshly, nations that have never received special revelation, have never had a prophet sent to them, and don't have a Moses in their history, what's he gonna do to those who have received all of that? That's the tone. Now let's walk, Amos is preaching, people are taking in his message, they're beginning to clap because they like what he's saying. He's saying God is gonna judge Syria. Oh yeah, God's judging Syria, I like it. Verse three, for three transgressions of Damascus and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. You say, so it only takes three or four sins? And God's judging, really only takes one, but for three or four sins is a Hebrew idiom. It's basically et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's just for three or for four or however many it is. He gets to verse five and he says, the people of Syria shall go into captivity. Yes, they deserve it. God haters. Wicked sinners, verse six, thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Geza and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. By the time you get down to verse seven, the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord. Yes, get the Philistines. We've hated them for a long time. It's been a while, ready for them to go. He gets to verse 9, thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Tyrus and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, verse 10, but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus which shall devour the palaces thereof. Verse 11, thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. Verse 12, I will send a fire upon Timon, which shall devour the palaces of Basra. Now these are real palaces, real cities, real places, and God is saying, I'm coming to judge Syria, and Philistia, and Tyrus, and Edom, and Ammon. And verse 13, thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, Now it is in this moment of time, you can imagine the crowd that has gathered around Amos is thinking to themselves, I love this guy. This is that fire and brimstone kind of stuff that I like. He's probably getting amens, very unlike me. He's probably getting exhorted onward, very unlike me. People are probably like, this guy's really good, very unlike me. This guy's super eloquent, I really want to come back to hear this guy, very unlike me. All right, that's it, that's my martyr syndrome for the day. You got to at least time it right. I hadn't even said anything. That's like support for someone else. He says, amen, God's coming for you. Verse 14 of chapter one, I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabba. It shall devour the palaces there, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. Their king shall go into captivity. He and his princes together, saith the Lord. Moab's getting it. Starting in chapter two, thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Moab and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. Says in verse two, I will send a fire upon Moab. It will devour the palaces of Kiriath. Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, with the sound of the trumpet. I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord. Listen, these nations had committed terrible atrocities. I didn't read all of the verses for sake of time and not wearing you out. But listed in there, they've slaughtered defenseless prisoners of war. Literally, they're guilty of human trafficking. They have taken advantage of others for profit. They've broken commitments. They have killed women and unborn children. They've displayed contempt as they've desecrated the dead. All of that is listed in those verses, and God says, I'm judging all of the atrocities of these wicked nations, and the listeners are clapping because they're drinking bowlfuls of wine, and they're stretched on their couches, and they own their multiple homes, and they're attending all of their religious festivals. and ceremonies, and they're carrying it out. Now let's understand something about the Hebrew mind. The number of seven is the number of perfection. So when you reach the seventh point, you're climaxing. That's it. That's it. That's the top of the mountain. Now what Amos has done is he's listed six surrounding nations and now he's hitting number seven and nothing is candy to the ear like what Amos is about to say to the inhabitant of the northern tribes of Israel. Here's what he says in verse four of chapter two. Thus saith the Lord. For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away them. Oh, this is what we've been waiting for. Judah's getting it. I grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. This is the equivalent of God judging the Dallas Cowboys. For three transgressions and for four, I will burn their stadium down. And I will injure all of their premier players. Yes. And for Washington. Now what God does is He changes tone. Listen, every one of the nations on the outside, they've never had a special revelation. They've never been sent a prophet. No Moses in their history, and God will still judge their atrocities. When he gets to the nation of Judah, the tone of the message changes, because God does not list their atrocities, but rather He says, here's why I'm going to judge you. Note what He says in these verses in chapter 2, verse 4. Because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after which their fathers have walked. But I will send fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof." How stunned are the listeners to Amos. He's just pronounced judgment on his own home nation. This is crazy. But at least he's done. He's gotten through all seven. We've hit the number of perfection. It's all going good for us. And then Amos, the pain in the neck, the burden, continues his message in verse 6 of chapter 2. Thus saith the Lord. For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof." In effect, he has just typed them up, and then he turns and says, and you too. and you too. You all that were clapping and cheering the punishment of sin, your sin gets punished too. You who are lauding and applauding the fact that God's going to war for you on all that wickedness, understand, He also goes to war on your wickedness. You who are all thrilled that he sees every sin of all the surrounding, he sees yours too. That's the tone of this message. It's a punch in the face. You are a holy nation. You have received special revelation. You have been sent prophets. He freed you from the nation of Egypt. That's all wrapped up in chapter two. I brought you miraculously out of Egypt. I sent you prophets. He says, I sent you Nazarites. And then he says in chapter two, you made my Nazarites drink strong drink. You made them drink alcohol and break their vow. You silenced the mouth of my prophets. You forgot that I brought you out of Egypt and I blessed you. You think the prosperity you enjoy is because of you. You've forgotten me. I'm going to judge that. I'm sovereign over every nation. It's striking what God does. All of this wickedness. He picks a shepherd from a small village south of Jerusalem to come and pronounce judgment, and man do they hate to hear him. To whom much is given, much is required. That's a principle we derive. God is going to judge the nation of Israel because they have refused to listen to him. Let me tell you something about you and me. This comes from the New Testament, 1 Peter 2.9, for believers. Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, unholy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. We live with what one author calls the peril of uniqueness. We're a holy nation. We have been selected. We have been chosen. We're believers in Jesus Christ. We are now another nation. Our citizenship is in heaven. And there is an expectation levied on us that we would obey the Word of God and adhere to His mandates. What Judah and Israel did was they denigrated the prophetic message, they silenced the revelation, and they began to live out a facade and an insincere religious exercise that sounds a lot like my sin. Having God's Word, listening to God's Word, attending church is no substitute for obeying it and living it out. I guess a question we could ask is this, do we fear God? That's not a popular thing. Do we fear God? When the lion roars, do we hear it? Judah didn't, Israel did not. Are we aware that God hates sin and do we hate sin? I know we hate other people's sin. Do we hate our own sin? God is getting ready to judge. They're blinded by their blessing and prosperity. Are you aware that even in prosperity, prosperity should bring you to the place where you see your own woefulness and you confess? This comes to us from Romans 2, 4. Despises thou the riches of His goodness? and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Do you not acknowledge that any blessing on your life is in spite of you? That any good thing that you have must mandate and require obedience from you to God? To fall into the hands of a living God is a fearful thing. Here's what I know. To the nation of Israel, God wrote this. If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land. Here's what I believe with all of my heart. If when Amos arrived and the lion was in roaring form mid-pounce, and they had gone in and taken down the golden calf and fallen on their faces and repented before God, I have no doubt he would have been merciful and not judged. And in hindsight we look and we think, how dumb are you? Why worship the golden king? You know this doesn't go well. You have history books. You know this doesn't go well. Stop your foolishness. To us as believers, to the holy nation, here's what we read in the New Testament. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Someone in the future is gonna look back at us and say, how dumb are you? You just had to confess. You just had to stop plowing down that road so stubbornly towards judgment. You had no fear of God. You had no obedience to his word. You had no hate for sin. You just pressed on when the whole time he was saying to you, if you'll just confess, I'll forgive. I will cleanse you. Grasp this and then I'm done. All of the atrocities in two chapters in Amos. Here was God's plan for paying for that sin. Here's what we know, every sin must be paid for. And God's plan was, I'm gonna now send my only begotten son. who never sinned and never knew sin, and he's gonna become sin, and he's gonna take on the sin of all human history on himself in one moment, and he's gonna endure all the wrath of Almighty God upon all sin. He's going to pay for it because you never could, and then he turns with nail-pierced scarred hands, and he says, all you have to do is accept this free gift of salvation. I've paid the debt for you, and yet still people will reject. He is both lion who roars and lamb who pays. He is both judge, there is no doubt, and he is also healer. How amazing is it that he looked at the atrocities of the whole world and he paid the price. How stunning is it that individuals like us who enjoy salvation are silent with the message. Would you please bow your heads just for a moment. Thanks for listening this week to the Graceway Baptist Church podcast. For more information about our church and our ministries, head on over to our website at gracewaycharlotte.org. We are a church located in South Charlotte. We are growing and our ministries are doing big things for Christ. If you're looking for a way to get plugged into what we're doing, email us at info at gracewaycharlotte.org. Also, stay in the loop with everything happening by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Our handle is GracewayCharlotte. Thanks again for listening to the Graceway Charlotte podcast. We'll see you next week.