If you have your Bibles, I would love for you to join me in Amos chapter three. Now, I know I said this in the first service. You're thinking to yourself, that's a colon in there, right, Pastor? It's Amos 3, 5. We're tackling one verse. That's not a dash. There's no way we're doing three chapters of Amos. Oh, yes. Three chapters of Amos. You say, is there a window of time for me to leave? There is. It's over. That was it. You missed it. I do think this is incredibly relevant and it is intensely practical. And Amos is preaching this message in these three chapters. This is a potent message. This is a message that is strong and he uses intentionally vivid imagery to drive home his point. In fact, in chapter four, which is the second point of our study this morning, he is going to call the women in his audience cows. It's a gutsy move. But he doesn't really even mean it in a derogatory sense. You say, how can it be a good thing to be a cow? Stick with me. I've actually decided based on that to adopt Old Testament talk. I'm just going to start calling people cows and see how far it goes. I do hope that you're ready to do a little digging. I hope that you're ready for some Old Testament talk and I'm gonna do my best to communicate to you what it is that Amos is saying to the congregants that are there hearing his very powerful message. I found it very interesting what one wrote. Wrote this, there is a before and an after to everything in life. A time of opportunity and a time when opportunity has gone. A time for saying I must and I can and a time when all that is left is I cannot. That's the press, that is the tone of this moment in time for the listeners to the message of Amos. In effect, there is something very significant about right now. I could say the same for you and for me. We are stewards of this moment. We will never again be gifted all the things that brought us to this moment in time. There's something very significant and precious about right now. Amos is stepping forward, and remember, he's merely a shepherd from Tekoa. Leaving Judah and up in the nation of Israel, preaching an adverse message. And as he goes, he is stepping into a moment in time. A moment between sin and disaster, where He has warned and people have an opportunity to hear Him. The lion has roared, and yet there is hope. In fact, in verse 8 of chapter 3, we'll find the lion is still roaring, and yet there is hope. There is still a chance to come to terms with what you have done. Hope has not yet vanished. In chapter 3 of Amos, we're beginning a new section of his message. He's going to preach, I believe it is evident within the language that these three chapters are connected. Chapter three, chapter four, and chapter five. They are connected by these words, hear this word. Each of these chapters begins with a new point in his message. Hear this word. Perhaps we could grasp it in this way. He is saying, now hear this. He has stepped before people who do not want to hear His message. I can identify. He is preaching a message that is potent and that is strong to people who are heading in a bad direction. And He is telling them, you have this moment now to hear what I say. Hear me now. And the first thing He says is this in Amos 3, verse 1 and 2. Hear this word, that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities." The first word that Amos has is for the privileged. The privileged that is the nation of Israel. He says in there, there is something that I have done in a unique and singular way for you, the nation of Israel. You only have I done this for. Perhaps the most famous message in all of the book of Amos is verse 3 of chapter 3 where he asks, can two walk together except they be agreed? Two walking together must be in agreement that they're going the same direction. It indicates that an arrangement has been made. And God from heaven is looking at the nation of Israel and He is saying to them, we have an arrangement. You are uniquely blessed, and you should respond to your unique blessing in obedience to Me." How was the nation of Israel blessed? Does it still apply that the nation of Israel is advantaged? And the answer is yes. The Apostle Paul was writing in Romans chapter 3, and he writes this, What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Note his assessment. There's much advantage. In every way there is profit, chiefly, primarily, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. What does that mean? God chose Abram. And he covenanted with Abram that of Abram's seed, all the world would be blessed. And God chose to communicate with the seed of Abraham. He delivered to them uniquely the word of God. They received the oracles of God. No other nation interacted with God in this fashion. They are greatly advantaged. He also acknowledges, does Amos in his message, that you are also the nation that was freed from the bondage of Egypt. God miraculously brought you up out of Egypt. He's driving somewhere with this message. You are uniquely privileged. You received the oracles of God and you were freed from the bondage of Egypt, he says. And as one wrote, with the privilege of freedom and blessing comes the privilege of responsibility. Being reminded that they had received the Word of God, and being reminded that they had been freed from bondage, should have resulted in heightened and greater obedience. That's what Amos is saying to them. Why the nation of Israel? Why were you blessed? Number one, they were blessed because God chose them out of His love and His grace. He didn't look at the nation of Israel and see something in them that merited this unique privilege. In fact, Deuteronomy 4.37 says this, Because He loved thy fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them and brought thee out in His sight with His mighty power out of Egypt. Now you say, already I feel like I got to work, man. We're digging through Old Testament stories. Precisely. But everyone listening to the message of Amos would have pulled this up because this was their nation's history. You have been uniquely loved. You have been recipients of the grace of God. He brought you out of bondage in His sight from Egypt. God has privileged you. And it wasn't because of anything you had done. And with great privilege and blessing comes the privilege of responsibility. And the responsibility is now you have to be a conduit of His love and His grace. You recognize through Israel all the nations would be blessed. Israel was a holy people separated under the Lord. Deuteronomy 26 and 19 says they were high above all nations. The Lord gave them the greatest privilege ever given when He made them His treasured possession. And He hands to them the greatest responsibility, for of the seed of Israel would come the Messiah, that is, Jesus. Now we've done a little work to try to understand the context. Now let me articulate what it is Amos is driving at. You are walking around nation of Israel and you are choosing to remember that you're special. You're choosing to remember that you are privileged in that you are chosen. You are choosing to remember that you are privileged in that you have been freed from bondage. You are choosing to remember that you have received the oracles of God. You're just ignoring all of the warnings that come with that for disobedience. Jesus said it this way in the New Testament. In Luke 12, verse 48, Jesus says, For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required. And to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. You ask more of someone you have done more for. And Amos is reminding the nation of Israel of the quote-unquote much that they have been given and the heightened level of responsibility and expectation that coincides it. There is a result, he is saying, for your actions. There are consequences. You can walk around and choose to only focus on the fact that you are privileged, or you can acknowledge that based on your privilege, you should be obedient, and because you've been disobedient, you are not insulated from the consequences. Here's what the Bible says again, Galatians 6, New Testament. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Those of us that are here in this room now need to understand something. We are not the nation of Israel. I am not drawing a direct correlation between the church of Christ and the nation of Israel. But I can say to you that they were a holy nation who were recipients of the love and grace of God, were miraculously freed from bondage in Egypt, and had been recipients of the oracles, the word of God. And to whom much was given there is a heightened expectation, much was expected of them. And they were disobedient, yet in their disobedience they thought they were insulated from consequences, because after all they're privileged. Peter tells us as believers, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that we are in effect a third race. We are a holy nation. We are a royal priesthood. And we have been recipients of the love and grace of God, and miraculously freed from the bondage of sin and death. And here we sit, a privileged group of people. People who have received much. We have the entire canon of Scripture, the whole counsel of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. So much is expected of us. And Amos is begging the listeners of his message to grasp that the lion has roared because of your sin. Judgment and consequence for disobedience always exists. Don't feel insulated just because you're privileged. He'll come back and he begins in verses 4, 5, and 6 to ask them rhetorical questions. The answer to all of them is no. He's communicating. The lion has roared. Judgment is coming. You must pay consequence for your sinful behavior. Damage, disaster, destruction is always following close on the heels of disobedience to God and to His Word. Hear this message. This is a strong message. This is potent verbiage. And the people who are hearing him need to be woke up, need to be roused from their sleep. He's telling them you're privileged and you're still behaving in a way that God will judge your sin. In chapter four, he begins the second point of his message. And this is where he calls women cows. I think what was happening was exactly what's happening to me. His audience is fading a little bit. And he's thinking to himself, how do I get him back? How do I get him back? Oh, you women are cows. And the whole room's like, what? Locked back in. You say, he really did it. Yeah, stick with me. Here we go in chapter four. Here is a word to the self-absorbed. Note this in verse one. Hear this word. Now remember, this is what connects us. This is what connects us in our study. Hear this word. These three words connect us to three and five. Ye kine of Bashan, now kine of Bashan, kine there is an old word meaning cows. He's going to come back, he's going to make it very clear momentarily. You kine of Bashan that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, and which say to their masters, bring and let us drink. Here's the message to you Bashan cows. The Lord God hath sworn by His holiness, that lo, the days shall come upon you, that He will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks, and you shall go out at the breeches, every cow at that which is before her, and you shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord." Now, I know you need help. Many of you are saying, I've never heard a message on Amos, and now you know why. It's hard. You say, now pastor, there's kind of bastion and their posterity is being drug out with fish hooks. We've gone from the pasture to the sea. What in the world's happening? Amos is arresting the attention of his listeners. He is articulating something that is tremendously relevant and practical. This was a prosperous time in the nation of Israel. This was a time in the nation of Israel where the rich were exceedingly rich and the poor were tremendously poor. Righteousness in the city council was rejected and the poor were being used and abused. And God looks at the nation of Israel and He says, you are so self-absorbed. So self-concerned, so wrapped up in what you want, and here's the picture. You're like the cows that are in the fields in Bashan. Now, Bashan was a region in the nation of Israel. It was known to be magnificently fertile. In fact, the grain in Bashan was known to produce exceptional herds and flocks. It was the breadbasket of the nation of Israel. David will say this in Psalm 22, 12, Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have set me around. So it's not just the women cows of Bashan, he's using this terminology. Ezekiel actually calls them fat beasts in Bashan. You say, pastor, if you're trying to lessen the blow of him calling women cows, saying they're fat beasts isn't good either. Here's the thing, being fat in the Old Testament was a good thing. How many of you wish you lived in Amos time now? Yeah, man. I mean fat in the sense that you live sumptuously. You have a luxurious existence. You're fat. Your life is a life of ease. You are tremendously luxuriated. Remember, as he set the context, he said, you drink wine by the bowlfuls, you lather yourselves in fragrant ointments and lotions, and you stretch on couches of ivory. Your eyes are all on yourself. He says of these ladies, these cows of Bashan, you oppress the poor, You crush the needy and you say to your masters, bring me drinks, which implies within the context, another bowl of wine please. Bring me another bowl full of wine. There is no concern for the fact that to satiate their desires, someone is being oppressed. They're just too self-absorbed to care. The needy who also have needs, and though you are faring sumptuously, and live luxuriously, and could administer to their need, rather to satiate what you want, you're crushing them. And you say to your husbands, you say to them, bring me more to drink. They're so self-determined. What I think is being communicated is this. You have taken your eyes off of the reality that there are consequences for sins because your life is so good. You live so luxuriously, you've become so consumed with yourself, you've become so concerned and absorbed with yourself, that you have no capacity anymore to gauge your behavior. Life is good, and he's saying, I'm striking at you, self-absorbed people, stop trusting in your riches. Stop trusting in your luxurious life. Stop thinking everything between you and God is okay because it's going okay. Stop trusting in riches and look for God. Here's what Paul told Timothy to do in the New Testament. Charge them that are rich in this world. that they be not high-minded, nor that they trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Stop fooling yourself. Everything's good, all is great, and the religious centers are still hopping. He comes, He says to them, this is striking to me, you are so self-concerned and so self-absorbed that you even worship in a manner that makes you feel good. As long as you feel good about how the worship is being carried out, that is what matters to you. You have begun to worship the church. You have begun to worship methodology. You have begun to worship tradition. You have begun to worship sacred spaces. We'll get to there in a moment. And ceased to worship me. So sarcastically Amos preaches. And he says this in verse 4. Come to Bethel and transgress. At Gilgal, multiply transgressions. Bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. He is basically saying this is just like you. It's just like you to only do the things that make you feel good. Keep bringing your offerings of thanksgiving. Wasn't that the right thing to do? You're bringing your offering of thanksgiving because you feel good about it. You're not bringing your offering of thanksgiving because it says that you are worshiping God. They were making such a public fuss about worship, and he's exposing the inner motivation here. You love to do it because it makes you happy. You're not doing this for me. How damning is it for people to perceive that as long as they are checking the right boxes, God is happy with them. When we leave here, we feel good. You can't get any further conservative than us. I guess you could, but I wouldn't want to go there or know you. And what we think is this, as long as I feel good, as long as I feel like I'm working hard, as long as I feel like I'm checking the boxes, as long as I feel okay with what's happening, then I will be satisfied. Sometimes we're so self-absorbed and so self-concerned that we can't even see straight. We have replaced genuine worship of God with activities that we are doing. And everything about being here is what makes us feel good. Because if there's one change, I'm out. If there's one thing different, I'm gone. If there's one thing I don't like, I will find another place that has what I like. Now, I'm not saying this is the place for everybody. We don't have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit. I'm not so arrogant. What I'm guarding against is the heart condition that is so self-concerned that rather than worship God, they convince themselves that they are holy and the Lord is not deceived. You have not returned, the Lord says, so what I'm gonna do is judge you. He has told them, you are a privileged group of people. You're not insulated against your sins having consequences. You are self-absorbed and it's time to come back to earth and be real with yourself and ask whether or not you are about God or about you. And it climaxes in chapter five where he asks this in verse one. Hear ye this word. which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel." Now again, that's a lot of Old Testament talk. There's a lamentation in there. Here's what he's doing. Many scholars, and I don't know where Amos preached this message, I don't know exactly how he delivered it, but many scholars believe that Amos is preaching this part of his message during a feast of celebration, perhaps at Bethel. where the nation has come together, and the nation is celebrating their prosperity, and they are celebrating their privilege, and they are celebrating their luxurious lives, and Amos stands up, and he sings a funeral song, a lamentation at their celebration. This is the biggest party pooper that ever arrived on the scene. This is going to somebody's birthday party where they're singing happy birthday and you're shouting over them your prayer list about your ingrown toenail and the corn on your foot and Aunt Sally's disgusting skin disease. This doesn't fit. No one wants to hear you, Amos. We're privileged and we can get away with everything. Don't you know we're chosen? Don't you grasp? We're miraculously freed from bondage. We can do whatever we want. Don't you understand, Amos? Look around. We have a summer and a winter house. We're drinking wine from the bowls. We have fragrant lotion all over us. We're stretched out on our couches. Shut your message of negativity down at this celebration. He's singing a funeral song, a lamentation, and they're at a religious feast. How dumb can you be to come before a group of religious people and say, hey, you don't get it. You're here for all the wrong reasons. You're missing the point. You're actually not worshiping God. I want you to note what he says in verse two of chapter five. The virgin of Israel has fallen. She shall no more rise. She's forsaken upon her land. There is none to raise her up. For thus saith the Lord God, the city that went out by a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten to the house of Israel. What is he saying? He's saying, you think you are vibrant and alive, and I say unto you, you're rather spiritually dead. This is very much like the church at Sardis in the book of Revelation. John on the Isle of Patmos is writing letters to churches. Here's what we read in Revelation 3.1, under the angel of the church in Sardis, right? These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Here's what his assessment is. I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. I see how busy you are. I see how faithfully you attend. I see how you sing out the songs. I see how you smile and shake hands. I hear you say the right things. I see what you're doing. You're trying so hard. You have a reputation that you are vibrant and alive, and yet I know you are dead. There's nothing there. It's fruitless effort. Your eye is on the wrong thing. He gets in and he tells them, in effect, you have substituted organized religion for sincere worship. He's going to list three places. I won't drag you through the verses, but I want you to hear the locations. You have begun to substitute organized religion for sincere worship. You feel good about what you're doing. The question is, are you actually pleasing God? And then he says, don't think that Bethel And Gilgal and Beersheba are replacements for sincere worship of God. Now again, we're digging through the Old Testament. So you're thinking to yourself, I have perfect recall of what he's saying. I know what he's meaning. Don't go to Bethel. Get it. Gilgal, Beersheba. How many of you fully understand this? Right? I've studied this for two weeks. I'm hanging on the edge of understanding this. Bethel in the Old Testament literally means the house of God. Bethel was the place where you read in Genesis chapter 28 that Jacob has the promise of the nation of Israel reiterated to him just like Abraham and Isaac had. From that moment forward, Bethel is a sacred place. It's a place where God promised his presence and he promised his blessing. And what Amos has the audacity to say is this, you keep going to Bethel, And because you're going to a place where I once visited, and because you're going to a place where I once made a promise, you are not concerned about how you're behaving, how you're living, or how you're worshiping. You just think you're okay because you've gone back to Bethel. You're just concerned with this spot of earth where I once did something. Keep going there, he says sarcastically, and transgress. Gilgal. Gilgal was the place where the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River before the conquest of the promised land. And they erect a 12 stone monument to God's provision and blessing. They even in that moment set themselves apart again and all of the males that had been in the wilderness are circumcised. It's here at Gilgal that God says, Joshua, don't be afraid of Jericho. You're going to defeat them and go into the promised land. And here's what they're doing. They're going to Gilgal. And because they're at Gilgal, they imagine that everything's great. It doesn't matter how I behave. It doesn't matter how I live. As long as I go to Gilgal, where God promised victory, and we have 12 stones erected that show God provided and that tell us God did something, as long as I get here, who cares how I live? Beersheba, the place where Abraham and Abimelech had made a covenant and a promise together. Beersheba was where the Lord spoke again to Jacob. They're thinking to themselves, if I just go to these sacred sites. If I just go back to where something once upon a time happened, if I just marry myself to that tradition and I marry myself to that methodology, it makes me feel good to go to Beersheba. It makes me feel good to go to Gilgal. It makes me feel good to go to Bethlehem. I give an offering when I'm there. I support it when I'm there. So I can do whatever I want. And Amos is singing a funeral song at their party. And he's singing lamentingly about Bethel and Gilgal and Beersheba. And you can see them drop the bowl of wine with red on their mouth. Who's this guy? singing this song. Who invited this pain in the neck, this burden to our party? Who invited this guy to have the audacity to step into the midst of our celebration of prosperity and tell us our religion isn't real, that we are not worshiping God? No one invited him, God sent him. A shepherd from a field in Tekoa at Bethel preaching this message. Not only did they substitute religious and organized religion for sincere worship, they substituted rhetoric for true righteousness. In verse 14, God has a response to them. You guys are just saying these things. You aren't truly righteous, you just know what to say. And God is going to come forward and He's going to say to them, there's something that you should be looking for. He does it three times. In verse 6 of chapter 5 he says, Seek the Lord and ye shall live. He'll come back in verse 8 and he will say, Seek Him. And in verse 9 he says, The Lord is His name. And in verse 14 he says, Seek good and not evil. Here's what God says, in effect. I'm preaching to you religious people. who think that going to Bethel and Gilgal and Beersheba and giving offerings of thanksgiving and money, you think that's what I'm looking for, I'm after your heart. Rather than chasing down these experiences, why don't you look for me? Rather than do all of this activity, why don't you go away from here and do good and not evil? That's what I'm looking for. You can grasp this message is shaking the listener. And the context of the whole thing is the lion has roared. He is pouncing. Judgment is coming, nation of Israel. And here's why it's coming. You are privileged and you think you are insulated from the consequence of sin. Wake up. You are self-absorbed, so self-centered that you can't even see straight, and you think that all of these blessings indicate that God is okay with everything you're doing. You are religious, no doubt. You're busier than you've ever been. Your religious activity is through the roof, yet you're not truly worshiping God. You can hear the message, and here's the thing, no one's listening. No one's listening to Amos. Because the end of the story is tragedy. The end of the story is destruction. Even though He's there and He's telling them and He's warning them, they aren't listening. I began by saying there is the before and the after. There is a moment where we can say, I can and I must, and a moment that arrives where we say, I cannot any longer. There is something significant about right now, between warning and disaster. Amos, even with a message this harsh, where he's plowing up this hard soil of their hearts, is actually an indication of the grace of God. Because God is saying, the lion's already roared, and yet still I'm gonna send a shepherd from Tekoa to tell you there's a chance. If you'll just confess, you will find grace. I won't take the time to drag you through a seminary-level instruction on what he does in the patriarchal names, but in chapter five, he begins to talk about the house of Joseph. Why not the house of Abraham? Why not the house of Isaac? Why not the house of Jacob? Why Joseph? I think it's a hint of grace. Because Joseph was sold off to the Ishmaelite caravan, and the Lord was with him. Joseph was lied about and cast into prison, and the Lord was with him. Joseph was forgotten in prison, and the Lord was with him. I think all of the language is saying, if you will confess, I will forgive. You have sinned, and you have become self-centered, and you have just rested on your religious activity. And I say to you, if you would just confess, you will find grace. 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.