Thank you for listening to Servants for Christ. In all that we do, in all that we say, we want to give glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning us in as we get into the wonderful Word of God. For the next few minutes, let's take the beautiful Word of God and share it with each and every one of you as we have a sense of anticipation to take the Word of God and to listen to its truth for each and every one. and as soon as we continue on in our series, the book of Amos from the minor prophets. I thank God as we've been talking about some of the things in chapter one, verses one and two of the fig picker turned prophet. Someone that God had called from the land, from a farmer to be a prophet of God, amen. I'm glad that he took care of the land and the agriculture praise God. God can call anybody from any walks of life to be one of his, amen. And so we see the fig picker turn prophet in verses one and two of chapter one. But also in chapter one, verse three, all the way down to the end of chapter one, all the way to the end of chapter two, verse 16, we talked about the lion's roar, a call to repentance. And then in Amos chapter three, we talked about a divine wake up call, that we need to wake up and we need to get back on to doing what the Lord's called us to do, amen. And then in Amos chapter four, we talked about preparing to encounter the almighty, how that many, many times that he had asked them, to repent and to come back to where they needed to be. And yet they still did not. He said, yet you have not returned to me. And now we get into the book of Amos chapter five. We talk about the way to life from destruction to deliverance. The way to life from destruction to deliverance, amen. And so, as we look at this, let's open up with a word of prayer first and then we'll begin to read the word of God as we get into our outline as well, amen. Father, we come before you recognizing our need for your mercy, and we ask for forgiveness of our sins, both the known and the unknown, as we seek to put on the armor of God each day. Equip us to stand firm in our faith as we navigate the trials of life. May your words speak to our hearts, transforming us, guiding us toward the path of righteousness. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ that we pray, amen. In chapter five, we see a song of lament and grief over Israel, because I remember reading a story that stayed with me. It was about a man who had reached a crossroads in his life, and he had pursued success in the corporate world, but he found himself feeling kind of empty and unfulfilled. One day, while walking home, he stumbled upon a small community church. drawn by the music and the warmth within, he decided to enter into the church house. That evening, he heard a message about grace. He heard a message about redemption that changed his life forever. He realized that true success wasn't found in wealth or status, but in seeking a deeper relationship with God. Just like man, we often find ourselves lost. unaware that the way to life is through turning back to our Creator. And one of the first things that we see When we look at Amos chapter five, the prophet calls Israel to recognize their state and path of true life through repentance and justice. Amos laments over Israel's impending destruction, urging the people to awaken from their spiritual slumber and return to God. And he emphasizes that all of their ritualistic worship is meaningless without genuine obedience and social justice. And so God's desire for his people is to seek him and to live justly. And so this message highlights that true deliverance comes from a heartfelt return to God, characterized by compassion. You know, Amos challenges the people. that we must examine our lives, prioritize our justice, and seek a deeper relationship with Him. And so when we look and we realize that the Word of God, we see the destruction of the people in verses one, two, and three. We see the destruction of the people, amen. Because in doing this, when we take and we look, at Amos, amen. Here was the fig picker turned prophet, amen. Because I remember what he said in Amos chapter seven, verses 14, 15. He said, I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore fruit. And then the Lord took me as I followed the flock. And the Lord said to me, go prophecy to my people, Israel. Here was just an ordinary man who became extraordinary when he followed God's will for his life. He had no formal seminary training. He had no formal education. He received his education as he spent time alone with God, and God honored that. Rather than using some kind of professional prophet, he used an unexpected rancher farmer to reveal his message to his people. And so, I remind you that what we've seen in the book of Amos can be divided into four sections. In chapter one and two of Amos, there were eight prophecies that were fulfilled. In Amos chapter three to chapter six, three sermons. In Amos chapter seven through nine and chapter 10 are five visions. And then in chapter nine and then chapter 11 down to verse 15, five promises. And so the book of Amos is a series of prophecies their visions, their sermons, their promises. And when we come to chapter 5, I'm going to tell you, here we see that in the second section of the book, of the three sermons of Amos chapter 3, 4, 5, and 6, We have seen in this section two sermons, but now we come to the third of three sermons. Each sermon begins with the words, hear this word. And I'm glad that when we look, I hope that we hear this word because I'm talking about the way to life from destruction to deliverance. The first sermon was found in Amos chapter 3 verse 1, hear this word. The second sermon was found over in Amos chapter 4 verse 1, hear this word. And now we come to chapter 5 verse 1, again that he tells us the same thing, hear this word. Listen to the word of God that we're fixing to read in verses one, two, and three, that he says, the song of lament and the grief over Israel. Hear you this word, which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. In verse two, the virgin of Israel is fallen. She shall no more rise. She's forsaken upon her land. There's none to raise her up. For thus says 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 10 to the house of Israel." What are we reading? He says, hear you this word, which I take up against you, because there's a coming judgment, that Israel would not repent, and because they saw no need to repent. The phrase, even a lamentation, O house of Israel, is the same as a funeral message. Look out, I'm fixing a preacher's funeral. You see the Northern Kingdom, here compared to a virgin because they had never ever had been nothing like this. because once the Northern Kingdom was conquered, she would never rise again. She would never be restored ever as a nation, the Northern Kingdom. And so we see the destruction of the armies and the battles with the Assyrians, the battalions, 1,000 strong companies that were 100 strong that marched away from the cities to the war that would only have 100 or 10 or survivors respectively because he said, that the city that went out by a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten, and to the house of Israel. It began to deplete each time. When we look and we see the destruction of the people in verses one, two, and three, Verse 1 tells us the lamentation for the people. Amos begins with a mourningful song. He's singing a song. Hear this word which I take up against you, this lamentation, O house of Israel. And so the lamentation for the people. It's a sobering reminder that God's judgment is real. Just as Israel was in danger, we too must examine our own lives, asking if we're truly living for God. So we see the limitation for the people in verse one, but verse two, the loneliness of the people. Because Amos notes, the virgin of Israel has fallen. She will rise no more. This loneliness speaks to the heart of a separation from God when we all stray from our path. when we find ourselves isolated, when we find ourselves vulnerable. But in verse 3, we see the loss of the people. For thus says the Lord God, the city that goes out by a thousand shall have a hundred left. Here we see the grave consequences of rebellion. Sin leads to loss of community, purpose, and ultimately life. Christian author C.F. Lewis once wrote, we are not merely imperfect creatures who must be improved. We are rebels who must lay down our arms. And so we see the destruction of the people. Through that, secondly, we see the deliverance for the people, because in verses four, down to verse seven, and verse 14 and 15, we look and we take the word of God, and at verse four, the Bible says, for thus says the Lord unto the house of Israel, seek you me, and you shall live. Listen as we go on in verse five, but seek not Bethel nor enter into Gilgal, pass not to Beersheba for Gilgal shall utterly go into captivity and Bethel shall come to naught. When we read this, we think of how Bethel was the great center of worship of God under the similitude of the calf. But that idol could not quench the fire that broke out in the house of Joseph. Gilgal, Beersheba, and Bethel are in Judah. And the idea is that those from the northern kingdoms that were sunken, that would never ever rise again, who tried to escape to the southern kingdom, where judgment came, they would not succeed. Whatever their plans were, they shall surely go into captivity, never to be heard of from ever again. And so when we look, we leap, we see also in verse four that they were made an offer to repent, but they did not. It goes on in verse six. that he tells us, seek the Lord and you shall live lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it and there be none to quench it in Bethel. What is the idea? Turn to the Lord or suffer the fire of judgment is what he's trying to say. In verse seven he says, you who turn judgment to wormwood and leave off righteousness in the earth. You know what? God can have no fellowship either with false doctrine or evil doing in conduct. And so that's what he was saying in verse five. but it denounces the injustice. Justice was cast to the ground and perverted through most bitter wrong. He tried to give them a chance, but they wouldn't take it. And so that's sad that when we see that. We jump down to verse 14 and 15 where we read, he says, seek good and not evil that you may live. And so the Lord, the God of hosts shall be with you as you have spoken in verse 15. hate the evil, love the good, and establish judgment in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph." And so the prescriptions of the avoidance of a terrible judgment is given right here. Because in the effect, the Holy Spirit condescends to give another altar call by saying, seek good, not evil, that you may live. When we look and we realize here that we see the deliverance for the people. Because in verse four, there is a call to seek God. But seek me and live, he says in verse four. This is divine invitation, just as the Israelites were called to seek the Lord, so are we. When we prioritize our relationship with God, we discover true life. But in verses 14 and 15, we read about the promise of mercy. Seek good and not evil that you may live. God promises that if we earnestly seek him, we will find mercy. This is not just some suggestion, but a command. It's imperative to turn toward him with all of our hearts. And so the deliverance for the people in verses four through seven and verses 14 and 15, the call to seek God in verse four, the promise of mercy in verses 14 and 15. But then we also see the opportunity for repentance, even in our darkest moments. There's always hope for restoration. It's never too late to do what is right. Max Licato reminds us God's always wanting for us to turn back to him, amen. And so the destruction of the people in verses one, two, and three, the deliverance for the people in verses four, five, six, and seven, and verses 14 and 15, but in verses five, And down from verse 6 to verse 27, we see the description of the people, amen. Because I'm glad that as we read verse 5, 4, 5, 6, and 7, we want to look at verse 8. And in verse eight, the Bible tells us, seek him who makes the seven stars and the Orion and turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark with night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth. The Lord is his name. The seven stars that are in the sky, man the constellations known as the giant the sword of the giant alone estimated in space two quintillion two hundred quintillion times larger than the sun that here uh god's creation is so large is what i'm trying to say that it can't even hardly be described it's so magnificent and huge the entirety of it, the shadow of death into the morning pertains to the coming resurrection of life that makes day dark with night and the coming resurrection of damnation. But he goes on in verse nine, he says, who strengthens the spoilage against the strong so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. God can smile the strongest, no fortress is a refuge from him. And so he goes on in verse 10, that he tells us. They hate him who rebukes in the gate and they abhor him who speaks uprightly. I'm glad that they use the pronoun they that refers to the judges of Israel and the pronoun him that refers to Amos who was hated because he spoke uprightly the word of God. And here we see that he stood in the gate of the city and he rebuked the worshipers who were coming to Bethel because that was the place of false worship. And this would have been extremely annoying to all of those religious leaders to be told, you are false leaders, false worshipers that are going over on the mountain of Bethel with your false pretenses of worship that are not of God. He goes on in verse 11 and he says, for as much therefore as your treading is upon the poor and you take from him burdens of wheat. You have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them, because you see, God's anger burns against each and every one of you upon the poor, the luxury obtained by which oppression that was short-lived, and all this because of their cruel deeds that they had been doing, that he's talking about. He goes on in verse 12, for I know your manifold transgressions, your mighty sins, they afflict the just, they take up bribe, they turn aside the poor and the gape from their right. In verse 13, therefore the prudence shall keep silence in that time, for it is in an evil time. And so he refers to all of the evil judges that they turn aside and address the perversion of justice. And they have suffered wrong and silenced the people that had injured him, knowing that because of the corruption of the courts of the law that they had done. And so let's skip on down to verse 16. He says the reason for the lamentation, he says, therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord says thus, wailing shall be in all streets, and they shall say in all the highways, alas, alas, and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing. In verse 17, in all the vineyards shall be wailing, for I will pass through you, says the Lord, amen. Here the invasion of the Assyrians, that they will come upon the Israel and it speaks of the terrible suffering that all the vineyards shall be wailing they will be crying out can you imagine you got your grapevines all crying out because of all of the fact that all of the carnage that's happening in the cities and the countryside, but he goes on in verse 18, he says, Woe unto you who desire the day of the Lord, to what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness and not light. And so there's a double woe, the burden of this message, because the first was pronounced upon the false profession. in verses 18 through 27, but the second false piece is gonna be on further in Amos chapter six. Warn to you who desire the day of the Lord. And it professes Israel's claim of readiness to welcome the Messiah's kingdom. And so the idea of this verse is that their reply, the day of the Lord, is an answer of Amos' demand, prepare to meet your God, O Lord, that we see back in verse 12 that he was talking about. And so he goes on in verse 19, as if a man did flee from a lion and a bear, met him or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. The idea is that Israel, because of a refusal to repent, is destined for death and it cannot be avoided. No matter what you try to change about it, you're going to die. He says in verse 20, shall not the day of the Lord be darkened and not light even? very dark and no brightness in it. And he goes on in verse 21, I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. And so this was a man-made religion. Even though that it closely resembled God's true way of salvation, still, the Lord's response is, I hate it. Because God hates every proposed form of atonement other than the cross of Christ. And if it's not genuine worship and repentance, he doesn't care for it. It's a stench and it's nostrils. And so he says, I will not smell in your solemn assemblies, talking about the sweet savior which has ascended to the Lord and the burnt offerings that are being offered to him. He goes on in verse 22. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offering of fat beast, amen. He goes on in 23. Take away, take you away from me the noise of your songs for I will not hear the melody of your vowels. In verse 24, but let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream. In verse 25, here is the judgment of their idolatry. He says in verse 25, have you offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness 40 years, O house of Israel? And it speaks of revealing the evil association of idols that they have done from their beginning until now at the calf that they had on the hill of Bethel. And so it was the resurrection of a golden calf, like it was back in days past of the book of Exodus. In other words, they were without excuse. He goes on in verse 26, but you have borne the tabernacle of your Molech and Chim, your images, the star of your God, which you made to yourselves. He goes on in verse 27, therefore will I call you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts. Now what do we read here in verse 27 is that We see Babylon and not Damascus sometimes, but here they're replied because first Babylon is beyond Damascus. And I'm glad that basically it's written that the book of the prophets, that it's predicted a captivity beyond Babylon. that the 10 tribes were carried beyond Damascus and the two tribes beyond Babylon was what the history writes about of this time. And so basically into captivity. And so we see the description of the people, the warning against empty worship in verse five. Do not seek Bethel nor enter Gilgal. Amos warns against relying on rituals rather than relationship with God. True worship is not about location or tradition. It's about the heart. And so we see in verse 7 and verses 11 through 13 the wickedness of the people because he says, justice to wormwood, the people had forsaken righteousness for corruption through the judges. And so we must reflect on our actions. Are we living justly, showing mercy and walking humbly? And so we see the warning against empty worship, the wickedness of the people in verse seven and verses 11 through 13. And then in verses 21 through 23, we see the result of hypocrisy. because he says, I hate, I despise your feast of days. God desires sincerity in our own worship. And as we gather every Sunday to worship, we need to ask ourselves, are we worshiping out of obligation or with a genuine heart? Every one of us, the word of God is a living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing, the soul and the spirit, the joints and the moral. And I'm gonna tell you, each and every one of us, when we look and realize, that the Lord, when he changes our life, Amos delivered God's word with conviction and courage. And may God give us more men like Amos who will stand firm on the word of God without wavering. And so, when we look and we see everything that's transpired, when God abandons you, only loneliness remains. As God's judgment fell upon them, they had nobody to pick them up. but praise be to God that through a relationship with Jesus Christ, God has promised that I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And the Bible says nothing can separate you from the love of God. One of the saddest verses in the book of Amos is found here in verse two. She lies forsaken on her land. Oh my goodness, that is sad. The virgin of Israel has fallen. She shall no more rise. She is forsaken upon her land. Where is none to raise her up? How sad. The virgin of Israel has fallen and she'll rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land and there's no one to raise her up. Amos declares that like a woman that has fallen and has nobody that loved her enough to pick her up, Israel will stand alone, neglected, as judgment falls upon them, the way of life from destruction to deliverance. When God abandoned you, only loneliness remains. And as God's judgment fell upon them, they had nobody to pick them up. But praise be to God that through a relationship with Jesus Christ, God has promised, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And I'm glad nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, amen. And so Amos warns them of their losses. Nine out of 10 will be destroyed. If an army lost 50% of its troops, they could recover and keep on fighting. But if an army lost 90% of its troops, that would be certain destruction. Part of the lament was that Israel would experience certain destruction because of their rebellion against God. Will we ever learn that rebellion always results in destruction? We think that we can rebel and rejoice at the same time, but listen. His repentance are ruined. And so Isaiah said in Isaiah 55 verses six and seven, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he's near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. I wonder what deliverance God provides for those who seek him. Every one of us. I'm glad that he began to tell them that here is a funeral march. Here's how they're going to be a coming disaster. He said, seek me, but it's never too late to do right. It's never too late to make a right decision. What do you do when you realize that you've made a wrong choice? What do you do when you realize that you've made a destructive decision? A husband decides to leave his wife and children. A wife chooses to be unfaithful to a husband. Children choose to rebel against their parents and authority. The grace of God is never seen clearer than when we make destructive choices and He stands ready to restore us as we're willing to repent. We repent and God restores. And so, Amos begins to describe that he begins with a warning, don't try worship without seeking God, because empty ritualism will not save you. In other words, God tells him to give up on going to Bethel and Gilgal and Beersheba, because the three most prominent places of worship, because their empty worship will not help them. Rather than going to a place They needed to go to a person and the same thing happens today. There are a lot of people who seek a place rather than a person. They seek religion rather than a relationship. They've got a lot of people today who have met the pastor and they've never met the master. And what Amos said so long ago needs to be said right now. quit seeking religion and begin seeking a relationship. Quit seeking a place and begin seeking a person. And his name is Jesus Christ. And so here is the warning that we find, amen. In verse seven, in verse 11, They were charging the unfair, and they were telling them, amen. Amos lists three wicked deeds that they afflict honest men. They bribe dishonest men. They cheat the poor. And then he gives a summary of their day, for it is an evil time. Because he said, they ewed down the stone. God says, because you built your homes by ill-gotten gain, I'm going to see to it that you will never live in them, nor will you enjoy the fruit of that vine, because you have got them by ill-gain. And so, verse 13 reminds us of what's taking place across America today. The prudent keep silent. There's a lot of that going on today. that in the moral collapse, the prudent are keeping silent. Gentlemen, as preachers of the gospel and as men of God, there's no time to keep silent. Is yours not a call to preach, a commission to speak? Yet we remain silent in America that's going down the tubes. It's time that we start calling sin what God calls it. It's time to speak out for those who cannot. It's time that we use our influence for godliness. It's time to stand up and be counted rather than sit down and be comfortable. and the people of God hear what the world says about homosexuality, by the sex that is out there, the beverages and the alcohol, the adultery and the gambling, the capital punishment, it's time that they hear what God says about those things. What a tragedy. What an immorality. What a rebellion. Because the prudent kept silent. If there was time for the prudent to speak out, it's now. rather standing up to be counted as this election time comes around. Boy, some sit down, they remain comfortable. We find the warning to the people, the wickedness of the people, amen, the wailing of the people, amen. He says, there shall be wailing in all the streets, and they shall say in all the highways, alas, alas. They shall call the farmer to mourning, the skimful laminators to wailing. All the vineyards, there'll be wailing. I'll pass through, says the Lord. All the professional mourners, that were hired for the funerals would join in the chorus of wailing as God passes through them. Just as God passed through Egypt during taking the life from the firstborn of every home, God now takes responsibility for the upcoming calamity that Israel would face. And it's not the day that the Lord, in verse 20 he says, is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light? Is not very dark with no brightness in it? Gloom and doom are a part of the day of the Lord because the day of the Lord's something that they look forward to. They understood it to be a time where their enemies would be crushed by the power of God. They didn't realize that God would judge every sin, even theirs. And when God judged their sin, it would be a very dark day in their history. Here, the way to life from destruction to deliverance. One thing Amos teaches us about sin, sin will either be judged or forgiven. Sin will either be pardoned by Christ or punished in hell. But every sin must be dealt with because God is holy and you cannot escape God's judgment of sin. That's why he says back in verse 19, it will be as though a man fled from a lion and a bear met him, as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and the serpent bit him because there's nothing gonna change. what is coming your way. There is no avoiding the judgment of God. Saved or lost, judgment's coming. For the saved, it'll be the judgment seat of Christ, where we'll be cleaned up and cheered up. For the lost, it'll be a great white throne of God, where the sentence will be announced. You cannot escape the day of judgment, where you're gonna spend eternity in the depths of hell forever and ever and ever, where the worm doth not, and tormented forever and ever. And in verses 21 through 27, the departure from the sincere worship that God thought about the worship without righteousness. And he said, I hate, I despise your feast of days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fatted peace offerings. Take away from me the noise of your song, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments, but let justice run down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. It's not just what we do when we worship, but it's our motive. And so, as we reflect on Amos' message, we see the clear progression destruction leads to the need of deliverance, which calls for a sincere response from the people. We stand at a crossroads in our own lives. Are we living in the light of God's truth? Or are we allowing darkness to seep into our hearts? You see, the way of life is paved with repentance and a heartfelt pursuit of God. We need to heed the warnings of Amos and seek the Lord daily, clothed in his armor, ready to face the challenges, the destruction of the people. In verses 1, 2, and 3. The deliverance of the people. Verses 4 through 7. And verses 14 and 15. And the description of the people. In verse 5 and down to verse 13. And then from verse 16 all the way down to verse 27. It's important to identify the areas. What areas in our life have we turned away from God? What does it mean to seek God daily? Can we ensure our worship is sincere? I hope and pray that we examine our heart and ask God's help to remove any thing and focus on developing a genuine relationship with him rather than simply going through the motions because it's not the place, it's the person, a relationship with Jesus Christ. Father, thank you for your word and we hope that it brings us back into your fold. For those that do not yet know you, we ask that you would draw them to yourself and save them by your marvelous grace. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But for us, Lord, those that are your children that are born again, may they repent of their sins. May we commit to a deeper relationship with you. Help us to be your clean vessels in a world that desperately needs to hear your truth. In Jesus Christ we pray. so so