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. Here as we continue on in our series in the book of Amos, in the book of Amos, amen. I thank God as we continue on in our series in the book of Amos because the book of Amos is a very prophetic, challenging book in the Old Testament. One of the 12 minor prophets, Amos was notable for his strong social justice and his spiritual failures of Israel during the eighth century BCE. His ministry took place during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam II of Israel. It was a period that was relatively prosperous but also significant with moral decay. Amos prophesied during a time of significant economic and political stability in Israel. And it was accompanied by a widespread of social injustice, moral corruption. The nation enjoyed material wealth and military success. And there was a contrast between outward appearance of prosperity And as we look and realize that each and every one of us as we go through life, that we see that success is not all there is. That outward appearance of that prosperity and adultery that was taking place, but it was pervasive in inequality. And so, when we look and realize that we've talked about in our series in the book of Amos, we started out in Amos chapter one, verses one and two about a fig picker turned prophet. And then we talked about Amos chapter one, verse three, all the way down to chapter two of the 16th verse about the lion's roar, a call, that we see for them, amen, a call that would be of repentance, amen. And so I'm glad we also talked about one of the other things is the third chapter of Amos, a divine wake up call. And now, here, we're gonna be talking in Amos chapter four. Amos chapter four, amen, verses one through 13. I'm glad that here we look and we realize that Amos is the prophet that addresses the people of Israel, calling them to prepare for an encounter with God because it highlights the consequences of their complacency and sin, emphasizing the need for genuine repentance. You know, as we look and we realize that there was a call for genuine worship, The prophet talks about the empty worship practices of the Israelites and their religious rituals and their hearts were far from God revealing the hypocrisy that God cannot accept. And he urged them to examine the sincerity of their worship. Boy, I wonder how serious America is about their worship of the Lord today. And then Amos began to talk to him about preparing to encounter the Almighty because here we see the certainty of judgment. Because Amos outlines the various ways God has tried to get their attention through calamities, famine, drought, and destruction. God's trying to get America's attention as well. And despite the warnings, the people have failed to return to him. And so, this sermon, it'll conclude with a powerful call to prepare to meet your God, reminding the congregation of the urgency of repentance and the seriousness of their spiritual state. And it challenges all of us to reflect on our relationship with God, to approach Him with humbleness and sincerity as we prepare for His presence. And so, as we look about the book of Amos chapter four, And we see eight prophecies, three sermons, five visions, five promises, because in chapters one, and two contain the eight prophecies of Amos, and chapters three through six contain the three sermons of Amos, and chapters seven of Amos in chapter four. We're thinking under the heading when we look at this is how that when we come to chapter four of this message, amen, that we realize that Amos declares that he says you need to prepare to encounter the Almighty. And so, when we look at the way that the scripture is on this and get into the wonderful word of God, amen, of what he's fixing to do in all of our lives, amen, before we read the word of God, let's open up with a prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you with humble hearts, and Lord, we ask you to forgive us of our sins. Help us to wear the armor of God that we may stand firm in our faith. As we gather to hear your word, may our hearts be open and receptive, preparing us to encounter you. May we humble ourselves, forgive us of our many sins. We plead the blood of Jesus. We ask you, God, to give us the ability to speak on the book of Amos, and may it be a blessing to those that hear it, and may it call them with their encounter of the Almighty, that they need to get prepared, they need to be ready, they need to renew their relationship. And Lord, I pray God that you will reach out to that lost sinner and change them before it's too late. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. I'm telling you, when we look here at the wonderful Word of God, The Bible tells us of the depravity of Israel. And so, I remember reading about a man named John who lived an ordinary life. He was a very successful businessman. But one day, he found himself in a crisis. His health suddenly deteriorated, and he was faced with his own mortality. It was during this time that he began to reassess his life and priorities. He realized that he had been living for himself, neglecting the deeper call of his faith. And as he sought God earnestly in prayer, he felt a profound sense of peace and purpose. This story reminds us that sometimes it takes a wake up call to truly prepare us to meet our God. I was hearing the testimony of a young man that was young recently. And as he told his testimony, he said, you know what? There was people coming and going all the time in my house, and when I grew up, I didn't know who my father was. And come to find out that my mother was living with a black man at the time, but I was white, and I wondered who my father was, even though that he was like a stepfather. He began to wonder how everything that was happening, that he began to find the Lord in his life, that he began to quit worrying about all the details of those things and begin to get a relationship with Jesus Christ. And he also found out that his mother could have aborted him. But she didn't. And he began to thank God for having the opportunity to get saved and come into the family of God. You know, there's a lot of people out there that have all kinds of backgrounds, cultural, ethical, national, and yet I'm glad that they're able to come and find a Lord that loves them so much, no matter what. Every one of us, one of these days, are going to have to prepare with an encounter of the Almighty. And so, one of the first things that we see at the book of Amos, chapter four, is there's three crucial themes that remind us of our need to prepare for a divine encounter. First of all, the first thing that we see is the pressure from the women. When we look at verses one, two, and three of chapter four, the Bible says, hear this word, ye kind of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress their poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, bring and let us drink. I'm glad that here we see Bashan was known for its lush pastors. In Micah chapter seven, verse 14, it talks about how shepherd your people with your staff, flock your heritage who dwell solitarily in a woodland in the midst of Carmel, let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. Bashan was that old, that area located just east of Jordan. And Amos calls the women cows. Hmm. Boy, here we see this fig picker turn prophet, addresses the women of Bashan here in verse one. And these women, what were they doing? We see that it tells us in verse one, which crush, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, bring and let us drink. And so, What selfishness, what self-centeredness. The women of Bashan were willing to crush the poor in order to satisfy their lust for more. And the pressure that they were placing on their husbands, because in verse one, It said, which say to their masters, bring and let us drink. And so, can you imagine? Bring us some wine, let us drink. Here's some women who are driving their husbands to make more so that they could spend more. And the more that they made, the more they spent. And the more they spent, the more corrupt they became. And as they put more pressure upon their husbands to make more and more and more money, the more temptation the husbands face to cheat and to steal and to lie to make more. I just wonder how it is today with families. The problem today is that we're buying things that we don't need with money that we don't have to impress people that we don't like. And in many homes, the pressure to make more so that we could spend more. And it tells me that there's more to this world than making money. And so Paul said in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 9 and 10, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts. which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." And so the women of Bashan have strayed from the faith in their greediness. Let me tell you something. There are three things that can destroy any preacher of the gospel. Ladies, loot, and laziness. Did you hear me? Ladies, loot, or laziness. And all three were present in Amos 4. And it resulted in God's warning of judgment. And so in verse two, here is a picture of judgment because just as a fisherman pulls a fish out of the natural habitation, God is about to pull them out of theirs because we see of what he tells us. The Lord God has sworn by his holiness that he will take you away with hooks and your posterity with fish hooks. And so it addresses the Assyrian monarch who upon the enemy, they passed hooks through the lower lips of their captives and led them away to slavery. This is what happened to Israel. Well, When we look at the pressure from the women in verses one, two, and three, amen, what we see is the attitude of entitlement, because Amos addresses the cows of Bashan, not for their physical appearance, but for their self-indulgent attitudes, because in verse one, he highlights their complacency. Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, just as cows graze lazily in lush pastures, These women were consuming resources without concern for others, amen. And so we see the attitude of that entitlement, the pressure from the women, but also the burden of greed, because in verse 1b, Amos condemns their exploitation of the poor, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, their relentless pursuit of pleasure, pressuring their husbands to work harder, often leading them into temptation. And then here in verse 2, we see the warning of judgment. Because he said, the Lord God has sworn by his holiness, just as a fisherman pulls a fish from its habitat. God warns that his holiness demands accountability. As Paul reminds us again, amen. And so when we look and we see verse three, the Bible says, and you shall go out at the the breaches. Every cow at that which is before her, you shall cast them into the palace, says the Lord. They're going to be led forth, not through the gates of the city of Samaria, but through its broken walls. They will go quietly into a straight line so as to migrate the pain of their tortured lips. because it be better said, you shall be cast as slaves into the palace of Sennacherib. In other words, the luxury of Samaria would be reduced to slavery. How sad that it is today that many people are slaves and don't realize it. You need to prepare to encounter the Almighty. And so, Put it down. Bold. Every sin will be judged or forgiven. You will not get away with what sin that you're dealing with. Numbers chapter 32 verse 23. Take note. You have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out. And it's true. He who has little and wants less is richer than he who has much and wants more. Praise his mighty name. Thank you, Jesus. And so we see the pressure from the women here in Amos chapter four, verses one, two, and three. Secondly, though, we see the perversion of their worship in verses 4 and 5. Because in verse 4, the Bible says, Come to Bethel and transgress at Gilgal, multiplying transgression, and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years. He goes on in verse five, and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven and proclaim and publish the free offerings for this lack in you, O you children of Israel, says the Lord God. You see the invitation. of verse four and five is meant to portray irony. Go to Bethel, but not to worship me. Other words, he's making a mockery of them to transgress against me. Israel professed to be God's worshipers, but they adored him under the similitude of a golden calf, as similitudes do today, under the similitude of man-made directions, other than the cross of Calvary. Boy, I'm gonna tell you, let's lay out this thing. Let's lay out this service, and let's do it this way. Instead of letting the Spirit of God lead, guide, and direct. Of course, yes, you've gotta have an order of the service, amen. And so God denounces idolatry, all worship that is not based on the atoning work of Calvary. And so the perversion of their worship in verses four and five, we see the natural, enemy ritual because Amos points out that despite their selfishness they continued to attend worship. Their offerings became mere rituals devoid of genuine connection with God and so verse 5 states, for this you love you children of Israel. And so it's the nature of an empty ritual from the perversion of their worship in verses four and five, but also the hypocrisy of heart. Because when worship became a performance rather than a heartfelt offering, it's an affront to God. A.W. Tozer once said that man who has God for his treasure has all things in one. And so, I'm glad we see not only the nature of an empty ritual, the hypocrisy of heart in verses 4 and 5 of the perversion of their worship, but we see also the call to authenticity because we must examine our own worship. Are we merely going through the motions? God desires sincerity, not just attendance. And so when we look and we realize that what God is doing, each and every one of us, because every time that we show up to worship, these guys, they send They love their empty worship. They were more interested in pressing their peers than honoring God with their worship. I remember times in the past when somebody would be pointing at their watch saying, you better hurry up preacher and get done because I'm on a timetable and I got something else I need to do. I'm here to worship and be seen in the house of God, but I'm pointing at my watch and you better hurry up and get done with that message because we need to be punctual around here. I've got other things I better be doing. Boy, I'm gonna tell you, when we got minds like that, We got problems, man. And so we see that the pressure from the women in verses one, two, and three, the perversion of their worship in verses four and five, but in verses six all the way down, the verse 13, we see the persistence in their waywardness. Because when we look at verse six and we read all the way down, to verse 13, the Bible tells us, and I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and wont of bread in all your places, yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Other word, You know what? Following this, the Holy Spirit through the prophet sets forth instances of judgment is what he's talking about. That he had sent at various times to correct Israel. "'And yet have you not returned unto me?' saith the Lord." And so it proclaims God's unwearied love, which had not conquered their rebellion. But we go on in verse seven, he says, "'And also I have withheld 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 reigned upon and the peace whereupon it reigned not withered. All of this proclaims that the Lord have in total control to all things in our life. The weather, everything, our income, our families. He's in control, amen, but we've done forgot about him. we're all about taking care of this and that uh and and our money making amen but he goes on in verse seven and also i have withheld the rain as he said a while ago when there were yet three months to the harvest and i caused it to rain upon one city i'm reading it again but listen to it again 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. Now listen as I go forth in verse eight. So two or three cities wandered unto me under one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Yet have you not returned unto me, says the Lord. And so it's a reference to the fact that while they were staggering from one city to another in order to find water, their hearts were so hard that their circumstances were not enough to bring them to repentance. How sad that it is. But he goes in verse nine, he says, I've smitten you with blastings and mildew. when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased and the palmy worm devoured them yet have you not returned unto me saith the Lord you see the Lord dealt with Israel with famine drought and now Nothing had changed at all. He had never got their attention back whatsoever. In verse 10, he says, I've sent among you the pestilence after the manor of Egypt. Your young men have I slain with a sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stink of your camps to come up into your nostrils. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord? You see, here again, he says, I've sent all of this pestilence after the manor of Egypt. All of the things that happened of the plagues of Egypt But there was an illusion to the plagues that all of a sudden out of all these Diseases out of all of this that happened in this country of the notorious things No judgments seem to be enough to bring Israel back to the Lord. He goes on in verse 11 He says 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? says the Lord. You know what? Here we see the fact that it was only the mercy of God which stopped the destruction short of total because of their unchanging response to each thing. He says, yet have you not returned unto me? He goes on in verse 12 and he says, therefore thus will I do unto you, O Israel, and because I will do this unto you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel. Here is a consequence. They are now warned of a supreme judgment. That's why I call the name of this message, Preparing to Encounter the Almighty. Prepare to meet your God, O Israel, because it means to make ready to meet God in judgment, turning to him with a changed heart, praying that he will forgive and withdraw his heavy hand. But lastly, in verse 13, for lo, he who forms the mountains, creates the wind, declares unto man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness and treads upon the high places of the earth. The Lord, the God of hosts, is his name. You see, the majesty of almighty God is set forth in this scripture that we've read. Thou mountains may be seen, the wind unseen, man's thoughts unread, day and night unchangeable, and the revolution of the earth in its orbit invariable. But all was in the power of the Judge, Jehovah Elohim Shaboath. That is His name. And so, when we look at the power of the Word of God, we see The last thing, the persistence in their waywardness. We saw the pressure from the women in verses 1, 2, and 3 of Amos chapter 4. We saw the perversion of their worship in verses 4 and 5, but in verses 6 all the way down the verse 13, the first thing that we see with the persistence in their waywardness is the divine plea for repentance. Time and again God tried to draw his people back, but in verse 6 we read, yet you have not returned to me. They face famine, they face drought, they face destruction, yet they remain unrepentant. And so the divine plea for repentance We see in verse 6, but the cycle of discipline because God's actions were not punitive, but corrective. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 6, it reminds us, for whom the Lord loves, he chastens. You see, God sends trials to awaken us from that spiritual slumber. But then we see not only the divine plea for repentance and the cycle of discipline, but lastly, in closing, the impending judgment. Amos concludes with a clarion call, prepare to meet your God. Do you hear me, America? Prepare to meet your God, the Almighty who commands creation, who demands our attention and our repentance, amen. And so, you know what? Here, God sends a famine in verse six. Because in fact, six times in six verses we find the phrase, yet you have not returned to me. Five times God disciplined them in the hopes of restoring them unto himself. But five times God chastens and five times he says, yet you have not returned unto me. Oh, the persistence in their waywardness. God sends a famine in verse six. Cleanness of teeth speaks of hunger. They didn't have enough food to even dirty their teeth. Even the lack of food didn't turn them back to God. And yet he said in verse 6, yet you have not returned to me. God sends a drought in verses 7 and 8. And in verse 8 he says, but they were not satisfied. Even though they went to other cities with water, they still couldn't get enough. Jesus said in John chapter 7 verse 37, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. thirst or quenched at the cross. Let me say that again. Your thirst can be quenched at the cross, but here were some people looking for enough water to quench their thirst and God says, but they were not satisfied. They were withering away from a lack of water. And yet we find in verse eight, yet you have not returned to me. So God sends a famine. God sends a drought. But in verse nine, God sends crop damage. Finally, the gardens began to grow. The fig trees began to bloom. But in verse nine, the locusts devoured them. And we read in Exodus where God sent the plagues of locusts to wake up Pharaoh. And what God sent to Pharaoh, he sent again to wake up the people of God to their rebellion. It was bad enough that the dry winds of the desert damaged their crops, but then he sends locusts or caterpillars to finish the job. And yet we read in verse nine, listen to me again. yet you have not returned to me. God sent a famine, God sent a drought, God sent crop damage, and since the famine didn't drive them back to God, and since the drought didn't drive them back to God, and since the crop damage didn't drive them back to God, God sent a plague. In verse 10, what a foul odor, what bloodshed, and yet God says, yet you have not returned to me and so in verse 11 God sent destruction God says yet you have not returned to me God sent these punishments because he loved them and he wanted to walk with them again and he was trying to get their attention and their affection and because they had not become Back to him, they became spiritually hardened and they missed out on God's best. That's what sin does, isn't it? It deceives you until it deadens you until finally it destroys you. They possessed a spirit of slumber. God was moving among them and They missed it. I wonder how often God moves among all of us and we miss out because of unconfessed sin in our life. I wonder how many times the Spirit of God was moving in a worship service and we missed it because we had become hardened of heart. And here was a group of people who were set in their evil ways, absolutely refusing to change. Sounds like the local church house today. God says in verse 12, prepare to meet your God. Here is a military summons to an upcoming confrontation. They were about to face God's judgment. And verse 13, the same God that formed the mountains, that created the winds, that declared the man who what he was thinking and makes the morning darkness and treads on the high places is about to unleash judgment upon his people because they refuse to repent of their sin and return to him. God always warns before wrath. God always speaks before striking. And the Lord God of hosts is his name. His patience is limited. His power is unlimited. And the best advice is to repent. I'm telling you, we see the pressure from the women, the perversion of their worship, and the persistence of their waywardness. And so as we reflect on Amos chapter four, We're challenged to consider our own lives. Are we under the pressure of materialism, engaged in hollow worship, persistently ignoring God's call to repentance? Our journey with God requires preparation. humility, and a willingness to change. The pressure from the women, the perversion of their worship, and the persistence of their waywardness. What pressures in your life are leading you away from God? How can you ensure worship is authentic and meaningful in your life? What signs of God's discipline are you currently experiencing? Every one of us take time to pray and to repent and to seek God's guidance about the areas that are in your life that you may need repentance. Engage in that personal worship and practice that connects your heart to God, such as prayer, reading of the Word of God and serving others. And you and I need to reflect on our priorities and consider what changes that we can make to be able to focus on God first, preparing to encounter the Almighty. Because each and every time that the Lord has said, and yet God says, you have not returned to me, Yet you have not returned to me. Father, thank you for the word, the call to prepare ourselves to meet you, that recognize our sins and to turn our hearts back to you. For those who do not know you, may they find salvation. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. For us, those that are saved, that are born again, your children, Lord, I pray for those that need to repent and confess their sins and renew a commitment to walk in your ways. We ask all of this from the foundation of the Old Testament of the book of Amos that we pray. Amen. you