Amos chapter 4, and we'll read the entire chapter, just 13 verses, but you'll note that there is a refrain that is mentioned quite a bit. So I hope you will not gloss over that, but that'll be seen. So as we read Amos chapter 4, beginning in the verse 1, Hear this word, ye kind of Bashan, that are in the mountains of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, bring and let us drink. The Lord God hath sworn by His holiness, that lo, the day shall come upon you that He will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out at the breeches, every cow at that which is before her. And ye shall cast them into the place, saith the Lord. Come to Bethel and transgress. At Gilgal, multiply transgression. And bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years. and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places. Ye have not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. And 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, the peace whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water, but they were not satisfied. 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 ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt. Your young men have I slain with the sword, and I have taken away your horses, and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils. Yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord." I have overgrown or overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. Yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord? Therefore, thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." For lo, He that formeth the mountains and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness and tread upon the high places of the earth, the Lord, the God of hosts, is His name." We notice the refrain in v. 6, 8, 9, 10, 11. Yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. And then we come to v. 12. Therefore, thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet." Thy God, O Israel. Amen. I trust the Lord again to bless this reading. If we could just briefly bow in a word of prayer and ask the Lord for his grace and for his help now as we come to the preaching of his word. Our Heavenly Father, Lord, we certainly have read a very solemn passage of scripture. Lord, we confess that even the verse 12, Lord, makes us to think and to reverence our God. Lord, we're thankful that Thou art a good and gracious God and greatly to be praised. But, O Lord, we think of those in this land in which we live are shaking their fists at Thee are spurning Thy goodness, are refusing Thy grace, and living the way of ungodliness. Lord, there's coming a day. And Lord, we know that one day You will reveal Yourself. That there will be a day of judgment. That You will bring all into that judgment. Lord, I pray that none will be found wanting. I pray, O Lord, that all will be covered and cleansed by the blood of Christ. And, O Lord, I pray that You will teach us to number our days, to apply our hearts unto wisdom, and to live as unto Thee. Our Heavenly Father, I do pray that You will come today, that You will bless our gathering with Thy presence, Lord, we know that God is everywhere. But truth be told, heavenly Father, at times because of our sin, our lack of nearness to Thee, Lord, because of the thoughts that we think, because of the actions we have done, we are not aware of Your presence. And so even now in these quiet moments of our hearts at the throne of grace, we pray that You will help us to bring all of our attention to Thee and to Thy Word. I ask, Lord, that You will undertake for me. I confess that without the power of God, without the presence of God, without the true infilling of Thy Spirit, Lord, the preaching of Thy Word is in vain. I pray that You will come and anoint me, that You will sanctify me, that You will take and use me. Lord, as weak as a vessel I am, I pray for the power of God to rest upon me and upon this place. O Lord, truly we want to see Thy glory. And so we ask, Lord, once again, come and do a work that no man can do. Lord, let the Spirit of God lead in this preaching service now. Let us hear the words of God to our own hearts. Let us be concerned with our own walk. We ask all these things, Father, for the sake of Christ and for our fellowship with Him, we pray in Jesus' name and for Jesus' sake, Amen. This Wednesday marks the anniversary of one of the most devastating tragedies our country has ever experienced since Pearl Harbor. Twenty-three years ago now, on Tuesday morning, 2,977 fellow Americans were killed by Islamic terrorists. On the morning of September 11th, Muslim extremists hijacked four commercial airliners and used them as weapons of assault and declared war on our country. The first attack took place in New York City, where two planes were flown like missiles directly into the Twin Towers, which then eventually caused their collapse. In Washington, D.C., a third airliner plunged into the Pentagon, while a fourth airplane that was intended for the Capitol, but not for the heroic efforts of the passengers empowering the terrorists, fatally crashed in a remote location in Pennsylvania. All of those people and the entire nation of America as well did not know or even expect what September 11th, 2001 would bring forth. Having lived through that day, we never would have imagined that kind of horrific attack upon innocent men and women and children. The unprovoked attack on our country certainly took us all by surprise. I'm sure you can remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the awful news. September 11th is a vivid illustration of the fact that we do not know what a day will bring forth. The broadcast that will be delivered Wednesday on the radio and TV will certainly be filled with mourning on that day of remembrance. I truly believe it is good to mourn for our country, and even for the awful loss that many families had to face. We read in Ecclesiastes 3 that mourning is biblical. For God gives us a time to mourn. It is better to go to the house of mourning For it is there that we learn much about life and even the way of death. I believe also that September 11th is not only a day of mourning, but it's a day of great mourning. It's a day that should be a wake-up call for us all. It should wake us up as a nation. We live in such a wonderful land. And God is sending, if He hasn't already, He's sending this nation warnings because of its sin. I can take the entire service just listing the sins of our country. You know, then this nation, and sadly, this nation openly endorses the murder of babies. It openly endorses immorality, wickedness, sinfulness, and even religious apostasy. And all these things are vying for, as it were, our attention, and they are replacing, if they haven't already, they're seeking to replace purity and the truth of God's Word in this land. Not only should it be a wake-up call for this nation, but it should be a wake-up call for us as individuals. You know, are there sins that you're harboring in your life? Like Achan did there in Joshua 7, you remember that he took the accursed thing. And because he took of that accursed thing, he brought judgment upon Israel. You know, I remember Dr. Barrett often saying in class that sin is never private. We read in Numbers, be sure your sin will find you out. And so there's a great warning to this nation. There's a great warning God is giving to each of us as individuals. You know, all that I have said really now leads me to the message that the prophet Amos preached. The days in which he lived called for a man of sturdy moral fiber and fearlessness. He was called by God to really deliver a very indicting wake-up call to the northern kingdom of Israel who were at that time living in prosperity under the reign of Jeroboam II. or by putting the prophetical acts, as it were, to the root of false religion, Amos attacked two major sins of Israel. Namely, idolatry and social injustice. You know, can we not see those same sins in our nation and in individuals as well? You know, God rebuked Israel's social and religious sins by sending them, and I quote, various warnings. By giving them wake-up calls of His displeasure. And through the variety of warnings, God was encouraging Israel to repent. God exercised His restraint in Israel's life in order to give them the opportunity to turn from their sins. You know, what was true for Israel is certainly true for you and me and for our nation today. It is only by the mercy of God that this nation and unrepentant sinners are not consumed by His wrath. But with that being said, God's forbearance, His patience, and His longsuffering are really all going to come to a radical halt And if I can apply the long-suffering words or the words of God when He said, my spirit shall not always strive with them. There's going to be a day when God will judge those who have spurned His goodness. Those who have refused His grace. Those who have, as it were, hit the snooze button to God's wake-up calls to repentance. You know, while we pause on Wednesday to remember what we lost 23 years ago, we have to wonder if this nation has really learned its need to return to God for restoration. To return to the God of blessing. To the One who has given this country great prosperity. You know, there is coming a day of God's judgment. You know, we have to remember. We have to remember it's certainly the goodness of God and the land of the living. But repentance is that to which God is calling our country to. You know, the words of Amos to Israel are definitely applicable, are they not, to our nation, but even more appropriate to every unrepentant person here today. There is coming a day of God's judgment that will exceed anything that has been seen to date. And therefore, verse 12, Amos states, prepare to meet thy God. You know, these words should shake the very foundation on which every unrepentant person stands upon. If God's message of mercy does not strike fear in the heart and drive us to Christ, Nothing ever will. And therefore these words in our text this morning should urge really everyone to make themselves ready before God. Because there's going to be a meeting with God. As we consider that theme then together this morning, a meeting with God, I want to leave with you three thoughts then from our text. And I trust that the Lord will help me just to be very simple. The first thing I want to share with you from the text is the fact that everyone is going to meet God. There are going to be no exclusions. There's going to be no one left that will not meet God. You know, one of the most solemn thoughts is the idea of meeting God. It is an unavoidable meeting. It can't be cancelled. It can't be postponed. In God's calendar, if I can say it that way, there is already a day designated when everyone will come face to face with His Creator. One man aptly said, God and you will meet as if it were alone. There will be no exceptions. There will be no exclusions. For God is no respecter of persons. If we turn to Acts 17, and for sake of time, I won't turn there, but I will read, and there we learn what that meeting will be like. In v. 31 of Acts 17, it says that God hath appointed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness. God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. Ecclesiastes also states in v. 14 of chapter 12, for God shall bring every word into judgment with every secret thing. God knows our thoughts. God knows our actions. He knows everything about us. The righteousness of Christ is going to bring to light not only our outward actions, but our innermost thoughts and intents of the heart as well. It's really hard to imagine, but it's true. Every idle word, and I suppose that's why we're taught to let your yea be yea and your nay be nay, but every idle word, every secret motive, and every act done in the body will be exposed before the Lord. And to use the words of 1 Corinthians 4, the Lord God hath sworn by His holiness. He is not lying. God is going to judge everyone in His strict justice. His holiness cannot allow unrepentant sin to go unpunished. The reference to divine judgment really is a warning to people to repent. And to avoid a day that will lead them to condemnation, doom, and destruction. The message of divine judgment does really one of two things. It will either cause people to confess their sins and believe in Jesus Christ as the only Redeemer of God's elect, as the only Savior of sinners. Those who are Christ will not only have Him as their judge, but He will be, if I can say it this way and not to sound trite or irreverent, but their defense attorney. As they stand before God, they will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ, which alone can meet God's strict justice. But secondly, the message of divine judgment will cause people to harden their hearts and turn away from God as well. We read there in Acts 24, v. 24-26, you remember Paul, he preached the Christian faith to Felix, who was the Roman governor. And to Drusilla, who was a Jewess. And initially they went, or they wanted to hear about the Christian faith, but when Paul told them that they will have to face God and receive their verdict, they both became agitated. and excused Paul from their presence. Though they were afraid of that meeting and God's judgment, they refused to repent of their sinful ways and turn to faith in Christ. You know, people may forget, and some will even assume that God does not take an interest or even notice their sin. But there really is coming a day when everyone shall have to give an account of himself to God, as Paul told the church at Rome. The fact that God's judgment upon sin is certain, Amos says, prepare to meet thy God. But unfortunately, this solemn meeting will find, secondly, many people not prepared to meet God. You know, if these words must be said, then it must be true. Amos told Israel to prepare, because they were not ready to be judged by God at a moment's notice. You know, the words of Amos are really appropriate and applicable today. You know, the time to meet God is closer than we think. And to use the words of David, there is but a step between them, or us, and death. Again, for sake of time, but we would turn to Matthew 24, verses 42 to 44. And our Lord, He said, Be ye ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. You know, what Matthew is saying is really the idea of a suddenness, unexpectedness, and unpreparedness. And it has the idea with a view to the coming of the Lord and His judgment. Everyone should always be on alert. Since His coming is a matter of finality. You know, Amos warned Israel and he rebuked their apathy. He told Israel to prepare for that awful moment. You know, the Israelites already knew about God's intervention. And we read in v. 6-11 that the Lord in His long-suffering sent famine, He sent drought, mildew, and pestilence, overthrew some like Sodom and Gomorrah, and yet sadly, in all of God's gracious attempts to call them unto repentance, in order to save them from total destruction, Israel refused God. Five times our Lord said in verses 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11, Ye have not returned unto Me. Israel was incorrigible. They were so headstrong and hard-hearted that they denied to see God's hand. in their calamities. You know, Amos repeatedly described these events to Israel in order to lead them to repentance. You know, Wayne Grudem, he defines repentance as a heartfelt sorrow for sin. A renouncing of it and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ. Repentance isn't simply to turn our backs on sin. But sin is to be repented of and sin is to be walked away from and to Christ. So in our repentance, we turn from our sin and we walk to the Savior. Repentance leads to restoration and fellowship with God. Did not Paul teach that same thing in Romans 2 in v. 4? Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? You know, Paul says the intent of God's mercy really is to give opportunity for repentance. You know, God's patience. is displayed for us really in the parable of the prodigal son. We all know that passage of scripture in Luke chapter 15. And there we read in verses 11 to 32, and how the father, he didn't go after the son who took his inheritance early, and then he squandered his wealth on foolishness. He had no money to feed himself during that famine, and so he had to work a degrading job feeding pigs. The Lord was gracious to this young man, and in a very merciful way allowed the prodigal son to see the error of his way and the calamity that had come upon him. The father in the parable waited patiently for the son to come to his senses. to confess his sins and to come home and to be reconciled. You remember what Peter said in his epistle in chapter 3, v. 15, that the longsuffering of the Lord is salvation. You know, the reason why God graciously waits and suspends His final judgment on sinners is to give them time to repent. of their sin, but there is coming a day when those who, as one preacher said, who slight the warnings of God's grace shall feel the terror of His wrath. Christ said, except ye repent, ye will all likewise perish. It will be such an interview, as one man said, for the unrepentant sinner to meet a thrice holy God as for wood, hay, and stubble to meet fire." Amos, in many respects, is saying like John the Baptist, prepare then ye the way of the Lord. Make way for Christ into your heart and into your soul. And this leads me thirdly then to say, there is a preparation commanded for you to take. Prepare to meet thy God. John Calvin, he made this comment. He says, However worthy thou art of being destroyed, and though the Lord seems to have closed up the door of mercy, and despair meets thee on every side, thou canst yet mitigate God's wrath, provided thou prepare to meet Him. God has made a sure way for us to fully prepare or to be prepared as we meet our God. You know, we must meet God in the way of His Redeemer. We know the text of Scripture. We can share it to others by heart. John 14 and 6 says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come unto the Father but by Me. You know, in Christ, we are able to meet God. For the Lord steers God's wrath and judgment far or for sin away from us. But we also must meet God in the way of repentance. We must recognize the seriousness of sin and its offense to God. You know, sin is no light thing. Sin is nothing to be trifled with. It's like fire. When you take it to your bosom, you're going to get burned. Sin is an offense to God. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Sin is a deliberate missing of the mark. We should grieve over our sins. Oh, we don't just grieve over the heinous and the big sins. We grieve over all of our sins. One sin, one little sin, is big enough to send us to hell. Is big enough to be put under the judgment of God for all eternity. And there must be a grievance over our sins. And God forbid if we ever become callous, if we ever become just completely glossed over from sins that we commit. Instead, we should honestly remember the words of Joel 2 and verse 13, that we're to rend our hearts and not our garments. It should break our hearts, the things that we do in the body before God. We should be grieved. We should be grieved over our sin. We should turn from those sins. We should forsake old ways and seek the Lord's forgiveness and His cleansing. You remember the words of Isaiah 55, verses 6-7. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. You know, the glorious truth that a repenting sinner knows is that God withholds His judgment from all those who turn unto Him in Christ. You know, Amos 4 and verse 12 really commands us to prepare. But I say, I must say that this passage teaches us even a far greater truth for those who know not God through Jesus Christ. You know, I often think of the text of Scripture there in 2 Peter 4, in v. 17, "'For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it first begin with us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God?' A comment was made, "'The day will come when inasmuch as you have rejected the easy yoke of repentance, you will have to bear the iron yoke of remorse. You know, the Gospel has become, really in some respects, softened. It has, over the years, become a Gospel that is just trying to please and tickle the ears of men and women, has it not? And part of the strategy for some evangelists, and I say in quotes, It's simply to invite people to Christ. And in many respects, they use that word deliberately. And the idea really of an invitation is that it can be declined politely without punishment. But that's not what Amos is teaching here. This is not an invitation, but a command. And therefore, a command cannot be declined with exemption. It cannot be declined with impunity. Paul said that God commands every man everywhere to repent. And if you decline that command, it is really at your own peril. It's at your own destruction. You know, if you politely reject the gospel, you are not exempt from punishment and condemnation. You know, we go to people's homes, or we're invited to places, you know, a host or a hostess may excuse your absence if you politely say, I can't attend. And they'll be even disappointed that you were not able to be in their company. However, those who reject God's command to repent and to believe and to be baptized really are in a great danger, for God says in Romans 1, you're without excuse. You know, God will not excuse the sin of those who refuse His mercy. President Abraham Lincoln proclamation for a national day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer on April 30th in 1863. He said this, and I'm going to share you this quote. It's lengthy as we close. We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved the many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us. And we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace. Too proud to pray to God that made us. It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended power. To confess our national sins. and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. You know, as we leave here today, I would have us all to remember the words of our text. In verse 12, Amos, he cries to the people of God, to the nation of Israel, prepare to meet thy God. There's coming a day that you're going to meet your God. I trust the Lord to take these words and to burn these words into our own hearts and into our minds for His own namesake. Prepare to meet thy God.