Amos chapter 9, our Bible reading this morning. Amos 9, the last chapter in the book of Amos. We commence to read in verse 1 of Amos 9. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, And he said, smite the lintel of the door that the posts may shake, and cut them in the head of all them, and I will slay the last of them with the sword. He that fleeth off them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth off them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into hell, thence shall my hand take them. Though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. And though they hide themselves in the top of karma, I will search and take them out thence. And though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence I will command the serpent and he shall bite them. And though they go unto captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword and it shall slay them. and I will set my eyes upon them for evil and not for good. And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn, and it shall rise up holy like a flood and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt. It is he that buildeth his stories, or spheres, in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth. He that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel, saith the Lord? Have not I brought up out up Israel out of the land of Egypt and the land and the Philistines from Caphor and the Syrians from Kir. Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon this sinful kingdom and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For lo, I will command and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the trader of grapes, him that soweth seed. And the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink wine thereof. They shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them. and I will plant them up upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God. Amen. And God will bless the reading from his inspired word. Amos comes to his last message to Israel. The last message. Truly, when anyone comes to preach their last message, it's very important. It's a solemn occasion. And the last message of Amos to Israel begins with a vision. A vision of the Lord. I saw the Lord. In the previous chapter, he had been preaching to Israel about their certain doom about their rightness for judgment like a basket of ripe fruit. He'd been preaching about their glaring sins and saying that Israel will be brought to an end and telling them exactly how that would happen. And this vision in many ways is a continuation of similar themes, except at the very end there is a little glimmer of light. at the end for the true and faithful Israelites. I have three points and they are these. Number one, Amos tells them you cannot escape God's just sentence. Number two, God's judgment upon his people is sieved. It's put through a sieve. And number three, yet God's covenant blessings upon his true people will be fulfilled. So firstly, to Israel and remember their state. We've been here for 21 weeks. Israel were a sinning people of God. A people of God who blatantly disobeyed God. They profess to be His people, but they wouldn't do what He says. And this is a message to that type of people. And Amos says to them, number one, you cannot escape God's just sentence. That's verses one to four, basically. I saw the Lord standing upon or by the altar And the Lord says, to smite the lintel, that's the post at the top of the door, smash it. God is standing, the word stand, by the way, means he's standing to execute judgment by the altar. And it's not talking about the temple in Jerusalem. He's speaking, you remember, to the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel, and they had a temple built on the mountain in Samaria. They had a temple built at Bethel and Gilgal, their places of worship, their false places of worship. And God is standing to execute judgment on their altar and he says, smite the lintel off the door, the the crossbar of the door that the posts may shake, that the whole strength of the building may be shattered. Cut them down, says the Lord. Cut them down that they may shake and cut them down on the head. That means actually bring the whole place down on their heads. Destroy their building of worship with them in it. That's what it says. Bring the whole place of false worship down upon their heads. Now you see how God doesn't like false worship, don't you? Even when it's pretend worship in his name. But not according to his word. This is what God says to do to them. Bring the building down on their heads. Gordon Keeley says the point is that God will destroy the perverted worship of Israel. Now don't you tell me that God has changed and it doesn't matter how we worship God anymore as long as we worship Him. That's rubbish. We need to be very careful how we worship God. Look at what he did to them, his people. The picture is one of God bringing their temple down around their ears and not letting any of them escape. God has decided he's going to execute their judgment. Upon his professed people who rejected him Because they rejected his law his rules And they rejected his preachers or prophets and they rejected his word They just did their own thing Now I don't really think I need to start applying this to it Can you if you can't see the relevance? of the professed people of God, disobeying Him in many areas in their lives and disobeying Him in their worship, disobeying His law, rejecting His preachers and His word and what happened to them. If you don't just automatically see the relevance and how that applies today, well, you'll never see it. They just did their own thing and God destroyed them. The church in Northern Ireland, largely speaking, is doing its own thing. Is it growing? We have here, in this passage in Amos, come to the point in Israel, the Northern Kingdom, when God has had enough. Enough of His disobedient, sinful people professing that they're His. God says not one of them shall escape. Verse 4. Not one. Even if they dig right down into hell, I'll come and get them. Verse 2. Even if they ascend up to try and climb up to heaven, I'll bring them down. Verse 2. They can even try and hide on the top of Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel was covered in wooded forest, or a place where the wild beasts lived. Verse 3. I'll find them there. They can't hide. Even if they go down to the depths of the sea, I'll find them. Even if they surrender to their enemies. Verse 4. I'll still have their enemies kill them. They cannot escape from God's hand of judgment, because they cannot escape God. And you cannot escape God, because God is everywhere. He is omnipresent. He is everywhere, and no one can hide from Him, because He is where you hide. The verses that we see there In verses 1 to 4, where if they hide in hell or in heaven or in Carmel or in the depths of the sea, are very, very like the words in Psalm 139. Let me read them to you. Psalm 139, verse 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up to heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall I hand lead me and thy right hand hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yet the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as day. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee." You cannot hide from God. When He comes to bless and comfort His people, Psalm 139, it doesn't matter where you go, He's there with you, believer. But the flip side of the coin is Amos now. You also can't hide from God in judgment. You can go to the exact same places and try and hide from his judgment, and he's there as well. You can't hide from God. So that's the first point in Amos' last sermon. To the disobedient, professed people of God, He said to them, you cannot escape God's justice. Second point, God's judgment upon his people is sieved. It's filtered. That's verses 5 to 10. And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn and rise up like a flood. Let me move down the verses. It is he, verse six, that buildeth his stories in the heaven and hath founded his troop in the earth, he that calls the waters of the sea and pours them in the face of the earth. The Lord is his name. Let me go down to verse eight. Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For lo, I will command and will sift the house of Jacob among all the nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve. Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth, All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, the evil shall not overtake or prevent us. So there you see it. God's judgment upon his people is sifted. It's sieved. And it says here in the verses, the Adonai, it's the sovereign Lord that's going to do this. He that made the spheres, the stories means the spheres of heaven, the planets, He made the troops upon the earth. He made bands of men. He made the sea and controls it. The creator God of heaven and humans and earth. It is he that will do this. It's God's hand that will perform the destruction of Israel. It's not chance. It's not Assyria. It's not the politicians wrong moves. It's God. God. God will do it. God that made the planets, the spheres, the same God. God who made men and women. God who made the mighty oceans in all their awesome power. He has marked Israel for destruction in Amos day. But not all of Israel will perish. The eyes of the Lord are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. The evil kingdom will be destroyed. It will cease to exist. It will be wiped from the face of the earth. But the house, and that means the family of Jacob or Israel, will not be completely removed. Verses 9 and 10. For lo, I will command and will sift the house of Israel among all nations like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall to the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword." Those that say, the evil will not happen, you're wrong Imos. The evil won't prevent us. They're the ones that die. All of Israel is going to be sifted. It's all going to be filtered. Like corn, through a sieve. And when that happens, the Lord specifically says, there will not be the least of a piece of grain, that is, the precious fruit that will fall to the ground when he sifts his people. It's a picture Like a farmer, a husband man who would skillfully take the corn grains and the heads and the chaff, the whole thing, put it into a sieve and rub it and shake it and separate the grain which fell down into the basket to be stored. And what was left then was the rubbish or the chaff which was thrown away and burned. The grain will not fall and be crushed when I sieve Israel, says the Lord. But the chaff, the rubbish, will be trampled on. So God in judgment will filter his people and not one of the true greens will fall to the ground, the faithful of Israel. Not one of them will be lost. But the chaff, the professing disobedient who say they're God's people, will be earned. That's the teaching of verses 9 and 10. I will command and will sift the house of Israel among the nations as corn is sifted in a sieve. Yet not shall the least of grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword which say the evil shall not prevent us. No, it's not going to happen. It's the sinners among God's professed people in the Old Testament who shall die. Those who say, I'm God's child, but they're sinners, God says, they willfully transgress what his word says, yet they profess to be his. They're the ones that will be sieved out. The green, the true Christian, they'll be fine. But the other won't. Those that say, I'm God's, but they disobey God and they say, oh, this evil, this doom, gloom preaching of Amos, that is not going to happen. The evil will not overtake us, Amos. It's those among God's people who were disobedient, sinful, professing children of God who contradicted God's prophets. They are the ones that will die. The liars shall die. They said they were gods, but they weren't. They professed with their mouth, but the green will not fall to the ground. The true children of God are safe and secure, not even one grain. You are a Christian, a true Christian, you are safe, safe. God's justice and his judgment upon his people is filtered and the true people of God are preserved. But the false, easy-believing, worship as they want at Bethel and Gilgal, the materialistic hedonists among them, the people who say, I'm God's, I'm a Christian, but they contradict His preachers, they will die. God's justice, when it comes, will confirm the true Christian. but exposes and destroys the liar. That's what it teaches. Third and last point. There is a future day of hope for God's true people. That's verses 11 down to 15. and not read it all. In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as of the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and of all the heathen which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, Imagine that! A picture of blessing. What's it talking about, by the way? Because, you see, Israel, the ten tribes, never returned. They did not ever return to their land. According to Acts chapter 15 and verses 16 and 17, as all the commentators say, this last eleven Verses 11 to 15 in the last chapter of Amos, this is a messianic promise. This is referenced to the days of Messiah, Jesus. The tabernacle of David, that means the family of David, the son of David, the Lord Jesus. Verse 11, it's talking about him, his day, Messiah's time. It's not talking about ten tribes coming back. The breaches among God's people, verse 11, will be closed up on this day. The breaches means the breaks, the divisions. And when it says there, the tabernacle of David, the Jews see that immediately as a messianic promise, Messiah. It'll be like a return to David's day, King David, the great days of Israel. When the breaches among God's people were closed, there was only one nation then. In David's day, they hadn't split into two kingdoms. The breaches were closed. There was one people of God in the days of King David. Since his day, they had breached, they had split into two kingdoms. And now when we look at Acts chapter 15 verses 14 to 17, I'm going to read it to you in a minute. Simon Peter is here reporting to the church in Jerusalem about the Gentiles that got saved. And here's what he says. Very interesting. Acts 15, 14. Simeon, Simon Peter have declared So that's not that Simeon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gentiles and take out of them a people for his name and to this agree the words of the prophets as it is written after this I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down and I will build again the ruins thereof and will set it up that the residue of men might seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, seek the Lord, who doeth all these things." The apostles in Acts saw the Gentiles being saved as a part of the tabernacle of David being restored. It was a messianic promise that was given by Amos in chapter 9. A promise of what would happen in Messiah's time, a messianic day of great blessing, when the breaches would be closed up among God's people. Now if you look at the Amos chapter 9 verses 11 to 15 as a picture, it's a prophecy, it's prophetic. What it teaches is generally a return to the days of King David, a messianic promise, The breaches in Israel will be closed, there will be great blessings, and there will be permanence, verses 13, 14, 15. And this is all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, the Son of David who came, not to build a physical, geographical kingdom, but a spiritual one. God's people are now one people. They're a spiritual people. Ephesians 2, we've been studying it. Those of faith are God's children. There are no longer Jews and Gentiles. There's no more breach among God's people. In the days of Messiah, the breaches among God's people were closed up. All are God's people who believe and nobody else. The breaches are closed. Great spiritual blessings of the gospel. The plower, the plower says here shall overtake the reaper. How could that happen? Verse 13. What's it saying? It's saying that the harvest will be so great and big. But when the plower comes to plow the ground before seed time. The reaper will still be undefeated. bringing in last year's harvest that was so big he couldn't get it all in. He hasn't had enough time to gather it all in. It's a sign or a picture of massive blessing. So generally verses 11 to 15 is a future prophecy of hope for the true people of God. I want to draw to a conclusion and try and sum up the message of the book, which isn't easy. The three points this morning were this. Number one, you can't escape from God's justice. He is where you hide. Number two, God's judgment is sieved. It's only the sinners, the disobedient among his people. that are destroyed by God's judgment. The grain is kept. And thirdly, there's a future day of hope for God's true people, when they will be one, and we are in it. We are in that day. And that's the Book of Amos. Now, what's the message of the Book of Amos? I have a few points, and the first one is this. Not sermon points, one-line points. The message of the book of Amos is this, pagan nations are judged by God for how they treat Christians. That's Amos chapter 1 verse 1 to 2 verse 3. Second, the worldly sins among those who profess to be God's people, God judges. That's chapter 2. Thirdly, God's people are warned not to corrupt the holy or hinder God's preachers. That's chapter 2. Fourthly, it comes through again and again in the book of Amos that false man-made additions to worship does not impress God, but God hates it. He literally hates it. That's chapter 3 and chapter 5 verses 21 to 27. Fifthly, God smites materialism feminism, greed, and shallow religiosity among his people. God smites all that. And sixthly, God's people are to look and see what God has done to them in chapter 4. See it. Look, he said, at your desolation and destruction and repent. Seventhly, the day of the Lord will be darkness for the hypocrite. For those that say they're Christians, but don't do what God says. He must say to them, why are you looking forward to the day of the Lord? It'll be darkness for you. It'll be terrible for those that think they're saved, but aren't. It's not a secret, you know, who's saved but isn't, who thinks they're saved but isn't. Their persistent pattern of life proves that. It was obedience that proved it, it still does. Not a slip-up, a persistent pattern determined to disobey God proves the difference between a true Christian and a professing one. Eighthly, God comes to the point eventually when he has had enough of people that disobey him. And ninthly, God tests his church, his people, by his plumb line, the plumb line of his word. He measures always. He measures his people by his word, not our opinions, not our likes or dislikes. He measures it all by his word. Worship is not meant primarily to impress you or me. or to please you or me. That's not the idea of worship. Worship is meant to please God. But they had done it so it pleased them. There was once a man, you know, and he was leaving a church. And the minister of the church was a very good preacher, very famous. And the man went to see the minister. He had to make an appointment to go and see him. And the minister said to him, why are you going? And here's the words of the man. I want to go to another church quote now because I'm not getting anything from the worship. I'm not getting anything from the worship. Here's what the minister said. I thought the worship was for God. I thought it was for God. Worship's not for you. It's for Him. I'm not getting anything from the worship. You don't need worship. Worship's towards God. That's who it has to please. A man was really wanting to worship himself. What has to please me has to please God. God tests his church by his plumb line. You're not meant to get anything out of the worship. You're not a God. What's the lessons? The lessons to the Church of Christ in this land. Obey God in worship. Don't be like the world. You can't get any cleaner than that. You just have to read Amos and you'll see that. Obey God in worship. Don't be like the world. For the Christian, the message is this. Don't be a hypocrite. God doesn't like people saying they are His, while they're deliberately, determinedly not doing what He says. Disobeying. And God's word from Amos, for the lost. And I include in the word lost, some of you who profess to be Christians, but don't obey God. You're lost too. And I'm not going to stand at the judgment day and give account why I patted your back when you were going to hell. Some of you have professed Christ and you disobey Him every day and you're not saved. So I'm including you in the lost. You can't get away from God. He is everywhere. And if you're sinning, if you're disobeying God, you need to repent of it and stop it. And then you're forgiven. And remember also, when God judges his people, when God judges his church, the green, those that are righteous, the precious fruit are kept. Not one will fall to the ground. It's the chaff and the rebels that are removed and destroyed. I'm going to close with what I begun the series with, a quote from this commentator, Gordon Keating. The message of Amos comes to us in the context of a nation under judgment. As we shall see in these studies, Israel, like the so-called nations of the Christian West today, enjoyed an unparalleled degree of prosperity, and yet was never further from God who had given her every good thing she possessed. The contemporarity of Amos for the practical paganism of the West is indisputable. And while it affords, this is the book of Amos, affords a great encouragement for the true followers of the Lord Jesus, it provides no refuge whatsoever. for those who are doing their own thing in disregard of the revealed will of God. Or indeed, there's no hiding place for those who hide their practical ungodliness. That's their ungodliness that's shown in their actions, what they do. They hide their practical ungodliness behind a show of nominal outward religion. So Amos is a book that encourages the true child of God and leaves no stone unturned in exposing the professor who's false. So please, men and women, let us all examine our own hearts in the light of what God says about His people and those that are true and those that are false. Amen.