1 00:00:00,020 --> 00:00:04,920 Good morning, Harbor Church, West Oahu. My name is Christian. I'm a pastor at Harbor Church, 2 00:00:05,060 --> 00:00:09,720 Waipahu. For those of you guys who don't know me, I used to work at this church. I was actually a 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,120 part of the community group that led to this church plant. And one of the things I will say 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:18,940 about your church that I'm really grateful for is you guys are not only having an effect out 5 00:00:19,350 --> 00:00:24,860 overseas, which you guys are making an impact out there, but the work that you guys do and your 6 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:29,980 faithfulness to the gospel, your faithfulness to God has also made its way 10 minutes down the road 7 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:34,720 Waipahu where we're at. And so we planted three years ago. And I can honestly say that without 8 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,340 your support, without your prayers, without your faithfulness to this local body, our church would 9 00:00:39,380 --> 00:00:44,540 not be here today. And so we're grateful for you guys. But Justin did not ask me to come talk about 10 00:00:44,540 --> 00:00:49,380 how awesome you guys are. So I'm going to preach the word today. And so if you can, you're going to 11 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,420 be in the book of Amos and we're going to be jumping all over the place. And so if you want 12 00:00:53,420 --> 00:00:57,540 to follow along because you're a beast like that with your hard copy Bible, that's awesome. But if 13 00:00:57,500 --> 00:01:02,100 not, we'll have them on the screen. And so before we start, though, in the book of Amos, we are going 14 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:07,940 through a series called Expecting, and we're in a season of Advent in the church. And Advent is a 15 00:01:08,060 --> 00:01:12,740 time when church life just slows down a little bit as we build towards Christmas, and it's a time for 16 00:01:12,740 --> 00:01:19,820 the church to think and reflect on the coming of Jesus Christ. Like 2,000 years ago, when he came 17 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,759 to his people, it's a time for us to remember what that joy was like, what that hope was like 18 00:01:24,780 --> 00:01:29,020 that they felt when the Messiah was born in Israel. 19 00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:32,980 And also it's a time for us to reflect on the second coming of Jesus, right? 20 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:34,800 Because one day the good news is, 21 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,760 and the hope that we have is that Jesus will come again one day to right every 22 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:42,720 wrong, to wipe away every tear from our eye, to make all things new. 23 00:01:43,380 --> 00:01:47,680 But we'll see that before Jesus came onto the scene 2000 years ago, 24 00:01:48,420 --> 00:01:51,160 hundreds of years before God had already promised the Messiah. 25 00:01:51,860 --> 00:01:58,240 God had promised in the prophets that there would come up a person, a savior, who would be a light 26 00:01:58,340 --> 00:02:02,860 to the world, who would be a blessing not only to the nation of Israel, but a blessing to the entire 27 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:08,460 world. And so we're going to see that as we jump into what's known as the minor prophets. So we're 28 00:02:08,460 --> 00:02:12,580 going to be every week until Christmas going through a minor prophet. Now, if you know anything 29 00:02:12,700 --> 00:02:16,840 about the minor prophets, the minor prophets are not minor because they're insignificant, right? 30 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,560 We don't call them minor because they're, you know what, Isaiah was important, Jeremiah was important, 31 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,320 but the minor prophets are not that important. 32 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,280 No, they're minor because they're shorter. 33 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:27,320 They're pithy, right? 34 00:02:27,460 --> 00:02:28,680 They're short, they're small, 35 00:02:29,100 --> 00:02:31,200 but they have a lot to teach us about who God is 36 00:02:31,500 --> 00:02:33,380 and who we are in light of that. 37 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:36,240 And so we're gonna be in the book of Amos today. 38 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:37,780 If some of you guys don't know what it is, 39 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,340 famous Amos cookies has nothing to do with this, okay? 40 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:41,700 The book of Amos. 41 00:02:42,260 --> 00:02:44,720 Now, here's the cultural background of the book of Amos. 42 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,020 The book of Amos was written in about 760 BC 43 00:02:48,620 --> 00:02:49,980 during the reign in Israel. 44 00:02:50,100 --> 00:02:53,320 At the time, there was the northern kingdom Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah. 45 00:02:53,840 --> 00:03:00,040 And this was written to the people of Israel, 760 BC, under King Jeroboam II. 46 00:03:00,940 --> 00:03:04,100 During this reign, Israel was prosperous. 47 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:05,740 I'm talking like wealthy, okay? 48 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:06,700 They were rich. 49 00:03:06,940 --> 00:03:07,500 They were wealthy. 50 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:08,320 They were powerful. 51 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:10,160 They expanded their borders. 52 00:03:10,340 --> 00:03:12,540 They had a great military relationship. 53 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:14,420 They had solid borders. 54 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:15,900 The economy was booming. 55 00:03:16,300 --> 00:03:18,600 And it was like, inflation was like 1%. 56 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:19,040 You know what I mean? 57 00:03:19,340 --> 00:03:21,940 like everything was going well in Israel. 58 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:24,060 And the crazy part about it is 59 00:03:24,700 --> 00:03:25,960 even though everything was going well, 60 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:27,100 you get to Amos chapter eight 61 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:28,500 and all of a sudden, 62 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:30,500 according to God's perspective, 63 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:31,600 things aren't actually going well. 64 00:03:32,180 --> 00:03:34,220 Here's what God says to the people of Israel. 65 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:36,460 Look, the days are coming. 66 00:03:36,660 --> 00:03:38,400 This is the declaration of the Lord God. 67 00:03:39,260 --> 00:03:40,580 When I will send a famine through the land, 68 00:03:40,660 --> 00:03:42,500 not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, 69 00:03:42,860 --> 00:03:44,400 but of hearing the words of the Lord. 70 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:46,400 People will stagger from sea to sea. 71 00:03:46,460 --> 00:03:48,140 They will roam from north to east, 72 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,900 seeking the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. 73 00:03:52,740 --> 00:03:55,300 So Amos is a prophet, speaking the words of God 74 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,420 to a nation that was thriving economically. 75 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,940 They were wealthy, they were powerful, they were comfortable. 76 00:04:01,380 --> 00:04:03,860 But God says, I am going to send a famine to you, 77 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,880 but not a famine of bread or famine of food. 78 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,860 I'm going to send you a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 79 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:14,740 And what this means is it could look like in your life, 80 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:15,720 everything is going well. 81 00:04:16,579 --> 00:04:18,079 The nation could look like it's thriving. 82 00:04:18,359 --> 00:04:19,720 The nation could look powerful. 83 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:20,840 You could look powerful. 84 00:04:20,940 --> 00:04:21,780 You could look wealthy. 85 00:04:22,180 --> 00:04:23,060 You can look comfortable. 86 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,340 And life can be spiritually empty. 87 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,680 You could actually be in a time of spiritual famine. 88 00:04:28,860 --> 00:04:30,420 Now, the question we have to ask ourselves is, 89 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,680 how does a nation that God chose out of all nations, 90 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,420 how did the people of God go from being blessed 91 00:04:37,900 --> 00:04:39,840 to now falling under the judgment of God? 92 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:42,520 Because it didn't just happen, right? 93 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,020 God didn't just wake up one day and go, 94 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,080 Israel, you are under my judgment now. 95 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:47,260 Now, God is not like that. 96 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,240 And we're going to see that God actually has reasons for judging Israel. 97 00:04:51,300 --> 00:04:53,320 He doesn't just do it, you know, out of the blue. 98 00:04:54,260 --> 00:04:56,700 But before we see that, what I want to be careful at, 99 00:04:57,139 --> 00:05:01,240 we always have to be careful when we're listening to a sermon that talks about sin, 100 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:03,220 which Amos does, that we're careful. 101 00:05:03,340 --> 00:05:06,020 Like for me, I don't get to sit in sermons very often anymore. 102 00:05:06,140 --> 00:05:06,680 I used to. 103 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:08,660 I used to preach once a month, which is great. 104 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,080 And I would sit in here and I would sit in the sermon and listen. 105 00:05:12,260 --> 00:05:14,540 And as the pastor's talking about sin, I would think to myself, 106 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:16,000 oh, that would be good for that guy to hear. 107 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,320 I can't wait till she hears that one. 108 00:05:19,420 --> 00:05:20,260 Yeah, I think like that, right? 109 00:05:21,220 --> 00:05:22,140 And the book of Amos says, 110 00:05:22,140 --> 00:05:23,700 I don't want you to think about all the sins 111 00:05:23,820 --> 00:05:24,780 that exist out there in the world. 112 00:05:24,810 --> 00:05:26,540 I want you to turn the mirror on yourselves 113 00:05:26,610 --> 00:05:28,240 and I want you to see your own sin. 114 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:31,780 When God speaks to the people of Israel 115 00:05:32,450 --> 00:05:33,520 in Amos chapter one, 116 00:05:33,570 --> 00:05:34,520 we don't have time to read it all, 117 00:05:34,790 --> 00:05:37,860 but he goes out and God starts off not calling out Israel. 118 00:05:37,870 --> 00:05:40,520 He starts off calling out all the other nations around them. 119 00:05:40,750 --> 00:05:42,220 He goes kind of from the farthest nations 120 00:05:42,310 --> 00:05:43,380 and kind of spirals inward. 121 00:05:43,490 --> 00:05:46,920 He says Damascus and calling them out for their sins. 122 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:48,740 He says, Gaza, you've sinned. 123 00:05:48,740 --> 00:05:51,280 He says, Tyre, you sinned and you didn't care for people. 124 00:05:51,340 --> 00:05:54,660 He says, Edom, you have a lack of compassion for the people of God. 125 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,760 He says to the Ammonites and the Moabites that you are wicked and you are a violent people. 126 00:06:00,100 --> 00:06:04,540 And you can imagine as the Israelites are hearing God wanting to punish all their enemies, 127 00:06:04,940 --> 00:06:05,700 they're cheering them on. 128 00:06:05,940 --> 00:06:07,900 Yes, Lord, get those guys. 129 00:06:09,380 --> 00:06:09,720 Get them. 130 00:06:10,500 --> 00:06:10,800 Crush them. 131 00:06:11,500 --> 00:06:12,040 Destroy them. 132 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:13,760 They make our life miserable. 133 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:14,940 They make us feel unsafe. 134 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:16,420 Crush those other people. 135 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:21,200 And yet God saves and reserves his greatest judgment in the book of Amos, 136 00:06:21,740 --> 00:06:24,280 not for the nations of this world, but for Israel itself. 137 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:31,860 It's as if God is saying, don't be so comfortable criticizing and condemning the sin out there 138 00:06:31,940 --> 00:06:33,980 that you forget that you yourself have sinned. 139 00:06:35,620 --> 00:06:36,660 Right? You guys know this, right? 140 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:41,160 That the greatest sin, the only sin that affects your relationship with God 141 00:06:41,180 --> 00:06:42,760 is not the sin that people commit to you. 142 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,580 It's not the sin that somebody out there sins in this world. 143 00:06:46,700 --> 00:06:48,040 It's not the evil that exists out there. 144 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:51,820 The only sin that you're condemned for as a person, as a human, 145 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:55,620 is the sin that you commit against God every single day. 146 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,540 And so the book of Amos wants you to confront not other people's sin, 147 00:07:00,580 --> 00:07:05,080 but your own sin, to see where you fall short every single day. 148 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:05,900 And so what is that? 149 00:07:06,020 --> 00:07:09,280 What are the reasons that God punishes the nation of Israel? 150 00:07:09,300 --> 00:07:12,020 What is the reason God says that he's going to judge the nation of Israel? 151 00:07:12,020 --> 00:07:12,760 And here's the first one. 152 00:07:13,180 --> 00:07:15,960 They cared more about money than they did about people. 153 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,440 They cared more about money than they did about people. 154 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:21,260 Amos chapter two, verse six and seven. 155 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:23,880 The Lord says, I will not relent. 156 00:07:24,110 --> 00:07:27,700 That means I will not stop from punishing Israel for three crimes, even four. 157 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,440 Just a poetic way of saying all these crimes they've committed. 158 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:32,040 Because why? 159 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:37,180 Because they sell a righteous person for silver and a needy person for a pair of sandals. 160 00:07:37,190 --> 00:07:42,800 They trample the heads of the poor on the dust of the ground and obstruct the path of the needy. 161 00:07:42,900 --> 00:07:49,040 Israel had come under judgment from God because in here, they turned a blind eye to the people in need around them. 162 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:50,340 That's all they did. 163 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:52,260 They turned a blind eye. 164 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,500 They would sell a righteous person, which is another form of slavery, right? 165 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,400 That's kind of slavery that we have that existed even in our own country, 166 00:07:59,950 --> 00:08:03,280 where you buy and sell people, man-stealing, which is condemned in the Bible. 167 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:05,240 They would trade a needy person. 168 00:08:05,350 --> 00:08:06,760 So there's a person in need. 169 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:11,339 There's this person that needs something, and they trade that person for a pair of sandals 170 00:08:11,340 --> 00:08:13,600 because they care more about their fashion 171 00:08:14,030 --> 00:08:15,980 and they care more about what they look like 172 00:08:15,990 --> 00:08:16,920 and what they feel like 173 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,920 than they do about the needs of other people. 174 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:20,400 They are so consumed with themselves, 175 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:22,160 they cannot see a needy person. 176 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:25,500 And then it says right here 177 00:08:25,500 --> 00:08:26,940 that they trample the heads of the poor. 178 00:08:26,940 --> 00:08:29,700 They make it difficult for poor people 179 00:08:30,130 --> 00:08:31,640 who have nothing to live. 180 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:33,159 They make it difficult. 181 00:08:34,140 --> 00:08:34,620 And here's the thing. 182 00:08:35,380 --> 00:08:38,180 It was well within their power to help others. 183 00:08:38,539 --> 00:08:40,539 Remember, this is a time of prosperity. 184 00:08:40,599 --> 00:08:42,979 This is the time when there was no lack of wealth. 185 00:08:43,260 --> 00:08:45,380 And if you feel like, man, if I had it within myself, 186 00:08:46,300 --> 00:08:47,960 if I had the wealth and the power that Israel had, 187 00:08:48,020 --> 00:08:48,640 I would have been different. 188 00:08:49,100 --> 00:08:49,540 Well, you know what? 189 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:52,440 The rich people in the book of Amos compared to you, 190 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,380 you put them to shame with the wealth that you have. 191 00:08:57,860 --> 00:08:59,120 All right, like think about the wealthiest person 192 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:00,660 that existed in the Bible, King Solomon. 193 00:09:01,260 --> 00:09:02,840 He had a lot of things. 194 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:04,360 King Solomon was awesome. 195 00:09:04,540 --> 00:09:06,420 He had a lot of wise people that he could talk to. 196 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:07,600 He was the wisest man in the Bible. 197 00:09:08,140 --> 00:09:09,600 And you might not have all the wise people. 198 00:09:09,820 --> 00:09:11,320 You know, you look at your friends, you go, they're not wise. 199 00:09:11,820 --> 00:09:12,500 But what do you have? 200 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:13,340 Chat GPT. 201 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:15,840 Super assistant, right? 202 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:16,740 Super assistant AI. 203 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:17,820 You get chat GPT, right? 204 00:09:18,220 --> 00:09:22,140 Solomon probably when it was hot in the summertime had, you know, a bunch of people just fanning 205 00:09:22,220 --> 00:09:22,740 him all day long. 206 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:23,300 What you got? 207 00:09:24,300 --> 00:09:24,620 HVAC. 208 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,020 If you've been to Vietnam, you know. 209 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:28,700 Wow. 210 00:09:29,380 --> 00:09:30,420 What a blessing, right? 211 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,220 We might, Solomon had people preparing the best meals for him, the best food. 212 00:09:34,740 --> 00:09:35,360 What do we have? 213 00:09:36,860 --> 00:09:37,180 DoorDash. 214 00:09:37,460 --> 00:09:37,860 You know what I mean? 215 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:45,000 at our door, right? At our beck and call, we can get whatever we want. And yet God says it is a sin 216 00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:50,760 to spend all your money and all your wealth for yourself. That's a sin. It's not a sin to be rich. 217 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,120 It's not a sin to have a lot of money. As a matter of fact, if you can make a lot of money, 218 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:59,440 the Bible says you should make a lot of money, but not for yourself, never pursuing wealth at 219 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:04,500 the expense of looking at the needs of other people. And notice the weight of this, because me, 220 00:10:04,820 --> 00:10:08,960 I will tell you personally, I do not feel the weight of my own selfishness in regard to this 221 00:10:09,140 --> 00:10:13,820 situation. Like when I hear Christmas is coming around, I get all giddy. I got an awesome wife. 222 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,180 I know what I mean? Like I still think about myself when I think of Christmas. And yet when we look 223 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:23,620 here, God says, turning a blind eye to the knees of the poor for your own comfort isn't just a lack 224 00:10:23,620 --> 00:10:30,000 of generosity. It isn't just a lack of insight. God says these are crimes. These are crimes. 225 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,580 In scripture, if you read through all the prophets, 226 00:10:34,380 --> 00:10:37,540 it says a lack of concern for the needy around you 227 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:39,300 is actually an injustice. 228 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,780 It is literally unrighteousness. 229 00:10:42,780 --> 00:10:44,560 And God says that is the level 230 00:10:45,460 --> 00:10:47,420 that a lack of care for others around you, 231 00:10:47,660 --> 00:10:48,520 especially those in need, 232 00:10:48,860 --> 00:10:50,520 that is the level that it rises to. 233 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,900 And so you deserve judgment 234 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:54,540 because of your lack of justice. 235 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,060 The second thing God judges them for, verse seven, 236 00:10:59,300 --> 00:11:01,060 is they pursued pleasure over purity. 237 00:11:02,100 --> 00:11:03,180 They pursued their own pleasure. 238 00:11:03,290 --> 00:11:04,900 That what was at the center of their experience 239 00:11:04,970 --> 00:11:06,900 in their life was, oh, me, me, me, me, me. 240 00:11:07,380 --> 00:11:08,160 Verse seven says this, 241 00:11:08,210 --> 00:11:10,700 a man and his father have sexual relations 242 00:11:10,850 --> 00:11:15,060 with the same girl profaning my holy name, right? 243 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:17,120 When you see this word girl here, 244 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:18,860 this is a very particular type of sexual sin. 245 00:11:18,940 --> 00:11:19,960 All sexual sin is bad. 246 00:11:19,970 --> 00:11:21,060 It doesn't matter what type it is, 247 00:11:21,340 --> 00:11:22,780 but this is particularly bad. 248 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:23,060 Why? 249 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:24,880 Because that word for girl in there 250 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,560 is the word that means a young maiden or a young girl. 251 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,180 So this is someone who completely lacks power, 252 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:31,980 lacks any authority. 253 00:11:32,140 --> 00:11:33,940 This isn't something consensual happening. 254 00:11:34,140 --> 00:11:37,440 This is a man and his father abusing their power, 255 00:11:37,660 --> 00:11:41,400 abusing their authority in the society to get their way. 256 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:43,980 This is the sin that they're committing. 257 00:11:44,140 --> 00:11:46,340 They are exploiting other people around them. 258 00:11:46,350 --> 00:11:48,160 And notice it says, when you do that, 259 00:11:48,300 --> 00:11:50,620 when you sin, you profane my holy name. 260 00:11:51,660 --> 00:11:53,160 The reason that God saved Israel 261 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,860 was not so he could just pour out blessing on Israel, 262 00:11:56,260 --> 00:11:58,700 but it's so that Israel would be a light to the nations. 263 00:11:59,420 --> 00:12:02,420 So when the people saw Israel following and obeying God, 264 00:12:02,490 --> 00:12:04,000 they would see not Israel, 265 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,400 but they would see the good God that loves them and cares for them. 266 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:09,480 They were meant to bring glory to God. 267 00:12:09,750 --> 00:12:13,320 And when you pursue your own pleasure over anything else, 268 00:12:14,100 --> 00:12:15,780 the Bible says you don't just make a mistake. 269 00:12:16,820 --> 00:12:18,900 You spit on the name of God. 270 00:12:19,660 --> 00:12:21,880 You profane God's holy name. 271 00:12:22,420 --> 00:12:23,180 Look at Amos 2.8. 272 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,219 They stretch out beside every altar on garments taken 273 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:34,560 as collateral. Altars were places of worship. So they stretch out on every altar garments taken as 274 00:12:34,820 --> 00:12:39,640 collateral and in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines. So this is at the 275 00:12:39,740 --> 00:12:44,620 heart of everything that they're doing, right? There were people that God is speaking to were people 276 00:12:44,740 --> 00:12:49,680 with money, with influence, with power, and they were using their money, influence, and power to 277 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:55,000 exploit other people, not to serve other people. And a lot of times we think like this. We think, 278 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,600 man, my sin that I commit in the dark, it won't affect my relationship with God. 279 00:13:00,860 --> 00:13:05,820 It won't affect anybody else. My sin that I commit that nobody sees, it's just my sin. 280 00:13:06,860 --> 00:13:12,260 And what the Bible says is, no, every sin that you commit, actually, if unrepentant, 281 00:13:13,060 --> 00:13:17,920 affects your very worship with God. It makes its way into your worship. So what happened to them? 282 00:13:18,170 --> 00:13:20,580 It says right here, the Israelites were taking garments from the poor, 283 00:13:21,300 --> 00:13:23,640 which is already a command outlawed in scripture. 284 00:13:23,730 --> 00:13:26,460 You are not allowed to steal from a poor person, 285 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:28,120 take something they needed for warmth, 286 00:13:28,770 --> 00:13:30,380 and then to use that yourself. 287 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:32,360 But they were going a step further. 288 00:13:32,500 --> 00:13:33,580 They were stealing these garments 289 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,560 and then using them on the altar to worship God. 290 00:13:37,820 --> 00:13:38,920 If you can imagine the picture, 291 00:13:39,900 --> 00:13:42,940 it's like, imagine somebody steals from other people, right? 292 00:13:43,020 --> 00:13:45,060 They walk out of here, they rob some other people. 293 00:13:45,530 --> 00:13:47,320 And in order to like kind of help ease their guilt, 294 00:13:47,460 --> 00:13:48,100 they come in the church 295 00:13:48,170 --> 00:13:49,420 and they drop it in the offering box. 296 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:51,800 That's what the people of Israel are doing. 297 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,440 And you got to imagine God sees past that. 298 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,200 What they were doing is they were using their religion 299 00:13:57,820 --> 00:13:59,760 as a cover-up for their sin, 300 00:13:59,870 --> 00:14:01,600 which is actually why God is punishing them. 301 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:04,560 The third reason, they weren't really worshiping God. 302 00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:06,440 They worshiped him with their lips. 303 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:07,900 They showed up to church. 304 00:14:08,410 --> 00:14:09,420 They sang the right songs, 305 00:14:09,470 --> 00:14:10,980 but their hearts were so far from God. 306 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:13,240 Imagine me as a husband, okay? 307 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:15,480 Maybe not me, okay? 308 00:14:15,570 --> 00:14:16,580 Just imagine a husband, okay? 309 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,219 Imagine a husband who says all the right things to his wife 310 00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:22,440 cleans up whenever she needs it, 311 00:14:22,580 --> 00:14:23,860 supports her whenever she needs it, 312 00:14:24,140 --> 00:14:25,360 and then takes her on nice dates. 313 00:14:25,460 --> 00:14:26,820 He buys her flowers all the time. 314 00:14:27,220 --> 00:14:28,840 He gives her a hug and a kiss and says, 315 00:14:28,900 --> 00:14:29,620 I love you, honey. 316 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,060 But secretly he is cheating on his wife. 317 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,800 At that point, all his outward actions can look like love, 318 00:14:37,300 --> 00:14:41,000 but really we know that his heart is so far from his wife. 319 00:14:41,020 --> 00:14:42,080 He doesn't actually love her. 320 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:43,500 He actually hates her. 321 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:46,860 And God says, I look past all the things you bring to me. 322 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:48,240 In the book of Amos, he actually says, 323 00:14:48,620 --> 00:14:50,600 All your sacrifices mean nothing to me. 324 00:14:50,820 --> 00:14:52,480 All your songs are nothing to me. 325 00:14:52,580 --> 00:14:56,220 They are garbage because your heart is so far from me. 326 00:14:56,260 --> 00:14:57,140 So he sees these people. 327 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:58,180 They say the right words. 328 00:14:58,400 --> 00:14:59,340 They do the right things. 329 00:14:59,460 --> 00:15:00,300 They show up to worship. 330 00:15:00,700 --> 00:15:04,020 They sing these songs, but their heart is so unfaithful to God. 331 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,820 And when you're unfaithful to God in your life, 332 00:15:07,140 --> 00:15:09,680 your worship is not a response of love to God. 333 00:15:09,780 --> 00:15:11,700 Your worship is the saddest part. 334 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:13,020 It's just a performance. 335 00:15:15,100 --> 00:15:16,860 If your heart is not really loving God, 336 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,520 and that is exposed by your lack of love for other people, 337 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:22,480 then your worship is just a performance. 338 00:15:23,660 --> 00:15:24,100 It means nothing. 339 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,920 And again, Amos is not about looking at Israel and going, 340 00:15:28,380 --> 00:15:29,700 bad Israel, how dare you? 341 00:15:30,820 --> 00:15:32,200 But the question we have to ask ourselves is, 342 00:15:32,260 --> 00:15:36,720 how are we, as people of God, sinning in these ways? 343 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:38,120 How are we? 344 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,360 Are there ways that you've cared more for your own well-being 345 00:15:41,420 --> 00:15:43,540 and your own comfort than the people around you, 346 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:45,340 than the needs around you? 347 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,860 Are you loving, pursuing your own pleasure over obedience to God? 348 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,820 And one of the ways you can ask yourself this is just ask yourself this question. 349 00:15:54,420 --> 00:15:59,000 When push comes to shove and it's God's commands versus what you desire and what you want, 350 00:15:59,380 --> 00:16:02,760 in that situation where you got to choose God or choose yourself, who wins? 351 00:16:04,060 --> 00:16:04,520 Who wins? 352 00:16:05,220 --> 00:16:09,840 Like when God says, treat others as more significant than yourself, which is a command, 353 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,100 you treat others more significant than yourself. 354 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:15,760 and you got the option to treat others more significant, 355 00:16:16,730 --> 00:16:18,680 to sit on the seat of a king and to be respected, 356 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:20,980 or to be a doormat, 357 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:22,880 which one are you going to choose? 358 00:16:25,660 --> 00:16:28,120 Husbands, God says, love your wife as Christ loved the church 359 00:16:28,340 --> 00:16:29,380 and gave himself up for her, 360 00:16:29,470 --> 00:16:30,840 without any qualifications, by the way. 361 00:16:31,780 --> 00:16:34,300 And your wife says something that's disrespectful, dishonoring, 362 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:35,680 that really does happen. 363 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,280 In that situation, do you stop loving your wife? 364 00:16:39,350 --> 00:16:40,220 Do you choose your way? 365 00:16:41,460 --> 00:16:42,360 Or do you choose God's way? 366 00:16:43,820 --> 00:16:48,160 wives God says honor and submit to your husbands and give them respect not because they deserve 367 00:16:48,340 --> 00:16:53,480 it because very often as husbands we do not deserve it but your husband does something that's unloving 368 00:16:53,800 --> 00:17:00,380 do you stop doing what God commanded who wins does your own desires win or does God's win 369 00:17:01,820 --> 00:17:05,359 does what God desires for you win and I think if you're honest with yourself and if I'm honest 370 00:17:05,380 --> 00:17:13,699 with myself, oftentimes my flesh wins. Not only in my personal relationships, but online. We're 371 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:19,220 to speak in love towards others. And there have been times when I've not spoken in love online. 372 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:31,020 Who wins? Is it God or is it us? All of us, the Bible says, fall short of the glory of God. All of 373 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:37,340 us don't worship God like we should. All of us have ways that we do not say yes to God and we say yes 374 00:17:37,460 --> 00:17:43,740 to our flesh. And because of that, the Bible says we deserve the wrath of God. And the point of Amos 375 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:48,760 is this church, and I don't want you to take this lightly. Don't think that God will not deal with 376 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:53,939 the injustice in your heart. Don't think that God is not a God who deals with sin. God is a God who 377 00:17:53,960 --> 00:18:01,600 deals with sin. And here's the kicker starting with you. Here's what Amos 3.8 says. A lion has roared, 378 00:18:02,940 --> 00:18:09,760 who will not fear? The Lord has spoken, who will not prophesy? In other words, Israel thought, 379 00:18:10,140 --> 00:18:15,580 because God is not dealing with my sin, God must not care about my sin. And Amos says, 380 00:18:16,020 --> 00:18:22,599 God cares a lot about your sin. God has come to speak directly to your sin. And then fast forward 381 00:18:22,620 --> 00:18:27,960 Amos chapter eight, verses nine and 10, God says this, and in that day, this is the declaration 382 00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:33,220 of the Lord. I will make the sun go down at noon. I will darken the land in the daytime. I will turn 383 00:18:33,220 --> 00:18:37,440 your feast into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. If you don't know what that is, 384 00:18:37,540 --> 00:18:42,920 you little boy like me, sadness. Okay. Lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every 385 00:18:43,100 --> 00:18:49,819 head to be shaved. I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a 386 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:55,260 bitter day. God says, because of your lack of love, because you're pursued pleasure, because you don't 387 00:18:55,530 --> 00:19:01,840 worship me, you deserve judgment. And judgment looks like this. You don't deserve God to shine 388 00:19:01,990 --> 00:19:06,320 his light upon us. That's what it means. The sun will go down at noon. I know some of you guys are 389 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,400 thinking like, that sounds pretty nice. Hawaii's kind of hot. If the sun goes down at noon, praise 390 00:19:10,620 --> 00:19:14,420 God. Okay. Some of you guys like be in Alaska. Okay. That's how I feel during the summer. But that's a 391 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:19,800 bad thing. It's a bad thing for the sun to go down at noon. The Bible says we don't deserve for the 392 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:20,840 to ever shine on us again. 393 00:19:20,910 --> 00:19:22,380 We don't deserve any bright days. 394 00:19:22,430 --> 00:19:24,060 We deserve to be in darkness. 395 00:19:24,260 --> 00:19:26,820 We deserve to be apart from the presence of God. 396 00:19:27,030 --> 00:19:28,660 And if you're apart from the presence of God, 397 00:19:29,540 --> 00:19:30,440 in the presence of God, 398 00:19:30,490 --> 00:19:32,400 there is fullness of joy at his right hand 399 00:19:32,630 --> 00:19:33,700 are pleasures forevermore. 400 00:19:33,820 --> 00:19:35,120 That means God is saying to us, 401 00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:39,540 we don't even deserve to have pleasure and joy in this life. 402 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:40,580 We deserve to mourn. 403 00:19:40,580 --> 00:19:41,520 We deserve to weep. 404 00:19:41,820 --> 00:19:44,760 We deserve for God to never speak to us again. 405 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:47,440 We deserve a famine of God's word. 406 00:19:49,540 --> 00:19:55,180 and that's exactly what happens to the people of Israel, right? After God speaks these words, 407 00:19:55,450 --> 00:20:02,120 Israel never repents. They never follow God again for 400 years. God remains silent. He doesn't send 408 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:06,460 prophets. He doesn't send messengers and the Jews wrote about this between the time of the Old 409 00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:11,860 Testament and the New Testament. They called this the 400 years of silence, the 400 years when the 410 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:18,140 heavens were shut up, when God did not speak to us. And when I think about it, I think about myself, 411 00:20:18,420 --> 00:20:25,480 I'm like, if I were God, which I'm not, thank goodness, if I were God, I would have just let 412 00:20:25,580 --> 00:20:31,200 that ride a little longer. You know what I mean? Like when people sin against me, I mean, you know 413 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:35,900 how it is, right? Like husbands and wives, can we be real? Right? When things are not going well, 414 00:20:36,980 --> 00:20:38,220 It's icy, right? 415 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:39,720 It's icy. 416 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:40,680 You don't want to talk to each other. 417 00:20:40,780 --> 00:20:41,440 You want to speak. 418 00:20:41,780 --> 00:20:45,640 And it takes a lot for someone to kind of break that ice, right? 419 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:47,460 To speak up, to speak in love. 420 00:20:47,980 --> 00:20:48,320 Well, guess what? 421 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,260 If God was like us, I would have ignored the people of Israel. 422 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:52,660 I wouldn't have spoken to them. 423 00:20:52,980 --> 00:20:54,940 I would have said, you know, you want spiritual famine? 424 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:56,300 You want to live your life apart from me? 425 00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:57,080 Fine. 426 00:20:57,740 --> 00:20:58,600 That would have been my attitude. 427 00:21:00,260 --> 00:21:03,280 But praise God, we do not worship God who is like us. 428 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:06,940 That God is so different that when we would withhold love, 429 00:21:07,410 --> 00:21:09,660 the Bible says that God is the one who goes first. 430 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,560 He's the one who speaks tenderly to his people. 431 00:21:14,030 --> 00:21:15,540 After the 400 years of silence, 432 00:21:15,610 --> 00:21:17,220 when Israel was spiritually starved, 433 00:21:17,410 --> 00:21:20,260 when Israel was living out the consequences of their own sin, 434 00:21:20,470 --> 00:21:22,580 when Israel was in darkness, 435 00:21:22,630 --> 00:21:24,380 the Bible says God broke the silence 436 00:21:25,179 --> 00:21:26,800 and God spoke to his people. 437 00:21:28,580 --> 00:21:29,360 John 1.1 says, 438 00:21:29,370 --> 00:21:31,440 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God 439 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:32,840 and the word was God. 440 00:21:33,940 --> 00:21:35,300 And then in John 1, 14, it says, 441 00:21:35,300 --> 00:21:37,720 the word, that word that was God became flesh 442 00:21:38,380 --> 00:21:39,300 and dwelt among us. 443 00:21:39,420 --> 00:21:40,660 We observed his glory, 444 00:21:41,050 --> 00:21:43,120 the glory as the one and only son from the father, 445 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:45,240 full of grace and truth. 446 00:21:48,460 --> 00:21:49,600 Now, if somebody sinned against you 447 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:51,940 and you guys weren't talking, 448 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:53,740 but you were still angry, 449 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:56,340 would you be speaking words of grace and truth? 450 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,040 Now, oftentimes when we have difficulty, 451 00:22:00,070 --> 00:22:03,560 the first words we speak are words of anger and judgment. 452 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,120 but God is so gracious that he comes to his people. 453 00:22:07,140 --> 00:22:08,520 The people have sinned against him 454 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,360 and he speaks words full of grace and truth. 455 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,120 God sent his son, Jesus Christ, the word of God 456 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:18,100 to take on human flesh and to speak truth and grace 457 00:22:18,540 --> 00:22:21,360 to the very people who did not deserve his words. 458 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,060 Now the question we gotta ask ourselves is 459 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:26,840 why would the word have to become flesh? 460 00:22:28,100 --> 00:22:30,200 Why couldn't God just like write a love letter 461 00:22:30,260 --> 00:22:31,080 and just send it to us? 462 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,740 Why did God have to send his son, Jesus Christ, 463 00:22:34,260 --> 00:22:35,160 to take on human flesh? 464 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,880 And the reason is God could not break the silence 465 00:22:38,140 --> 00:22:42,140 that we fell under by just sending a prophet to share a word. 466 00:22:45,100 --> 00:22:46,900 Because it's not because he couldn't, 467 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,020 but it's because the depth of our sin problem was so great. 468 00:22:50,620 --> 00:22:52,240 It did not require mere words. 469 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,040 It required a display of God's love. 470 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:58,780 And your sin issues, if you're struggling with sin, 471 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,020 your sin issues aren't solved by more information. 472 00:23:01,100 --> 00:23:03,560 More information will not transform your life. 473 00:23:03,940 --> 00:23:07,660 A prophet could come speak about God and tell you all the amazing things about God. 474 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:11,660 You could sit in a sermon and hear the preaching of the word every single day of your life 475 00:23:12,020 --> 00:23:13,240 and still not be transformed. 476 00:23:13,460 --> 00:23:15,780 What we needed was not just a word from God. 477 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:21,200 We needed the word from God to step into our world, step into our darkness and deal with 478 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,420 our sin and deal with our sin is what Jesus did. 479 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:29,900 The Bible says that Jesus, from the moment that he was born, lived a perfect life. 480 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:32,640 At no point in his life did he disobey God. 481 00:23:33,090 --> 00:23:35,040 At no point in his life did he dishonor God. 482 00:23:35,780 --> 00:23:38,900 Everywhere he went, the Bible says he did good to everyone, 483 00:23:39,530 --> 00:23:40,980 even the people that were hard to love. 484 00:23:42,540 --> 00:23:44,600 You know that Jesus, before he was betrayed by Judas, 485 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,300 washed his feet knowing that he would betray him? 486 00:23:48,180 --> 00:23:48,880 Do you know that Jesus, 487 00:23:49,270 --> 00:23:50,980 even when people were coming against him, 488 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,580 only spoke words of love, 489 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:55,540 giving them truth when they needed it, 490 00:23:55,660 --> 00:23:58,160 but always caring for people, always doing good? 491 00:23:59,180 --> 00:24:01,460 And the Bible says that even though he did good to everyone 492 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:02,700 at the end of Jesus's life, 493 00:24:03,020 --> 00:24:06,820 he would suffer and die a shameful death on the cross. 494 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:07,500 And for what? 495 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:10,520 Look at Amos chapter eight. 496 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:11,580 Remember that passage again. 497 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,540 God says, I will make the sun go down at noon. 498 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,080 In three of the gospel narratives, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 499 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:20,060 they record that from noon to 3 p.m. 500 00:24:20,060 --> 00:24:21,580 on the day that Jesus was crucified, 501 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:23,820 darkness fell over the land. 502 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,620 That Jesus was in darkness suffering on the cross. 503 00:24:28,060 --> 00:24:30,920 God says that he will turn their feast into a time of mourning. 504 00:24:31,220 --> 00:24:33,900 The greatest feast in all of Israel was the feast of the Passover. 505 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,440 And that was the week that Jesus got killed was during the Passover. 506 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,560 And during that Passover, when Jesus was killed, his disciples weren't celebrating. 507 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:43,700 His disciples were grieving. 508 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:44,720 They were mourning. 509 00:24:44,780 --> 00:24:45,980 They were at a loss for words. 510 00:24:45,980 --> 00:24:47,760 They were fearful for their own lives. 511 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:53,460 The Passover feast became a time of mourning for the people of God. 512 00:24:53,540 --> 00:24:55,280 They were broken over this time. 513 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:57,920 And then God says in Amos chapter eight, 514 00:24:58,060 --> 00:25:01,360 that he will make the grief like the mourning for an only son. 515 00:25:02,660 --> 00:25:06,320 And we know from scripture that it would feel the day of judgment, 516 00:25:06,380 --> 00:25:08,780 he says, would feel like what a parent feels like, 517 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,880 not when they lose a son, even though that's difficult and hard. 518 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,140 But if they only had one and they lost that one son, 519 00:25:16,020 --> 00:25:18,200 that's what that day would feel like. 520 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:23,180 And on the day that Jesus died, the Bible says he wasn't just a son. 521 00:25:24,260 --> 00:25:25,220 He was the son of God. 522 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,400 the only begotten one of the father at the cross, 523 00:25:28,740 --> 00:25:33,580 the world would witness the death of God's only son on that cross. 524 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:34,900 And you know what that means? 525 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,920 It means that all the judgments that you deserve in Amos chapter eight 526 00:25:40,940 --> 00:25:42,040 were not felt by you. 527 00:25:43,580 --> 00:25:44,400 They were felt by God. 528 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,340 That Jesus himself, who has all authority and all power, 529 00:25:50,060 --> 00:25:51,760 remember what Amos was saying, 530 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,300 that you are people with money, with wealth, with power, 531 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:57,300 and you don't care for the needy. 532 00:25:59,260 --> 00:26:01,140 And that yet God sends his son, Jesus Christ, 533 00:26:02,580 --> 00:26:04,160 who leaves his wealth and power in heaven. 534 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:09,040 And he instead comes down, takes on the form of a servant 535 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,120 and serves the most needy among us. 536 00:26:13,660 --> 00:26:16,540 That Jesus himself looks out for every single one of us 537 00:26:16,540 --> 00:26:19,120 who fell so far from God. 538 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,060 Every single one of us who cared very little for the poor, 539 00:26:23,340 --> 00:26:24,780 cared very little for anyone but ourselves, 540 00:26:25,260 --> 00:26:26,960 Jesus came and suffered. 541 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:29,180 He was the one who God's darkness fell on. 542 00:26:29,220 --> 00:26:31,040 He was the one who was cut off from the land of the living. 543 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:32,900 He was the one and only son who suffered. 544 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,880 He was the one who was grieved even to the point of death. 545 00:26:35,900 --> 00:26:39,180 But the good news of the gospel is our Jesus does not stay dead. 546 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:41,520 He suffers and died and is buried. 547 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:43,680 And three days later, because he is perfect, 548 00:26:44,100 --> 00:26:45,740 because he is good, because he is God, 549 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,600 he rose from the dead signifying his victory over sin, 550 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:55,320 and over death. Jesus tasted the judgment of Amos chapter 8 so that you can taste the goodness 551 00:26:55,740 --> 00:27:05,300 and forgiveness and peace of God. And that means for all of you who feel far off, for all of you 552 00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:10,780 who know that your sin has kept you from God, if you believe in Jesus today, God doesn't keep his 553 00:27:11,060 --> 00:27:18,519 love from you. God doesn't. There's a story, a passage in Revelation chapter 3, a very powerful 554 00:27:18,540 --> 00:27:25,020 passage, but it's one where Jesus is actually criticizing a church in a city called Laodicea. 555 00:27:25,180 --> 00:27:31,240 Laodicea was very much like the city in Israel, rich and powerful, very much like our church. 556 00:27:31,300 --> 00:27:35,820 And here's what Jesus says as he comes to this church. He says, I know your works that you are 557 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:40,620 not. He says right here, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God's creation, I know 558 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:45,240 your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So because of your 559 00:27:45,220 --> 00:27:51,040 lukewarm and neither hot nor cold. I'm going to vomit you out of your mouth. So this people were 560 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:56,520 far from God. To be lukewarm is to be far from the source, far from the springs of water, which cool 561 00:27:56,660 --> 00:28:02,880 and refresh people, and far from the hot springs, which provide medicinal water, water to heal your 562 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:08,440 soul. He says, you're not refreshing. You're not healing to anyone around you. You are no good. And 563 00:28:08,540 --> 00:28:13,860 why? He says this, for you say, I'm rich. I've become wealthy and need nothing. And you don't 564 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,440 realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. You think that your riches and your 565 00:28:18,740 --> 00:28:23,920 wealth make you something before God. And God says, if all you have is riches and wealth and you do not 566 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:30,380 have me, you have absolutely nothing. You have wandered so far away from my goodness and my grace. 567 00:28:30,650 --> 00:28:37,339 You are no good because you are far from me. And some of you guys might feel that way. You've sinned 568 00:28:37,660 --> 00:28:43,880 walking in here. You've sinned in the last week and you wonder if you have sinned too far. 569 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:49,840 You've done too much to be forgiven by God. And if you feel that way, here's what I want to tell 570 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:56,840 you. If you feel like your sin has separated you too far from God, it has. But I also want you to 571 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:01,400 see that even though you've strayed far from God, I want you to see how close God is to you. 572 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,080 Here's what God says right after this. 573 00:29:05,100 --> 00:29:05,620 He says this, 574 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,340 see, I stand at the door and knock. 575 00:29:10,660 --> 00:29:11,520 You see how close God is? 576 00:29:12,540 --> 00:29:13,880 You might've strayed far from God. 577 00:29:13,900 --> 00:29:14,880 You might've put up walls 578 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:17,180 that keep you out of God's presence. 579 00:29:17,300 --> 00:29:19,260 But God says, I am so close to you. 580 00:29:19,500 --> 00:29:21,920 I am right outside the door and I am knocking. 581 00:29:23,740 --> 00:29:26,420 I am knocking, wanting to pursue a relationship with you, 582 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:27,420 wanting to come in. 583 00:29:27,420 --> 00:29:27,980 And he says this, 584 00:29:28,220 --> 00:29:30,720 if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, 585 00:29:31,020 --> 00:29:34,360 I will come into him and eat with him and he with me. 586 00:29:35,300 --> 00:29:37,940 That God's hope is not just to save you from your sin 587 00:29:38,260 --> 00:29:39,520 and to leave you on your own. 588 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,660 God's hope is to save you and to come in with you 589 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,000 and to eat with you and fellowship with you. 590 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:47,280 You know, when someone sins against me, 591 00:29:47,340 --> 00:29:48,300 you know, the last thing I want to do, 592 00:29:48,380 --> 00:29:49,940 I can say I forgive them and move on. 593 00:29:50,740 --> 00:29:52,100 But the last thing I want to do with them 594 00:29:52,620 --> 00:29:54,000 is go hang out and eat food with them. 595 00:29:55,820 --> 00:29:57,840 And yet God is so loving that God says, 596 00:29:58,180 --> 00:30:00,980 I am knocking on the door of you who have sinned 597 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,580 and put up walls and blocked me out of your life, 598 00:30:04,010 --> 00:30:06,320 but I love you so much that I wanna come in with you 599 00:30:07,330 --> 00:30:08,140 and I wanna eat with you 600 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:09,920 and I wanna fellowship with you. 601 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:12,220 And so this is the good news of Advent, church. 602 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:13,660 The good news of Advent is this. 603 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:15,200 If you have strayed far from God, 604 00:30:15,380 --> 00:30:16,400 the God who loves you, 605 00:30:16,630 --> 00:30:19,080 who sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins, 606 00:30:19,620 --> 00:30:21,480 stands at the door and knocks. 607 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,700 Jesus has come to you, church. 608 00:30:26,460 --> 00:30:28,260 Open the door and let him in. 609 00:30:28,660 --> 00:30:28,720 Amen? 610 00:30:29,620 --> 00:30:29,940 Let's pray.