Prepare to Meet Your God

Good evening, everyone. I was going to start with rugby as well. I was going to say, if you felt a bit down after rugby this afternoon, I'm going to really depress you over the next half hour or so, as usual, John find the more positive message than I did.

But we're in Amos, we're in the difficult part of Amos in that the message is one of judgment, it's one of God's holiness, and yet I'm sure we've got lots that we can learn from it together this evening.

So let's read together Amos chapter 4.

Amos 4 · chapter mention

Amos chapter 4, we'll read the whole chapter, it's not that long, and it says,

Amos 4 · chapter mention

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria. You women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, bring us some drinks.

The sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness. The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fish hooks.

You will each go straight out through breaks in the wall, and you will be cast out towards Harman, declares the Lord.

Go to Bethel and sin. Go to Gilgal and sin yet more.

Bring your sacrifices every morning.

Your tithes every three years.

That's probably every three days, actually, for better translation.

Burn leavened bread as a thank offering,

and brag about your freewill offerings.

Boast about them, your Israelites,

for this is what you love to do,

declares the sovereign Lord.

I give you empty stomachs in every city

and lack of bread in every town.

Yet you have not returned to me,

declares the Lord.

I also withheld rain from you

when the harvest was still three months away.

I sent rain on one town,

but withheld it from another.

One field had rain,

the other had none,

and dried up.

People staggered from town to town for water,

but did not get enough to drink.

Yet you have not returned to me,

declares the Lord.

Many times I struck your gardens

and vineyards,

I struck them with blight and milled you.

Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees.

Yet you have not returned to me,

declares the Lord.

I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt.

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with your captured horses.

I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp.

Yet you have not returned to me,

declares the Lord.

I overthrew some of you

as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

You were like a burning stick

snatched from the fire.

Yet you have not returned to me,

declares the Lord.

Therefore, this is what I will do to you, Israel.

And because I will do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, O Israel.

He who forms the mountains,

creates the wind,

and reveals his thoughts to man.

He who turns dawn to darkness

and treads the high places of the earth.

The Lord God Almighty

is his name.

I'm sure God will be with us

as we try to make some sense

of this chapter this evening.

If you ever watch soaps on television,

not recommending you do,

but if you ever do watch soaps on television,

there's one sure sign

that things are about to go wrong.

You have two people talking together

and they say,

we've been through really difficult times,

it's been tough for the last little while,

but things are going fine now,

nothing can go wrong in the future.

And that's immediately followed by a murder

or a big fire

or a confession of adultery

or something

that just blows everything up again.

It's when people think things are going okay,

when they become a bit complacent,

that then they start to go badly wrong.

I think if you can get that picture in your mind,

you've essentially got what Amos 4 is all about.

You can imagine the people in Israel saying,

we've had pretty tough times.

We've had famines.

We've had droughts.

We've had locusts come and devour all our crops.

We've had wars.

But that's all behind us now.

We're doing well.

We're wealthy.

We're having a religious revival.

We've never had so many sacrifices on the altars.

God must be really pleased with us.

And God says to them,

and not in a good way,

prepare to meet your God.

It was when they felt things were going well,

when they had become complacent

in their religion,

in their society,

that God comes and says,

you are about to be faced with judgment.

One of the things that's come across

very powerfully to me

as I've been studying Amos

and particularly chapter 4

is the danger that we can become complacent

in that kind of way.

We can look at a chapter like this

and say,

well, this is about people a long time ago.

It's about a godless people.

It's about a people

who were under God's judgment.

We're not under judgment.

We're under grace.

It doesn't really apply to us.

And I hope this evening

we can see that a lot of this

really does apply to us.

Not the ultimate judgment of God.

If we are believing in the Lord Jesus

and we have the grace of God in our lives,

then we can have confidence

that when we meet God

that we will be declared righteous

through the blood of the Lord Jesus.

But some of the practicalities

of the way that the Israelites were acting

and were thinking

can be very relevant indeed to us.

Before we get into the chapter,

let's just orientate ourselves.

A reminder for those

who've been here the last couple of weeks

or if you haven't,

just a brief introduction to Amos.

So Amos is a preacher, a prophet

who came from the southern kingdom of Judah.

He was a shepherd

and God sent him to be prophet

in the northern kingdom of Israel.

And John presented to us very clearly

two weeks ago

that the code for understanding Amos

is 8351.

If you remember 8351,

then you're starting to begin

to understand what it's about.

It starts with eight oracles of judgment.

There are then three sermons of rebuke.

There are then five visions of judgment.

And right at the end,

there's one oracle of salvation.

And in 08351,

we're halfway through three.

So we had the eight oracles of judgment

a couple of weeks ago from John.

We had the first sermon of rebuke

from Mike last week.

We're on the second sermon of rebuke this week.

And then John will be back next week

to give us the third one.

So what we're looking at this evening

is very much a continuation

of what we looked at last Sunday with Mike

and it will be continued next Sunday with John.

And this chapter, I think,

divides into three main sections.

So section one,

it goes from verse one to verse three.

And I've given that the title,

Uncaring Comfort.

You'll see why hopefully in a minute.

The second section goes from verse four to verse five.

And I've called that unworthy worship.

And then the third section goes from verse six

to the end of the chapter.

And I've called that unrecognized rebuke.

And then at the end,

there is God's message of judgment on the people.

So with that in mind,

let's get ahead into the chapter.

The first thing we've called Uncaring Comfort.

And Amos, having talked largely to the men

in chapter three,

or God three,

Amos having talked largely to men in chapter three,

he concentrates to begin with on the woman

at the start of chapter four.

And he describes them as cows of Bashan.

Now, in our culture,

to describe a woman as a cow

is about as bad an insult

as you could ever get.

But this wasn't in itself an insult.

In that culture,

cows were very important.

They were a very important part of society.

And to describe someone or a woman as a cow

was not the insight we'd be today.

To describe them as a cow of Bashan

might even be treated as a bit of a compliment.

The cows of Bashan lived in a part of the country

or exist in a part of the country

where there was lush grass,

where there was lots of feeding for the cows,

where they could go brig and fat.

And the Bashan cows would have been,

I suppose,

a bit like the Aberdeen Angus in our day.

They were the best of the best.

And they were the cows that people would want,

the beef that they ate it,

that the people would want to have.

And so it's not in itself

describing them as cows of Bashan

an insult.

But what God takes from it

is certainly a condemnation

of the woman here.

Because he says,

your comparison to the cows of Bashan

isn't because you're the best of the best,

you're the ones everyone would want.

Rather it's because the cows of Bashan

have this lovely pasture,

they have these great fields

full of grass and flowers and everything else,

and they just tramp around,

they take whatever they want,

and they don't care what they leave behind.

And he says,

you're a bit like that.

You oppress the poor and crush the needy

and say to your husband,

bring us some drinks.

He says to the woman

that they're,

what they are thinking of,

what they want to remember,

their luxury,

their luxury is important to them,

but they want to forget

the poor and the downtrodden.

Now when it says,

they said to her husband,

bring us some drinks,

I don't think the picture is

of sitting beside the pool,

sipping pina coladas and saying,

hey husband,

come and give me another drink.

I think rather it's saying to her husband,

you go out

and you make sure my lifestyle is funded.

So I can live a life of comfort

and of ease,

you go and do that,

and I don't really care

what you do to achieve it.

The women probably weren't

directly oppressing the poor,

but they were encouraging their husbands

to exploit others,

and so God says,

you are oppressing the poor

and crushing the needy.

You who think you're the cream of society,

who think that God has really blessed you,

and you've got everything you need.

Actually,

you're getting it

only through your own greed

and only through exploiting others.

And so God says,

there's a judgment coming on you.

Verse two,

very strong,

the sovereign Lord

has sworn by his holiness.

So we have to say,

well,

God has said you will be judged,

but it actually says,

the sovereign Lord

has sworn by his holiness.

The holy God has looked on them,

and he has said,

I am a God of justice,

I am a God of holiness,

and because of that,

I must do something about it.

And then you get the picture,

and we're in quite difficult territory

in terms of the translations here,

but I think the NIV

has probably got it about right here,

and the picture is of

the woman being led away.

If you imagine a cow being led,

it'll often have something

through its nose,

a hook through its nose,

and is led by that.

And God's saying to the woman,

it will be the same for you.

Now we know from contemporary history,

and from pictures that we see,

that the Assyrians,

who would ultimately conquer the Israelites,

quite often they led their captives away

with a hook through their nose,

or through their mouths.

So perhaps quite literally,

what God is saying here,

would come true.

That these women who thought

they were in great comfort,

that they were secure,

that they had everything they needed.

Ultimately,

what would happen to them

would be led away in disgrace,

into exile,

or into slavery.

And they wouldn't even be led

through the gates of the city.

That's what verse 4,

verse 3 is about.

They would go through breaches

in the wall.

In other words,

a conquering eye would come in,

it would destroy the walls of the city,

and as part of the humiliation

of the residents of the city,

it would drag them out of it

through the holes

that had been made in the wall.

We don't know what cast out towards Harmon,

and mean,

Alec Matier says,

it's one of the great unsolved mysteries of Amos.

Let's not try and solve it this evening,

but I guess it wasn't a good place

for them to be going.

This was a message of God

against the luxury of people,

people who depended on luxury,

and saying,

because you've got your luxury

through exploiting others,

then you are going to be judged for it.

What's the relevance of that for us today?

Well, we live in a society

that in many ways

has been built on exploitation,

on people in positions of power

and authority

and exploiting others.

Now, whether it's in our own country,

or whether it's the way our country

in some ways has treated other countries,

certainly in the past,

and taking advantage of them

in a way which is not fair.

So whether it's the sweatshops in China,

whether it's the banana planters in Africa,

or whatever it is,

in our society,

we have been quite happy

to see others exploited.

But actually, most of us,

I say we're happy to see them exploited,

we're actually quite happy

not to see them exploited.

We'd like to turn a blind eye

to the fact that there is injustice

in our world,

and it makes us more comfortable,

then almost so be it.

Now, we wouldn't express it

in that kind of way,

but that actually is probably

how our society has acted.

And I've seen things,

certainly in the past,

perhaps changing slightly now.

And so there is a message here for us.

God has prospered us

as a society,

as a country.

But has he prospered us,

has our prosperity,

to some extent,

come through taking advantage

through exploiting others?

Do we have a real concern

as Christians

for those who are being downtrodden

in our world?

I struck this morning

when John was praying

for other churches,

when he mentioned P's and G's,

he talked about their passion

for social justice.

That's a passion

that all of us should have.

And I'm not saying

we go out with placards

on the streets

and demonstrate

and that kind of things,

but we shouldn't be willing

to see injustice

or to ignore injustice

and to let it happen.

Now, hopefully,

none of us would directly exploit.

Others Christians do sometimes.

Hopefully,

none of us would do that.

But perhaps,

in some of the actions we take,

even the things we go out and buy,

in the way we treat others,

in the way we look at situations

like what's happening,

in the Middle East at the moment,

can we look at them

with the eye that says,

how would God view this?

And is our society,

in some ways,

going against God's way

and exploiting others?

Christians and I,

early in the year,

were in Miami Beach.

And when we were in Miami Beach,

there was only really one church

that was very easy to go to,

which was the community church there.

Now, it wasn't,

by any stretch of the imagination,

evangelical.

We went to the service on Sunday

and the minister sent quite a long time

trying to defend himself

against charges

that he didn't teach the gospel.

And as far as I gathered,

the gospel,

where he was concerned,

was God accepts everybody

and we should too.

So it wasn't the kind of sermon

we'd expect here.

It might be quite time

to send him Graham's sermon

from this morning,

to teach what the gospel

really is about.

But the slogan of the Miami

community,

Miami Beach Community Church

was,

we do justice.

And they do.

We went to a soup kitchen

while they were there,

inviting the many poor

and homeless in Miami Beach

to come in

and to see something

of real love.

If you look on their website,

there are lots and lots

of things that they do

that make it clear

that they see justice

as being a key element

of Christian faith.

Now, very easy for us

to think,

well, we do gospel.

And we do.

And quite rightly so.

At first,

it doesn't preach the gospel.

It is dreadfully failing

the world round about us.

But as we do gospel,

it is really important also

that we do justice.

If our lives really

are being transformed

by the grace of the Lord Jesus,

which is our vision

as a church,

part of that transformation

is being able to look

with the eyes of God

and to see what's wrong

in the world round about us

and to do whatever we can

to make things better

for the poor

and for the downtrodden.

Remember the words of God

in Hosea,

I desire mercy,

not sacrifice.

And it's great for us

to come and to enjoy

as church

and being together,

studying God's word,

preaching the gospel,

inviting others

to come to know

the Lord Jesus.

But alongside that,

we have to have

the concern

that God has

for those

who are not in such

a privileged position

as us.

The Lord Jesus,

remember,

came to preach

good news

to the poor.

And while the proclamation

of the gospel

is our key thing

as a church,

we need also

to have that passion

for social justice

and desire

to see real justice

in our world.

And not to say,

I'm all right,

I'm comfortable,

so I'm not going to bother

about anything else

or where things come from

or how I came

to be comfortable.

We need to have

that passion

for justice

that God has

that Amos displays here.

So no uncaring comfort

for us.

Let's move on, though.

Verses 4 and 5,

Amos moves on

to the people's religion.

And so I've called this

unworthy worship.

Now what you need

to understand

with these verses

is that God

is being very,

very sarcastic

in what he says.

that he is making

the point

by mimicking

what would be

a call to worship.

So the call

to go to Bethel

or to Gilgal.

That would have been

a call that would have

been legitimately used

for people to come

and to worship God

at his altars.

But God is saying,

you only do that

because you are there

to sin.

Go to Bethel

and sin,

go to Gilgal

and sin yet more.

Now this would have come

as a real shock

to the people.

Because the people

of Amos' day

thought that they were

okay from a religious

viewpoint.

Bethel and Gilgal

had been shrines

to false gods

since the day

of Jeroboam.

But there's no suggestion

here that they're going

to sacrifice

to false gods.

The suggestion

appears to be

they're going

to sacrifice

to the true God,

the God of Israel.

And as the people go,

they say,

we are really going

to show our devotion

to God.

So the normal thing

would have been

to bring a sacrifice

once a year

to God.

People say,

we don't just do it

once a year,

we do it every single day.

Now,

probably some exaggeration

here for effect,

but they're saying

not once a year,

every morning.

Normal thing,

again,

would have been

to bring your tithes

to God

every third year.

And I think

with the right translation

which the ESV

and others use,

the people are saying,

actually,

we bring our tithes

to God

every three days,

not every three years.

The significance

of the leavened bread

is slightly less clear cut.

It might be

that the leavened bread

was a kind of voluntary extra

in the thank offering.

So you brought

your animal sacrifice,

you brought

your leavened bread,

and if you're really,

really spiritual,

you brought your

unleavened bread as well.

Or perhaps it was the fact

that it was burnt,

that the offerings normally

would be given

and would be taken

by the priest.

This was totally devoted

to God.

Or perhaps in this context,

it was simply the fact

that unleavened bread

would be a bit more obvious

than leavened bread

because the yeast

had made it rise.

And so people could

very clearly see,

oh yes,

you've brought

a really good sacrifice

to God

and you might then

get credit for it.

But the point in what

Amos is saying here

is these people

weren't coming to God

with real worship.

They were coming to God

from their lives

of injustice,

of oppression,

of others,

and they were doing

what they saw

as their religious duty

and they thought,

well,

that will be okay for me.

And I'll just do

a bit of extra

in my religious duty

to particularly please God

and everything

will be all right.

And when they looked

at their worship,

the first thing

they wanted

was that it would

look good.

So that's in

verse 5.

Brag about your

freewill offerings,

boast about them,

you Israelites,

for this is what

you love to do.

They were coming

to God,

coming ostensibly

to worship God.

Actually,

what they were doing

was they were looking

around and saying,

everyone should be

really impressed

with me

and with how often

I worship

and with all the things

that I bring

to the altar.

They really weren't

coming to worship

God at all,

they were coming

to look good

to others.

They also think,

I think,

coming to feel good.

If you think

you've come

and you've done

your religious duty

and you say,

God has prospered me

and I'm giving back

to God,

I'm making these

sacrifices,

you're thinking,

well,

I'm all right.

God's going to really

think I'm a great

believer in him

and follower of him.

I feel good

about my worship

of God.

But perhaps what

Amos is saying,

what God is saying

through Amos,

it's no good

looking good,

it's no good

feeling good

if you're not

actually doing

good.

if your worship

isn't genuine,

if your lives

deny what you

would attempt

to portray

to others,

then your worship

is absolutely

worthless.

Looking good,

feeling good,

may make you

think you're good,

but actually

it's the way you act,

it's the difference

that God in your life

makes in your

everyday living

that really

matters.

remember the

parable of the

Lord Jesus,

of the traditionally

called the Pharisee

and the publican,

and this guy

goes into the

temple and says,

really thankful

God that I'm not

like other people,

I do my fasting,

I do my tithing,

and I do my

religious duty,

unlike this guy

in the corner,

and it's the one

in the corner

who is so repentant

and so broken

that God hears

and God forgives.

Well, the people

were like the

Pharisee.

How should we

come to God?

Psalm 24,

Who shall ascend

the hill of the

Lord?

Who shall stand

in his holy place?

He who has

clean hands

and a pure

heart.

What does that

mean for us?

I think it means

when we come

on a Sunday

or at other times,

when we come

to do our

obvious acts

of worship

for God,

that we don't

come with the

attitude,

either I'm here

so that I can

look good to

others,

or I'm here

so that I can

feel good

before God.

We must come

with the attitude

of the publican,

the attitude of

the one who can

say,

I'm not worthy

to be in God's

presence,

and yet by the

grace of God,

by the marvellous

things that he's

done in my life,

I am able

to be here.

And we must

also come looking

back at our

lives,

looking back

and saying,

in the past

week,

has my life,

has my testimony

as a Christian

been consistent

with how I am

portraying myself

today?

Or am I

actually as

hypocritical as

these Israelites

here,

that I come

to present

apparently to

God and to

engage fully

in worship,

and yet the

real worship,

the worship

that is in

my transformed

life before

God,

that is just

not there.

The fact that

I come to

three services

on a Sunday,

however many I

do,

the fact that

I'm enthusiastic

in my worship,

the fact perhaps

I lead worship

or lead services

or preach,

or whatever I

do,

these things

are all

worthless,

unless I come

before God

in sincerity

and with a

desire that

he is glorified

and not

that I

am glorified.

It is so

important that

when we come

before God,

we come to

give our

thanks,

our praise,

our worship

to him,

and that we

come with our

sins confessed,

and that we

come with lives

where we are

trying to follow

him and to

live for him

and to be

obedient servants

of the Lord

Jesus.

So easy to be

guilty of

unworthy

worship.

Finally,

unrecognised

rebuke.

Now I'm

going to have

to turn around

because I

can't read

that on

the back

screen.

The words

of C.S.

Lewis,

very well

known,

God

whispers to

us in

our

pleasures,

speaks to

us in

our

conscience,

but shouts

in our

pains.

It is

his megaphone

to rouse

a deaf

world.

In other

words,

very often

the way in

which God

tries to

gain our

attention

and to

point out

what's wrong

in our

life can

be through

the bad

things that

happen to

us.

And that's

what the

rest of

this chapter

is all

about.

Five times

God describes

bad things

that happened

to the nation

of Israel.

And five

times he

says,

despite that

you have

not returned

to me.

The megaphone

was on at

full blast.

It should

have been

obvious to

the people

that God

was trying

to say

something to

them.

And yet

they totally

ignored it.

They didn't

realise that

God was

speaking to

them through

the pains

they were

suffering.

So I have

to look

briefly at

these five

things.

Verse six,

I've called it

clean teeth and

empty stomachs.

NIV talks

about empty

stomachs.

The literal

translation with

some other

versions use

is clean

teeth.

Now the

idea is if

you've got

clean teeth

it suggests

you've not

been eating

so it has

the same

idea as

empty

stomachs but

it's just

a slightly

different

idiom.

So in

other words

God says

in the

past I've

sent famine

to you.

You've had

times when

you couldn't

eat when

there wasn't

enough when

I was trying

to speak

to you

through that

famine and

yet you

ignored me.

When things

got better,

when you got

the food,

you forgot

about it

and my

message to

you wasn't

received.

He then

said you

had parched

fields and

dry mouths.

So with a

picture of

God withholding

rain and

the quite

strong imagery

of there'd

be rain in

one place and

everyone would

rush to that

place, find the

rain had gone

there and

rush somewhere

else and

it'd be going

all over the

place trying

to get water,

trying to get

something to

drink and

hoping that

somewhere the

crops would

have come at

the time of

harvest.

God says

to them,

you had

this as a

second warning.

You had

these droughts

that should have

spoken to you

and help you

to recognise

that I was

judging you

and you

ignored them,

you still

didn't return

to me.

Third thing

that God

sent was

blighted

plants and

devoured

fruits.

Verse 9,

I struck

your gardens

and vineyards

destroying

them with

blight and

mildew,

locusts

devoured

your fig

and olive

trees,

yet you

have not

returned to

me,

declares

the Lord.

So plants

were diseased,

became

unfruitful,

inedible because

of that,

or when there

was fruit,

the locusts

came along

and they

took it all

so the people

had nothing,

again a time

of a shortage

of what the

people needed,

a time when

they should have

looked and

said,

what is

God saying

to us?

But they

didn't,

they ignored

him.

Number 4,

called diseased

bodies and

rocked

corpses.

I sent

plagues

among you

as I did

to Egypt,

I killed

your young

men with

the sword

along with

your captured

horses,

I filled

your nostrils

with the stench

of your

camps,

yet you

have not

returned to

me,

declares

the Lord.

Comparison

of Israel

and Egypt.

Egypt for

the Israelites

was the

place where

there had

been slavery,

it had

been a

place of

wickedness

where God

had judged

the people

of Egypt

to force

the Pharaoh

to let

the Israelites

go.

And Amos

says,

God says

to Amos,

I sent

the kind

of things

on you

that I

sent on

Egypt

and even

then you

didn't

recognize it

and didn't

return to

me.

And

then the

final one

I've

called

destroyed

cities

and

scarred

survivors,

not quite

so clear

exactly

what's

in mind

here,

but it

appears to

be again

that there

was some

kind of

distraction.

I

overthrew

some of

you as

I

overthrew

Sodom and

Gomorrah.

You

were like

a burning

stick

snatched

from the

fire,

yet you

have not

returned

to me,

declares

the Lord.

If

Egypt

was bad,

Sodom and

Gomorrah

was much

worse.

Sodom and

Gomorrah

would speak

of the

utter

depravity

of man,

the cities

which were

so wicked

that God

had to

destroy them

completely.

And God

says to

Amos,

you were

like that.

I came

and visited

you,

and we don't

know what

it was,

it might

be the

earth

grace,

it might

be something

like that,

but something

happened that

God could

say it was

a bit like

my judgment

of Sodom and

Gomorrah,

but in my

mercy I

spared you

like a

burning

stick

snatched

from the

fire,

so you

just about

got away,

and yet

still you

didn't

return

to me.

And so

says God,

now is

the time

to prepare

to meet

your

God.

You've

had all

the warnings,

you've

had all

the opportunities

to turn

back to

me.

It's too

late now,

and this

isn't a

gospel message

that Amos

is preaching

or God

is preaching

through Amos,

this is a

message that

says you

are going

to be

judged

because you

have ignored

me,

prepare for

that time

of judgment.

Look in a

minute at

verse 13,

but let's

just apply

this a

little bit

just now.

God

speaks to

us as

C.S.

Lewis

says,

he shouts

at us

through our

pain.

And I

wonder how

often when

things happen

to us,

when things

go wrong

and are not

the way that

we would

want them

to be,

how often

do we

look and

say,

well,

what is

God saying

to us

through it?

We might

pray that

God will

take us

out of

it.

We might

pray that

God will

send healing

or restoration

or whatever

it is.

We will

pray to

God for

his help

in the

situation.

How often

do we

examine

ourselves

and say,

what is

it that

God is

saying to

me

through

this?

Sometimes

God sends

bad things

or allows

bad things

to happen

so that

he will

be glorified.

Not always

remember

John 9

and the

blind man

disciples say,

well,

who's in

this man

or his

mother

or his

parents?

And the

Lord says

it's so

that God

will be

glorified

that he's

in this

condition.

So sometimes

it is

God

sending

things for

his glory

and through

the way

that we

are able

to trust

in God

and be

a witness

to his

grace

in our

lives.

That can

be a

powerful

thing

that he

uses.

I think

we also

need to

recognize

that those

whom God

loves,

he disciplines

and God

does send

things,

sometimes

allow things

to happen

to us

because there

is something

in our

lives that

needs to

be put

right and

we need

to be

willing to

listen to

God's

voice in

these

circumstances.

Five times

he's spoken

to the

Israelites,

five times

he's spoken

very powerfully

to things

that happened

to them,

five times

they ignored

him.

We need

to make

sure that

we don't

ignore

God when

he comes

with warnings

to us.

But then

there is

the message

of judgment.

By the

grace of

the Lord

Jesus

through his

death

for us,

we don't

need to

be concerned

about the

fact that

when the

Lord returns

or when we

go to be

with him,

if our

trust is

in him,

then we

are secure,

not because

of any

good in

us,

but by

the blood

of the

Lord Jesus

and by

his wonderful

grace to

us.

And yet

there is a

world round

about that

doesn't know

him.

There is a

world round

about of

people who

are going

towards an

eternal

destiny which

is separate

from God

where they

will face

the full

wrath of

God.

And we

can still

go out to

them and

we can

say,

perhaps not

in these

words,

perhaps in

these

words,

we can

say,

prepare to

meet your

God,

but we

can go

with a

message that

is not

hopeless,

this is not

a saying

that judgment

for you is

inevitable.

We can go

with a message

of hope that

says if you

do prepare,

if you do

trust in the

Lord Jesus,

then you

can have

forgiveness,

you can be

ready to

meet your

God.

What a

motivation it

should be to

us.

There are

people around

about who

are going not

knowing anything

about the

Lord Jesus,

not knowing

the message

of the

gospel,

heading towards

judgment.

And we

have the

opportunity to

give them

that warning

and to

give them

the opportunity

to trust

in the

Lord Jesus

and to

know his

forgiveness.

Let it be

a motivation

to us as

well as

a self

examination

as we

look at

these

verses.

Let me

look briefly

at verse

13.

This is

verse 13

where the

Lord having

said,

prepare to

meet your

God,

he presents

his

credentials.

Why should

they be

concerned about

falling into

the hands

of the

living God?

Because he

is all

powerful.

He is the

one who

created,

he is the

one who

sustained,

he formed

the mountains

so the

physical

things around

about us

are his.

He created

the wind

so it's not

just the

visible,

it's the

invisible as

well.

And he

reveals his

thoughts to

mankind.

He is able

to provide

information for

us that

is vital

to life.

We live,

they tell

us,

in the

information

superhighway,

more information

available now

at the

top of a

button than

the whole

of human

history.

And yet

anything that

has been

truly revealed

to us has

been revealed

by God.

Now,

that revelation,

of course,

is in his

word.

And he is the

one who turns

on to

darkness,

night and

day,

treads the

height of

the earth,

the Lord

God Almighty

is his

name.

What a

marvellous

God it

is we

know and

we worship.

The one who

is the

creator,

the sustainer

of life,

without whom

the universe

could not

exist.

He is our

God and

he is

all-powerful.

But as he

is all-powerful,

so he is

all-just as

well.

He is the

holy God and

that is why

we have

chapters like

Amos chapter

four,

pointing out

that there

are consequences

for those

who don't

believe in

him,

who don't

follow in

his ways.

Our time's

pretty well

gone,

so let me

just finish

with three

conclusions just

to summarise

the key

points that

we've looked

at.

The first

thing is

let's examine

ourselves and

see have

we got an

attitude of

uncaring

comfort.

Thou do

my selfish

desires blunt

my desire

for justice

in this

world.

Have I

got that

consumerist

attitude that

says I

want everything

I can get

I'm not

going to

ask too

many questions

about how

it came

to be.

Second

thing is

about unworthy

worship.

When I

come to

God in

my acts

of worship

whether it's

in church

or in

other contexts

in private

as well,

is my

worship God

honouring?

Or is

it sinful?

It's going

to be one

or the

other.

There's

going to be

no middle

course on

this.

Either

when I

come to

God,

it's

honouring

to God

because I

come with

the right