Amos Mercy Has Its Limits

I had holidays a little over a month ago, and I had a whole three weeks off, which was fantastic.

It was a good chance to spend time with people who I don't normally see.

And one of the particular highlights for me was the chance to have a conversation with someone who I really care about, about following Jesus.

They're somebody who would call themselves a Christian, somebody who has been around church, knows the answers, they know how it works.

But by their own admission, they would say they're a Christian, but not a Christian like me.

In their mind, there's kind of the levels of Christian.

So there's the fanatics, which I assume is the end she's placing me in, and then the normal Christians who are normal, but like Jesus.

And the conversation was around why she makes that distinction a little bit.

For her, there are some things that she's just uncomfortable with, some things she doesn't understand, some doubts she's got.

And those things for her get in the way of wanting to make that step to go, you know what, I'm all in.

I'm all for God.

I'm going to live for Him.

It's all about Him.

And the major sticking point for her was something that a lot of us actually struggle with.

And it could even be a question that you're wrestling with right now.

And that was the question of, how can a God who is loving send good people to hell?

How can a God who is loving send good people to hell?

So this person I'm chatting to just can't fathom that nice people who do good things for others and give to charity and just kind of are nice,

could end up being sent to hell by God.

And that could be a tension that you feel as well, as you think of family members, friends, people who are precious to you,

who are really nice, but aren't Christian.

And maybe you find it hard to imagine how God can be loving and send that person to hell.

It's something that I've wrestled with.

Now, this person I was chatting with, the answer for them was that God can't send those people to hell.

Because they couldn't fathom a God who's loving and a God who would send people like that to hell,

the solution was God won't do it.

I asked them about Jesus and about the kinds of things that Jesus says,

like, I'm the only way to the Father.

I'm the only way to heaven.

And that just left them feeling a little bit frustrated because it didn't kind of fit with their solution.

They'd come up with a solution.

They'd resolve the tension.

It didn't fit with the stuff that I was kind of suggesting out of the Bible.

Now, behind this question, behind the question of a loving God and people going to hell,

is potentially something personal.

It's not so much a question of how could a good God, a loving God, send good people out there to hell.

It's actually a question that comes from our own fear and insecurity.

The question is, how could a loving God send someone good like me to hell?

It's that fear, especially for people who are following Jesus and want to go to heaven

and just maybe don't feel 100% sure.

They want an insurance policy.

They want kind of a blank check from God that says,

you know what, if you're above this line, let's just agree, all of you will get in.

Just take the pressure off a little bit.

We want to know for sure.

We want God's approval.

But there can be just this lingering doubt, especially when we open the Bible like we have in Amos these last couple of weeks

and just get hammered with talk of God's judgment,

with a reminder that God is a just God, that God doesn't tolerate sin.

When we get faced with the judgment of God, it leaves us with a couple of options.

It leaves us in a couple of camps, especially if you're somebody who wants to follow God,

someone who's trying to follow God.

There are, of course, those who are secure, even hearing about God's judgment.

They're confident that they're loved by God and that that's appropriate confidence.

There's people just slightly this direction who hear about it and really want to

and might be 99% sure or maybe much lower, but there's just that lingering doubt.

There's just that pressure and fear every time you stuff up that just escalates.

And then when you're going well, it kind of gets reined in a little bit.

And you know that feeling of trying to follow God, but sometimes feeling like,

I hope he still loves me today.

And then there is another group just a little bit further down the spectrum

who are secure.

They're confident.

They're sure that God loves them.

But maybe they're deluded in their confidence.

Maybe it's a wrong confidence.

There's a part of them that's trying to follow God

and enough to the point where they think they've got it all figured out,

but the reality is they don't.

So far in Amos, through this series,

we've been hearing warning after warning from God to his people Israel.

Amos has been explaining judgment is coming.

He's been telling the people that those who claim to be gods but aren't truly,

those who speak the words but live a different way will face judgment.

Amos is not the first prophet with this message.

He won't be the last one.

And yet so far,

Israel

don't seem to be taking him seriously at all.

God has just promised in those few verses that Deb read out

that their cities will be destroyed,

that they'll be carted off as slaves to another country,

and nothing seems to be registering.

Israel falls into this third category

of people who are sure that God loves them,

but it doesn't seem to be reflective of what God is saying.

I mean, at best, they're ignoring what he's saying,

but at worst, they're trying to shut him up.

They're trying to say, stop talking to us.

I mean, in chapter 7 that Deb just read out,

there's this face-off in the second half from verses 10 onwards.

This is between Amos, who wrote Amos,

and Amaziah, who's the priest for Israel.

He's like the religious leader.

So you'd expect out of anyone,

he should be in tune with God and what's going on.

But listen to the way he describes Amos' message.

This is in verse 10.

He's writing a letter to the king.

He says,

Amos is raising a conspiracy against you

in the very heart of Israel.

He says,

The land cannot bear all his words,

for this is what Amos is saying.

When a prophet speaks in the Bible,

they speak with the weight of God's own voice.

They speak with the authority of the God

who sent them this message,

and yet Amaziah the priest hears this and says,

It's just some wacko.

It's just some guy.

We don't have to take him seriously.

Let's not listen to him.

In fact, not just let's ignore him,

let's try and get rid of him.

I mean, this message he sends to the king,

he's trying to have Amos killed for treason.

He's accusing him of trying to subvert the king

and then effectively says,

Go home.

Stop annoying us.

We don't want to listen to you.

Go back south.

Go to the farm you came from.

Stop prophesying.

We don't want to listen.

But the really scary part of this bit in Amaziah,

sorry, this bit in Amos,

is that Amaziah,

at least it seems,

and all of Israel,

genuinely don't see what they're doing as a rejection of God.

So remember,

this third group that's confident,

but wrongly confident,

is actually trying to follow God.

That's the starting point for that third group.

That's the starting point for Israel.

They're God's people.

And even as they tell this prophet,

go away,

we're not interested,

they genuinely believe they're in God's good books.

They genuinely believe that he loves them

and he's happy with them

and they are securely there in his favor.

That's why they're not listening.

The idea that God would judge them

is so inconceivable

that they have no motivation to even listen,

let alone respond to this warning

and this call to repent and return to God.

But for us and for them,

it begs a really, really important question.

Why are they so confident?

What's the basis for this group

being so sure that God is going to show them mercy?

Because we can look at this passage and this story

and even before we know in a few years

God's going to come through on his promise,

he's going to destroy them,

he's going to crush this nation

under the military power of Assyria.

Even before you get there,

it's pretty clear from what we've seen

in the first few chapters of this book,

Israel's lives do not reflect

what God expects from those who love him.

We've heard stories of the prostitutes in the temple,

of the oppression of the poor.

So what basis is there for them to be confident?

What reason could they possibly have

to believe that God is happy with them?

Let me show you two.

Firstly, Israel's confidence

flows out of their worship.

Flick to chapter 5

if you've got your Bible open in front of you

and we're looking around verse 5,

4, 5, 6.

We look at what they were doing

in their version of church in the temple

and go,

it's got some serious issues,

it's clearly flawed for us

but for them,

it was the basis

of their confidence

that God was going to love them.

God, when he called his people

and when he created the relationship

between them,

created the covenant,

he placed himself in their midst

in a building called the temple

which he placed in Jerusalem.

That was the one place

where they would meet with him,

where they would sacrifice to him,

where he would speak to them,

they would pray to him.

It was a unique symbol

of God's presence.

But the problem with that is

we're talking to Israel.

So Israel is a group of 12 tribes

that broke in half,

two stayed down at Jerusalem

and 10 stayed up the top,

in fact moved north.

That's Israel now.

That's who we're talking to.

So they've moved away from the temple

where God said,

I'll be there,

come and meet with me.

Now, you know,

that sounds like a disaster.

They have no intention of going

and visiting the place

that God said to worship.

So they figure,

we can solve that problem.

And they come up

with three new places to go.

They're there in those verses,

in chapter 5.

Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba.

You don't have to remember

all these names.

It's okay.

But for a second,

we do have to look at them.

Because Israel didn't just choose,

that's a nice hill,

let's put a church there.

These are really specifically

and intentionally chosen places

that they thought

would help them do

worshiping God.

And let me show you why.

Bethel is a place,

earlier in the Bible,

in Genesis,

where Jacob,

who was kind of the forefather

of this nation Israel,

encounters God twice.

The first time he goes there,

he has this vision

and he wakes up

and he says,

clearly,

this is a place

where the Lord is.

And then in his travels,

he ends up back there

another time

and God shows up

and engages him

and changes his name

from Jacob to Israel.

It is a place

that was symbolic

for God's presence.

And so,

this nation thought,

well,

we can't worship

where we're supposed to

but if we build a temple

at Bethel

and we worship there,

then God will have

to be present with us

because that's a place

of God's presence.

Now,

the problem is,

that's not what God

told them to do.

That's not what God promised

but that was their strategy.

Bethel.

Second place is Beersheba.

Beersheba is another place

that comes out

from earlier in the Bible

in Genesis

where Abraham,

Isaac and Jacob,

again,

these are the guys

who kind of,

the great grandfathers

of this nation Israel,

they all encounter God

in this place,

Beersheba.

And they all encounter God

in a unique way

where they are on a journey

to which they don't know

the outcome.

Abraham is travelling

to a land that's not his,

that God has told him

is going to be his.

He's freaking out

and God says,

do not fear,

I will go with you.

Jacob is travelling

on his way to Egypt

because of a famine

and he's nervous

about going to Egypt

and rightfully so

because his descendants

will end up being slaves there.

But God says,

do not fear,

I will go with you.

So Beersheba

is this symbolic reminder

that God protects his people.

And so these geniuses

come up with an idea,

we'll put a temple

at Beersheba,

we'll do church there

and then God

will have to protect us.

But God didn't promise that.

Last one,

Gilgal.

Gilgal was the first place

that God's people camped

when they moved

into the promised land,

the land that God

was giving them.

It's a place

where they stopped

and they had a big celebration

to recommit to God.

It was the first place

where they got to enjoy

this land

that they'd been waiting

and waiting

and waiting to get.

They enjoyed the fruit.

It was symbolic

of the inheritance

that God had promised

to this nation Israel.

The inheritance

they were enjoying now

in the land

that they lived in.

It was a great land,

good for farming,

good for all these things

and so they thought

we'll put a church there

and we'll go and worship there

and then God

will have to

protect our inheritance.

He'll have to protect

our borders

because we're worshipping

at the place

where some stuff happened

but God didn't promise that.

See,

there are two

really big issues

with this new

religious system.

Now,

give them some credit.

The desire is right.

The intention is right.

But the big issue is,

firstly,

they've completely ignored

and even rejected

the explicit instruction

that God gave in His law

that He will dwell

in His temple

at Jerusalem.

They've just kind of

ignored that

and used their

brilliant powers of logic

to invent a new way

of engaging with God.

They've explicitly rejected

the gift that God gave them

to tell them

how to engage Him.

I mean,

do you guys remember

a few months ago

in church

we did a big series

in Leviticus?

There was a lot of blood,

there was a lot of dead animals

if you remember it,

in the stories,

not in church,

just to clarify

if you're a guest.

The book of Leviticus

and some of the other

big books

at the beginning

of the Bible

are just full of details

of God laying out,

here's how you can worship me.

Here's how you can

have access to me.

Here's what the priests

will wear,

here's the animals

you will use,

here's what the building

will look like.

It was very, very specific

because it mattered

because God was God

and they were not

and yet here they are

and they've just ignored

all of that stuff

that God told them

and come up

with their own solution

and so not surprisingly

it's not working.

But the second issue

is even bigger.

The whole system

that they have built

for relating to God here,

the whole religious calendar

and structure

is built around

a wrong view

of who God is.

I mean,

in this system,

worship

is a transaction.

In this system,

if I go to Bethel

and do my church there,

then God owes me

his presence.

If I go to Gilgal,

then God owes me

this land.

If I go to Beersheba,

then God owes me

protection.

See,

all the things

that they have,

all the things

these places represent

are gifts

that God gave them

out of his goodness

and generosity

and they have turned

them into things

that they are bartering

for,

trying to purchase

from God,

trying to earn.

Suddenly,

God has become

someone who can be

manipulated,

even blackmailed

into giving us stuff

and the result

is that because

they feel like

they've held up

their side of the bargain,

they feel like

God has to hold up

his side of the bargain

and one of the reasons

they were feeling

so secure

is because materially

at this point,

they're doing really well.

It seems like

it's working.

They've rejected

what he said,

they've chosen

their own adventure,

they've completely

misunderstood him

and shrunk him down

into somebody

who is on par

with them

that they can deal

with like an equal

and at first glance

for them,

it seems like

it's working.

They're having

bumper crops,

they're rich,

they're beating

other armies,

life is good.

They're basing

their understanding,

their confidence

in God's approval

on their circumstances

instead of

on what God

has explicitly

said to them

in his word,

in the law.

Instead of

on the message

that he is

speaking to them

through the prophet

right at this moment,

they don't want

to hear that

because they've

found a story,

their own version,

that's kind of

nicer to listen to.

Life's good,

we just keep doing

what we're doing,

everything's easy.

Israel has

security,

false security,

because it's

completely lost

sight of who

God really is.

That was the answer.

they put themselves

in a situation

where they were

kind of offside

with God

because they'd

moved away

and the way

they dealt

with it

was by shrinking

God so that

they could

delude themselves

into being a

little bit more

comfortable.

But God's not

open to

redefinition.

There in verse

eight,

having rebuked

them for going

to Bethel

and Gilgal

and Beersheba,

Amos says,

he who made

this is in

chapter five,

he who made

the Pleiades

and Orion

who turns

midnight into

dawn,

darkens day

into night,

who calls

for the

waters of

the sea

and pours

them out

over the

face of

the land,

the Lord

is his

name.

He has

no equal,

no rival.

He's the

creator and

sustainer and

he's not open

to redefinition.

He's not a

movable feast.

We can't

adjust him to

suit us

just because

something's

uncomfortable or

difficult.

And yet,

for a heap

of us,

that's exactly

what we do.

When we

come across

things in

God's word

that are

challenging,

that are

maybe calling

for change

or sacrifice,

when we

look at

parts of

God that

are difficult

to hold

like his

wrath and

his judgment,

or when our

circumstances

aren't playing

out the way

that we

think they

should,

we

adjust

God.

We

ignore what

he's saying

to us in

his word

and instead

lead ourselves

into this

false security.

For example,

right now as a

church,

we're in a

season where

there is a

clear sense

that God

is pushing

us.

If you've

been around

here for

more than

a month

or two,

you'll get

a sense

that God's

been doing

a work

on us

where he

keeps pressing

the same

button about

us upping

our game

when it comes

to sacrificially

loving our

neighbour,

caring for

those who

are in need

in the

world.

That's

uncomfortable

to hear

because to

sacrificially care

for other

people means

you've got to

sacrifice.

It means

you've got to

give up

something in

your life

that you

enjoy,

something that's

become part

of the way

you work,

part of your

rhythm.

Maybe you

were sitting

there as

we've gone

through these

series after

series and

it keeps

coming up and

you're thinking,

I already

give some.

In fact,

I even upped

my giving just

recently and

just after that

God gave me a

pay rise so

he must be

pretty happy

with what I'm

doing because

stuff's kind of

working out for

me.

It's all

fallen into

place.

So this

challenge must

be for the

other people.

One of the

key signs,

warning signs

that you've

wandered across

into this

false security

group is a

refusal to

hear challenge

from God,

is a refusal

to be

corrected and

rebuked.

If you're

wondering whether

or not you've

strayed over into

this land,

a good clue

will be how

do you approach

hearing God's

word?

How do you

approach what

the Bible

says?

As soon as

you find

yourself tuning

out or when

we start

applying the

Bible, you're

sitting there

making a note

of which people

in this room

need to hear

that?

That is a

sure sign

that you are

starting to base

your security on

something that's

not God.

You might be

still calling it

God, but your

confidence is

now on who

you are compared

to them, how

hard you're

working, how

good life is as

evidence that God

must be happy

with you.

It's what Israel

did.

And you know,

once they stopped

listening to God,

once they replaced

the real God with

their own small

unimpressive version

of God, it didn't

take them long to

go the next step and

just start worshipping

other gods.

God shrunk so

much for them that

these temples that

they made at

first as a means

of worshipping the

God became houses

where they worshipped

any God they could

find.

The gods from the

countries around

them.

I mean, it's the

logical conclusion.

When you start

changing God, which

is essentially

inventing God, you

may as well

worship any God.

They're equally

powerless.

Now, it sounds

disgraceful, or it

should sound

disgraceful, because

it is.

That this people

who were chosen

by God, who were

rescued out of

slavery, who God

has provided for,

who God went

before to give

them this whole

land that they're

now living in,

could somehow get

to the point where

they treat God like

he's somebody that

they can deal

with, someone they

can handle and

control and

manipulate.

But before you

shake your head at

them too much,

you've got to

stop and ask

yourself the

question, where

am I doing the

same thing?

Have I started

down a path of

redefining God to

suit me better?

Are there things

that would be

controversial amongst

my friends that I've

decided to reject as

well, even though

God's Word says

it?

Are there things

that he's asking me

to do in my life

that I've decided

would just be a

little bit too

much?

I'll stay in the

normal Christian, I

don't want to be one

of those fanatics

categories?

Where does your

confidence come

from?

Your confidence

that God loves

you?

Is it how hard you

work to serve him

here at church?

Is it how nice you

are compared to

other people?

Is it how great

life is going right

now?

Or is it what God

has said in his

Word?

See, the scary

part about this is

this false

confidence group

and this insecure

group are actually

closer than you

think.

they actually

have the same

problem.

For both

groups, the

issue is they

have a wrong

view of God.

Some people I

spoke to who

left our church

several years ago

expressed their

frustration that

sometimes when we

open the Bible,

they felt scolded

or rebuked.

And what they

wanted was to be

told that God

loved them, which

is true and is a

good thing to hear.

But they

weren't looking for

a God to serve

and a God to

obey, they were

looking for a

puppy.

They just wanted

somebody to get

excited when they

saw them and make

them feel good.

And so they

went looking for a

church where their

version of God

wouldn't be

challenged and

where they

themselves wouldn't

be challenged.

For some people,

opening the Bible,

coming to church

is a process of

let's hear what

God has to say so

I can decide whether

or not I want to

do this.

Let's check if this

fits in with how

my life's going and

what I think is

reasonable, what my

friends say.

And if it fits,

then I'm on

board.

But the

problem with that

is becoming a

Christian,

following God

is the decision

to follow God

no matter what.

You kind of

can't take a

half step in.

That's kind of

why the whole

idea of normal

and fanaticals

is not

particularly

helpful.

The decision

to follow God

means that having

seen who he is,

having seen what

he has done in

sending his son to

die in our place,

means we open

our Bibles

and we arrive

here at church

with an attitude

of God,

I'm in,

just tell me

what.

You say jump,

I'll say how

high.

I'm yours,

whatever you need,

whatever it costs

me.

God, I know I'm

not finished,

I know there's

work to be done,

so just show me

what it is I need

to do,

or stop doing,

or confess.

It's the attitude

that recognizes

that God has

absolute authority,

that God owes

us nothing.

The message of

Amos, and in

fact the whole

Bible, is to

repent,

calling us to

come back to

God as he

really is,

as he's shown

himself to be,

in his word,

in Jesus.

It's a call to

keep listening to

him, to keep

submitting to

him, to

keep being

directed by

him, to

keep obeying

him, because

otherwise, all

that's left is

judgment.

Our natural

tendency, just

like Israel's

was, is to

overemphasize the

mercy of God.

That's the bit

that we hear,

that's the bit

we take home and

remember from the

sermon.

Even here in

chapter 7 that

Deborah had out

for us, there's

two judgments that

God pronounces, the

locust and the

second one, which I

don't have in front

of me.

And after Amos

pleads with him for

these judgments, God

relents, says I

won't do it, and

he's merciful.

And we want to

stop there and go,

amen.

That's the message

for tonight, God is

merciful.

He gets angry,

rightfully, fair

enough, but he

doesn't follow through,

so it's okay,

fantastic.

And God is

merciful, but he's

not only merciful.

And if you find

yourself with this

kind of tendency to

only ever hear, or

only ever recognize,

or only ever engage

with God as the one

who will always let

you off, you need to

hear the words, the

warning of chapter 7

verse 7.

Having just

relented twice,

says, this is what he

showed me.

The Lord was

standing by a wall

that had been built

true to plumb.

With a plumb line in

his hand, the Lord

asked me, what do you

see, Amos?

A plumb line, I

replied.

Then the Lord said,

look, I'm setting a

plumb line among my

people Israel.

I will spare them

no longer.

I will spare them

no longer.

The high places of

Isaac will be

destroyed and the

sanctuaries of Israel

will be ruined.

With my sword, I will

rise against the

house of Jeroboam.

The message to a

complacent, overconfident

Israel, and maybe the

message for us, is that

mercy has its limits.

If you begin to see

this merciful God as a

blank check who doesn't

care about how you live

or what you do,

then the time has

come.

Here, the time has

come for Israel to face

its judgment, and

eventually the time will

come for every one of

us to face God.

For those of you who

aren't familiar with

building techniques, and

I need to put my hand up

and own that I'm one of

those people, I did a

very small amount of

research to find out

what a plumb line is.

A plumb line is

basically a piece of

string with a weight on

it.

It's used by builders to

make sure a wall is

upright and straight.

The point being, you

use it and if the wall is

not straight, you either

knock it down or you

fix it.

Clearly the sense here is

God is going to

measure and he will get

rid of anything that

doesn't measure up.

But the measure that he

will use is the measure

that he used to build his

people in the first place.

Did you catch that?

The wall has been built

true to plumb.

The wall has been built

on the truth of who

God is.

Of God's character

revealed in the way that

he chose them and he

rescued them.

God's character revealed

in the law that he gave

to them and the worship

that he made possible.

It's the same standard by

which all people ever

will be judged.

Right worship of God

and right justice for

one another.

The standard which

Israel is being held to

is are they loving God

with all their heart,

soul, mind and strength

and are they loving their

neighbour as themselves?

The question God will

ask is, is Israel's

worship fitting for a

sovereign God who rules

over all?

And do they seek justice

for the poor and

oppressed?

And the resounding

answer in this book

so far is no chance.

I mean they're

worshipping false

gods.

They're watering down

the real God.

They're trampling on the

poor in the process

and worst of all

they won't listen to

the warning and the

call to repent and

come back.

And so God's mercy

has reached its

limits.

And he says,

I will spare them

no longer.

Now it's really

important that you

understand, I'm not

saying here that God's

mercy has run out.

I'm not saying that his

allocation of mercy is

exhausted.

I'm not saying that

Israel has failed too

many times and so

they've used up their

bit.

God's mercy is part of

who he is.

He is the merciful God.

So he's the same amount

merciful right now that

he was before he created

the world.

He's eternally merciful.

He will always be

merciful.

The issue for Israel

is that once you

ignore or reject the

mercy that is offered

you won't find more.

Once you reject the

way that he has offered

mercy and go looking

elsewhere you won't

find it.

It is limited in the

sense of where it is,

where God has placed

it.

God has offered mercy

to Israel by giving

them the law to guide

them in how to live.

He's offered them

mercy by rescuing

them.

He's offered them

mercy by providing for

their worship and their

religious practice,

giving them a

sacrificial system so

that they might always

remember who he is,

how holy he is,

how serious sin is,

how unworthy they are,

and most importantly

that in spite of all

of that he is making

a way for them to

know him.

God has shown the

mercy, the mercy of

the fact that in spite

of their unworthiness

he has made a way for

them to be his.

And so if they reject

that, if they pervert

that, if they take that

gift and just mistreat

it and change it,

there is nothing else on

offer.

And so all that's

left is judgment.

Do you remember the

conversation that I

opened with, that I

had over my holidays?

That tension that we

feel about a God who

is loving and the good

people we know who

might end up in hell?

Not one person will

end up in hell who

hasn't chosen to

reject the mercy that

God has offered them.

Not one.

God is eternally

merciful and his

mercy is more than

sufficient for every

person ever.

So those that end up

facing his judgment

will be those that

choose to reject the

mercy that he offers.

The issue for Israel

wasn't lack of mercy,

it was that they

rejected the mercy God

had provided in his

law and in the

sacrificial system.

And so all that was

left for them was

judgment.

Remember these two

groups here.

If you're over here in

this secure in God

category, I want to say

that's something to

thank God for.

That's a good thing.

And I hope you're

encouraged to be

reminded tonight by

just how merciful your

God is, but I think a

whole bunch of us live

in this middle group.

We'd love to be over

here, but on bad days

we just kind of think,

does God actually love

me?

Maybe you're starting to

recognize tonight that

you're even over in this

group.

The issues for the

overconfident group and

the insecure group are

essentially the same.

It's your view of God.

The overconfident group

gets apathetic in their

following Jesus.

That's Israel.

They don't care about

anything other than

ticking the box of going

to church because God's

going to forgive them

anyway.

They've got him over a

barrel.

They've ticked their bit.

He has to show them

mercy.

It's what we sometimes

call cheap grace.

Where all you know about

God is that he has to

love you and say, you

can just do whatever you

want.

But that's not the whole

picture with God.

Yes, God is merciful, but

God is just.

Now for the insecure

group, our issue is that

we look at God and we get

concerned that God's like

us.

So his mercy is like our

mercy, which means it

might disappear if we push

him too hard.

We get concerned that he's

going to get angry and his

anger is going to ride over

the top of his mercy, that

we might do something

that's just unforgivable.

And so we serve and we go

to church and we be nice to

people, but it is driven by

this weight of guilt and fear

that if I don't, God won't

love me anymore.

But that's not who God has

revealed himself to be either.

God has shown us time and time

again in Scripture, in history

and most importantly in his son

Jesus, that he is patient, he is

merciful, he is just, he will not

let the guilty go unpunished and

that he owes us nothing.

That we have no entitlement to his

mercy.

And yet he chooses to offer it

anyway.

What we find in the Scripture as

we go through is that he chooses

to send Jesus to die in our place

even though it's us who deserve

that punishment.

Even though it's us who mistreat

God.

Even though it's us who mistreat

one another.

Even though it's us who live

like we're the center of the

universe.

God chooses to intervene and

offer mercy to people like us.

He chooses to take the punishment

that makes it possible for

unworthy people like you and me

to not just know him, but to call

him father.

To be brought into his family.

It is not possible to find

security in your attempts to follow

and serve God.

It might work for a little while,

but all it will take is one bad

week.

One lapse in concentration and

character and suddenly you've done

something you know is not good

enough and you're trapped back in

insecurity and fear.

It is not possible to find security

in your circumstance.

Because circumstances change quickly

too.

The only security you will find when

it comes to the judgment of God is

found in God himself.

Because his mercy and his love are not

based on you.

They're based in him.

They're who he is and they are

demonstrated concretely and visibly

in what Jesus does on the cross.

On the cross the punishment that you

deserve is poured out on him

completely and satisfied fully.

And so because of Jesus you can stand

as somebody who is unworthy and know

that God's love for you will never be

turned away.

If you accept the mercy that God offers

when he says come to me, if you go to

Jesus looking for forgiveness, the answer

is always irreversibly unconditionally

yes.

In those moments where you wonder does

God still love me?

What Jesus does is prove to you that God

has given you the most costly thing he

could.

His perfect and only son.

And he did it when you were at your

worst.

He did it knowing everything that would

come after that point and he still

chose to do it.

Which means you can stand in your

imperfection and failure as somebody

confident that God loves you.

Not because of you, because of him.

That is the call to let go of the

things that we are placing our trust in.

To let go of the things that we reach

out to when we're feeling uncomfortable

and to come back to God as he has

revealed himself.

To come back to the cross and understand

that there we will be released to love

God and to love people not out of guilt,

not out of fear, but out of the security

and peace and hope of being the precious

sons and daughters of a heavenly father

who is merciful and just and sovereign and

powerful.

God's mercy is only limited in the sense of

where you can find it.

God's mercy is only limited in the sense of

God.

So long as you have breath in your lungs,

if you ask God to forgive you, he will do it.

If you ask him to show you the peace and

hope and joy and freedom of being irreversibly,

unconditionally and eternally loved by him,

then today you will experience that.

Right now we're about to share in a meal

called the Lord's Supper.

This is a meal that Jesus gave to his

disciples just before he died.

It's a meal that he gave to his disciples

and for us as a means of drawing us back

to what he had done.

Drawing us back to the foundation that enables

us to stand before a holy God, a God who

will judge confident, not because of us,

but because of the body that was broken

for us, because of the blood that was

shed for us.

And so as we get ready to share in this

meal, I want to challenge you.

Don't just go through the motions like,

you know, we do this, pass it on, next,

what?

If you are somebody who lives in this space

of insecurity, I want to invite you to hand

it over to God tonight.

I want to invite you to recognize that the

reason you're insecure is because you're

trying to trust your version of God.

But the real God is here.

The real God is in what Jesus has done.

And if you stand there, you don't have to

fear.

You don't have to wonder.

You can know.

And if you're over here and recognizing for

the first time tonight that God's not okay

with a blank check and you just get to do

whatever you want,

tonight is your chance to be forever accepted

by God.

Tonight is your chance to be welcomed into the

family.

Tonight is your chance to recognize that the

call to sacrifice, to serve for God, to give

for God, to love other people for God is

actually a blessing.

It's not a burden.

It's not a standard you've got to meet up to.

The plumb line, the measure that God demands is

perfection.

And this bread and this juice is symbolic that

Jesus meets that standard for us.

Whenever you wonder whether or not God loves

you, all you need do is look at the perfect

Savior who died in your place and know that now the

words of approval reserved for Jesus are available

to you.

The words that God speaks when Jesus is baptized,

this is my son whom I love, with him I am well

pleased, are now yours if you accept the mercy that

God offers in his son and only in his son.

I want to invite the helpers who are going to bring

this round, but I want to encourage you, hold on to

these two things.

Because we're going to eat and drink them together.

But if you're not a Christian, when you get this

bread and this juice, you might not know what this is

about, how it works.

I want you to grab them anyway because this is your

chance to actually accept the mercy that God offers in

Jesus.

This is your chance to go from not sure to secure.

And if you're someone who's following Jesus, this is your

chance to come back again to the immovable foundation that

God offers us in Jesus.

And if you're not a Nope Salesman, you can put

out of that for me.

And if you four days before him, you want to

London again and then Drop it in space and

use them access to him.

And put the Devil in, then password down in life.

And you can certainly hold on your help right now.

And it's never for me, or for you life.

And we would say through this, because there is a

long switch coming back, and you're not a

thing coming back, but they've been

by the way.