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[0:00] Amos chapter 6.

[0:15] Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountains of Samaria, which are named! chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came. That's his name. That's what he is. He's burdened. He's a farmer. And he had a burden here.

[0:36] A burden. He was God's watchman, watching for men's souls, as they that must give account. And today we likewise should be burdened. Burdened, as Amos was. Amos the prophet says, Woe to them, woe to them that are at ease in Zion. It means Jerusalem. And we could apply it to mean the church of God, the people of God of our day and time. Likewise today we could say aloud, woe, woe, to a careless, casual, carefree church. Living in a world that is going to hell in a handbasket. And we are sleeping at the wheel. Yet we are at ease in Zion.

[1:23] He says, woe! It means affliction. It means misfortune. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. Of course there's nothing wrong with rest. We need rest. We should rest. We should rest in the Lord.

[1:39] It's not our works that save us. It's his work that's finished. And there's a rest for the people of God. We're waiting for it. There's a rest for us in heaven. And there's needful rest in the meantime.

[1:51] But the rest that is spoken of here is a different thing. It's being at ease in Zion. It means, if you like, that little hammock in the sun when we should be in the harvest field.

[2:08] We're watering it. At ease in Zion. The ease that Amos speaks of here is not the need for rest that we should take and have that balance in our lives. But it's that ease that is a worldly ease.

[2:21] A carnal fleshly ease. Not an ease of rest of faith. But a worldly carelessness. A sinful ease. Brothers and sisters today, it speaks of the hardened hearts of men and women of our day and age who care nothing for the cross. It speaks as a light to the ease of a drunkard with a dullened mind and senses. It's a light to the ease of the worldling, scarcely giving a thought to the conviction of their sin and just wanting to please themselves. It speaks of a conscience that's callous and hard. The ease and peace of one grown careless asleep. And unless he wake up, he shall make his bed in hell, as Spurgeon put it. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. This being at ease speaks of neglect.

[3:25] And as a result, there's a spiritual degeneration. Have we noticed that? Sometimes we don't notice it.

[3:54] We grow unconcerned. Yet we've lost something and it's tragic. Why is it that we face this decay, this decline?

[4:06] Why? It's crept up on us. It's gradual. We don't even realise it. We just don't attend as often as we used to. We don't have the same zeal, the same passion, the same intensity that we had.

[4:21] We don't have the love of God and his word of fellowship. And it's a gradual creeping up thing. It's like as our Lord told the story of the enemy coming and sowing this weed, this tears amongst the weed.

[4:39] And when did it happen? While they slept. The enemy came while they slept. And it's happened with us too in the church of God.

[4:55] It's while we slept. Those who served him, who served the enemy, they work overnight too. As they sow the tears, the weeds.

[5:07] And the decay happened, the degeneration, the loss happened while men slept. When men ought to have been keeping watch, yet they slept and the enemy did his evil work.

[5:20] And friends, that's happening in the church of God today. Christians are by and large asleep and the cause of Christ is suffering. There's much to be desired as we see ministry departing from God's word, going into unbelief.

[5:35] As we see unscriptural unity. As we see wayward worship. As we see something precious has been lost and we scarcely have noticed it. It's been eroded. Erosion doesn't happen quickly. It takes time.

[5:53] Bit by bit, the erosion happens. And that's what happens in the church of God. Things have been stolen from us people of God. And it's all happened while we were asleep. And our spiritual slumber, we've been robbed.

[6:07] A great loss of spiritual truth has happened. I look back to churches I've been in and I see where they're at today and I think, wow, what happened? Wow, what happened?

[6:18] And churches like ours too, we're not immune from it. I'm not immune from it. We've got to watch ourselves. We've got to watch ourselves. We've got to watch ourselves. We've got to watch ourselves. We've got to watch ourselves. And it says in Amos 6, 1, the people trusted in the mountains of Samaria.

[6:33] They trusted, in other words, they trusted in a power in rulers other than God. They put their trust in other things rather than God. And brothers and sisters, we must learn to depend upon our God, not on other things.

[6:47] In Amos 6, verse 3, the context here is of judgment. Judgment. The Bible says where does judgment begin? At the house of God.

[6:58] Judgment begins at the house of God. And friends, in verse 3, it says that the day of evil, the day of disaster is coming. And Amos is saying to the people, we should be calling on our God when the Lord comes.

[7:17] It will not be your enemies that will be judged. It will be you. And those that are at ease in Zion are complacent. In other words, they don't care about the coming judgment.

[7:29] They don't care about eternity, about eternal souls, about pleasing God. And brothers and sisters, that is the affliction of the modern church today. Do we stop and think about judgment?

[7:42] Judgment. It's coming and it's sure. It's prophesied. God's holy wrath will be poured out. Are we at ease when we ought to be on the alert?

[7:55] Do we act like we don't need God but the people in Amos 6? In verse 3, it says, It sounds like a lot that is happening today in modern culture.

[8:12] Seeking after violence. It's like there's an appetite for it, isn't there? You see the latest hit movies? What's it all about? Violence and destruction and disaster.

[8:23] Action films, games, TV shows. They're intent on glorifying pain. And it seems like we've lost our sense of disgust, of shame, about the evil that is all around us, brothers and sisters.

[8:35] Judgment is coming. Verse 4 of Amos 6 says, That lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches and eat the lambs out of the flock and calves out of the midst of the stall.

[8:49] Here they are, as if they're in their hammocks or on their couches. Couch potatoes. How many Christians today are spiritual couch potatoes?

[9:02] Brothers and sisters, it ought not to be. It speaks of a love of self, of a love of carelessness, of slackness. Bands of ivory, it speaks of wealth.

[9:13] Sometimes we've got it too cushy. Let's face it. We're Aussies. What need have we in this world that we live?

[9:24] And we've become as spiritual couch potatoes. They lie upon beds of ivory. They stretch themselves out on their comfortable couches. They eat the lambs of the flock.

[9:35] They've got plenty all around them. What need have they of the Lord? It's true of us today too. In the church of God today. Those at ease in Zion were consumed with a love for pleasure more than a love for God.

[9:50] Sparing little thought for eternal things. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. Friends, the message here of being at ease in Zion is of a love for the world and its pleasures more than a love for God.

[10:04] When other things take his place. And if we love the world, the Bible says we are an enemy of God. Worldly Christian, get a load of that one.

[10:15] James 4. If you're a lover of the world, if you're a friend of this world and worldliness, you're an enemy of God. Those at ease in Zion are a people living for entertainment.

[10:30] Verse 5 of Amos 6, it goes on. Of these that are at ease in Zion, they chant to the sound of the vial and invent to themselves instruments of music like David.

[10:41] Now, David played some godly music. But here the concept is a love for music and we see that in an unhealthy way today. Where music has become like a form of escapism.

[10:55] You see them walking around with these things in their ears all the time. It's escapism. Yeah. The Pied Piper in their ears.

[11:06] A form of escapism there consumed by musical entertainment. And it's like our day to day where popular music, by and large, it's immoral in many of its lyrics.

[11:17] And it gets a grip on people that is hard to shake off. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. The people at ease in Zion, verse 6, it goes on.

[11:28] They drink wine in bowls. So those at ease in Zion are caught up in this worldly life. The party culture. The drink culture. The drinking culture.

[11:38] The drunkenness. They would feel right at home in boozy Australia, wouldn't they? Those at ease in Zion would love the Aussie kind of culture.

[11:50] In the godless way that it goes. And it's a form of idolatry. Again, it's things other than God. Getting in God's way. It's like someone I heard lately.

[12:01] They used this expression. They used it in passing. The footy gods. The footy gods. For some, it can become an idol. It can be.

[12:13] Not for everyone. But people turn to idols when they forget God. That's why they turn to the bottle or something other than God. And it's like someone described it in years gone by.

[12:27] They made them out of stone and clay and wood. The gods they wanted. They fashioned them to suit themselves. In Isaiah 44, 9 through 17. But today men's minds shape and fashion the god of their preference.

[12:42] They mentally chisel and carve away the judgment, the wrath, the severity of God. They make God into a God of tolerance only. A God who overlooks their sin and false doctrine.

[12:55] And they mould and shape a god that accepts things once rejected. A God of their own choosing with a small g. And their minds fashion this god to suit themselves.

[13:08] It's no less idolatry than it was back then with the pagans of long ago. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. The word at ease, it speaks of carelessness.

[13:22] Carelessness. Brother, sister, beware carelessness. Carelessness. Verse 6. Despite all the warning signs, they failed to see the need of repentance.

[13:35] They grew careless. In verse 6 of chapter 6. They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. They didn't grieve over the state of their nation. They didn't grieve over the state of their worldliness.

[13:49] There was a carelessness that consumed them. That consumed the culture. And carelessness, I put it to you today. Carelessness prevails today in our fair nation.

[14:03] I know that sometimes I can get careless. I can get careless in relation to my garden at home. Amen. You know, ask Julie about that.

[14:14] I can get careless about my car. You know, I'll just let it get a bit messy and dirty. And so I get the inspiration one day. Carelessness.

[14:26] It's something, it's in us. If we don't watch ourselves. And there's a carelessness in Australia. There's a carelessness in our schools. There's a carelessness in our government.

[14:37] There's a carelessness in workplaces. Carelessness in relationships today. It's the Aussie way. It seems. A carelessness too.

[14:48] Concerning the things of God. It's an attitude. It creeps up on us. Some people have a carelessness in relation to alcohol. A carelessness in relation to their personal morality.

[14:59] A carelessness about their soul. When he comes, will he find you sleeping? Or serving? Will he find you watching or distracted?

[15:11] It will be costly for some when he catches us napping. You know, there's some places, including places where I work, you've got to be awake. There's night shifts where people have to be awake.

[15:25] And what a shame it would be if they were caught asleep. They could lose their job. What about us? We should be awake. We should be awake.

[15:39] Some sit in their comfortable churches and care little for souls while judgment is looming. It's upon us. What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

[15:52] If scarcely the righteous be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? Friends, these are troubled times. When there's troubled times, you need to find a sure refuge.

[16:04] You know, in the news lately, there's people running to find refuge. They're encircled. I heard, thankfully, some of them are finding a way to flee. But when you want to get out of trouble, you want to go to a flee to a sure refuge.

[16:18] Not to some refuge of lies, as the word says, but a sure refuge. Not some philosophies of men that will fail you, but to God. Now, there's a familiar Aussie expression, take it easy.

[16:34] Take it easy. King David took it easy. King David, the anointed of God. A man after God's own heart.

[16:46] The captain of the forces. He took it easy. He stayed home. He cooled his heels. He should have been at the battlefront.

[16:57] But he slipped into sin with Bathsheba. Why? He took it easy. And he ended up murdering her husband to cover up his immorality.

[17:09] Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. Don't be like King David in that regard. Samson is another example of a Christian asleep at his post.

[17:21] Another good example of bad behaviour. Samson. He had a sleepover with his pagan girlfriend. And as he lay in Delilah's lap, he was thoughtless.

[17:37] That he could lose his great strength. David, Samson. Their love of ease was their downfall. They were in the wrong company, at the wrong place.

[17:51] At ease in Zion. Another example is Jonah. Jonah. Sound asleep in the storm. And the pagan sea captain rouses Jonah from his kit.

[18:04] During the raging storm. What are you doing, O sleeper? Arise and call on your God. The Lord Jesus told a story.

[18:14] A parable of a master addressing a sleeping servant. You wicked and slothful servant. He was slumbering while his fellow servants were out working hard.

[18:27] Paul exhorted the church at Corinth. Paul exhorted the church at Corinth. Awake to righteousness. To the Ephesians he said, awake thou that sleepest. To the Thessalonians, let us not sleep as others.

[18:42] Friends, there are dangers when we sleep. A sleeping man is unaware. When his house is broken into. And his belongings taken. When his house catches fire.

[18:54] There's dangers when you're asleep. We can lose our feeling. Our sensitivity when we're asleep. We can lose our senses as we have vain illusions.

[19:06] Some Christians are living in a dream world. Not on the sure footing of God's word. Now some people are saying, I had this dream. What's God telling me? This is what God's telling you.

[19:17] Here in black and white. You know, we can take heed of dreams. But dreams are an aside. This is the foundation. Right here. Don't be misled.

[19:28] Into all kinds of confusion. At the time of Titanic. The telegrapher on board was madly sending out the message. SOS! SOS! SOS!

[19:40] But the telegrapher on the sister ship, the California. Was sound asleep. It's dangerous when we sleep. Another thing, when we sleep we are vulnerable.

[19:51] A murderer may attack us. A thief may break in. And you can't protect yourself or strike back. It's dangerous, it can be, when we're asleep. In Judges 4, Sisera was famous as a mighty victorious general.

[20:06] His banner waved over many a battlefield in victory. Yet Jael took a nail and a hammer and drove it through his temples and pinned him to the floor and he died there in his sleep.

[20:21] Not long before, Jael tucked him in and gave him a nice glass of milk. But when he slept, he was vulnerable.

[20:33] Now after such stories, I hope that you won't have trouble getting to sleep tonight. But nevertheless, sleeping can be dangerous. Well, we're talking in a spiritual sense here.

[20:44] Christian sleeper. Your life is in danger. You may lose your usefulness for the kingdom of God. Your zeal. Your testimony. And when we sleep, we're inactive.

[20:58] Inactive. Farmers can't plough their fields when they're asleep. The harvest suffers if we sleep on. The Lord says, The fields are white unto the harvest.

[21:11] They're ready. Pray the Lord send. The Lord of the harvest send forth workers into his harvest. And a quote here. Men, the fields are white unto harvest.

[21:24] And we are to pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth labourers into the harvest fields. Men who will work. Men who love to work. Men who will not complain at the bursts of toil and the calloused hands.

[21:40] End quote. When we sleep, we're inactive. And God doesn't want us to be inactive Christians. Another thing, sleep impoverishes us. Solomon said a couple of times in the Proverbs, A little sleep.

[21:55] A little slumber. A little folding of the hands. To rest. And poverty will come upon you. Like a robber. And want. Like an armed man.

[22:06] The church is asleep. And we've neglected God's warning. The warning signs are all around us. And friends, when we sleep in that spiritual slumber, that is an ungodly ease, it says poverty will come upon you.

[22:25] The church is poor today. Poor today. And some of the poorest, most poverty stricken churches are those who've got it all sleek and professional. Churches where the money sends more abundant can be those that are the poorest.

[22:44] The most spiritually poor. And a preacher tells the slumbering churches, I quote, It isn't merely that the pulpit is a sentry box in which a sleeping watchman is to be found, but the pews are affected.

[22:57] And all the activities of the church are affected. Where are the prayers? Or those who will work in the bookshop. And those who will visit the sick and lonely. What inactivity there is.

[23:09] And yet, we have enough men and women to reach out very effectively to this community. We have human instruments and agencies and money. We have everything except the will.

[23:21] The heart to work. The stammering tongue to speak a few words for Jesus. Men and women, let us not sleep as others. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

[23:33] Soon we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And give an account of the deeds done in the body. Let's stay awake. End quote. Instead of self-denying, we have self-indulgence today.

[23:47] We've adopted the spirit of the world instead of the spirit of God. God calls us not to be slothful, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Romans 12, verse 11.

[23:58] Compelled by the spirit. Constrained by the love of Christ. Workers called for harvest work. Soldiers called for conflict in this time of warfare.

[24:09] Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. Let's just stand on our feet, Cally. Rise up, army of God. Okay, sit down.

[24:24] That was the intermission. Okay. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. Okay. Let me quote here. Could a mariner sit idle if he heard the drowning cry?

[24:35] Could a doctor sit in comfort and just let his patients die? Could a fireman sit idle, let them burn and give no hand? Can you sit at ease in Zion with the world around you damned?

[24:49] That was Leonard Ravenhill. The compromising church, I'm quoting Hafner, has tried to revise the Bible, streamline the gospel, remodel heaven, explain away the devil, and air-condition hell.

[25:02] That's the world we're in. That's the church we're in. That's what preachers are preaching today. The lukewarm Laodiceans have nauseated the Lord God. And the word from the prophet is, Woe to them!

[25:18] Another quote. We are truly wretched, poor, blind and naked. Does no one see the city as in ruins? An army has invaded us, dashed our babies on the ground, broken our teeth, scattered our loved ones, and we are so deluded we don't even know we are defeated.

[25:35] How can we go to church Sunday after Sunday and pretend all is well? There are more lost people today in the world than ever before in the history of mankind.

[25:46] And at the same time there is less love for God, less thought for holiness, less truth being taught, more people embracing ungodly behaviour. Christian, do you entertain yourself with violence and immorality?

[26:00] Think about what you are doing. Do you conform to the pattern of this world? Or do you die to self? Or do you self yourself to death? We should die to self, not self ourselves to death.

[26:14] Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. Brothers and sisters, I hope you'll get to the encouraging bit in a minute. In the sleeping church today, there's much conformity and compromise.

[26:25] We're called to courage and conviction and character. There's a wake-up call in Romans 13. Paul says, It's high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believe.

[26:42] Cast off the works of darkness. We need to strengthen the things that remain. There's so much more I could say. I'm trying to pick the best bits here. In Bunyan's Pilgrim, the story of Pilgrim, you don't read where Pilgrim slept when he was fighting with the lions.

[27:01] Pilgrim didn't sleep when he was in Doubting Castle, or the Castle of Giant Despair. He wasn't sleeping when he was fighting Apollyon. He didn't sleep when he went through the waters cold and dark of the River of Dead.

[27:15] But towards the end of Pilgrim's journey, to the end of Pilgrim's journey, he found a pleasant, beautiful, enchanting garden, the Garden of Sloth.

[27:28] And there was fitted for him comfort, a cushy, comfy, soft couch. And sleepers were there. Other people on the journey were sleeping there.

[27:39] They filled themselves to take off their sandals and take their ease. Christians here today, the devil will rock your cradle and he'll sing your sweet lullabies and make you feel just fine and dandy if you're not careful.

[27:57] And we need to shake off our sleepiness. Brother, sister, shake off your sleepiness now. Shake it off. Be stirred up. Be disturbed this morning.

[28:09] Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Stir yourself again. Refire your passion for God. Turn back to your Bible. Repent of your backslidings.

[28:23] Get back to regular fellowship. What's that sound when you're just having that really deep sleep? Beep, beep, beep.

[28:34] We need a sound and alarm. We need to sound an alarm, brothers and sisters. A sound and alarm and wake some people up. Wake some people up.

[28:47] When does the church sleep? It doesn't sleep in Syria at the moment. It doesn't sleep in Iraq at the moment. It doesn't sleep in some places in Africa at the moment.

[28:57] It doesn't sleep when the martyrs of old were getting slaughtered for their faith and people are getting beheaded in our day and age. Today, even this day, people are getting beheaded because they confessed Christ.

[29:10] They're not sleeping there. But they're sleeping here. They're sleeping right here in Australia. Where it's easy. Where there's ease and comfort.

[29:23] When we get too comfortable. Where we're at ease with material possessions. When coldness and deadness overtakes us. Friends, complacency is deadly. I think we need to pray for persecution.

[29:37] That's a bit radical, isn't it? The night is far spent. The day is at hand. We need men and God to rise up. To wake up and rise up. The need is desperate.

[29:49] Desperate. We see the news. Have you seen the news headlines lately? What is going on? We know what's going on. The coming of our Lord is near. Judgment is close.

[30:00] It's out the doors. And yet many are addicted to ease. Aussies, we've got it too easy. We've got it way, way, way too easy. And this addiction to ease gives us a false sense of security.

[30:13] We've lost the fire, the passion. And in many quarters apathy reigns. Indifference. Spiritual apathy. There's a tremendous opportunity that we're on the threshold of.

[30:24] There's opportunities all around about. And we have a duty. We have an obligation. We're here to save the world. Not to become like the world. We need a message uncompromising, undiluted, forthright and radical.

[30:43] A message our world desperately needs to hear. We should not hold back. But pull out all the stops. To honour and glorify our God.

[30:54] Here's a quote. Too many churches today are seeking to entertain. Rather than instruct. And warn the lost. And when the church enters into the contest with the world.

[31:06] In entertainment. She's bound to lose. The church is not an institution to entertain the world. But to warn it. And show forth the name of the Lord.

[31:20] As Hathner said. We have emphasised programs. And propaganda. And pet. And personnel. When what we need most is passion and power.

[31:31] We're trying to make church members do things they don't want to do anyway. When the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Brothers we need to be encouraged to get back to where we were.

[31:44] And friends. He goes on. Churches like Samson have gone to sleep in the lap of Delilah. And though they go forth Sunday after Sunday to shape themselves.

[31:56] The spirit of the Lord has departed. Samson may have looked better after he had his hair cut. But he lost his power. He lost his power. He goes on.

[32:08] The world, the flesh and the devil have given the churches a haircut. We've renounced our separation. And we've become conformed instead of transformed. We need to call man back to God.

[32:19] End quote. We must attend to the things of God. The things of the spirit. What did Jesus do? They didn't know where he was. When they found him he says. Didn't you know?

[32:30] I must be about my father's business. That's what matters. Let's be honest now. Right here, right now. Let's be honest. How many children in this city are not taught the word of God?

[32:42] How many souls are without Christ? How many families have no Bible, no hope? How many people all around about us face a Christless eternity?

[32:54] How many living lives in despair and hopelessness, in drunkenness, yet we have hold back the word of God from them? We must get up and get busy.

[33:07] Let's not be asleep at our post. Let's just take a moment for a bit of self-appraisal, a bit of self-assessment. A question. How can you recognise apathy in yourself?

[33:20] Here's how someone summed it up. When your love for God is less than your love for other things. When your spirit no longer is excited about the word of God. When your thoughts stray to wrongful and hurtful loves away from the Lord.

[33:35] When you give in to things that displease God. It's apathy. As you stop resisting temptation. When you do not give cheerfully to God's work. When you no longer fellowship with the saints.

[33:47] When you no longer are responsive to a need that you can handle. When you react to God's disciplines in a negative way. When you long for the approval of men instead of God's approval.

[33:58] And when you're complacent towards the sinful conditions around about. That's apathy. When you're unable to forgive others when they hurt you. And say awful things about you. It's apathy.

[34:09] When church attendance is a drudge instead of a delight. It's apathy. Why? Because you've left your first love. Woe to them that are at ease in sight.

[34:21] I urge you today. Brother, sister, stir yourself. Stir yourself up. Always keep eternity in view. That's what matters. Judgment is coming.

[34:32] And what does judgment mean? It means the terror of the Lord. The terror of the Lord. Some people are going to be terrified when Jesus comes.

[34:45] A lot of the terrorists are going to get terrified. Amen. They're going to get terrified. What about you? Do you fear God? Do you fear God? Consider the time and make preparations for eternity.

[35:01] Now is the time to spend and be spent. Brothers and sisters, shake yourself. Stir yourself.

[35:11] Stir yourself. Don't neglect souls. Don't neglect your spiritual duty. Don't be overwhelmed by other things that take away your interest in spiritual things.

[35:25] Ask yourself. Where is the care for the lost? Where is the brokenness, the grief over our slothfulness, our sinfulness for our land?

[35:38] Many have forgotten God in Australia. They've forgotten God if they ever knew him. And as a people, as a nation, as Australians, we become wimpy, weak and worldly.

[35:50] Worldlings. We avoid hardship. We avoid sacrifice. I've heard there's a new book out. It's called God Less America. God Less America.

[36:02] We could just as truly say God Less Australia. It's a godless land. It's not a Christian land. As a nation, we're given over to idolatry. And we see the excess, the waste, lives live without restraint.

[36:17] Consider our culture. Culture. When the media is replete with filth. What's the top of the news? Some man exposing himself is on the news.

[36:27] That's what the media considers newsworthy. It's filth. Garbage. Poured out into living rooms. Marriage is being trashed. Should be upheld and honoured and esteemed.

[36:41] They're redefining it to something that's vile and wicked. Sinful indulgence is everywhere. Brothers and sisters, we need revival. We need revival. I need revival.

[36:52] I need revival. We don't need a new way to do church. We need to get back to the old ways. The old paths. May our prayer be, disturb us, O Lord. Disturb us, O Lord.

[37:03] Disturb us from our complacency. Our carelessness. We don't want to be a church dormant while this world is damned. There's much pressing need. And we've been in the comfort zone too long.

[37:16] Way, way, way too long. Let's make it personal now. I'm going to get even harder now. Amen? Are you a sleepy Christian today?

[37:29] I know I've been preaching long here today. I haven't noticed anyone's gone to sleep yet. It's very scriptural. You know, Eutychus fell out the window when he nodded off. When Paul was preaching.

[37:40] But seriously, sleepy Christians. What about you today? Where's the self-denial? The separation? The discipleship? Answer God honestly. As you know how.

[37:53] Are you a sleepy Christian? It's truly time to seek the Lord. The devil will sing your lullabies. He'll swing your helmet. He'll rock your cradle.

[38:04] He'll sing some sweet, restful songs to you. Are you at ease in Zion? Allow me to provoke you today. In a good way. Are you cold towards God and his word?

[38:17] We need to be all out for the Master's sake. Stop giving me all your weak excuses. Sleepy Christian. The judgment of God is upon us.

[38:29] And we need to get up. Just to recap quickly. Amos. Burdened is his name. And we should be burdened like Amos was. We should be burdened for our nation.

[38:41] We should be burdened for our church. We should be burdened for our souls. The burdened prophet says. Woe. Woe to sinful ease. Woe to spiritual neglect.

[38:52] Woe to spiritual slumber. Woe to misplaced trust. Judgment must begin. At the house of God. And it's at our doors. We need God.

[39:03] We need to be dependent on him. We need to flee to that sure refuge. We need to recognise idolatry in all its shapes and forms. We need to recognise carelessness. We need to learn from David.

[39:15] Learn from Samson. Learn from Jonah. Sleep is dangerous. Wake up. Sleep is deadly as it was for Sisera. Sleep brings poverty.

[39:26] Sleep brings inactivity. And we are a nation of sleep. Given over to idols. A church of sleep. In apathy. Heed the wake up call today.

[39:38] It's time to leave the comfort zone. Isaiah 64 7 it says. And there is none that calleth upon thy name. That stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.

[39:55] Individually now. You. In your chair. In your skin. Are you going to be one of those who call on his name?

[40:05] Are you going to be one of those who call on his name? Who stir up yourself to take hold of God? Take hold of God today. Stir yourself up and take hold of him this morning.

[40:18] We've all been given a stewardship. A responsibility. We've all been given abilities that we are given to use. I urge you. Acknowledge the sin of carelessness.

[40:29] Sleepy Christian awake. Rise up O man of God. Have done with lesser things. Don't be a sleepy Christian today. Turn to God. Die to self.

[40:41] Burn your idols. What is your idols? Ask God to show you what they are. And burn them. Burn your idols.

[40:52] And give him the highest praise. The highest praise. Not some pathetic excuse. But the highest praise.

[41:04] Let us pray. Let us pray.

[41:16]