Amos: True Worship - Amos 6:1-14

[0:00] We find ourselves in Amos chapter 6. This has been an interesting book of the Bible to study through the summer. We find ourselves in chapter 6 and Amos has been preaching several messages.

[0:14] This is probably his fifth message to the people of Israel. Amos is this little prophet of the southern kingdom. He's preaching to the northern kingdom and we come upon this message.

[0:26] And I would say there are some trees in the forest of sin that Amos has been pointing out to the nation of Israel. This is what is wrong. These are sins that you tolerate.

[0:40] Of those trees we looked at they have a sense of the false security. They are violent toward the weak. They bear false witness in the courts.

[0:51] They have been perverting justice and righteousness. They are living in self-indulgent lives. We've heard these themes in the previous messages. They are self-pleasing people.

[1:02] They have defective worship practices. They lack true repentance. They lack righteousness and justice toward others. They anticipate and they perceive the Lord's day as a day of hope when in fact it is a day of judgment that is coming to them.

[1:20] These are some of the trees in the forest that Amos has been pointing out to the people of Israel. Today we're going to hear one more tree that he has. It is the male counterpart. Do you remember the cows of Bashan back in chapter 4? That was a highlight.

[1:36] Today we have the male counterpart to those cows here in chapter 6. Today we open up to hear who are these male counterparts to these women who are mentioned in chapter 4.

[1:55] We see these in verses 1 through 3. I'm going to argue that the first point that Amos is going to proclaim is that complacent leadership is fertile soil for ruin.

[2:08] You say complacent leadership, Scott, where do you get that? Read with me in verse 6. Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure in the mountains of Samaria, the notable men of the first of all the nations, the first of the nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.

[2:28] Here we see these individuals. They're called notable men and they are at ease in Zion and they are those who feel secure in the mountains of Samaria.

[2:39] I find it interesting that Amos is this prophet of the southern kingdom proclaiming to the northern kingdom, and yet in this verse the southern kingdom is also indicted. He says to those who are at ease in Zion, Zion is the capital city of the southern kingdom, Jerusalem.

[2:55] So he is also including those who are in the southern kingdom, Judah. Hey, you're included in this judgment as well. Hey, northern kingdom, those who feel secure in the mountains of Samaria, the northern kingdom, you are included.

[3:10] And who is it in particular that he is upset with? The notable men. The notable men who are the first of the nations, these are, would be considered the who's who of Israel.

[3:24] They would be the ones who you might squeal when you see them at the restaurant. Oh, you would whisper to the one you entered the restaurant, is that so-and-so?

[3:35] They would have lived in extravagance, accompanied with the pride of luxury. When they speak, things happen. They are the movers and shakers of the day. They are the idol rich.

[3:48] And it's interesting here that they are sought out, the notable men, the first of the nations.

[3:59] And notice to whom the house of Israel comes. These are the ones that if you want to know something, you go to them for counsel. You seek after them and you think, would they be the right kinds of people you would want to go to?

[4:15] The answer would be no, but when you are not worshiping the Lord, when the priests of your nation are non-existent, who else do you turn to but the notable men?

[4:29] So Israel clamors for their advice. They fawn after these leaders for their support, for their counsel. And why wouldn't you when you reject the Lord?

[4:43] So then we take a tour, pass over to in verse 2, Ka'alna and see. He tells them, go take a tour. And from there, go to Hamath the Great and go down to Gath of the Philistines.

[4:58] And what are these places? These are, Hamath the Great is a former Hittite stronghold. Ka'alna is a Nasirian stronghold. Gath is the former capital of the Philistines. It's the hometown of Goliath.

[5:14] These would be great city-states. These were amazing places that even after the nation that they inhabited or were a part of fell apart. These were little city-states that had enough strength to hold authority over a territory.

[5:32] These were notable places. These were nothing to be trifled with. And the question is, after you've taken that tour, Israel, are you better than these kingdoms? Or are their territory greater than yours? Now it's a rhetorical question. The answer should be, no.

[5:47] It's implied, no. And yet you think you're something altogether different. Verse 3, O you who put far away the day of disaster and bring near the seat of violence.

[6:06] You see, who is to be blamed here, these notable men? And so complacent leadership, it is soil for ruin.

[6:17] We know that to aid and abed a fugitive would be illegal. If I had a fugitive come and I say, please take refuge in my house, we can hide here in secret.

[6:29] That's illegal. That's a financial find in up to five years in prison in case you're entertaining the thought. We know that we should not do that. However, in church, if not careful, we are guilty of aiding and abetting apathy and complacency and self-sufficiency.

[6:48] We all have been in small groups where we've heard things or perhaps even said, I've had a hard time being faithful in my Bible reading and abiding relationship with the Lord in my prayer time this week. And then the group would say to the one who just confessed that, oh yeah, I'll pray for you this week that the Lord would move in your life.

[7:08] And it's kind of a soft answer to quite a confession. And maybe we're guilty of aiding and abetting apathy and complacency and self-sufficiency.

[7:25] The author of Hebrews says, but exhort one another today, as so long as it's called today, that none of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Later in Hebrews, we read that they became, because of this hardening of sin, they became dole of hearing.

[7:39] They need to be taught the basic principles of God's word again. They were unskilled in the word of righteousness and they need milk and not solid food.

[7:52] And they were not able to discern good from evil as a result of abetting and abetting sin. Complacency, apathy, self-sufficiency.

[8:07] So if we find ourselves in this, I think the primary application to this today is leaders in the church. So I want to first talk about, because these were the notable men that is in our text, and complacent leadership is fertile soil for ruin.

[8:25] So I want to talk to the staff, myself, staff, elders, deacons, leaders in the church, and ask ourselves, are we aiding and abetting complacency and apathy?

[8:38] Is this true among us? When we confess sin, when we confess some complacency and apathy, do we do more than just say, I'll pray for you? And then as a church as a whole, do we do that?

[8:56] And if so, I have five things I want us to say. Let's start with ourself. Ensure that Bible reading and a time of prayer with the Lord, and that we endeavor to apply God's word to our life daily, and have accountability to delight ourselves in the Lord, and to do this with others.

[9:24] I remember still again in college where I was not disciplined in reading God's word, and so I would get together about three times a week.

[9:36] We would meet in the campus library, and we would just read scripture together three times a week, and we would have a reading plan, and then we would hold ourselves accountable to say, yes, I read even when we did not meet.

[9:48] Here's what we've read, and then we would read that day's, and we wouldn't talk about necessarily how our week was, or how we're doing. We came to just read God's word to develop a discipline. So let's begin with ourselves.

[10:00] Whatever it takes for you to have an abiding relationship with the Lord. Make sure you are loving people biblically. Sometimes we love people selfishly with a veneer of spirituality, and biblical love always pursues holiness.

[10:20] Invite others to join you in God honoring Christianity. In the context of groups and friends, and be intentional to discuss what you're reading, your time with the Lord, what you're learning, and how you're applying it.

[10:40] Refuse to tolerate apathy while also don't not destroy others. There is a way to confront a sinful behavior without obliterating another.

[10:52] In Galatians 6 we read, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch for your soul, lest you too be tempted.

[11:05] So let's do this. And when leadership fails, it is ripe. It is fertile soil for ruin.

[11:16] That leadership is given a warning in our next point that we are to prioritize fellowship with God over self-pampering. Look at the self-pampering that these notable men in verse 1 are guilty of, starting in verse 4.

[11:30] Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches and eat lambs from the flock and calves in the midst of the stall. Let me just stop there.

[11:43] To eat meat like this would be a luxury. This was a rarity to be able to do this, and these individuals have the opportunity to eat meat all the time, daily.

[11:57] And they stretch themselves out on a couch. They lounge around on beds inlaid with ivory. I don't have any ivory in my bed. In case you're curious.

[12:10] And in look in verse 5, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp like David and vent for themselves instruments of music. So imagine here's these men who, verse, let me also drink verse 6, who drink wine and bowls and anoint themselves with the finest of oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

[12:31] So they're drinking wine not in cups or glasses, but in bowls. They're indulging themselves in their drink. So imagine these men of luxury lying on couches, stretching themselves out, writing idle songs, thinking that they were something like David writing these idle songs, eating choice meat daily.

[12:58] And they're not even grieved over the ruin of their nation, over Joseph, the ruin of Joseph. They're not even grieved by this. Throughout our marriage, I have written idle songs as well, little ditties.

[13:13] The merits of using cash over credit. The praiseworthiness and the virtue of turning off lights when one leaves the room. Anything that I value manages to find its way into a song.

[13:27] And when I sense some opposition from my wife, I quote the Beatles song, try to see it my way, do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on, we can work it out.

[13:41] Turns out, idle songs did not originate with me. They've been going on for 2700 years. But these men, they were all about self-pampering.

[13:58] And they were not grieved at the ruin that is becoming their nation. The people who perhaps were responsible for its Godward orientation were giving into their fleshly desire wholesale.

[14:20] They were all about vanity, self-pampering, and they did not prioritize the things of the Lord.

[14:31] The third point in this text, by the way, verse 7, I did not read in the previous point, or verse 7, therefore they shall now be the first to those who go into exile, and the revelry of those stretching themselves out shall pass away.

[14:53] What Amos is saying in verse 7 is, here's the conclusion I have for you, you notable men in verse 6. Here's the conclusion, and Amos is a little bit sarcastic.

[15:04] I appreciate his sarcasm in that these were notable men in the first of the nation. So here, he's using this kind of first word and he's playing on it and being a little sarcastic.

[15:17] Oh, you're the first in the nation, you notable men in verse 1. Oh, and you eat the choicest of meat, the first of the meats, and you anoint yourself with oil, which is the first pressing of the oil press.

[15:30] That's the oil that you anoint yourself with, and guess what? Oh, you first, you'll be the first to be let out when Assyria comes, and my judgment comes with Assyria as a nation, you're going to be the first to all be led away, you notable men.

[15:46] That's their judgment, verse 7, verse 8. And why is it? They did not prioritize fellowship with the Lord.

[16:00] And believers, we too are guilty of this, of not prioritizing our fellowship with the Lord.

[16:12] Verse 8 through 11, that judgment that is just given to these notable men is the reasons for it are given here in verse 8.

[16:27] The Lord has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts, and listen to the verbs, I abhor the pride of Jacob. I hate his strongholds, and I will deliver you up. I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.

[16:47] And if ten men remain in the house, they shall die. Look how utterly there is no escape of this judgment that's coming when the Assyrians come. All ten men found in the house are dead. And then verse 10, and when one relative, the one who anoints him for burial, so there's going to be one maybe who are alive, and they are going to find these bodies in a room, in a house, and so what is his responsibility? He shall take him up and bring out his bones out of the house, and shall say to the one in the innermost parts of the house, so imagine being the one who has been given the task to bury your dead.

[17:27] And there are ten in the house that are there, and there's no one alive, and you're given the responsibility to... And so notice what the gentleman says, that's your job to go in to do this. And is there anyone among you? And there says, and he shall say no.

[17:43] So apparently, the Assyrians when they come, the devastation will be so terrible, that even though being among the dead bodies which makes one unclean would define you as a Jew, you would rather take refuge in a home with dead bodies till you won't be discovered.

[18:04] That's the picture, that's how terrible it's going to get. Every one ten in the house, they're all going to... There's no escaping this judgment that's coming, and when the one who has been tasked, you're going to find a guy in the house, and that's the only place he can find refuge, is in amongst a home with dead bodies.

[18:22] And he's going to say to the one, hey, is there anyone in there? And you say, no. And then he says, silence, we must not mention the Lord's name, that the oppression will be so deep, that the Assyrians will not tolerate you talking about your God.

[18:42] And so you can't even mention his name as this man goes and search for his loved one to go bury him. That's how serious the judgment is going to be.

[19:05] Verse 11, I want us to see who is the orchestrator of this judgment. Verse 11, for behold, the Lord commands, and the great house shall be struck down into fragments and the little houses into bits.

[19:25] Who is the one who is inviting the Assyrian Empire down to judge the people of Israel? The Lord commands it.

[19:38] He's the one responsible for this. And I will say, if you were to ask me, well, let me say this, that's unnerving to some, that the Lord would orchestrate the demise and the destruction of his people, to judge his people that he might bring about repentance, that's hard, that kind of steps on the toes of our sensibilities.

[20:17] And if you were to ask me, Scott, what is the doctrine that you appreciate over all doctrines, theological doctrines? Do you enjoy the trinity of, yes, if you know me, yes.

[20:34] Do you enjoy justification, the doctrine of justification? Do you enjoy the doctrine of atonement? Yes, oh yes, but chiefly among all doctrines, the one that I love the most is this, the doctrine of God's sovereignty.

[20:57] The doctrine of God's sovereignty. I take great rest in the doctrine of God's sovereignty. We are witnessing a kind of sovereignty here in God that can be unnerving to some, that God has absolute independent ability to do as he pleases, and is in absolute control of the actions of his creatures.

[21:21] No person, no creature, no empire can thwart his will or act outside the bounds of his will, can be unnerving, and God does whatever he pleases, and this kind of understanding is unnerving to some.

[21:37] But I take great rest, and I wanted to show you today as to why. Why? Because God's sovereignty is so linked to his goodness.

[21:51] If God were not good, I would have a hard time with his sovereignty. But because I know the nature and character of God, I love his sovereignty.

[22:04] All God's motivations are good. All God's thoughts are good. All God's words are good. All God's ways are good and pure. I am marvel and I am convinced of his never failing, never changing, all surpassing goodness of God.

[22:20] So I am not afraid of the Lord being utterly, absolutely, entirely, thoroughly, unconditionally, perfectly sovereign. I am not afraid. I take great comfort in it.

[22:33] And so let me share with you. After Israel, in the time of Moses, had built their two golden calfs and worshiped.

[22:45] Moses came down, saw what had happened, and he broke the tablets that the Ten Commandments were written upon. In that season, Moses inquires of the Lord and he says this. And he said, Moses asks of the Lord, the request that precedes this is, Lord, show me your glory.

[23:10] And this is what the Lord responds with. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you the name, the Lord.

[23:22] My name, the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. There's a few things I want us to note. Moses asked, show me your glory.

[23:35] God responds with, and I will make, when I do this, I won't going to do something. I'm going to grant your request. I will show you my glory and I will make all my goodness pass before you.

[23:49] That's his response. The two cannot be separated, glory and his goodness. If glory is the weight and worth of God, then the goodness is the blessing and the bounty of God.

[24:02] What Moses sees, and when he witnesses this, is actually a declaration of God's name, which is so related to his character. So God says, show me your glory. I'll show you all of my goodness.

[24:18] And I will proclaim before you my name, the Lord, which is revealing who he is, my character.

[24:31] That is, you will see my goodness. In fact, that I am who I am. I am the self-existent one. And I am your covenant God, your creator God.

[24:44] I will show you all my goodness and I will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. Oh, and it doesn't stop there. Show me your glory.

[24:55] And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Do you see how this fits together?

[25:07] Moses asks for his glory. God says, I will show you my glory and it's linked to my goodness and my sovereign grace that I get to choose.

[25:20] How I will be gracious to whom I'm gracious. I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. The freedom of God to dispense his mercy to whomever he pleases, apart from any constraint outside of his own will.

[25:33] No one constrains God to say, you must show mercy on this person. When he says, I will show mercy on him. No one constrains me on who I do this.

[25:44] No one is greater than me to determine this for me. It is what it means for God to be glorious and for God to be good.

[25:56] No one compels God to dispense mercy. He alone chooses. And then it gets better. And then the actual event when this is granted, God says, okay, go over there to the crag of the rock, hewn a few stones so I can write the tablets, the Ten Commandments on those tablets again, go over there and I will grant you this request to show you my glory when I do this.

[26:26] And this is what it actually then looks like. A few chapters later or a chapter later, we get to this verse. And the Lord descends in a cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

[26:42] What did he said? I'll show you my glory and I will declare my name so he does this. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, this is the Lord speaking, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, the children's children, to the third and fourth generation.

[27:19] I have no choice other than to see the beauty of God's sovereignty, His glory, His goodness, His moral perfection, His grace and His justice.

[27:31] All of His ways are good and true and pure. I love that God is sovereign. And I love that God is sovereign. I love the sovereignty of God because I know who God is.

[27:46] And we have seen just a bit of how His glory is related to His goodness, which is related to His dispensing of grace that He is sovereign over.

[28:00] I trust the Lord. So, in our text in verse 11, when he says, behold, the Lord commands who is orchestrating the destruction of Israel through the Assyrian Empire, the Lord is doing that.

[28:19] But it matters who the Lord is for us to understand this is okay. This is good.

[28:31] I love Moses, and I pray that this would be our response to God's sovereignty. And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and he worshiped.

[28:46] Oh, I pray that would be my response. When I witness and see God's sovereignty, even in difficult circumstances, what adverse circumstances are occurring in your life or have occurred, where it would be good to remind yourself of the Lord as sovereign.

[29:06] He does things for His glory and our good. I trust Him. The people of Israel were about to be judged in a horrific way by the Assyrians. They had broken the terms of the covenant of their Lord, yet despite the severe circumstances that were coming, God is still good.

[29:25] So that's why, in verse, the third point is said this way, trust in the one who authorizes your circumstances. There's no other way for you to do that unless you see that God is sovereign.

[29:39] Oh, and he is... If we were to see his glory, we see his goodness. And may we be people like Moses, bow our heads to the earth and worship.

[29:54] Oh, may that be our response. Verses 12 through 14, we have some rhetorical questions.

[30:07] I love rhetorical questions. Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? The implied answer is, of course, no. Having worked on a cattle ranch where I would occasionally saddle a horse and we were out in the channeled scablands where there's plenty of basalt rocks out there.

[30:28] And there were sections of the pasture the horse would not want to go. He would not want to run across the rocks. And in fact, he was smarter than me and he knew the pasture is better than me.

[30:39] And so he would know we're coming on and I would be leaning the reins one way and he would go another and he was avoiding the rocks. And that's just the tendency of the horse. He knew something that I didn't.

[30:54] So what is Amos saying here? But look at the bottom part of the verse, but you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into warmth.

[31:06] What is the Lord saying here? I'm going to say a sentence several times to make the point and I'm going to explain the sentence.

[31:18] The reversal of natural laws the world would take notice. What would be a reversal of the natural laws? Horses running on rocks. That would plowing rocks with oxen.

[31:31] If there was a horse that ran on rocks, people would pay money to go see that. Check this out. This horse runs on rocks. This farmer is able to make a rock pile, grow a crop.

[31:42] We would pay good money to see that. That is unnatural and that is the point that Amos is making. What, you know what? Israel. You know Israel? What's also unnatural?

[31:56] That you've turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. That too is unnatural Israel. That you would do this very unnatural thing.

[32:09] People seeking justice and you've turned it into poison, bitterness, wormwood, whatever you're translating. It's bitter. You've turned justice into something that's perverted and it actually tastes bad.

[32:24] It leaves a bitter taste because there was someone who bore false witness in a courtroom or whatever it was. Justice wasn't served. You know what else is also terrible?

[32:38] That those who are righteous are like wormwood or again, that which is bitter. It kills. Justice kills and the fruit of righteousness is you get bitterness.

[32:51] These things, justice and righteousness, these things should have been a salve to the one, a nice ointment that would have soothed the one seeking justice.

[33:07] The one who is pursuing the righteousness, that should be something that receives health and that feels good, but instead it's killing and it feels bitter.

[33:21] It leaves a bitter aftertaste. That too is unnatural just as horses running on rocks is unnatural. But that's what you've done Israel.

[33:34] And you say, well, how do you get here? How do you get here? Isn't that the nature of moral, what I'm going to coin, moral slippage?

[33:45] When one makes a decision that is easily defensible and when one questions you, you might be surprised at how easily and emotionally you defend your decision because there's nothing wrong and that's how David fell.

[34:03] Let me say it this way. Israel didn't get to justice being poisoned overnight. Israel didn't get to having righteousness, the fruit of righteousness turning into something that is bitter overnight.

[34:19] There's a moral slippage that happened over the course of time. David, you all know the story of David. I'm going to retell it in a Scott paraphrase. It was springtime when the kings go to war, we learn in 2 Samuel 11 or chapter 11.

[34:35] But where was King David? He was in Jerusalem. It was springtime and kings go to war and David, we find him in Jerusalem, not in the battlefield with his army.

[34:47] And he was at home enjoying the comforts of Jerusalem. And now listen to how David could have justified that. Is there anything wrong with enjoying, that was my week of vacation when spring rolled around and so of course I'm going to stay and enjoy some relaxing.

[35:01] He could have easily defended his choice and do you think going to war was the only state affair going on in Israel at the time? I've got to administrate a whole nation here, not just a war. He would passionately defend his decision.

[35:15] Moral slippage. Is there anything wrong with enjoying a view from the rooftop? Is there anything wrong with taking note of the constituents of those who you oversee and you serve in your city?

[35:28] Was it wrong to take notice of this woman? One look, two looks, three looks, a gaze?

[35:39] David then wanted to know who this woman was, Besheba. And so he just sent someone to inquire and to learn her name. Is there anything wrong with learning her name?

[35:50] Thank you. He just wanted to know her name and he learned that her husband Uriah was someone of a respectable warrior.

[36:03] So perhaps she's lonely and David just said I want to have a cup of coffee, you know. Have over for a meal. David invites her and David sins grievously and tries to cover up inviting Uriah to come off the battlefield to spend time with his wife.

[36:21] And plans don't work and David ultimately devises a plan to have Uriah killed. David marries Besheba sinning grievously, taking on another wife and murdering her husband.

[36:34] David's moral slip began when he just simply wasn't where he should have been. Let me say that again. David's moral slippage began with where being somewhere where he shouldn't have been.

[36:50] Righteousness wasn't perverted overnight turned into wormwood. Justice was not poison turned into overnight. Israel began to accept these things over time with moral slippage after moral slippage.

[37:03] After all, it defines your nation. Have you tolerated a slip in an area of morality in your life where your actions may be easily defendable, easily defensible.

[37:19] But you know in your heart that your actions are ultimately they do not honor the Lord. You know your motives and intentions are not altogether pure. And a continued moral slip will lead you to disaster for your life and those around you.

[37:35] Have you ever morally slipped? Have you morally slipped in God's standard to what you listen to? Have you morally slipped into the standard of what you set before your eyes?

[37:47] And to have you morally slipped in God's priorities, the investment of your time, the investment of your money? Have you morally slipped in how you relate to members of the opposite sex?

[37:58] Have you morally slipped in what you justify or what you defend in your life? Have you morally slipped from enjoying an abiding relationship with the Lord?

[38:09] Have you morally slipped in one's ambition to glorify God with the totality of your life? Have you slipped and not taken seriously your responsibility to disciple others?

[38:24] One of my observations, I don't know, I've been in ministry for 25 years or approximately there. And I love summers. Summer is my favorite time of the year.

[38:38] I love the long days of summer. I love being warm. And but summer is a time that is distracting for saints.

[38:49] And as an individual, I love summers. As a pastor, I grow caution. Why? Because often when the fall occurs, those who are with us in the spring, some are missing.

[39:09] And what just happened? Summer. Now, why is that? Because we miss one Sunday and we think, well, hoop fest, hoop fest. And next weekend, well, I was picked out in the park. I wanted to go, you know, a civic event.

[39:25] The third Sunday rolls around. My family was on vacation. Next Sunday, fourth Sunday rolls around. Well, I couldn't be there because family was visiting me for two weeks.

[39:36] Six Sunday rolls around. The lake was just, man, it finally had that spring chill off. And I just wanted it as hot days. We wanted to, you know, go to the lake for a day.

[39:48] Week seven rolls around. Church camp. I don't like bugs. Week eight rolls around. And on and on and on it goes. You can see where this goes.

[39:59] It's just one Sunday, moral slippage, which is easily defensible. Do I want you to take a vacation? Do I want you to enjoy family time? Do I want you to go to the lake? The answer is yes. There's nothing wrong. It's easily defensible.

[40:14] But you see the progression. And all of a sudden, we don't see somebody in the fall. As a person, I love summers. As a pastor, I grow hesitant. And I'm watchful.

[40:29] And, but what's hard is when the fall turns around and I pick up the phone and I say, hey, I just missed you. Where have you been? Well, and then it's easily defensible. All the reasons. You get it.

[40:42] But the problem is one Sunday turns into a season that turns into a year that turns into a decade. And then you find yourself in a place you never thought you would be.

[40:53] And that's why the common phrase is that many have quoted, the sin will take you farther than you ever thought you would go, keep you longer than you ever thought you would stay, and cost you more than you ever thought you would pay.

[41:07] And that's just the nature and the reality of sin. And it's, and it begins with little things that are easily defensible that are just moral slippages.

[41:18] So thank the person that calls you into question what you set your eyes on or what you set your ears on or where you have been. Would you thank them instead of getting defensive? They actually make care about you more than you realize.

[41:35] Verses 13 and 14 are going to conclude our text for today. You rejoice in Lodobar and who say, have not by our own strength captured curiam and for ourselves.

[41:48] Do you see the pride? Have we not by our own strength for ourselves done this? You see the pride. And these are not any special cities other than under Jeroboam II. They had captured these cities and so they were taking pride in that.

[42:11] And so then verse 14, Amos gives his final judgment for behold. This is what the Lord is saying. I will rise up again. Who is doing this? The Lord, I will rise up against you a nation. Oh house of Israel declares the Lord, the God of hosts, and they shall oppress you from Libo Hamath to the Brook of Araba.

[42:35] And what those two city locations are is from the north to the south. They are going to oppress you throughout your nation from the far north to the far south. There is no going to be no escape and make no mistake. I am doing this says the Lord.

[42:50] And this is the second time the Lord swears upon himself. There is no greater authority. Verse 14, Oh house of Israel declares the Lord, the God of hosts. He is the one who is doing this. Make no mistake. It will happen.

[43:08] But here's what I would love Israel and for us to know. God is just. He will not overlook sin. He orchestrates this form of judgment for his glory's sake and the nation's good, even though it will be bad.

[43:27] But in the end, we'll bring about God's hope, repentance and restoration. Let's pray.

[43:38] Father, we thank you for your goodness.

[43:51] Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to look at your word and see our responsibility not to be complacent and see that it is fertile soil for ruin.

[44:02] Lord, help us not to be a complacent people, to take our walk with you oh so seriously, that we would trust you in your sovereignty and know that your sovereignty is so related to your glory and so related to your goodness.

[44:19] Despite the circumstances, Lord, you are good and we can trust you. And Lord, may we be alarmed by and repent of any moral erosion in our own life, those moral little slippages.

[44:38] And may we thank others around us for saying something to us that is perhaps about something that could be easily defensible, but may we not defend it and say thank you for saying something to me.

[44:52] I thank you for your concern for me. Or we love you, we thank you, and may your name be praised in our midst. Amen.