WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.940 Heavenly Father, thank you so much 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:05.219 for everyone who's here today 00:00:05.219 --> 00:00:07.580 and most of all that you're here. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:09.679 And God, you're not just our guest of honor. 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:11.120 You are the reason that we're here. 00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:12.280 You're the reason that we sing. 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:14.419 You're the reason that we pray. 00:00:14.540 --> 00:00:17.580 You're the reason that we stop to hear from you. 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:19.280 God, we long for today, 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:20.559 not just to be another church service, 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.080 not just to be another thing in our schedule, 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:24.660 but to meet with you the true and living God. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.699 And so God, for the sake of your son's name, 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:29.560 for our good and for the good of this city, 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:31.199 would you speak to us now through your word? 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:32.659 Lord, speak, Lord. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:33.640 Your servants are listening. 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:35.339 Would you speak to us through your word? 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:37.439 Speak to everyone, including myself, from your word. 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:39.140 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:42.299 Amos chapter 5, verse 8. 00:00:42.820 --> 00:00:44.479 He who made the Pleiades and Orion 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:46.700 and turns deep darkness into the morning 00:00:46.700 --> 00:00:48.659 and darkens the day into night, 00:00:48.739 --> 00:00:50.759 who calls for the waters of the sea 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:53.099 and pours the moat on the surface of the earth, 00:00:53.460 --> 00:00:54.719 the Lord is his name. 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:57.420 These words are words of power. 00:00:57.960 --> 00:00:58.899 They're words of beauty. 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:00.500 They're awe-inspiring words. 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:01.640 They are an ancient hymn 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:03.240 that the people of God sung. 00:01:03.940 --> 00:01:05.260 They're beautiful words. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:07.939 They're words of hope and meaning and life. 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:10.640 Yet they're also very haunting words. 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:12.640 And I'll share that with you 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:14.500 and the meaning they're in as we go. 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:17.320 So as we've seen week by week 00:01:17.320 --> 00:01:18.560 as we're going through verse by verse, 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:19.820 chapter by chapter through Amos, 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:21.040 we see that this is a book 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:23.180 where God is sharing a very sobering message 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:23.859 with his people. 00:01:23.859 --> 00:01:26.340 It was a time similar to today 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:27.540 where the middle class 00:01:27.540 --> 00:01:28.780 is doing actually very well. 00:01:29.579 --> 00:01:31.480 The country of Israel was not at war 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:32.379 with the countries around them. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:33.340 There's relative peace, 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:34.879 just as we have in our day. 00:01:35.019 --> 00:01:37.500 There was headlines about stuff happening 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:38.519 in other parts of the world, 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:40.719 but their home was a place of safety. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.900 Their home was a place of security. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:44.799 And there were people like us 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:47.359 who were very spiritual. 00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:48.319 They were very religious, 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:49.680 just like we are at this church. 00:01:49.739 --> 00:01:50.859 They loved the liturgies. 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:52.219 They loved the scriptures. 00:01:52.219 --> 00:01:53.319 They loved this stuff. 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:55.920 And into that context, 00:01:56.260 --> 00:01:57.679 Amos brings a surprising word. 00:01:58.019 --> 00:02:00.420 These words of repentance, 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:02.400 a warning of judgment. 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:03.760 Verse six, 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:05.579 Seek the Lord and live, 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:07.659 lest he break out like fire 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:08.919 in the house of Joseph 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:10.079 and it devour with none 00:02:10.079 --> 00:02:11.120 to quench it for Bethel. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:13.099 Or you who turn justice to wormwood 00:02:13.099 --> 00:02:14.740 and cast down the righteous to the earth. 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:18.020 There's such sobering words 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:19.319 just before that in verse five. 00:02:19.699 --> 00:02:20.639 Seek me and live, 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:22.139 but do not seek Bethel. 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:23.680 Do not enter into Gilgal 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:25.080 or cross over to Beersheba. 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:26.719 What is Amos talking about? 00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:28.400 Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:30.620 were these cities that meant so much 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:31.620 to the people of God. 00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:33.079 Not to the pagans, 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:34.199 but to the people of God. 00:02:34.300 --> 00:02:35.659 These were these places 00:02:35.659 --> 00:02:36.819 where they were pilgrimages toward. 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:39.120 They were pilgrims toward these places. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:40.579 Bethel was a place 00:02:40.579 --> 00:02:42.199 where Jacob famously, 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:43.240 he fell asleep with it. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:44.900 The only pillow he had was a stone. 00:02:45.180 --> 00:02:45.819 And he had a dream, 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:46.900 as you will probably remember, 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:47.939 he had a dream of a ladder 00:02:47.939 --> 00:02:49.060 coming down from heaven. 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:50.199 This was not a ladder 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:52.159 of him climbing up to heaven. 00:02:52.460 --> 00:02:53.620 It was this beautiful ladder 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:55.159 from God of the angels, 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:57.659 of God's presence descending to him. 00:02:57.819 --> 00:02:58.719 It was a place where God 00:02:58.719 --> 00:02:59.460 was saying to Jacob, 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:00.479 I'm here, 00:03:00.699 --> 00:03:01.819 I've come down to you. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:03.240 This is the same place 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:03.979 where years later, 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:05.020 Jacob would be returning 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:07.120 to the promised land. 00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:08.520 He's returning there, 00:03:08.980 --> 00:03:10.599 and he encounters God, 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:11.580 and God gives Jacob 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:12.420 the name Israel. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:14.019 And so for the northern kingdom 00:03:14.019 --> 00:03:14.859 of Israel, 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:16.119 who Amos is speaking to, 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:17.000 this is a place 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:17.719 of their identity. 00:03:17.899 --> 00:03:18.439 This is a place 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:19.939 where God has named them. 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:21.079 And they would go 00:03:21.079 --> 00:03:22.039 on pilgrimages there, 00:03:22.179 --> 00:03:23.560 these spiritual pilgrimages. 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:24.339 They weren't going there 00:03:24.339 --> 00:03:25.679 to offer their children 00:03:25.679 --> 00:03:26.519 in the fires, 00:03:26.579 --> 00:03:27.519 as you'll see elsewhere, 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:28.159 God addressing. 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:29.000 They weren't going there 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:31.060 to sacrifice to Baal 00:03:31.060 --> 00:03:32.060 or the Asherah poles. 00:03:32.299 --> 00:03:32.979 They were going there 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:33.859 because this was a place 00:03:33.859 --> 00:03:35.119 where Yahweh had met 00:03:35.119 --> 00:03:36.560 with their forefathers. 00:03:37.119 --> 00:03:37.560 Gilgal. 00:03:38.259 --> 00:03:39.179 Gilgal was the place 00:03:39.179 --> 00:03:40.079 when they crossed over 00:03:40.079 --> 00:03:40.959 into the promised land. 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:42.319 This was the place 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:43.159 where they built 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:45.039 the altar with the stones, 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:45.780 each one representing 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:47.159 the Tevolf tribes of Israel. 00:03:47.459 --> 00:03:48.159 This is where Joshua 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:49.259 led them into, 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:50.079 this was the gateway 00:03:50.079 --> 00:03:51.099 into the promised land. 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:52.139 It's also the place 00:03:52.139 --> 00:03:52.780 where King Saul 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:54.099 was anointed king. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:55.379 This was a place 00:03:55.379 --> 00:03:56.379 that spoke to them 00:03:56.379 --> 00:03:58.280 of the promise of God 00:03:58.280 --> 00:03:59.019 to bring them 00:03:59.019 --> 00:03:59.560 into this land 00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:00.400 that they were living in. 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:01.959 And so then 00:04:01.959 --> 00:04:03.039 in the following verses 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:03.699 where he says, 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:05.439 for Gilgal, 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:06.079 verse 5, 00:04:06.139 --> 00:04:07.099 for Gilgal shall surely 00:04:07.099 --> 00:04:07.740 go into exile. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:09.259 Everything was good. 00:04:09.359 --> 00:04:10.099 They were not at war. 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:11.060 They were not under threat. 00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:11.680 And God was saying, 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:12.860 stop going to this place, 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:13.200 Gilgal. 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:14.040 I'm actually going to 00:04:14.040 --> 00:04:15.020 bring it into exile. 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:16.199 And then Beersheba, 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:16.759 of all of them, 00:04:16.780 --> 00:04:18.180 this was the most holy place. 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:19.600 Beersheba was the place 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:20.379 where Abraham, 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:21.439 standing there, 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:22.220 the pagan king 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:23.319 prophesies over him, 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:23.759 saying, 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:25.720 surely God is with you. 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:27.180 This is the same place 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:27.699 where Isaac, 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:28.840 up until this point 00:04:28.840 --> 00:04:29.480 of Isaac's life, 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:30.180 Abraham's son, 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:31.460 God was Abraham, 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:32.439 his father's God. 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:34.120 But it is in Beersheba 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:35.420 where God comes to Isaac 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:36.040 in a dream and says, 00:04:36.280 --> 00:04:37.300 I am your God. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:38.660 And from that point forward, 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:39.740 he is the God of Abraham, 00:04:39.740 --> 00:04:41.019 and he is the God of Isaac. 00:04:41.019 --> 00:04:42.060 He is your God 00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:43.000 and he is there with him. 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:45.120 And this is also the place 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:45.560 where Jacob, 00:04:45.660 --> 00:04:47.000 and they're coming years 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:48.420 toward the end of Jacob's life, 00:04:48.460 --> 00:04:49.379 he's going toward Egypt, 00:04:49.500 --> 00:04:50.780 he's leaving the promised land. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:52.280 There's an anxiety in that. 00:04:52.460 --> 00:04:53.500 And he comes to Beersheba 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:54.579 and this is where God 00:04:54.579 --> 00:04:55.480 comes to him and says, 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:56.519 he's going to bless 00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:57.519 and prosper them in Egypt. 00:04:57.620 --> 00:04:58.079 Do not fear, 00:04:58.120 --> 00:04:59.000 he will bring them back. 00:04:59.139 --> 00:05:00.220 And he says the same words, 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:01.519 I am your God. 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:03.040 And so Beersheba was this place 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:03.920 where it stood 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:05.060 for the people of God 00:05:05.060 --> 00:05:06.120 as a reminder 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:07.319 that God is not just 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:08.339 the God up in the heavens, 00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:10.540 that he is there here with us, 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:11.860 that he is our God. 00:05:12.099 --> 00:05:12.599 And so the people 00:05:12.599 --> 00:05:14.079 would go on these pilgrimages there. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:14.920 These were people, 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:15.560 they weren't the ones 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:16.540 flipping about religion. 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:17.379 These weren't the ones like, 00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:17.939 ah, whatever. 00:05:18.159 --> 00:05:18.779 These were the ones 00:05:18.779 --> 00:05:19.339 who actually took 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:20.300 their religion seriously. 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:21.939 They loved their religion. 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:23.420 And as they would go, 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:24.519 they would sing hymns 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:25.100 up on their way 00:05:25.100 --> 00:05:26.240 to these sacred places. 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:27.819 And the words we have before 00:05:27.819 --> 00:05:28.759 so that I started with, 00:05:29.019 --> 00:05:29.639 this is actually, 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:30.079 it seems, 00:05:30.159 --> 00:05:30.899 this is one of the hymns 00:05:30.899 --> 00:05:32.079 they would sing on their way up. 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:33.500 He who made the Pleiades 00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:34.039 in Orion. 00:05:34.219 --> 00:05:35.420 Sorry, I can't sing it for you. 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:36.019 I don't know the tune. 00:05:36.019 --> 00:05:37.259 He who made the Pleiades 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:37.740 in Orion 00:05:37.740 --> 00:05:39.259 and turns deep darkness 00:05:39.259 --> 00:05:40.000 into the morning 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.180 and darkens the day 00:05:41.180 --> 00:05:41.659 into night 00:05:41.659 --> 00:05:43.019 who calls for the waters 00:05:43.019 --> 00:05:43.560 of the sea 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:44.459 and pours them out 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:45.359 on the surface of the earth. 00:05:45.599 --> 00:05:46.639 The Lord is his name 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:47.519 who makes destruction 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.000 flash forth against the strong 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:49.879 so that destruction 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:50.919 comes upon the fortress. 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:52.279 These are powerful, 00:05:52.479 --> 00:05:53.019 awe-inspiring, 00:05:53.159 --> 00:05:53.899 beautiful words. 00:05:54.539 --> 00:05:55.579 And they're meant here 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:57.979 from God through Amos 00:05:57.979 --> 00:05:58.819 as a reminder 00:05:58.819 --> 00:05:59.919 of how far 00:05:59.919 --> 00:06:01.039 these people are from God. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:02.180 These beautiful words 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:03.120 are haunting words 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:04.120 because they're placed 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:04.879 right in between 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:06.420 God rebuking the people 00:06:06.420 --> 00:06:08.300 for how far they are from Him. 00:06:08.339 --> 00:06:08.920 Their lips, 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:09.860 their lips, 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:10.480 they honor God 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:10.959 with their lips, 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:11.519 with their words, 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:12.360 but their hearts 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:13.259 are far from God. 00:06:13.719 --> 00:06:14.819 So just before verse 8, 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:15.620 just before this hymn 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:16.439 is placed in there, 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:17.180 we see, 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:18.839 Oh you who turn justice 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:19.399 to wormwood 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:20.199 and cast unrighteous 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:20.699 to the earth. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:21.899 And just after the hymn 00:06:21.899 --> 00:06:22.439 concludes, 00:06:22.699 --> 00:06:23.279 they hate Him 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:24.560 who reproves in the gate 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:25.399 and they behoor Him 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:26.339 who speaks the truth. 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:27.379 It talks about them 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:28.339 trampling on the poor, 00:06:28.620 --> 00:06:29.279 on them loving 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:30.060 what God hates, 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:30.920 on them hating 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:31.699 what God loves, 00:06:32.060 --> 00:06:33.259 on the corruption 00:06:33.259 --> 00:06:34.039 and injustice. 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:35.060 Their actions 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:35.699 and their hearts, 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:36.839 their lives are far from God. 00:06:37.019 --> 00:06:38.360 So in between all of that, 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:39.420 just right inserted, 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:40.360 is this hymn. 00:06:40.599 --> 00:06:41.219 And it wasn't a hymn 00:06:41.219 --> 00:06:42.000 that Amos wrote. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:42.939 It wasn't a hymn 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:44.599 that God was prophesying 00:06:44.599 --> 00:06:45.000 to His people. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:45.399 Rather, 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:47.120 it was God reminding them 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:47.879 of the very words 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:48.639 that they are singing. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.379 And so from all that we can tell 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:52.319 in reading this, 00:06:52.699 --> 00:06:53.419 this hymn, 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:54.099 these beautiful, 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:55.060 powerful words, 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:56.019 hauntingly, 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:57.360 are actually said by Amos 00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:58.719 almost sarcastically. 00:06:59.219 --> 00:07:00.039 In the midst of him saying, 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:01.539 you are a people of injustice, 00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:02.919 you are far from God, 00:07:03.159 --> 00:07:04.439 as they're pilgriming down, 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:05.819 on their pilgrimage 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:06.699 up to Beersheba. 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:08.339 And in the midst of saying 00:07:08.339 --> 00:07:08.759 all this stuff, 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:09.519 and then he just inserts, 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:10.319 He who made the play 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:10.879 of these in Orion 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:11.819 and turns deep darkness 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:12.379 into the morning 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:13.620 and darkens the day and tonight. 00:07:13.899 --> 00:07:14.180 He's saying, 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:15.319 these are the things you say. 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:16.199 And what is it, 00:07:16.219 --> 00:07:17.099 the things that they're singing? 00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:18.620 These are all words, 00:07:18.700 --> 00:07:19.620 these are all images 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:20.860 of God being the God 00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:21.420 that transforms. 00:07:22.260 --> 00:07:23.640 The language of Pleiades 00:07:23.640 --> 00:07:24.080 and Orion 00:07:24.080 --> 00:07:24.980 is referring to 00:07:24.980 --> 00:07:26.000 the constellations 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.020 that are most visible, 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:28.080 the turn of the seasons. 00:07:28.420 --> 00:07:29.439 So they're singing of God 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:30.580 who changes the seasons 00:07:30.580 --> 00:07:32.939 and turns deep darkness 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:33.680 into the morning 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:34.860 and darkens the day 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:35.160 and tonight. 00:07:35.260 --> 00:07:36.020 This is the God 00:07:36.020 --> 00:07:37.560 who not only transforms 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:38.379 the seasons, 00:07:38.860 --> 00:07:39.800 but He also is the God 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:41.220 who transforms the day by day, 00:07:41.500 --> 00:07:42.160 the day into night 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:42.960 and night by day. 00:07:43.200 --> 00:07:44.240 Who calls for the water 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:44.600 of the sea 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:45.240 and pours the mold 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:46.160 on the surface of the earth. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:47.980 Not only the day by day 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:48.960 and the seasons 00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:49.420 and all of this, 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:51.600 but also the one time events 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:52.000 of the sea 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:53.200 flooding up over here 00:07:53.200 --> 00:07:54.840 and casting itself into there 00:07:54.840 --> 00:07:55.980 and pouring rain over there. 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:56.680 This is the God 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:57.460 who is in control 00:07:57.460 --> 00:07:58.260 of all the events 00:07:58.260 --> 00:07:59.180 of our time. 00:07:59.700 --> 00:08:00.620 The Lord is His name 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:01.440 who makes destruction 00:08:01.440 --> 00:08:02.900 flash forth against the strong. 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:04.040 Not only the God 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:04.760 over the seasons 00:08:04.760 --> 00:08:05.420 and the days 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:05.900 and the nights 00:08:05.900 --> 00:08:06.420 and the weather, 00:08:06.780 --> 00:08:07.500 but also the God 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:08.600 over the destruction 00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:09.220 of cities 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:11.320 and by its correlation 00:08:11.320 --> 00:08:12.700 also the rebuilding of them. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:13.520 This is the God 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:14.139 who transforms. 00:08:15.139 --> 00:08:16.759 This is the unchanging changer, 00:08:16.859 --> 00:08:18.180 the one who changes us. 00:08:18.939 --> 00:08:19.219 And yet, 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:20.759 it is placed right in the middle 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:22.399 of these words from God 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:22.699 saying, 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:23.639 you are a people, 00:08:23.740 --> 00:08:24.500 you're so spiritual, 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:26.759 you're singing hymns, 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:27.919 you're going on these pilgrimages 00:08:27.919 --> 00:08:28.579 to these places 00:08:28.579 --> 00:08:29.240 where I've done 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:30.699 great things in the past, 00:08:31.099 --> 00:08:32.319 yet you do not change. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:34.779 The balance here 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:36.419 of describing their sins 00:08:36.419 --> 00:08:37.480 in verse 6 and 7, 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:38.939 of describing how far 00:08:38.939 --> 00:08:39.659 they are from God, 00:08:39.980 --> 00:08:40.899 then they insert the hymn 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:41.659 about change 00:08:41.659 --> 00:08:42.799 and yet they're unchanged 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:43.919 as it goes into verse 10 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:44.799 and verse 11 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:45.459 and verse 12 00:08:45.459 --> 00:08:46.139 and verse 13, 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:47.039 speaking to them 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:47.699 of their sin. 00:08:48.500 --> 00:08:49.399 And the image here 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:50.620 is that they're marching down 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:51.699 to the place 00:08:51.699 --> 00:08:52.620 where they're remembering 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:53.139 what God has done 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:53.579 in the past. 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:54.699 They're singing these hymns 00:08:54.699 --> 00:08:55.779 and then they're marching 00:08:55.779 --> 00:08:56.480 back home 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:57.799 having sung those hymns 00:08:57.799 --> 00:08:59.279 and they're completely unchanged. 00:09:00.419 --> 00:09:02.819 It is haunting these words 00:09:02.819 --> 00:09:03.819 of God being the changer 00:09:03.819 --> 00:09:05.199 and yet he not changing us. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:06.840 It's as if a friend of yours 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:07.240 was to say, 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:07.639 hey, you know, 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:08.240 earlier today 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:11.200 I was walking 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:11.940 across Rito Street 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:12.620 and a Mack truck 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:13.740 just came and smashed me. 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:15.519 It was crazy. 00:09:15.700 --> 00:09:16.440 I was on my back 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:17.180 and all the wheels 00:09:17.180 --> 00:09:18.019 went right over me 00:09:18.019 --> 00:09:18.680 and man, 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:19.720 it was scary. 00:09:20.419 --> 00:09:20.720 And you're like, 00:09:21.060 --> 00:09:22.820 and then you went 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:23.419 to the hospital 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:24.000 and they're like, 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:24.279 no, no, 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:25.019 I just kept walking. 00:09:25.259 --> 00:09:26.419 I had things to do. 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:27.080 You'd be like, 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:28.240 well, you really were hit 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:28.919 by a Mack truck? 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:29.340 Really? 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:32.060 I don't see any bruises. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:33.000 I don't see any broken bones. 00:09:33.060 --> 00:09:33.740 You're still alive. 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:34.440 I don't really think 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:35.120 this is the case. 00:09:35.659 --> 00:09:36.320 And as they're singing 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:37.300 of God being the one 00:09:37.300 --> 00:09:38.460 who transforms seasons 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:39.580 and days and nights 00:09:39.580 --> 00:09:40.180 and the waters 00:09:40.180 --> 00:09:41.240 and destruction of cities, 00:09:41.560 --> 00:09:42.260 they're singing of God 00:09:42.260 --> 00:09:42.740 being the one 00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:44.020 who changes and transforms 00:09:44.020 --> 00:09:45.640 yet there are people unchanged. 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:47.980 God through Amos 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:48.420 is saying, 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:49.180 really? 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:52.260 You're a broken people. 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:54.280 You're wealthy, 00:09:54.540 --> 00:09:55.160 you're safe, 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:55.840 you're secure, 00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:56.540 you're spiritual, 00:09:56.900 --> 00:09:57.900 but your hearts 00:09:57.900 --> 00:09:59.080 are so far from me. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:00.640 Have you really, 00:10:00.780 --> 00:10:01.580 do you even know me? 00:10:02.540 --> 00:10:04.900 You see the love 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:06.340 and the pain in God's heart 00:10:06.340 --> 00:10:07.360 as he's looking at these people 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:08.159 who, again, 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:10.819 they're so sophisticated 00:10:10.819 --> 00:10:12.319 and yet so far from him. 00:10:12.980 --> 00:10:13.799 Verse 4 and 5, 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:14.519 seek me, 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:15.879 seek me and live. 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:17.259 Do not seek Bethel, 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:18.480 don't enter into Gilgal, 00:10:18.579 --> 00:10:19.579 cross over to Beersheba. 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:20.120 You're going 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:21.120 on these great pilgrimages, 00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:22.220 you're singing these hymns, 00:10:22.319 --> 00:10:23.500 but you're not seeking me, 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:24.500 God is saying. 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:25.779 You're seeking the stuff of God, 00:10:25.819 --> 00:10:26.779 you're not seeking God. 00:10:27.819 --> 00:10:28.639 And the stuff of God, 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.000 as precious as the hymns are 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.319 and as wonderful as it is 00:10:32.319 --> 00:10:33.120 to go to these places 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:33.799 and to remember 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:34.600 what God has done, 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:37.120 God is saying through this, 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.800 I'm here to not just, 00:10:39.800 --> 00:10:41.379 be the God of Abraham, 00:10:41.540 --> 00:10:42.180 Isaac, and Jacob, 00:10:42.560 --> 00:10:43.460 not just be the God 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:44.379 that anointed Saul, 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:45.259 not just be the God 00:10:45.259 --> 00:10:46.080 that brought you 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:46.800 into the promised land, 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:48.800 I'm here for the promise 00:10:48.800 --> 00:10:49.580 for you. 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:51.460 I'm here to be your God, 00:10:51.540 --> 00:10:52.120 God is saying, 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:53.960 not just your father's God, 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:55.300 I'm here for you. 00:10:55.680 --> 00:10:57.060 Seek me and live. 00:10:57.059 --> 00:11:03.339 It's easy for us to see 00:11:03.339 --> 00:11:04.899 the reality of injustice 00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:06.059 and the trampling of the poor 00:11:06.059 --> 00:11:07.639 and because these are 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:09.059 a people in the past, 00:11:09.119 --> 00:11:10.019 it's easy for us to see them 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:11.259 as some primitive people, 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:12.399 some barbaric people, 00:11:12.579 --> 00:11:14.099 but these are the people of God. 00:11:14.839 --> 00:11:16.059 In Israel at this time, 00:11:16.459 --> 00:11:17.000 go look it up, 00:11:17.079 --> 00:11:18.319 they're a sophisticated nation. 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:20.859 This was a time of 00:11:20.859 --> 00:11:22.099 relative prosperity, 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:22.779 of safety, 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:23.539 of security. 00:11:23.899 --> 00:11:25.059 The economy was doing well, 00:11:25.059 --> 00:11:26.099 things were going well 00:11:26.099 --> 00:11:27.739 and they were spiritual people 00:11:27.739 --> 00:11:28.799 and not just like some 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:30.259 random pagan spirituality, 00:11:30.459 --> 00:11:31.439 they were actually singing 00:11:31.439 --> 00:11:32.359 the hymns of God, 00:11:32.599 --> 00:11:33.219 going to the place 00:11:33.219 --> 00:11:34.399 where God had done things 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:35.839 and yet they weren't 00:11:35.839 --> 00:11:36.599 seeking God, 00:11:37.099 --> 00:11:38.399 they loved the stuff. 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:40.500 I can remember 00:11:40.500 --> 00:11:43.379 I was in high school, 00:11:43.459 --> 00:11:44.619 I was going to so many 00:11:44.619 --> 00:11:45.439 different church meetings, 00:11:45.579 --> 00:11:46.779 I loved church stuff 00:11:46.779 --> 00:11:49.719 and I'd go to worship nights 00:11:49.719 --> 00:11:51.299 and I'd listen to great preaching 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:53.639 but there was a moment 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:55.120 where it began to hit me 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:58.279 that I loved the stuff of God 00:11:58.279 --> 00:11:59.500 but I didn't actually love God. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:01.659 And I'd see it in the jokes 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:02.360 that I would tell 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:03.639 and the things that I would laugh at 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:04.699 and in my behavior 00:12:04.699 --> 00:12:06.360 toward my fellow man or woman, 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.460 like I was a church guy 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:12.519 but I wasn't really a godly man. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:14.899 I loved the stuff of God 00:12:14.899 --> 00:12:16.299 but I didn't actually know God. 00:12:16.779 --> 00:12:18.439 Just earlier this week on Thursday, 00:12:18.659 --> 00:12:19.919 I was driving up to Camp Iowa 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:21.240 and there was a young man 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:21.799 on the side of the road 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:23.799 hitchhiking so he stopped, 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:24.399 he jumped in 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:26.079 and then like 30 seconds 00:12:26.079 --> 00:12:27.439 we started talking about God. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:27.979 I'm not even sure 00:12:27.979 --> 00:12:28.779 how it came up 00:12:28.779 --> 00:12:29.559 but we were talking about 00:12:29.559 --> 00:12:30.059 some stuff 00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:31.219 and he was saying, 00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:31.799 oh man, 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:32.979 he's 14 years old 00:12:32.979 --> 00:12:33.240 and he's like, 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:33.419 man, 00:12:33.599 --> 00:12:35.000 I don't get atheistic agnostics, 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:35.719 I just don't get it. 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:37.479 How can they not believe in God? 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:38.419 Just look around us. 00:12:38.479 --> 00:12:39.379 It's beautiful out there 00:12:39.379 --> 00:12:40.000 near Camp Iowa. 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:41.500 You got just lakes and trees 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:41.979 and he's just like, 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:42.399 look at this, 00:12:42.459 --> 00:12:43.240 clearly God exists 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:44.339 and I love church. 00:12:44.699 --> 00:12:45.240 And they were chatting a bit 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:45.459 and I said, 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:45.679 okay, 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:46.679 you love church, 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:47.439 you believe in God, 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.000 would you say that you know God? 00:12:49.040 --> 00:12:49.220 He's like, 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:49.820 I don't understand, 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:50.460 I don't get God, 00:12:50.560 --> 00:12:51.020 I don't, 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:51.840 for me it's really, 00:12:51.920 --> 00:12:52.840 I just love the church, 00:12:53.020 --> 00:12:54.420 like the vibe I get in church. 00:12:54.680 --> 00:12:54.800 It's like, 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:55.700 it's where I feel, 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:56.760 I feel so alive there. 00:12:56.800 --> 00:12:57.820 I love church. 00:12:57.920 --> 00:12:58.100 He's like, 00:12:58.200 --> 00:12:58.360 but, 00:12:59.000 --> 00:12:59.840 I'll do chat a bit more, 00:12:59.900 --> 00:13:00.020 he's like, 00:13:00.020 --> 00:13:00.140 yeah, 00:13:00.180 --> 00:13:01.300 I don't know God. 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:03.020 I don't pray to him, 00:13:03.180 --> 00:13:03.760 I don't, 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:05.520 I don't know him 00:13:05.520 --> 00:13:07.040 but I know I love church. 00:13:08.500 --> 00:13:09.020 And that, 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:09.780 I see, 00:13:09.900 --> 00:13:11.360 I saw myself in him 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:12.260 as a teenager. 00:13:12.260 --> 00:13:13.120 I saw myself 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:14.100 and I was, 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:15.180 I would have been one of the guys, 00:13:15.380 --> 00:13:16.200 like some of you are, 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:17.420 that you're the one who, 00:13:17.520 --> 00:13:17.660 you know, 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:19.440 all the parents want their kids to be you 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:20.900 because you're not swearing 00:13:20.900 --> 00:13:22.820 and if you laugh at inappropriate jokes, 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:23.920 it's quiet enough 00:13:23.920 --> 00:13:24.740 that nobody realizes 00:13:24.740 --> 00:13:25.620 that you think it's funny 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:27.140 and like you're not, 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:28.840 I found, 00:13:28.980 --> 00:13:30.200 I loved what God hated 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:31.440 and I hated what God loved 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:34.800 and I came across Amos chapter 5 00:13:34.800 --> 00:13:36.240 as a teenager 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:37.020 and he's saying, 00:13:37.100 --> 00:13:37.520 God is saying, 00:13:37.680 --> 00:13:38.500 hate evil, 00:13:38.780 --> 00:13:39.660 love good, 00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:40.960 establish justice 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:42.260 and so there, 00:13:42.520 --> 00:13:43.180 far from God, 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:43.720 I just started saying, 00:13:43.800 --> 00:13:44.120 God, 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:46.220 help me to hate what you hate 00:13:46.220 --> 00:13:47.360 and love what you love 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:48.919 my heart is far from you, 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:50.820 my heart is far from you, 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:52.200 I remember, 00:13:52.300 --> 00:13:53.000 I remember being, 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:54.320 some of you know Dominion Chalmers 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:55.379 just a few blocks away, 00:13:55.639 --> 00:13:56.240 I remember being there 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:56.980 at a worship service 00:13:56.980 --> 00:13:58.320 and everyone was just worshiping God 00:13:58.320 --> 00:13:59.379 and it hit me, 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:00.980 I love the stuff of God, 00:14:01.019 --> 00:14:01.879 I love the songs, 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:03.360 I love when the bass drum 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:04.320 is just going boom, 00:14:04.740 --> 00:14:05.100 boom 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:05.960 and you just feel like, 00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:07.180 you just feel your hair 00:14:07.180 --> 00:14:07.680 stand up on it 00:14:07.680 --> 00:14:07.919 and you're like, 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:08.279 ah, 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:10.220 but it wasn't actually God 00:14:10.220 --> 00:14:10.799 that I loved, 00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:12.399 I remember just getting 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:12.919 on my knees 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:13.319 and just saying, 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:13.799 God, 00:14:14.579 --> 00:14:14.899 God, 00:14:14.959 --> 00:14:15.659 you're too precious 00:14:15.659 --> 00:14:16.559 to be my parents, 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:17.000 God, 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:18.120 God, 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:19.799 I know my parents know you 00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:21.600 and I've heard amazing sermons 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:22.939 of these men that know you 00:14:22.939 --> 00:14:24.240 just on my knees saying, 00:14:24.319 --> 00:14:24.559 God, 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:25.860 I need to know you, 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:27.539 I know about you, 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:28.699 I need to know you, 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:30.299 I need to know you 00:14:30.299 --> 00:14:32.100 and I got up from my knees 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:32.500 that day 00:14:32.500 --> 00:14:33.699 and nothing had changed, 00:14:34.459 --> 00:14:35.220 didn't seem like God 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:35.879 had heard me, 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:37.200 I just remember getting 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:38.600 the next day in my room 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:39.259 just ominous, 00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:39.679 God, 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:40.980 I need to know you, 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:42.279 I need to know you, 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:43.860 I love the stuff of God, 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:44.639 I love church, 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:45.620 I love the conferences, 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:47.000 I love all that stuff 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:48.559 but I don't know you, 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:50.179 I know my heart 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:50.960 is far from you, 00:14:51.620 --> 00:14:53.000 I know where no one else sees 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:54.200 and I love what you hate, 00:14:54.539 --> 00:14:55.799 I hate what you love, 00:14:56.700 --> 00:14:57.639 you have my words 00:14:57.639 --> 00:14:58.639 but you don't have my heart, 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:00.879 I give you my time 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:02.139 but I haven't given you my life 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:03.659 and I have to pray 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:07.679 would God not answer 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:08.639 the prayer of a young man 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:09.159 just saying, 00:15:09.219 --> 00:15:09.439 God, 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:09.980 hear me 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:11.839 but he didn't 00:15:11.839 --> 00:15:13.659 and so I continued 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:14.539 day after day, 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:15.019 God, 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:16.339 I remember being grade 12, 00:15:16.539 --> 00:15:16.839 still like, 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:17.779 I think a year later, 00:15:17.819 --> 00:15:18.860 I'm in the library at school, 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:19.919 I had a friend outside, 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:20.539 they're doing their thing 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:21.279 and I just would open up 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:22.120 to Psalm 25 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:23.240 and just cry out to God 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:23.679 and say, 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:24.039 God, 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:25.240 I need to know you, 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:27.819 I believed in God 00:15:27.819 --> 00:15:29.279 but 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:31.939 my parents, 00:15:32.100 --> 00:15:33.379 they knew God 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:34.759 and my pastors, 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:36.360 they talked about him, 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:36.899 I had friends, 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:37.480 I just, 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:37.720 God, 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:38.700 I need to know you 00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:39.879 and I can look up my life 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:40.860 and see life unchanged, 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:41.340 God, 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:43.519 you are the unchanging changer, 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:44.659 you're the one that transforms 00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:45.399 not only seasons, 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:46.539 you transform hearts, 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:48.139 transform my heart, 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:50.120 I didn't get why 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:51.039 he wasn't answering me, 00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:54.200 then I reread Amos 5, 00:15:54.539 --> 00:15:55.939 seek me and live, 00:15:56.939 --> 00:15:58.000 see God is so much more, 00:15:58.200 --> 00:15:58.960 he's so, 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:00.899 he loves you 00:16:00.899 --> 00:16:02.720 and he loves me so much, 00:16:03.079 --> 00:16:03.860 he doesn't just want us 00:16:03.860 --> 00:16:04.819 ever to be people 00:16:04.819 --> 00:16:07.000 who simply give him our words, 00:16:07.100 --> 00:16:08.179 who just love the liturgy 00:16:08.179 --> 00:16:09.659 or who people who are 00:16:09.659 --> 00:16:10.860 simply living like polite 00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:12.100 or even very kind 00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:13.079 and compassionate lives, 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:14.759 that's all good stuff, 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:16.620 that's all very good stuff 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:17.679 but what he wants 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:18.379 more than anything 00:16:18.379 --> 00:16:20.019 is our very self 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:21.159 and he wants us 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:22.159 not just to seek him 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:23.279 for a life that's changed, 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:24.699 he wants us to seek him 00:16:24.699 --> 00:16:26.340 and so Bethel, 00:16:26.439 --> 00:16:26.679 Gilgal, 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:27.079 and Beersheba 00:16:27.079 --> 00:16:28.159 were very good things 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:29.100 and God was saying, 00:16:29.219 --> 00:16:29.799 seek me, 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:31.639 don't seek church 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:32.159 in the Messiah, 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:33.579 don't seek that, 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:34.439 don't go out searching, 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:35.159 oh you just want to get 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.079 that incredible worship experience, 00:16:37.179 --> 00:16:38.000 you want to get the field, 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:38.539 God's saying, 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:39.480 no, seek me, 00:16:40.059 --> 00:16:40.600 seek me, 00:16:40.719 --> 00:16:41.279 know me 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:43.360 and in God not coming through 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:44.100 for me right away 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:45.100 and him not answering 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:45.839 that prayer right away, 00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:48.079 he was allowing me 00:16:48.079 --> 00:16:48.959 to be able to be one 00:16:48.959 --> 00:16:50.219 who sought after him 00:16:50.219 --> 00:16:51.679 and sought and sought 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:53.240 and at first really, 00:16:53.339 --> 00:16:54.600 I think I was seeking him 00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:55.459 more for his stuff 00:16:55.459 --> 00:16:56.259 but over time 00:16:56.259 --> 00:16:57.299 I began to seek him 00:16:57.299 --> 00:17:00.099 and somewhere along the way 00:17:00.099 --> 00:17:00.799 he came through, 00:17:01.579 --> 00:17:02.719 he will be faithful, 00:17:03.339 --> 00:17:04.240 he is faithful 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:04.779 and he will, 00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:05.819 he delights to answer 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:06.359 that prayer 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:09.799 and now to stand here, 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:11.639 not just as your pastor 00:17:11.639 --> 00:17:12.659 but as your brother in Christ 00:17:12.659 --> 00:17:12.980 and to say, 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:13.839 I know God, 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:15.399 that it doesn't matter 00:17:15.399 --> 00:17:16.139 what happens, 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:17.460 what trauma stuff 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:18.500 has been thrown at me, 00:17:18.779 --> 00:17:20.059 there's a joy that I have 00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:20.839 that's unshakable, 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:23.019 there's a peace that I have 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:23.659 that it doesn't matter 00:17:23.659 --> 00:17:24.500 what is going on 00:17:24.500 --> 00:17:25.940 that there's still a peace, 00:17:25.940 --> 00:17:27.759 not just the absence 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:29.259 of pain or anything, 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:30.720 a peace even in the midst 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:31.180 of pain 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:33.000 but more than anything 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:33.799 it's not the joy 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:34.400 that I love 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:35.320 or the peace that I love 00:17:35.320 --> 00:17:35.820 or the purpose 00:17:35.820 --> 00:17:36.539 God has given me, 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:38.240 it's himself he's given me. 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:39.980 As some of you know, 00:17:40.019 --> 00:17:40.640 Jason Byers, 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:41.720 pastor at Celebration Church 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:42.620 and I love his refrain, 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:44.120 the giver is the gift, 00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:46.080 the giver is the gift, 00:17:46.180 --> 00:17:46.820 the greatest gift 00:17:46.820 --> 00:17:47.680 we have from God 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:48.660 isn't the peace 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:49.240 or the joy 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:49.820 or the meaning 00:17:49.820 --> 00:17:50.440 or our friends 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:51.039 or our family 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:51.620 or community 00:17:51.620 --> 00:17:52.600 or any of the great things 00:17:52.599 --> 00:17:53.019 of God. 00:17:54.019 --> 00:17:54.719 The greatest gift 00:17:54.719 --> 00:17:56.139 we have is the giver himself, 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:57.579 he has given us himself 00:17:57.579 --> 00:17:59.219 and that's what Bethel 00:17:59.219 --> 00:18:00.240 and Gilgal and Beersheba 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:01.139 had been all about. 00:18:02.059 --> 00:18:02.439 Bethel, 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:03.159 the place where 00:18:03.159 --> 00:18:04.459 God provided a ladder 00:18:04.459 --> 00:18:05.119 not for Jacob 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:06.439 to try to climb up to God 00:18:06.439 --> 00:18:07.259 but where God 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:08.279 had climbed down to him 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:09.139 and this 00:18:09.139 --> 00:18:10.299 is what separates 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:11.480 Christianity 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:12.379 and the gospel, 00:18:12.740 --> 00:18:13.359 this is what separates 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:14.259 the true and living God 00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:15.319 from all other religions 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:16.299 and spiritualities. 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:17.539 Every other religion 00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:17.980 and spirituality 00:18:17.980 --> 00:18:19.019 is about climbing away 00:18:19.019 --> 00:18:19.579 to God. 00:18:19.980 --> 00:18:20.119 If you, 00:18:20.259 --> 00:18:20.779 in Hinduism, 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:21.059 in Buddhism, 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:21.720 if you can just learn 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:22.599 to think right, 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:23.539 if you can just learn 00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:25.019 to detach yourself rightly, 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:25.480 you'll be able 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:26.420 to enter into nirvana. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:27.720 In Judaism, 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:28.579 my family background, 00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:29.720 613 laws, 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:30.940 if you do those mitzvahs, 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:31.899 if you do enough of them, 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:32.899 you're going to make it, 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:33.879 you're going to make it to heaven 00:18:33.879 --> 00:18:35.339 and Islam is five pillars 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:36.220 and your obedience 00:18:36.220 --> 00:18:37.319 to those five pillars 00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:38.119 which are all, 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:39.379 like they're very precious things, 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:40.180 caring for the poor, 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:40.940 they're good stuff 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:42.180 but it's by you doing 00:18:42.180 --> 00:18:42.839 those things 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:43.839 that you're going to help 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:45.160 the balance of your life, 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:45.759 the good things, 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:46.519 away the bad 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:47.279 and you get to heaven 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:48.339 and every type 00:18:48.339 --> 00:18:49.220 is climbing to heaven 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:51.640 and if anyone here 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:52.079 is an atheist, 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:52.720 agnostic, 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:53.920 I want to say welcome, 00:18:54.059 --> 00:18:54.799 I'm glad you're here 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:55.680 but your life 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:56.420 is also a reflection 00:18:56.420 --> 00:18:57.100 of that same climbing 00:18:57.100 --> 00:18:57.680 of the ladder 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:58.700 where it's not through 00:18:58.700 --> 00:18:59.299 these spiritual, 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:00.140 metaphysical stuff 00:19:00.140 --> 00:19:01.839 but by getting enough success, 00:19:02.180 --> 00:19:03.079 by earning enough, 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:04.120 by achieving enough, 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:05.640 by establishing yourself enough, 00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:06.720 you're climbing your way 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:07.339 to meaning 00:19:07.339 --> 00:19:08.140 and to significance, 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:09.240 to your heaven 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:10.319 but the reality 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:11.160 that you know 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:12.799 is that it doesn't work. 00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:14.180 The runs of the ladder 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:15.180 just seem to break every time, 00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:15.799 we can't do it, 00:19:15.819 --> 00:19:16.600 we can't climb up, 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:17.960 we'll never achieve enough, 00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:18.940 we'll never be enough 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:20.880 and so the ladder 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:21.600 at Beersheba 00:19:21.600 --> 00:19:23.000 or Bethel 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:23.880 was the ladder 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:25.480 of God coming down to us 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:26.480 which separates Christianity 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:27.500 from all other religions 00:19:27.500 --> 00:19:28.200 and spiritualities 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:28.700 of the earth. 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:30.100 There's nothing else like it 00:19:30.100 --> 00:19:31.100 where God himself 00:19:31.100 --> 00:19:32.100 climbs down to us 00:19:32.100 --> 00:19:34.340 where all of us realize 00:19:34.340 --> 00:19:35.080 that that balance 00:19:35.080 --> 00:19:35.960 is always going to be 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:36.900 skewed against us 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:38.299 that we've never able 00:19:38.299 --> 00:19:39.320 to do enough good 00:19:39.320 --> 00:19:39.960 to away the bad 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:40.460 and the anxiety 00:19:40.460 --> 00:19:41.559 of all of that balance 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:42.400 that Jesus, 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:43.640 that his scale 00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:44.759 was fully tipped to the good 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:46.039 that he was the one 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:47.140 that speaks of 00:19:47.140 --> 00:19:48.360 calling them to justice 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:49.099 and to mercy, 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:50.319 to love what God loves 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:51.219 and what God hates 00:19:51.219 --> 00:19:52.359 and to do good. 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:53.439 Jesus was the one 00:19:53.439 --> 00:19:54.799 that did that completely. 00:19:56.219 --> 00:19:57.159 The balance completely 00:19:57.159 --> 00:19:57.559 in his, 00:19:57.619 --> 00:19:58.500 weighed in his favor. 00:20:00.159 --> 00:20:01.539 And the gospel message 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:02.059 is that, 00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:03.740 that Jesus gives that life, 00:20:04.399 --> 00:20:05.000 that gives that 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:06.500 being able to be there 00:20:06.500 --> 00:20:06.939 in heaven, 00:20:07.719 --> 00:20:08.559 not just in heaven 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:09.479 but being with God 00:20:09.479 --> 00:20:10.079 on earth, 00:20:10.539 --> 00:20:11.819 that he gives us that, 00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:12.579 that he makes us 00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:13.740 so fully alive in him. 00:20:14.819 --> 00:20:15.459 Seek the Lord 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:15.980 and live. 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:17.840 If you're anything 00:20:17.840 --> 00:20:18.900 like I was in high school 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:19.960 or even still, 00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:21.100 so much like today, 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:22.480 and when you find 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:23.420 there's a part of your life 00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:24.660 where it's not as it should be, 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:25.640 where you need to be 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:26.340 seeking the Lord, 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:27.360 to hear the command, 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:28.039 seek the Lord and live, 00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:28.759 it can be so frustrating. 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:29.380 I'm trying. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:30.759 I'm trying to seek the Lord 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:31.059 and live, 00:20:31.180 --> 00:20:32.660 but I find that I keep on 00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:33.220 falling in love 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:34.019 with the stuff of God, 00:20:34.059 --> 00:20:34.500 but not God, 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:35.559 the liturgy and the songs 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:36.200 and all these things. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:37.019 How do I actually 00:20:37.019 --> 00:20:38.100 have a heart that's changed? 00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:38.900 How do I actually 00:20:38.900 --> 00:20:39.680 come alive in him? 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:40.420 How do I live? 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:43.820 But the commands of God 00:20:43.820 --> 00:20:46.320 themselves are power. 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:46.820 When God said, 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:47.580 let there be light, 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:48.560 it's not like the earth 00:20:48.560 --> 00:20:48.800 was like, 00:20:48.860 --> 00:20:49.400 oh, snap, 00:20:49.460 --> 00:20:50.300 I gotta be light now 00:20:50.300 --> 00:20:51.180 and turn itself on. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:52.720 No, the very word of God, 00:20:52.800 --> 00:20:53.640 the very command of God, 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:54.400 let there be light, 00:20:54.600 --> 00:20:56.080 is also the creative power of God. 00:20:56.320 --> 00:20:58.080 The light received power to shine. 00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:00.820 The same seek me and live, 00:21:00.860 --> 00:21:02.120 it's the same thing going on 00:21:02.120 --> 00:21:04.000 when in John chapter 11, 00:21:04.120 --> 00:21:05.820 Lazarus is dead in the tomb. 00:21:05.900 --> 00:21:07.000 He's been dead for several days. 00:21:07.080 --> 00:21:07.880 This is not a man 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:09.920 who can inspire himself 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:10.720 to stand on up 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:11.740 no matter how much he tried. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:13.620 This is a man who's dead 00:21:13.620 --> 00:21:14.560 in grave clothes 00:21:14.560 --> 00:21:15.740 and Jesus comes 00:21:15.740 --> 00:21:16.620 and says two words, 00:21:17.840 --> 00:21:18.580 come out. 00:21:19.800 --> 00:21:20.759 And the dead man 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:22.580 comes out of the tomb. 00:21:23.060 --> 00:21:24.080 He comes alive. 00:21:24.539 --> 00:21:25.680 There's nothing Lazarus 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:26.700 could do to make himself 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:27.840 see God and live, 00:21:28.320 --> 00:21:29.820 but in the very call from God, 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:31.019 he comes alive 00:21:31.019 --> 00:21:31.740 and he comes out. 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:32.940 The same thing 00:21:32.940 --> 00:21:33.860 for the little girl 00:21:33.860 --> 00:21:34.840 in Mark chapter 5. 00:21:35.100 --> 00:21:36.440 She's dead in bed. 00:21:36.560 --> 00:21:37.340 Jesus kneels down 00:21:37.340 --> 00:21:37.980 beside her bed, 00:21:38.080 --> 00:21:38.800 takes her hand 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.619 of a young dead woman 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:41.500 and says, 00:21:41.659 --> 00:21:44.480 little girl arise 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.299 and the girl comes alive. 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:48.859 The command to seek God 00:21:48.859 --> 00:21:49.119 and live 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:50.099 is an impossible command 00:21:50.099 --> 00:21:50.879 for you and I to follow. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:52.220 We are dead, 00:21:52.659 --> 00:21:53.619 spiritually dead. 00:21:54.299 --> 00:21:55.359 It's an impossible command 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:56.779 except the one 00:21:56.779 --> 00:21:57.659 who commands us 00:21:57.659 --> 00:21:59.119 also in this very command, 00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:00.740 breathe that life into us. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:03.619 Now even as he makes us alive in him, 00:22:03.659 --> 00:22:05.159 even as he breathes his life into us, 00:22:05.159 --> 00:22:06.839 we still have to respond to it. 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:07.819 You know, 00:22:07.980 --> 00:22:09.359 the story in John chapter 11 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:10.259 would have been very different 00:22:10.259 --> 00:22:11.740 if Lazarus lying there in the tomb, 00:22:12.179 --> 00:22:12.939 if he's lying there 00:22:12.939 --> 00:22:13.619 and Jesus is like, 00:22:13.699 --> 00:22:14.720 Lazarus, come up! 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:16.220 And he opens his eyes 00:22:16.220 --> 00:22:16.519 and he's like, 00:22:16.679 --> 00:22:17.419 oh my goodness, 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:18.379 I'm dead. 00:22:18.959 --> 00:22:19.899 This is grave clothes? 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:20.659 Oh snap. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:21.759 Man. 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:23.039 And just closes his eyes 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:24.079 and continues to stay 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:25.379 living as the dead. 00:22:26.059 --> 00:22:27.439 And I know that I've definitely done that 00:22:27.439 --> 00:22:27.919 where God is, 00:22:28.199 --> 00:22:29.439 he's right there 00:22:29.439 --> 00:22:30.019 and he's there, 00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:31.500 his grace that enables us 00:22:31.500 --> 00:22:32.919 to be able to cry out to him 00:22:32.919 --> 00:22:33.439 for life 00:22:33.439 --> 00:22:34.299 and receive that life, 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:35.019 to seek him. 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:36.259 And yet we're living a life 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:36.879 where he has said, 00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:37.420 live! 00:22:37.700 --> 00:22:38.639 And you and I are just like, 00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:39.619 in our grave clothes, 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:41.160 staying in the places 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:43.400 where there's death and decay. 00:22:43.579 --> 00:22:44.019 And God is saying, 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:44.779 come on out! 00:22:46.099 --> 00:22:47.440 The impossible is possible 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:48.940 because of who Jesus is. 00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:50.879 And that call, 00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:51.920 that call to be 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:53.059 all that God calls us to be, 00:22:53.579 --> 00:22:55.119 it's a call not to sound like 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:56.480 meaning and grace apart from him. 00:22:56.639 --> 00:22:57.440 That's what the people wanted. 00:22:57.480 --> 00:22:58.279 They wanted all the stuff 00:22:58.279 --> 00:22:59.000 but they didn't want God. 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:00.700 It's a call to give your life 00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:01.700 so fully to God. 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:03.460 Not just to seek the stuff of God 00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:04.319 but to seek God. 00:23:04.519 --> 00:23:05.740 To seek him and live. 00:23:06.380 --> 00:23:07.620 To seek him and live. 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:09.140 And so the haunting words 00:23:09.140 --> 00:23:10.380 in Amos chapter 5, 00:23:11.620 --> 00:23:13.380 because of what Jesus has done, 00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:14.720 because of his, 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:15.960 not just calling us to live, 00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:17.500 but him giving us his life 00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:18.680 and making us alive in him, 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:20.559 we can join in this ancient hymn 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:21.400 and sing it, 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:22.799 or read it, 00:23:23.500 --> 00:23:25.180 and see the beauty in it. 00:23:26.340 --> 00:23:27.400 The beauty of our God. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:27.779 He, 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:29.420 who made the Pleiades and Orion, 00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:30.460 turns deep darkness 00:23:30.460 --> 00:23:31.200 into the morning, 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.680 and darkens the day into night, 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.400 who calls for the waters of the sea, 00:23:34.580 --> 00:23:35.420 and pours him out 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:36.340 on the surface of the earth. 00:23:36.380 --> 00:23:37.240 The Lord is his name, 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:38.380 who makes destruction 00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:39.779 flash forth against the strong, 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:40.660 so that destruction 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:42.180 comes upon the fortress. 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:43.680 As this continues on, 00:23:43.740 --> 00:23:44.360 and he goes on 00:23:44.360 --> 00:23:45.380 back to the rebuking, 00:23:45.819 --> 00:23:47.059 the end of this passage 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:47.900 that Anna read to us, 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:48.600 verse 16, 00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:50.340 and it repeats it three times 00:23:50.340 --> 00:23:51.700 in one of the names of God. 00:23:52.019 --> 00:23:52.200 Therefore, 00:23:52.380 --> 00:23:53.059 thus says the Lord, 00:23:53.120 --> 00:23:53.920 the God of hosts, 00:23:54.019 --> 00:23:54.480 the Lord. 00:23:55.180 --> 00:23:55.940 And the translators 00:23:55.940 --> 00:23:56.720 and the NIV, 00:23:56.860 --> 00:23:57.480 the ESV, 00:23:57.819 --> 00:23:58.360 the NLT, 00:23:58.440 --> 00:23:59.000 all these ones, 00:23:59.340 --> 00:24:00.500 they tame it down for us. 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:01.339 They refer to it, 00:24:01.700 --> 00:24:02.880 they refer to God 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:03.900 as the Lord of hosts. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:04.960 But they're actually, 00:24:05.460 --> 00:24:07.420 with the real name of God, 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:08.200 this isn't controversial, 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:09.059 Google it. 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:10.019 It's, 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:10.980 thus says the Lord, 00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:11.940 the God of armies, 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:13.420 the Lord. 00:24:13.779 --> 00:24:14.960 And he repeats it three times, 00:24:15.059 --> 00:24:15.980 the God of armies, 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:17.220 the God of armies. 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:19.400 What's Amos doing right here? 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:20.400 He's saying to the people, 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:20.680 look, 00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:22.599 you're so wrapped up in yourselves, 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:23.880 you're so wrapped up 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:24.759 in all your spiritual stuff, 00:24:24.819 --> 00:24:25.720 yet you're so dead, 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:27.299 but look to the one, 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:28.940 the one who transforms 00:24:28.940 --> 00:24:29.980 and changes 00:24:29.980 --> 00:24:30.900 and breathes life. 00:24:31.140 --> 00:24:31.539 Look to him, 00:24:31.580 --> 00:24:32.660 who is the God of power, 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:33.559 the God of armies. 00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:34.660 Look to him. 00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:36.539 He is the one you are to fear 00:24:36.539 --> 00:24:37.920 and he is the one you are to love. 00:24:38.120 --> 00:24:38.980 He is our hope. 00:24:40.820 --> 00:24:42.140 The other night at camp, 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:42.759 we're going through, 00:24:42.900 --> 00:24:43.779 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 00:24:43.779 --> 00:24:44.620 we have a worship evening 00:24:44.620 --> 00:24:45.580 and each night 00:24:45.580 --> 00:24:46.299 is a different theme 00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:47.160 of a name of God. 00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:47.700 So on Thursday, 00:24:47.779 --> 00:24:48.940 we're doing God of armies. 00:24:49.080 --> 00:24:50.259 And so we're singing, 00:24:50.299 --> 00:24:50.940 we didn't have a lot of songs 00:24:50.940 --> 00:24:51.420 to choose from 00:24:51.420 --> 00:24:52.279 because there's not a lot of songs 00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:53.080 about God of armies. 00:24:53.140 --> 00:24:53.940 It's such a common name 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:54.720 for God in the Bible. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:56.600 You need to change that. 00:24:56.679 --> 00:24:57.480 We need to write more songs, 00:24:57.579 --> 00:24:57.759 Deborah. 00:24:58.219 --> 00:24:58.759 But the, 00:25:00.199 --> 00:25:01.059 we sang the song, 00:25:01.139 --> 00:25:01.659 God of angel armies. 00:25:01.719 --> 00:25:02.359 Some of you know it. 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:03.399 It goes, 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:05.879 the God of angel armies 00:25:05.879 --> 00:25:08.139 is always by my side. 00:25:08.639 --> 00:25:09.859 And we almost didn't sing it. 00:25:09.919 --> 00:25:10.459 And when it was done, 00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:11.879 I just spoke for a couple seconds 00:25:11.879 --> 00:25:12.099 saying, 00:25:12.159 --> 00:25:12.379 guys, 00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:13.500 the problem with this song 00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:14.399 is it makes it sound like this, 00:25:14.659 --> 00:25:16.899 the language of this God of power 00:25:16.899 --> 00:25:17.419 and might, 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:18.179 the God of armies, 00:25:19.139 --> 00:25:20.059 is kind of like, 00:25:20.259 --> 00:25:21.000 he's our homeboy. 00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:21.980 He's just this thing right beside, 00:25:22.099 --> 00:25:22.259 like, 00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:23.339 it almost makes it sound like 00:25:23.339 --> 00:25:24.740 he's our Cinderella servant. 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:25.079 You know, 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:25.500 Cinderella, 00:25:25.819 --> 00:25:26.960 go get my shoes. 00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:27.299 Cinderella, 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:28.240 go get my brush. 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:30.180 And it sounds as if 00:25:30.180 --> 00:25:30.460 it's just, 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:30.960 we kind of can just 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:31.880 snap our fingers at God. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:33.519 I don't know about your prayers. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:34.380 When I listen to my prayers, 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:35.380 it can easily sound like that. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:35.680 God, 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:36.539 I need you to, 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.140 I need you to heal me. 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:38.839 I'm saying, 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:39.140 God, 00:25:39.259 --> 00:25:39.940 would you please help me 00:25:39.940 --> 00:25:40.460 have a good day? 00:25:40.579 --> 00:25:40.799 God, 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:41.140 would you, 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:42.980 would you please speak through me 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:43.519 as I go preach? 00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:44.400 I'm just like, 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:45.259 listing off these things 00:25:45.259 --> 00:25:46.099 I want God to do. 00:25:46.359 --> 00:25:46.720 And it's like, 00:25:46.740 --> 00:25:46.940 I'm saying, 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:47.900 the God of angel armies, 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:48.579 he's by my side, 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:49.680 he's at my bidding. 00:25:50.279 --> 00:25:51.539 But if you look at the imagery 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:52.319 the Bible uses, 00:25:52.420 --> 00:25:52.639 and it's, 00:25:52.759 --> 00:25:53.579 go look it up, 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:55.180 it's such a common name for God 00:25:55.180 --> 00:25:56.099 in the Bible. 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:56.700 It's again and again, 00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:57.420 the God of armies, 00:25:57.500 --> 00:25:58.119 the God of armies. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:00.119 One of the greatest presentations 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:01.379 of what that means 00:26:01.379 --> 00:26:02.579 is in the beginning 00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:04.139 of the book of Joshua, 00:26:04.180 --> 00:26:05.019 just before Jericho. 00:26:05.460 --> 00:26:05.819 Joshua, 00:26:06.159 --> 00:26:07.319 the leader of the people of Israel, 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:07.619 is, 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:08.139 he's there, 00:26:08.399 --> 00:26:09.539 they're near Gilgal actually. 00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:10.940 He's there and he's, 00:26:10.980 --> 00:26:12.240 he's seeking God. 00:26:12.299 --> 00:26:12.899 What should I do? 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.200 Jericho has big walls. 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:14.960 I don't know what to do. 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:15.539 And all of a sudden, 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:16.759 there's the most fierce angel 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:17.399 he's ever seen, 00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:18.960 or fierce soldier he's ever seen. 00:26:19.220 --> 00:26:20.259 Just dwarfs Joshua. 00:26:20.740 --> 00:26:21.460 And Joshua does what 00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:22.299 you and I would have called out, 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:23.000 like basically, 00:26:23.100 --> 00:26:23.700 friend or foe. 00:26:23.860 --> 00:26:24.299 He says, 00:26:24.620 --> 00:26:26.240 are you for us or against us? 00:26:26.840 --> 00:26:28.160 And the response is, 00:26:28.519 --> 00:26:28.799 neither. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:30.700 And he says, 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:31.960 he's the captain of the, 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:33.420 of the armies of the living God. 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:34.600 And he calls Joshua 00:26:34.600 --> 00:26:35.799 to come be on his side. 00:26:36.620 --> 00:26:37.559 The God of angel armies 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:38.059 isn't like, 00:26:38.220 --> 00:26:39.700 isn't on our side in that sense, 00:26:39.860 --> 00:26:41.340 but we're on his side. 00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:42.279 And in that, 00:26:42.360 --> 00:26:43.380 there's such comfort 00:26:43.380 --> 00:26:44.299 and strength 00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:45.140 and power 00:26:45.140 --> 00:26:45.779 and life. 00:26:46.340 --> 00:26:47.180 As we don't seek 00:26:47.180 --> 00:26:48.140 to make the God of armies 00:26:48.140 --> 00:26:48.860 our servant, 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:49.759 but rather we say, 00:26:49.819 --> 00:26:50.140 God, 00:26:50.140 --> 00:26:50.860 you are, 00:26:50.940 --> 00:26:51.400 you are the God 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:52.500 of power and might 00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:53.920 who transforms seasons, 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:56.120 who turns the darkest night 00:26:56.120 --> 00:26:56.600 into day 00:26:56.600 --> 00:26:57.380 and the day into night. 00:26:57.580 --> 00:26:57.880 You, 00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.080 the unchanging changer, 00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:00.259 I'm yours. 00:27:01.360 --> 00:27:02.420 Would you pray with me? 00:27:03.280 --> 00:27:03.740 God, 00:27:05.020 --> 00:27:05.620 we confess 00:27:05.620 --> 00:27:07.020 that it's so easy for us 00:27:07.020 --> 00:27:08.340 to enjoy church 00:27:08.340 --> 00:27:09.240 and do all this 00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:10.400 spiritual activity, 00:27:11.080 --> 00:27:12.320 to sing the songs 00:27:12.320 --> 00:27:13.340 even with passion, 00:27:14.040 --> 00:27:15.240 to be moved 00:27:15.240 --> 00:27:16.060 by the liturgy, 00:27:16.059 --> 00:27:18.319 maybe even 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:19.579 convicted by a sermon, 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:21.500 but for us to just 00:27:21.500 --> 00:27:23.319 let our seeking of you 00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:23.859 end there, 00:27:24.539 --> 00:27:25.960 seeking the stuff of God, 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:27.159 but not you yourself. 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:28.359 God, 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:30.579 for some of us, 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:32.079 it's our parents 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:32.619 who know you, 00:27:32.700 --> 00:27:33.200 it's our friends 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:33.659 who know you, 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:34.279 it's our pastor 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:34.879 who knows you, 00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:35.700 but we ourselves 00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:36.220 don't know you. 00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:36.960 For others of us, 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:37.799 we knew you, 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:39.440 but somewhere along the way, 00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:40.500 you've become a memory. 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:42.099 You've become the God 00:27:42.099 --> 00:27:42.960 that was there with us 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:43.680 in Beersheba 00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:44.480 or Bethel 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:45.160 or Gilgal, 00:27:46.100 --> 00:27:46.819 but we're not walking 00:27:46.819 --> 00:27:47.539 with you today. 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:49.559 Lord, 00:27:49.600 --> 00:27:50.200 would you help us 00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:50.740 to hear 00:27:50.740 --> 00:27:52.400 your voice afresh 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:52.700 saying, 00:27:53.100 --> 00:27:54.620 seek me and live. 00:27:55.400 --> 00:27:56.279 That you're not 00:27:56.279 --> 00:27:57.079 commanding us 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:57.600 to do something 00:27:57.600 --> 00:27:58.539 that we cannot do, 00:27:58.940 --> 00:27:59.980 but that you are 00:27:59.980 --> 00:28:00.860 in your very command 00:28:00.860 --> 00:28:01.720 empowering us 00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:02.480 through the gospel 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:03.600 to live a life 00:28:03.600 --> 00:28:05.000 so fully alive in you. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:06.120 And so God, 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:06.840 would you save us 00:28:06.840 --> 00:28:07.440 from ourselves? 00:28:09.100 --> 00:28:10.000 Would you save us 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:10.500 from trying to make 00:28:10.500 --> 00:28:11.460 you our servant? 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:14.360 Lord, 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:14.759 we want to be 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:15.500 on your side 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:16.380 and we thank you 00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:17.039 that because of 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:17.900 what Jesus has done 00:28:17.900 --> 00:28:18.840 in his death 00:28:18.840 --> 00:28:19.360 and resurrection 00:28:19.360 --> 00:28:19.940 in real time, 00:28:20.019 --> 00:28:20.579 real space, 00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:22.000 that we get to seek you 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:22.539 and live 00:28:22.539 --> 00:28:24.259 and live life with you 00:28:24.259 --> 00:28:24.980 so fully alive 00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:25.720 for your glory. 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:26.920 In Jesus' name, 00:28:27.380 --> 00:28:27.600 Amen.