WEBVTT 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:12.640 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:31.600 I appreciated greatly the way Scott prayed for us a little bit earlier, reminding us of the fact that we have much for which to rejoice. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:39.679 We of all people to be singing our guts out because of what Christ has done for us. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:49.039 We are so privileged to be in the family of God and have received so many great and awesome gifts from His hand. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:56.719 That concept of privilege has gained a significant voice in the last few years. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:09.120 Privilege is that idea that a particular segment of society or culture has an identifiable right or advantage. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:24.159 Now generally it's assumed that those with privilege are a small number compared to the whole, and that that number is a disadvantage. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:38.480 Sometimes, however, that is flipped, and those who are not privileged are in the minority of the population, and so they feel as though the majority is looking down on them. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:46.079 Privilege exerts influence in a number of areas, I think far more than we often realize. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:02:12.560 Perhaps the most obvious in recent years in our country are cultural and racial areas, but privilege also appears in many other areas: wealth, employment, education, background, politics, parenting, law, medicine, gender, even religion. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:22.960 Now there are two important concepts at the heart of privilege: possession and comparison. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:27.280 Privilege consists first of possession. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:29.759 That is, what is it that I have? 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:31.840 What is it that I possess? 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:34.479 Or, on the flip side, what is it that I lack? 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:36.639 What is it that I do not have? 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:43.759 Nearly all of us in the United States of America have privilege in this sense. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:50.000 We possess far more than most of the people in many areas of the world. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.439 And we lack far less. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:04.240 That privilege, though, is driven by comparison, by evaluating ourselves in light of someone else or something else. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:13.759 That is, if we compare ourselves negatively, it feeds our natural tendency to sin. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:26.719 So if I compare myself to my neighbor, I might be tempted to desire or crave or covet what he has because I don't. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:43.759 On the other side, if we compare ourselves positively in our own minds, we can be feeding our pride and our arrogance and develop attitudes of superiority towards others. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:53.120 Now, did you know that God created human beings at the very beginning with a measure of privilege? 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:54.800 That's true. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.319 Think about it. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:00.240 Adam and Eve were given the Garden of Eden. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:09.199 What a privilege! The greatest place that ever has existed in God's creation. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:10.080 They were given that. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:12.000 They were given God's commands. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:13.120 It's a privilege. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:14.800 They were given freedom. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:19.360 They were given authority to exercise dominion in God's creation. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:25.199 More importantly, they were given access to the presence of God. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:38.000 From the first page of the Bible to the last page, access to the Creator is the greatest privilege ever afforded to humanity. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:44.319 Access to God was granted to Adam and Eve as they walked with God in the garden. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:54.079 Access to God is how all things will end as the new heavens and the new earth are made to be what Eden was intended. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:02.319 There is only one privilege that will truly matter to you for all eternity. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:07.759 And that is whether or not you are allowed to come into the presence of the living God. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:18.079 That is the only privilege that you will care about in all of eternity is do I have access to a holy God? 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:26.160 We have been pursuing that kind of access ever since Adam and Eve lost it when they sinned. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:32.720 They hardly had time to enjoy God's presence before they lost that kind of privilege. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:39.120 And they lost that privilege of the presence of God through comparison. 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:42.800 They didn't compare themselves to someone else. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.160 No one else existed besides themselves and God and his angels. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.800 They compared themselves instead to God's command. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:54.079 Do you remember when the serpent said to them, Has God really said? 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:00.879 They began to compare what they had versus what God said. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:07.600 They possessed many good things, but they didn't possess the fruit from one particular tree. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.439 That was a privilege they were not given. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:17.199 And they pursued that privilege and they lost the one that truly mattered. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:21.120 And it was mostly downhill from there for the human race. 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:25.680 Full steam ahead to the great flood of God's judgment. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:37.360 But humanity still sought for that greatest of privileges even after the flood, because we see in the building of the Tower of Babel that same desire. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:46.800 You remember they built a tower and their desire was to build it so high that its top reached into the very heavens where God lives. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:54.240 They desired to pursue that kind of access, but God scattered them in confusion over their language. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:58.480 And then we arrive at Genesis chapter 12. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:02.399 And there God spoke to a man named Abram. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:10.560 And it's there that we begin to see about the closest thing we have to access to God since the Garden of Eden. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:16.079 There God came to Abram and he granted a new privilege. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:28.160 He said, Abraham's descendants would be a special people, called by God out of all the families on the earth to receive his blessings, his care, and his guidance. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:43.519 Now fast forward with me from there, about 400 or so years, to just before the Hebrew nation would cross over the Jordan River to take possession of the land promised to Abraham. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:08:04.480 They are on the verge of the Jordan River, and Moses is speaking to the people of Israel, and he says in Deuteronomy chapter four, See I have taught you statutes and rules, as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:27.279 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people, for what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as Yahweh our God is to us. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:33.759 Moses was pointing to their place of privilege. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:40.480 There is no other nation on earth that has this kind of access to God. 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:48.480 And God spoke to them again and again, not exactly like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:50.399 But God spoke to his people. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:55.759 We see that a little bit later in this same chapter in Deuteronomy chapter 4. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:03.759 Moses says, Did any people ever hear the voice of a God speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard? 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:06.720 God spoke to his people. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:13.679 To you it was shown that you might know that Yahweh is God, there is no other beside him. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:26.159 Know therefore today and lay it to your heart that Yahweh is God in heaven and on earth beneath, there is no other, therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:37.120 See, in a small but significant way, Israel regained by God's grace some of what was lost in the Garden of Eden. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:41.679 God was present with them, and God spoke to them. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:43.840 Through Moses, of course. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:50.960 God was present in the tabernacle and later in the temple, and as time went on, there were some rough moments, to be sure. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.639 But God never walked away from his promises. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:03.360 Over time, though, God's people began to take their position of privilege for granted. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:13.200 They assumed that nothing had changed with their God, even though their distance from God grew greater and greater. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:16.559 And eventually God's chosen people split apart. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:22.399 Two groups, each on the same trajectory, but at different paces. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:27.600 And God blessed them because he called them. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.960 He made them his own, and God showered his blessings on them. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.919 And as their possessions increased, they began to compare themselves with the nations surrounding them. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:46.399 And as they possessed more and more, receiving the blessings of God, they began to increase the abuse of their privilege, never thinking that that would be a problem. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:55.360 And then Amos appeared on the scene in the northern kingdom of Israel. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:10.000 This farmer turned prophet declared God's judgment on seven nations surrounding Israel, finally settling in on Israel as the eighth, because Israel had greatly abused her privileged position. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:14.799 And God said, That's going to end. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:27.360 As we consider this morning, continuing on in our series of asking question, does God care? 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:33.600 Specifically from Amos chapter three, does God care about privilege? 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:49.759 In Amos chapter three, we read, Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt? 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:54.799 You only have I known of all the families of the earth? 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:58.559 Therefore I will punish you for your iniquities. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:02.879 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to meet? 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:07.360 Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:11.919 Does a young lion cry out from his den if he has taken nothing? 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:17.440 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth when there's no trap set? 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:22.799 Does a snare spring up from the ground when it has taken nothing? 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:27.519 Is a trumpet blown in a city and the people are not afraid? 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:32.240 Does disaster come to a city unless Yahweh has done it? 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:38.000 For the Lord Yahweh does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:41.679 The lion has roared, Who will not fear? 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:45.840 The Lord Yahweh has spoken, who can but prophesy? 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:59.039 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the oppressed in her midst. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:07.360 They do not know how to do right, declares Yahweh, those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:17.840 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, an adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:21.120 Thus says Yahweh. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:35.279 As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and a part of a bed. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:51.679 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, declares the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts, that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:14:03.440 I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end, declares Yahweh. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:05.120 Amen. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:11.039 Does God care about privilege? 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:13.840 And how does that impact us? 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:26.480 It might seem strange to go to an eighth century BC prophet to answer such a modern question, but I don't think it's at all appropriate, as I trust we will see. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:44.240 Commentator Michael Bentley has written, Israel was continuing to live under the delusion that because God had chosen and loved them, he would protect them to the very end of their days, regardless of their behavior. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:56.960 Like a child who clings tenaciously to their favorite toy, Israel clung tenaciously to their privileged status as the people of God. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:05.519 Unfortunately, like many Christians today, they treated the sovereign God like a toy. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:14.320 A thing to be abused and used and forgotten, then remembered and forgotten again. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:28.080 The people forgot, perhaps conveniently, the portions of God's word demanding that they walk with God in loyalty, in love, and in faithfulness in order to enjoy the blessings of their privileged position. 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:32.159 And God's patience finally came to an end. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:47.039 You know, the sovereign God is not like us, but if he were, we might read verse 1 and part of verse 2 with a measure of frustration. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:58.559 We might hear God say, listen up and look at me when I'm talking at you. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:09.440 The people I brought up out of Egypt, the ones I chose, listen to me. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.799 You of all people are the ones that I brought up. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.840 See, the identifying marks of Israel's privilege are all over this passage. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:22.799 And it begins in the first verse with this idea of family. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:24.159 That is God's family. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:25.519 You are my family. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:27.919 I chose you to be my family. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:30.559 He says, I brought you up. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:35.360 Continues in the verse 2 with the emphatic, you only. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:39.440 And then of all the families on the earth. 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:43.039 Nobody else has these kinds of privileges. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:54.159 Verse 2 extends the details of chapter 2, verses 9, 10, and 11, where God said over and over again, it was I who did this, it was I who did this, it was I who did this. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:17:01.600 And he takes them all the way back to Genesis chapter 12, where God chose Abram out of all the families on the earth. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.200 And he called Moses to be their representative. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:19.839 And Moses talked with God like Adam talked with God. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:22.720 God was in their midst. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:24.000 He was with them. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:28.880 He gave them his word so that they might know him, that they might love him and obey him. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:33.519 They possessed what no other nation on earth had or has. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:42.319 Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.359 That's just astounding. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:53.039 The prophet Hosea parallels Amos to some extent. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:18:01.279 Hosea came a few decades after Amos, just before the destruction that Amos prophesied actually came. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:07.519 Hosea says, Of these same people, they have deeply corrupted themselves. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.160 God will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sins. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:16.240 He continued on to say that God hated Israel. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:22.000 God said, Because of the wickedness of their deeds, I will drive them out of my house. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:24.799 I will love them no more. 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:29.519 And Hosea concluded that section with his own personal agreement as a prophet. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:34.559 He said, My God will reject them because they have not listened to him. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:50.000 I don't think it requires too much thought to conclude that with God, great privilege brings with it great responsibility and great accountability. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:55.519 And we might even add, great judgment if you fail. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:02.000 Now we are not God's chosen people in the same sense as Israel. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:07.119 But spiritually, Peter tells us that we are chosen. 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:15.200 That God has chosen us as his own people, a holy people, adopted even as members of God's family. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:18.160 We have just sung that just previous to this. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:35.039 We could even argue that we as God's people have an even greater privilege than Israel because we have actually been grafted into God's family through faith in Christ, and now, because of our faith in him, we are sons and daughters filled with him. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:45.519 As a result, we must hear the apostles' command much more clearly. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:53.200 I urge you, therefore, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:04.000 We have just sung through Ephesians chapter 1 to the praise of his glorious grace. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:11.599 And we've been reminded with great clarity about the height and the depth of our privilege in Christ. 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:13.200 Look what you have. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.039 That's a mindset we must develop. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:30.319 God offers a position of privilege to all who come to trust in Jesus, coming in repentance of their sin and in faith in Him as His Savior and Lord. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:45.119 And if that describes you, then you possess the greatest privilege this world will ever see, regardless of language, upbringing, culture, or color. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:52.559 In Christ you are privileged, just as Israel was privileged. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:21:01.119 So we must not forget that that carries with it great responsibility and great accountability. 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.480 With that, Amos set the stage for his audience. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:08.559 He says, Yes, you are unique. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.880 You are in a privileged position. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:18.720 And what follows then in verses three and following is a series of questions expecting the answer no. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:21.279 Again and again, no. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:24.000 A negative answer. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:34.880 Do two people agree to go down to the greenway to walk together unless they have first agreed to meet? 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:36.480 No. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:38.880 You first agree to meet. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:43.200 So no, people don't go and walk together unless they first agreed to meet. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:46.480 Does the lion roar before he catches his prey? 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:47.119 No. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:52.640 Does a young lion cry out if his hunt wasn't a success? 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:53.279 No. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:59.759 Does a bird become caught in a snare if no one actually set the snare in the first place? 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:01.599 No. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.200 Does a snare get tripped if there's nothing to trip it? 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:08.640 No. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:14.720 Does the trumpet, the shofar, get blown and not bring fear? 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:18.960 They have to understand that the shofar would have been blown if enemies were on the way. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:22.400 So, no, it doesn't get blown without fear. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:26.720 Does disaster come on a city if God does not bring it? 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:28.079 No. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:36.480 The answer to each of those questions brings a response of, of course not, from a listener. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.759 Why are you asking us such stupid questions, Amos? 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:40.319 No. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:41.920 Of course not. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.920 What we often fail to recognize is that these questions function as a verbal trap. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.000 See, Amos would have delivered this message first orally. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:56.000 He would have spoken it. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:08.720 And asking questions with that same answer again and again sets the listener up to answer yet again, another time, no, without really processing what they're saying. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.720 You see, God had declared disaster. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:19.039 But Israel thought her privileged position made her immune to judgment. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:21.759 Not so, Amos said. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:30.559 God is sovereign over all, and if disaster comes to any place, God is sovereign over that disaster. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:33.680 So Israel could suffer by God's hand. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:39.039 Verses 7 and 8 then show us what Amos was thinking in that verbal trap. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:41.839 He says, for, here's what I'm thinking about. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:49.200 No one, but especially Israel, would really enjoy hearing Amos' message of disaster. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:51.440 Nobody's going to welcome that. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:59.200 God's chosen, though, would never believe that this message from a farmer was from God. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:05.599 In fact, they tell him a little bit later in chapter 7: go home, farmer, go back to your farming and your ranching and shut up. 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:07.680 We don't want to hear from you. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:14.960 But as the series of questions demonstrated, there is a purpose and a reason for everything. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:19.119 The sovereign God is behind everything that occurs. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:24.640 He is behind every situation and every circumstance that takes place in his creation. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:33.599 Therefore, for Israel, God would speak to a prophet so that his people would know what he was going to do. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:42.559 As a lion roars over its prey when it has success in its hunt, the sovereign Lord has roared from heaven. 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:48.160 Because he has hunted his people, and he is successful. 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:54.720 Amos heard this from God, and as his prophet, Amos can do nothing but speak. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:57.680 The question is, will the people listen? 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:09.119 See, God gives great privilege, but when he gives that privilege, it means that prophets must speak and God's people must listen. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:33.519 Years later, the prophet Jeremiah would write, If I say, as a prophet who's received the word of God, I will not mention him that is God, or speak any more in his name, there is in my heart, as it were, a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:41.680 Jeremiah very vividly said, I can't hold God's words in. 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.400 Otherwise I'm going to burn up in the inside. 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:50.079 It's impossible for a prophet to receive God's word and not declare it. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:54.319 Well, there's one prophet that tried. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:58.559 Sure you know his name, Jonah. 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:05.519 God gave him a message and said, Speak my message, and Jonah said, Ah, I don't think so. 00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:14.480 In the end, he said, I can't help but declare God's word. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:25.920 So when Amos asked, The Lord Yahweh has spoken, who can but prophesy, the answer is again a negative. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:27.519 No one. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:29.839 It's not possible. 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:37.200 If Yahweh has spoken to a prophet, there is nothing he can do but declare it. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:41.759 If God speaks through a mouthpiece, that mouthpiece must deliver the message. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:44.559 It is part of the privilege of being a prophet. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:52.240 Prophets must speak, and God's people must listen. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:58.319 Chapter 7, the leaders of Israel would refuse to listen. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:04.400 That is a direct violation of the intention of their privileged position. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:08.880 What has God said to them from the very beginning? 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:19.279 Let's think back to being at the crossing of the Jordan River again, just before they crossed over, before Moses died, he spoke to them one last time, reminding them of what God said. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:27.039 We see in Deuteronomy chapter 4, God says, Gather the people to me that I may let them hear my words. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:31.200 I'm speaking to them. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:42.160 It's a privileged position in which to be, and that's because I want them to learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth and pass that on to their children, so their children will listen. 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:45.519 Deuteronomy chapter 5. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:48.319 Hear, O Israel, listen to me. 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:52.240 The statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today. 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:54.960 You shall learn them and be careful to do them. 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:56.400 Listen to me. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.119 Chapter 6 of Deuteronomy. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:03.119 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them. 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:07.519 Listen to me and carry it out that it may go well with you. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:10.799 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:12.640 Listen to me. 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:19.200 You are in a privileged position to hear me speak, just like Adam and Eve in the garden. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:20.799 Listen to me. 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:27.440 See, being God's chosen people carried with it an expectation that they would listen to their God. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:36.240 And if they did not listen, God said, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:40.960 Oh, I'm glad I'm not them. 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:48.559 But does it matter? 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:52.319 Does it matter if I'm not Israel? 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:58.480 Because in Deuteronomy chapter 18, Moses spoke of the promised Messiah. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:09.680 God said to Moses, I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak them, and whoever will not listen to my words that he speaks, I will require it of him. 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:16.720 My friends, but speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is our prophet. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:20.480 Do we listen to him? 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:24.160 God has said, I will require it. 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:29.920 In the book of Acts, we see the apostles functioning much like Amos and Jeremiah. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:37.039 Peter and John were standing before the Jewish High Council, and they said, We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:38.799 We have fire in our bones. 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:40.400 We have to share it. 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:47.839 And Jesus said in John 18, Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:54.640 God's mouthpieces must speak, and God's people must listen. 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:00.559 There's an odd turn now in Amos chapter 3. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:12.079 In verse 9, Amos rhetorically invites the Philistines from Ashdod and the Egyptians to come and serve as witnesses against Israel. 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:14.240 God is holding court. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:31.519 Israel is the defendant, and God is calling the Philistines in Egypt to come and serve as witnesses against Israel's evil, because they do not know how to do right, and those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds prove it. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:42.319 Israel grew to take her privilege as God's people as a place of undisputed superiority. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.599 That's why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:54.559 Because Jonah knew that if he went to Nineveh, God would shower his grace and his mercy on the Ninevehes. 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:55.680 And Jonah didn't want that. 00:30:55.759 --> 00:30:58.079 He said, No, your grace and your mercy come to us. 00:30:58.240 --> 00:30:59.680 We are in the privileged place. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:00.880 They are not. 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:11.279 We need to hear that great privilege does not equal great superiority, especially in a moral sense. 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:17.920 Israel was in court, and the sovereign Lord was the judge. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:30.240 To have Egypt and the Philistines serve as witnesses against them would have been, first of all, insulting, and secondly, embarrassing. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:41.839 Shockingly, perhaps, God said that two pagan groups of people were morally superior to Israel. 00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:54.480 Now that didn't change Israel's privileged position with God, but it did show that the place of privilege is no guarantee of holiness, of obedience, or of faithfulness. 00:31:54.880 --> 00:32:05.440 And at this point in time, in spite of all of God's blessings, Israel had grown more evil than her neighbors who were without God. 00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:10.160 The evidence, God said, was found in her fortresses. 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:15.200 She had used violence and robbery to plunder others. 00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:21.119 And that was proof, God said, that she no longer knew how to do right. 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:27.759 What a warning that is for us. 00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:36.880 The word of God will have little effect if we become dull of hearing. 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:52.079 If our consciences are chiseled away by continually giving in to our sin rather than fighting to kill it, then we may soon be like Israel, not knowing how to do right. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:33:04.960 We may even now, in this very moment, be taking our privileged position in Christ for granted, considering others not worthy of the gospel of grace while we think we are safe from judgment. 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:13.440 But the sovereign Lord may look at us and call our unsaved acquaintances as witnesses against us. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:21.440 And he may say, I will surround you and plunder all that you possess as a result of my grace. 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:34.400 It's my prayer that he would be gracious to us and grant us repentance if we have any sense of an attitude of superiority because of who we are in Christ. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:38.640 We are sinners. 00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:43.759 Human beings without difference except in the grace of God. 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:50.400 But God wasn't calling Israel to repent. 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:55.599 She had gone too far, and repentance was no longer an option. 00:33:56.400 --> 00:33:58.960 The sovereign Lord was announcing doom. 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:07.039 And in verses 12 through 15, Amos, the farmer-rancher, is using familiar illustrations. 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:14.079 So he speaks as a shepherd out caring for the sheep and defending the sheep from wild animals. 00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:19.679 In that time period, lions and bears were still prevalent in the land of Israel. 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:22.320 You had to protect the sheep from them. 00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:31.119 As Amos would know well, a shepherd was accountable to the owner of the sheep for every single sheep in the flock. 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:48.719 So if a wild animal attacked the flock and got a particular sheep and began to eat it, the shepherd would save whatever remained to take to the owner of the sheep to prove that he was not negligent. 00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:59.199 Because if he was negligent, if a sheep just disappeared without any trace, then he would be required to pay for the sheep himself. 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:09.519 But if he could rescue a part of a leg or a piece of an ear, then he could take that to the owner and say, I tried, it wasn't my fault, an animal got it. 00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:13.760 Then he would be let off the hook. 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:17.760 But that isn't God's point. 00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:26.960 Here, the two legs and an ear show the damage a lion got to the sheep. 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:38.960 And so all that would be left of Israel's carefully manipulated and stolen hoard would be the part of a couch and the part of a bed. 00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:41.599 Symbols of her wealth. 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:48.000 Later on, God even says, you have summer houses and winter houses that are overlaid with ivory. 00:35:49.039 --> 00:35:50.400 I'm going to take those two. 00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:57.920 God would even destroy the symbols of her religiosity. 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:01.920 When he says the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:05.039 That's what he's pointing to. 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:10.480 See, an altar was generally square and it had little horns that came up on the corners. 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:26.960 And it was believed that if you accidentally committed a crime, you could run to that altar and grab those horns and hold on to them, and you would be innocent, not guilty of your crime. 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:30.559 God was saying their religion would not even save them. 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:39.760 The Lord Yahweh, the Lord of hosts, leads the heavenly armies, and he would lead them in battle against Israel, his privileged people. 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:50.239 He would punish them for their sins, he would destroy the altars used for the worship of other gods, firmly declaring your idolatry is worthless. 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:56.880 And he would destroy their lavish lifestyle that came through violence, robbery, abuse, and fraud. 00:36:57.119 --> 00:37:03.760 That's why when we get to this last section in verse twelve, Amos begins it with thus. 00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:07.280 Let me summarize this for you. 00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:08.880 Let me give you the conclusion. 00:37:09.199 --> 00:37:10.480 Amos says. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:03.840 God said, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:07.599 Because you rejected knowledge, I reject you. 00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:11.920 And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will forget your children. 00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:17.679 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me, and I will change their glory into shame. 00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:21.840 I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. 00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:25.599 They refused to listen to God's word. 00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:28.559 They rejected knowing Him. 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:36.719 And yet they continued to assume that their place of privilege and all of its blessings would continue on in spite of their sin. 00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:43.440 Does God care about privilege? 00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:48.000 I think it's safe to say he does. 00:38:49.039 --> 00:38:59.679 But God's concern doesn't seem to be so much about whether someone possesses privilege, but how they live with that privilege. 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:13.119 Today, everyone who genuinely trusts in Christ and belongs to Him is in a position of astounding privilege. 00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:18.559 If you have come to faith in Christ, you are in a privileged position. 00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:22.320 How then will we live with that privilege? 00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:35.519 If we refuse to hear and obey the word of our sovereign Lord, we may very well be treading down the path of abusing our privilege as children of God. 00:39:37.280 --> 00:39:45.280 Refusing to listen and obey is a rejection of the one who bought us out of slavery to sin with his own blood. 00:39:45.519 --> 00:39:58.960 If we refuse to listen, follow, and obey while assuming our place of privilege in Christ, our sin will likely bring with it all manner of evil, injustice, and abuse of others in the name of God. 00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:02.800 What should God do then? 00:40:09.039 --> 00:40:19.840 We are warned in the New Testament, in Romans chapter two, to not presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience. 00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:25.280 Because God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. 00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:30.559 Do not misunderstand me, please. 00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:40.800 If you have come to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, do you live an Ephesians chapter 1 life? 00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:47.920 In his foreknowledge, he chose you for his own. 00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:54.559 He set you apart and he shed his own blood so that you might be adopted as sons. 00:40:56.480 --> 00:41:05.360 And he guaranteed you an inheritance forever, and he gave you his spirit as a seal of that inheritance. 00:41:06.559 --> 00:41:09.679 We should relish in that privilege. 00:41:11.199 --> 00:41:16.079 We had to sing our guts out to the praise of his glorious grace. 00:41:17.519 --> 00:41:19.039 Relish in that. 00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:29.519 Do we sin that grace might abound? 00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:39.760 Do we not feel God's discipline in our lives when we sin, and so we then automatically just sin some more? 00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:42.960 Because judgment doesn't come. 00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:51.119 Have we misinterpreted God's patience as a lack of caring or even as a freedom to do what we desire? 00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:57.840 Have we grown to look down our noses at those who are different? 00:41:58.480 --> 00:42:05.599 Or even non-Christian, all the while tolerating unchecked and growing sin in our own hearts? 00:42:06.800 --> 00:42:16.480 Have we grown lax in the blessings given to us as the people of God, desiring more and more of God's blessings while we continue to ignore others? 00:42:18.639 --> 00:42:28.719 It's right and it's good to relish in the incredibly gracious, privileged position God gives us in Christ Jesus. 00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:45.519 In that place, let us be reminded that we bear that privilege with responsibility to the praise of his glorious grace. 00:42:45.760 --> 00:43:00.320 Let us hear Jesus speak in his word and let us listen so that we might know him and live out his words in a way that honors the sovereign Lord and the grace that he has given and not honors us. 00:43:02.400 --> 00:43:11.679 Let us relish in our privileged position in Christ and do everything we can to make much of his glorious grace. 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:17.840 Lord Jesus, we come and we bow before you, acknowledging our sin. 00:43:19.599 --> 00:43:32.239 Surely it is often, daily, maybe multiple times a day, when we take advantage of your grace and your mercy, and your kindness and your patience. 00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:47.199 Grant us repentance, first and foremost, if any of us here might not yet belong to your family as adopted sons, because we have failed to repent of our sins and trust in Christ, draw us to yourself. 00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:58.880 Grant us repentance that leads to salvation, so that we might know for certain that we have access eternally to the Holy God. 00:44:27.119 --> 00:44:30.880 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:37.920 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:44:38.159 --> 00:44:42.239 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.