(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Can I please have everyone find their seats and grab their songbooks and turn to page number 259. Please find your seats and grab your songbooks and turn to page number 259. We're going to start this service off with Jesus saves. That's page number 259 and let's sing it out on the first. Page 259 let's sing it out on the second. Jesus. Now you guys are singing good but let's sing it out on the last. Great singing. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Father God. Thanks so much for this church Lord. Thank you for these people coming out here on a Wednesday evening. I pray that you bless the service. I pray that our singing would glorify you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. All right. Please turn your songbooks page number 257. Just two pages back page number 257. We're going to sing. Look and live. Page 257. Look and live. Let's sing it out on the first. I have a message from the Lord. Hallelujah. The message unto you I'll give. Is recorded in his word. Hallelujah. It is only that you look and live. Look and live. My brothers live. Look to Jesus now and live. Is recorded in his word. Hallelujah. It is only that you look and live. I have a message full of love. Hallelujah. The message oh my friend for you. Is a message from above. Hallelujah. Jesus said it and I know it is true. Look and live. My brother live. Look to Jesus now and live. Is recorded in his word. Hallelujah. It is only that you look and live. Page 257. Let's sing it out on the third. Life is offered unto you. Hallelujah. Eternal life thy soul shall have. If you'll only look to him. Hallelujah. Look to Jesus who alone can save. Look and live. My brother live. Look to Jesus now and live. Is recorded in his word. Hallelujah. It is only that you look and live. Let's sing it out on the last. I will tell you how I came. Hallelujah. To Jesus when he made me whole. Was believing on his name. Hallelujah. And he saved my soul. Look and live. My brother live. Look to Jesus now and live. Is recorded in his word. Hallelujah. It is only that you look and live. Great singing. Amen. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church tonight. Thank you for being here. Let's go ahead and look at our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements. If you do not have a bulletin please raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin just put your hand up and we will get one for you. I was told that there is a potluck tonight so thank you very much for all of you being here and of course for the planning and participating. I really do appreciate it. So thank you and I will try to make sure that I preach a nice sermon. I promise. But let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements. The verse this week, Deuteronomy 25 one. If there be a controversy between men and they come under judgment that the judges may judge them and they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. And that's a good verse there. We'd like to have you open up your bulletins. You'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. We do invite you to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day. Of course for church Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. And we're glad you're here for the midweek service. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. So if you'd like to go soul winning there will be an opportunity for you to do that tomorrow at 2 p.m. And then of course on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. If you're a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Ready Baptist Church, we are glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building tonight as you go through the main foyer. Or if you go out our secondary foyer you'll see a little table set up. And on that table you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. But the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it. We want to give it to you as a gift. So please make sure you don't leave here tonight without grabbing that. And if you are a guest we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin. When we're done with the announcements we'll sing a song. When we're done singing we're going to receive the offering. And as the offering plate goes by you can drop this card in the offering plate. If you look at the announcements there, of course we're a family integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome in the service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitor set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's being distracted during the service we'd encourage you to use those rooms as needed. If you need to be baptized please let us know on your communication card and we'll follow up with you and talk to you about baptism. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course nine chapters a day is now done. And we hope that you'll use the Old Testament charts that are in your bulletin. To read the Old Testament through the rest of the year. You have a chart that will take you from February 1st until the end of the year. And we want you to read the Bible cover to cover. We hope that you'll do that. We had the movie night on Sunday night and that went great. Married Couple Sweetheart Banquet is on Friday, February 10th at 6.30 p.m. And please sign up on your communication card if you've not yet signed up. We're going to have a nice catered meal, a short sermon from the Word of God. And then we're going to play the Not So Newlywed Game. And we'll just ask silly questions about how you know your spouse or how well you know your spouse. The winning couple gets a $50 gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. It is married couples only and you need to sign up by this Sunday, February 5th. So please make sure you do that. I Love My Church Sunday is coming up, not this Sunday but the Sunday after that. And we want to encourage you to be here for I Love My Church Sunday. And this Sunday night we're going to be doing mailers for I Love My Church Sunday after the evening service. So if you could help us with that, we would appreciate it. Next Generation Youth Rally is coming up on March 7th and 8th. And we had lots of you guys sign up for the volunteer opportunities. We really appreciate the help with that. But you can still go ahead and sign up if you've not already and you'd like to help. There should be a card in your bulletin there. Choir and orchestra practice at 5 p.m. Homeschool group, they've got PE class tomorrow at 10 a.m. So don't forget about that. Also Valentine's Day party on Tuesday, February 14th at 11 a.m. You can sign up on your communication card. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service. They're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of February. Of course today is John McColchick's birthday on February 1st. Brother Oliver and Ms. Melody Gonzalez have an anniversary today as well on February 1st. Owen Beville's birthday is February 3rd. Caitlin Tina's birthday is February 4th. And Brother Rusty and Ms. Abby Santos have an anniversary on February 4th. Praise report, money matters, all those things are there for you to look at. And again, I just want to say thank you for the potluck. And my wife told me that there's Baskin-Robbins ice cream. And it's my, I guess it's my favorite, whatever, my favorite flavors. So hopefully you like those. But we're going to have that. And then I was told there's a lot of food back there. So thank you very much. I really do appreciate it. And all day I've been getting texts and emails and well wishes. And I really do appreciate your love to me and my family. So I really do appreciate it. Thank you. We're going to go ahead and skip the prayer sheet tonight because of the potluck. But I do want to make sure you get one of these. If you did not get a prayer sheet on your way in, would you raise your hand? And we'll make sure you get one. If you need a prayer sheet tonight, just put your hand up and the ushers will come through. We'll make sure you get one. We're not going to go through the prayer sheet, but I do want to just make you aware of a couple of things on the prayer sheet. First of all, I'd like you to notice there that Miss Rebecca Lunsford has been added to the safe and healthy pregnancies list. So congratulations to Brother Josh and Miss Rebecca on expecting another baby. And then one thing I would like you to be aware of is Brother Ron Edwards is on this list. I was actually on the phone with Brother Ron just before the service talking through text message. And we've been talking all day, really. But he had a stroke and he's OK. He says he's possibly going home either tomorrow, either home or rehab. They're still trying to figure that out. They thought that they would have to do surgery, but it looks like they're going to be able to avoid that. So just be praying for Brother Ron and praying for him to get better and to feel better. And I just I wanted to make sure that everybody was aware of that so you could be in prayer. I think that's it for all of the announcements. So let's go ahead and take our song books and we'll go to page number one hundred twenty one, page number one to one. And we'll sing like a river glorious as we prepare to receive the offering this evening. One hundred twenty one like a river glorious is God's perfect peace. Singing out on the first like a river glorious is God's perfect peace. Overall victorious in its bright increase. Perfect yet its flow with fuller every day. Yet it's growing deeper all the way. Stayed upon Jehovah. Hearts are fully blessed. Finding as he promised. Perfect peace and rest. One hundred twenty one sing it out on the second. Hidden in the hollow of his blessed hand. Never poke and follow. Never trade or set. Not a surge of worry. Not a shade of care. Not a blast of worry. Touch the spirit there. Stayed upon Jehovah. Hearts are fully blessed. Finding as he promised. Perfect peace and rest. Every joy or trial. Fall it from above. Traced upon our dial. By the Son of God. We may trust him fully. All for us to do. They who trust him wholly. By his holy truth. Stayed upon Jehovah. Hearts are fully blessed. Finding as he promised. Perfect peace and rest. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father and Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. I thank you for our church family and their kindness. And Lord, I pray that you would bless them. I pray that you would bless this evening as we take time to look at another passage of scripture together. We pray that you would bless the fellowship afterwards as well. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, we're there in Amos chapter number 3. And of course we've got a potluck after the service tonight so I'm going to try to move through this passage as quickly as I can and I'll do my best. You're there in Amos 3 and I want you to notice there in verse number 1 the Bible says, And in Amos chapter number 3, for those of you taking notes as we've been traveling through the book of Amos together, in Amos chapter 3 we have a new section that begins in this book for the next three chapters. If you remember Amos chapter 1 and chapter 2 was eight sermons by the prophet Amos directed at eight different nations. And in chapter 3 we begin a series of three sermons directed at the nation of Israel. And each one of these sermons begins with this phrase, Notice there in Amos 3 and verse 1 the Bible says, And I want you to notice that this is directed towards the northern kingdom of Israel and Amos is now going to zero in on the northern kingdom of Israel. He says, If you'll flip over to chapter 4 just real quickly, I'd like you to notice the beginning of the second sermon. We'll look at this next week, Lord willing. Amos chapter 4 and verse 1. And I just want you to notice how it begins. Hear this word, Samaria of course is the northern part of Israel, Go to Amos chapter 5 just real quickly, look at verse 1. Here's the beginning of the third sermon in this section directed at the nation of Israel. And notice how it begins, So we've got these three sermons in these three chapters. They begin with these words, the statement, Hear this word. Go back to chapter number 3. And I'd appreciate your prayers just in case you're wondering. I'm not sick, I've just got allergies. I feel like every year my allergies begin earlier and earlier. And I'm sure it's, I don't know, I'm sure it's something. But Amos chapter 3, notice there verse 1. Let me just, I've got an entire outline for this sermon and I want to try to move through this as quickly as I can. So let me just quickly kind of give you, walk through this outline. And if you're taking notes then you can write this down. Five points that, five ways, five headings to maybe outline this chapter. The first, if you're taking notes in verses 1 and 2, I want you to notice that we see the privilege of God's people. The privilege of God's people. In verse 1 we see Amos directing a sermon towards the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel. He says, Notice what he says. He says, I want you to notice that God is emphasizing the fact that these people had a history with him and they had been highly blessed by him. He says, He said, And God is bringing up the fact and he's highlighting the fact that he had a special relationship with the children of Israel. That this was a family which he brought up from the land of Egypt. And he says there in verse 2, Now keep your place there in Amos chapter 3. That's our text for tonight. But go with me if you would just real quickly to the New Testament book of Romans, Romans chapter 9. In the New Testament you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Romans chapter 9. And when you get to Romans do me a favor and put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. Romans chapter 9, I want you to notice that the nation of Israel in the Old Testament had a great advantage because of the fact that they were God's chosen people. They were given a great privilege. In Romans 9 and verse 4, the apostle Paul highlights this when he says, Who are Israelites, talking about the children of Israel, notice what he says about them. I want you to notice there that he highlights some of their advantages, the children of Israel. They were given the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises. He also brings this up in Romans chapter number 3. Flip back to Romans chapter 3, look at verse 1. Romans chapter 3 and verse 1, Paul says this, Because if you remember in chapters 1, 2, and 3 he's been talking about the fact that there's none that doeth good, that we're all sinners. And now he brings up this idea, well, was there an advantage in being a Jew? He said, what advantage then hath the Jew or what profit is there of circumcision? And then I want you to notice the answer that he gives in verse 2. He says, I want you to notice that when the Bible highlights the advantage that the Old Testament people of God had, the advantage that they had was that they had the word of God, they had the ministry of God, they had the service of God, they had the covenants of God, they had access and knowledge of God. And we see that because of that knowledge, keep your place there in Romans, we're told that God is going to judge them. He says in Amos 3, 2, you go to Luke if you would, real quickly, Luke chapter 12. If you go back from Romans, keep your place in Romans, but if you go back from Romans you have Acts, John, then Luke. In Amos 3 he says, So we see the privilege of God's people, they had a great advantage. And what I'm going to say right now is something that I've been saying, it keeps coming up in sermons over the last several weeks and I feel like I keep going to Luke chapter 12, but I'm just going to keep bringing it up as much as it keeps coming up because I feel like maybe God wants us to learn this. And the idea is this, in the same way that the Old Testament people of God were highly privileged, they had a great advantage, in that same way the New Testament people of God are also highly privileged and have a great advantage, it could be said of us that we've received the adoptions, we've received the covenants, we've received the service of God, we've received the oracles of God. And here's what you need to understand, when it comes to having great advantage with God, along with advantage comes accountability. And because the children of Israel had been given a great advantage, there was a great accountability that God was holding them to. But remember this, that God is no respecter of persons and if he's going to hold them accountable for their advantage, he will hold you accountable and he will hold me accountable for our advantage. Luke chapter 12 and verse 47, we've seen this verse several times over the last several weeks, but I'll just keep showing it to you. This is probably the best verse to highlight this idea, that with great advantage comes great responsibility. With great advantage comes great accountability. Luke 12, 47, And that servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. Verse 48, compare and contrast that to the guy in verse 48. In verse 47, it was the servant which knew his Lord's will and did not do anything with his Lord's will. He's going to be beaten with many stripes. Verse 48, But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. So why don't you notice, the servant who knew his Lord's will and didn't do what he was supposed to do, was beaten with many stripes. And in verse 48, the servant who knew not, he still held accountable, but God takes into consideration the amount of knowledge that they have. Here the Bible says that he shall be beaten with few stripes, and this is how God justifies it. Last part of verse 48, For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required, and unto whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. The Bible teaches that God will hold you accountable for the knowledge that you have. And if you're sitting here at Verity Baptist Church on a Wednesday night, you have been given a lot. You've been committed a lot. And this is an idea that young people need to get their hands around. And when you grow up in a church like this, and you grow up in the families, the type of families that come to this church, and you've been raised in Christianity, and you've been exposed to the Word of God from a young age like Timothy, that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures, hey, God has given you a great advantage. But don't forget that God will hold you accountable for what you do with what you've been given. And here we see that the children of Israel, the prophet Amos begins by speaking about the privilege of God's people. He says, go back to Amos 3 if you would, Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, you only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. We see in verses 1 and 2 there the privilege of God's people. But I'd like you to notice in verses 3 through 6, in verses 1 and 2 we see the privilege of God's people. In verses 3 through 6 we see the logic of God's punishment. I want you to understand that God is obviously a logical God. In Isaiah the Bible says, God says, let us reason together, saith the Lord. God is a reasonable God. He's a logical God. And what Amos is going to do in the next three verses is give the logic of God's punishment because he wants those who are going to receive the judgment of God to understand that they should have seen this coming. That they should understand why it's coming. And it's a very logical conclusion that God comes to. Now what we see in Amos chapter 3 verses 3 through 6 is a very well known part of scripture from the book of Amos. And what Amos does is he asks a series of questions. He asks seven logical questions. And I want you to notice that the first six questions in this series of questions have a very obvious answer. The seventh question has less of an obvious answer. And what Amos is doing is he's asking six questions that are very obvious and the answer to the question is no. And what he's doing is he's trying to get his audience to answer the questions in their own minds and heart. No, no, no, no, no, no. Two obvious questions. So when they get to the seventh question, which is a little bit more of a complex question, they would understand, well if the answer to every question leading up to this was no, then the answer to question number seven is probably no. So let's look at the questions real quickly. Notice question number one in verse number three. Again, probably the most famous verse in the book of Amos. Amos chapter three and verse three, can two walk together except they be agreed? Can two walk together, Amos asks, except they be agreed? And the answer is no. If they're walking together, it's because they agree. If they're not in agreement, they can't walk together. Two cannot walk together except they be agreed. Now if you kept your place in Romans, go with me if you would, from Romans to 2 Corinthians. Romans, past Romans, you got 1 Corinthians, then 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter six. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on each one of these questions, but I do want to spend some time on this one. This is probably the most famous of all the questions. Can two walk together except they be agreed? This is a concept in Scripture having to do with fellowship and separation. The idea is this, that you can only walk with those which you are in agreement with. In the New Testament, Paul said it this way, 2 Corinthians 6.14, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Why would Paul say, don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers? Here's why, because can two walk together except they be agreed? You can't walk, you can't fellowship, you can't work with, you can't work alongside somebody unless you're in agreement with them, unless you're heading in the same direction, unless you're working towards the same goal. It's not going to work. So Paul says, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? He said, can righteousness and unrighteousness walk together? The answer is no. Why? Because they're not in agreement. And what communion hath light with darkness? And what conquered at Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And here's the application and the conclusion when you understand that two cannot walk together except they be agreed. The answer then is this, verse 17, wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. You say, why separation? And in case you're not getting it, the application here is that your best buddies shouldn't be a bunch of drunkards. You say, why? Because can two walk together except they be agreed? That's why you young men shouldn't be dating girls that are not saved. You say, why? Because can two walk together except they be agreed? Oftentimes people look at me and Pastor Anderson and both of us got married at young ages and both of us got our wives saved. But let me remind you, we got them saved before we dated them. They started coming to church before we dated them. They became soul winners before we, look, we didn't go date some unsaved girl. You say, why? Because can two walk together except they be agreed? I'm just saying the people you're going to choose in life to walk down the road with, to walk down life with, you better make sure that you're in agreement. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be kind to the co-workers out in the secular world. I'm not saying you shouldn't be kind to your neighbors or kind to your unsaved family. I think you should be, but your best friends, the people you spent the most time with, the people you fellowship with, better be in agreement with you. Because two cannot walk together except they be agreed is the point that Amos is making. So if you're walking together, if you're fellowshipping with someone that is an unbeliever or that is worldly or that's not right with God, what that tells us is there's an agreement there. Now if they're not getting right with God, then you must be getting wrong with God. Because the Bible says, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. So we see the first question. The answer is a no. Can two walk together except they be agreed? No. If they're walking together, they are agreed. By the way, that's why in our church we need to have agreement and unity. And I am not and I've never been this guy that says that you have to believe everything that I believe and you have to follow just every little thing that I say. I allow people to have freedom. Let me tell you something. There are some things that you need to just get on board with. There are some major things in our church that we can't walk together if we're not agreed. You might have thought about this or thought about that. Let me tell you something. When it comes to salvation, when it comes to soul winning, when it comes to Scripture, when it comes to the King James Bible, hey, we better be agreed. Because a house divided against itself cannot stand. So can two walk together except they be agreed? The answer is an obvious no. If they're walking together, it's because they are agreed. That's the first question. Go back to Amos if you would. Then I want you to notice the next several questions. Question two is in verse four. Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? And the answer is no. A lion's not going to roar. A lion is just a bigger version of the cat you've got at home. They meow and make a lot of noise when they've got food or when they're playing with something. What Amos is saying is if you hear a lion roaring, there's a reason why he's roaring. A lion's not just going to roar for no reason. Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? And the answer is no. If a lion is roaring, it's for a reason. If a lion is roaring, it's because he's taking prey. Notice the third question there in verse four. Will a young lion cry out of his den if he hath taken nothing? That's pretty much the same question, and the answer is no. If a young lion is crying out, it's because he's taken something. It's because he's caught something. Notice the fourth question there in verse five. Can a bird... And it gets, you know, Amos is just being kind of, I think, a little bit of a jerk here. Because his questions get so ridiculous. You start with, can two walk together except they be agreed? Maybe you have to think about that for a second. If you think about it and you just think of it logically, you think, no, you know, if they're walking together, they're agreed. Will a lion roar? If he's caught no prey, you're like, well, do lions roar? Well, actually, no. Let me Google that. No. If the lion's roaring, it's probably for a reason. But then he just gets silly. Verse five. Can a bird fall into a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him? Now, the word snare means trap, and the word gin means trap. It's just two synonyms for the same thing. Can a bird fall in a snare, can a bird fall into a trap upon the earth if there is no trap for him? And the answer is obviously no. Amos, you think we're stupid? If he falls into a trap, then obviously somebody set a trap. He can't fall into a trap that nobody set. Can a bird fall into a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him? And the answer is no. If a bird falls into a trap, it's because there was a trap laid for him. Notice the fifth question in verse five. Shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all? If you have a guy who is maybe a trapper and he's got some traps out in the field and he's got them set up, he's not going to grab the trap and take it out of his spot if it hasn't caught something. If that thing is closed and it's caught an animal, then yeah, he's going to pick up the trap and the animal and he's going to do what he's going to do. But if he goes to check his trap and they're still open and there's no animal in it, he's just going to leave it alone. And Amos is asking the question. He says, shall one take up a snare from the earth and have nothing at all? And again, a snare is a type of trap or a type of device to catch an animal. And the answer is no. If someone takes up their trap, it's because something is in it. Otherwise, they would just leave it alone in hopes that we will catch something else. Verse six. Verse six, we have the sixth question. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? And blowing of a trumpet would be an alarm. If you heard a trumpet blowing in the city, you would think that there's an invasion under way, that we are under attack. And Amos asks the question, is somebody going to blow a trumpet and people not be afraid? And again, the answer is no. If the trumpet or the alarm sounds, people are going to be afraid. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? And I want you to notice that he asked this series of questions. Can two walk together except they be agreed? The answer is no. If they're walking together, it's because they've agreed. Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? No. If a lion's roaring, it's because he's got prey. Will a young lion cry out in his den if he has taken nothing? No. If he's crying out, he's probably taking something. Can a bird fall into a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him? No. If he's caught by a snare, somebody set the snare. Shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all? No. If you're taking your trap, your snare out, it's because you caught something. Otherwise, you're going to leave it there in hopes that it'll catch something in the future. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? No, Amos. The answer is no. If a trumpet, if the alarm goes off, people are going to be afraid. And then here's the seventh question. And the seventh question is not as maybe clear to some people, which is why Amos is asking these no, no, no. Just like in soul winning or in sales, they teach you to get the person saying yes, get them agreeing with you. We teach that in soul winning too. Get them agreeing with you. He's getting them to say no, no, no, no, no, no so that when they get to question number seven, they'll understand what the response is. Notice the seventh question there in verse six. Last part of verse six. Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it? You say, what does that mean? Well, if you go back to the previous six questions and you realize the answer is no, no if X, Y, and Z is happening, it's happening for a reason. He's asking, shall there be evil in a city and the Lord has not done it? And the answer to the question, which may be counterintuitive to some people, is this, no, if there is evil in the city, the Lord has done it. And what the Bible is teaching here and what Amos is telling them is that evil is about to come upon you, northern kingdom of Israel. And I want you to understand that if evil comes, the Lord has done it. If evil comes, it is the Lord who brought that upon you. Now the reason that this is confusing to some people, go to Isaiah if you would. Isaiah 45. You're there in Amos. If you go backwards, you'll go past the book of Joel, Hosea, Daniel, Ezekiel, Lamentations, Jeremiah, and then the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 45. Sometimes people get confused by this and they say, well, is Amos saying that the Lord does evil? And the answer to that question is yes. Isaiah 45 and verse 7, Isaiah 45 says this, this is God speaking. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. The Bible says that God creates evil. Go to Jonah chapter 3 if you would. If you go back to Amos, after Amos you have Obadiah, then Jonah. Jonah chapter 3 and verse 10. In Jonah 3, 10 the Bible says that God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. And God, the people of Nineveh turned from their evil way. And God repented of the evil, repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not. He did what not? The evil that he said he was going to do. So I want you to understand that the Bible teaches that God is the source of both good and evil. Or God can be a source of both good and evil. And people often don't understand this or have a problem with this. Go back to Amos. Because most people think that evil is sin. But God does not sin. God is not the source of sin. God never sins. But God does do evil. God is the source of both good and evil. So when you have a problem like this, where the Bible is saying something that goes against what you think. Here's where you've got to decide, I'm a Baptist. And you've got to decide, I'm going to go with the Bible, not my preconceived idea. If there is a contradiction between the Bible and my intelligence, there must be something wrong with my intelligence, not the Bible. And here's the answer to the question. In the Bible, the word evil does not mean sin. In the Bible, the word evil means to hurt or to damage. So in the Bible, the word evil, though sometimes, please understand this, sometimes the word evil is used in the context of sin, it does not always apply to sin. Because in the Bible, and this is just a way to help you understand this, all sin is evil, but not all evil is sin. Now because sin, because evil means to hurt or to damage, and all sin hurts and damages, all sin is evil. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. That's hurting someone. That's damaging somebody. So all sin is evil. So if you find a verse that makes it sound like something sinful and it refers to it as evil, there's nothing wrong with that. Because all sin is evil, because evil means to hurt and damage. But here's what you need to understand, that there are times that you can hurt and damage something or someone and you've not sinned. Do you understand what I'm saying? If somebody breaks into your house and they're trying to rob you, and in the process of robbing you, they injure you or kill you, they have sinned and their sin was evil, because their sin hurt you or damaged you. However, if somebody breaks into one of the church members of Verity Baptist Church, and they find themselves in front of a homeowner with several guns, and that thief goes out to pull out a gun and gets shot and killed, well, that homeowner has done evil because he hurt and damaged that bad person. But that homeowner has not sinned. Now, he may be in trouble with the police because they're going to arrest you. If you shoot anybody, they're going to arrest you, whether you should have or not. Just know that. The point is this, you could do evil and not sin. So when the Bible says that God does evil, yes, he does do evil because God will sometimes bring his wrath, bring his judgment, destroy and harm, but he's not sinning. And God is telling the children of Israel, I'm about to bring a lot of evil upon you. I'm about to bring a lot of damage and destruction upon you. He says, Amos says, if there's evil in the city, don't you think the Lord has done it? And the answer, you know, the answer is yes, because God does evil. Go to Amos chapter 3. But does God sin? The answer is no. So in the Bible, all sin is evil, but not all evil is sin. Then in verses 7 and 8, in verses 1 and 2, we saw the privilege of God's people. In verses 3 to 6, we saw the logic of God's punishment. In verses 7 and 8, we see the warning of God's prophet. Notice in verse 7, he says, surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. And what Amos is stating here, he's saying that God has revealed his coming judgment to the prophets to warn the people. That God has revealed what he's going to do to the children of Israel, to Amos and to other prophets that were his contemporaries, that they might warn the people. Notice verse 8. Does this sound familiar to the questions that Amos was asking? Now, before Amos was asking, he was asking it as a question. Will a lion roar if he hath taken nothing? Now Amos is making a statement, verse 8, the lion hath roared. He says, the lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy? And the point that Amos was making, and this verse is actually the theme verse of our Red Hot Preaching Conference. It's the verse that we put on all the t-shirts and all of that. The point that Amos is making is this, because remember in verse 4 he says, will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? And he asks a question. And the answer to the question is no. If the lion is roaring, then he's taken a prey. Now Amos is making the application and saying, well let me let you in on a little secret. The lion hath roared. And he's roared for a reason. He's taken a prey and it's you. The lion hath roared. He says, who will not fear? And then he says, the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy? Here's what he's saying. He's saying, don't get mad at me. Amos is saying, don't kill the messenger. He said, the Lord God hath spoken. The message is God's, thus saith the Lord. The Lord God hath spoken. He says, who can but prophesy? He said, look, I can only prophesy what God hath spoken. Balaam learned that the hard way. And what he's telling the people is, look, God has spoken. I am just prophesying to you what God has spoken. And you know what I want to say to Verity Baptist Church, whenever I step on your toes or get on your pet's hand or correct you, and half the time I don't even know what you're into, just to let you in on a little secret. I know some of you guys think I spend my whole week just following you around, looking to see what I can preach against, but that's not true. You say, well, every time I come, you preach these songs, this whole judgment series you've been preaching, I've been doing X, Y, and Z. Yeah, I know. Everyone has. That's why I'm preaching it. And if you're like, well, it seems like it's always directed at me. Hey, that's the Holy Spirit and that's a guilty conscience. Maybe get right with God. You know, if you always feel bad at the sermons, maybe it's because you're always wrong. There's two ways to take a look. When I preach on soul winning, I get up and say, hey, you ought to be a soul winner. You know, if you're a soul winner, you're like, amen. If you're a soul winner, you're like, oh me. Well, how do you fix it? Become a soul winner. Just get on the right stuff of the Word of God and then you'll be the one saying amen. The Lord God had spoken, who can but prophesy? Go back to Amos 3, look at verse 9. So in verses 1 and 2, we saw the privilege of God's people. Verses 3 to 6, we saw the logic of God's punishment. Verses 7 to 8, we saw the warning of God's prophet. In verses 9 and 10, we see the equity of God's publishing. I want you to notice, and Amos uses the word there in verse 9, publish. And what Amos is telling the northern kingdom of Israel is that when God brings his judgment, it will be public. He says, publish in the places of Ashtad. Ashtad is one of the major cities of the Philistines and in the palaces of the land of Egypt. And I just want you to consider that these two places, Ashtad or the Philistines and Egypt, these are two locations in the Bible known for their cruelty. The Philistines were just bad people. Of course, if you remember, the most famous Philistine is Goliath. The Egyptians, they enslaved the people of God and they had much cruelty against them. And God is now telling the children of Israel, we're far into the timeline of the biblical history, and he's telling the children of Israel, I'm going to bring the people of Ashtad, I'm going to bring the Philistines, I'm going to bring the Egyptians and say, verse 9, assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria. Samaria, of course, is a northern part of Israel. And behold, the great tumult, that word means violence or commotion, in the midst thereof, and the oppressed, the word oppressed means people burdened with cruelty and injustice in the midst thereof. And here's what the Bible is saying. Because remember the theme of the book of Amos, which is really interesting to me because I began a Sunday morning sermon series on judgment and justice, and then we began the book of Amos at the same time. And I'd like to take credit for this, but I really didn't do it on purpose, it was just the Holy Spirit. But the theme of the book of Amos is justice, equity, that it matters how we treat people. And here God is saying, I'm going to bring these heathen nations, the Philistines and the Egyptians, who are known for their cruelty, and I'm not going to have them witness and testify against you. God says, publish in the palaces of Ashtad and in the palaces in the land of Egypt. Notice how he brings two witnesses and say, assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria. And behold, the great tumult in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. God says, I'm going to bring the heathen nations to witness and to testify and to agree to even Israel's cruelty. Here's what he's saying, the Egyptians who enslaved people and treated them wrongly are going to come to the northern kingdom of Israel and they're going to say, wow, that's really bad. They're going to agree on the extreme cruelty and oppression of the nation of Israel. Even the heathen nations are going to agree that Israel was cruel. And God is going to do this to justify his punishment. They had developed a culture of cruelty. Amos chapter 3 and verse 10, notice what he says. For they know not to do right. That's a striking statement. You know, an area, a geographic area can develop a culture, both positive and negative. And what God is saying about these people is that they know not to do right. For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. He said they have developed this culture of cruelty. They don't even know how to do right. And look, this is where we're getting to in the United States of America. I get up to preach and I'm like, look, I know this is pretty common sense. I'm just going to say this because it's what the Bible says. I think everybody's trying. And then I preach these sermons and then I'm just getting emails and text messages and church people. And God bless you, I'm not mad at you, but you'll say, I didn't know that. Really? You didn't know that you should not talk bad about people behind their backs? For they know not to do right. And I'm not upset with you. I'm just saying it's interesting that we have to go back, and this is why. We as preachers, sometimes we battle this because, man, do I really need to say this? I mean, I think everybody knows this. And then you preach it and it's like, no. The culture could become a bad culture. By the way, a church's culture can become a bad culture. This is one thing that I feel like I'm constantly fighting, not because of a problem. And look, sometimes people hear me preach like this and they think like, ah, there's all these problems that vary the Baptist Church. And here's the thing, there's not. There's not major problems that vary the Baptist Church precisely because I preach the sermons. Because I have decided that if there's anybody who's going to influence the culture of Verity Baptist Church, it's going to be me through the preaching of the Word of God. And I am not going to allow our church to develop this culture of cliques and people divided against each other and fighting against each other and gossiping against each other. You can try it, but you're going to go to war with me. And you might have a lot of time to make a lot of phone calls, but I get to preach for an hour three times a week. And I'm going to use every minute of that to make sure that this church has the right culture of kindness and soul winning and compassion and being kind to each other and loving each other. You say, why? Why do you care so much that we get along? Because can two walk together except they be agreed? I don't, honestly, I do, please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say. I care about you, but I'll be very honest with you, I don't necessarily need you to just be the greatest Christian ever, but if I need you, what I need you to do is to be a soul winner in this church and that requires you getting all this other stuff right. I love you and I want you to get it all right anyway, but I'm going to help you get a bunch of this other stuff right because we need to get to work. And what I've learned is that two can't walk together if they're not agreed. So I'm going to help you get agreed. Because we don't want this culture for they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence, notice the theme, violence and robbery in their palaces. Okay, verses 11 through 15, we got to finish this thing up. Verses 1 and 2, the privilege of God's people. Verses 3 to 6, the logic of God's punishment. Verses 7 through 8, the warning of God's prophet. Verses 9 through 10, the equity of God's publishing. And then verses 11 through 15, the accuracy of God's prophecy. Notice verse 11. Therefore, saith the Lord God, in adversary there shall be even round about the land. God foretells that there's going to be enemies that are going to surround the land, the northern kingdom of Israel, and he shall bring down thy strength from thee and thy palaces shall be spoiled. The word spoiled means plundered or pillaged. So, thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria, in the corner of a bed and in Damascus in a couch. That's a very descriptive verse there. I really like it. Because it really puts an image in your mind. Verse 12, thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria. And he's not just being descriptive, he's making a reference to the Old Testament law of Moses. Let me just share that with you real quickly and we'll finish up. Go to Exodus 22 if you would. Exodus 22, second book in the Old Testament, should be fairly easy to find. Genesis, Exodus, Exodus 22. I believe that Amos is alluding to an Old Testament law. And what God is teaching here in verse 11 is that the destruction of the nation of Israel would be complete. An adversary, there shall be even round about the land, and he shall bring down thy strength from thee and thy palaces shall be spoiled. Their destruction would be complete. And then in verse 12 when he says, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria. Here he's teaching that their destruction would not be God's fault. What the prophet is communicating is that when this happens to the children of Israel, they will have nobody to blame but themselves. And that God cannot be held responsible for the evil that he has brought and that he has allowed because the responsibility should be laid at the feet of the people whom God brought destruction to. And here's where the imagery comes in, Exodus 22 and verse 10. Exodus 22, 10 says, If a man deliver unto his neighbor an ox or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it die or be hurt or driven away, no man seeing it, then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods, and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good. So simply, this is just the principle of justice. And what he's saying is that if somebody asks somebody, their neighbor, to watch their ass or ox or sheep or beast, keep it, maybe they were going on a trip or they have to be away, he's asking someone to look over it, and it die or be hurt or driven away, and no man seeing it, so there's no witnesses to say here's what happened and here's how it went, then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods. So they're going to take an oath and he's going to say, look, I didn't kill your cattle and eat it. I didn't throw a party while you were gone. I don't know what happened. Nobody saw it, but they're gone. That's what he's teaching him. Look at verse 12. And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof. Because look, you have to take responsibility. If you borrow somebody's stuff and you break it, you should pay for it. That's what the Bible's teaching. Verse 13. If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for a witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn. So here's what I want you to notice in verse 13. If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for a witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn. So here's what the Bible's teaching. Somebody comes and asks you or me to watch their whatever, and the animal goes missing, but when he goes to look for it, he finds an ear or a leg or something like that. Then he could bring that as a witness and say, look, I didn't eat your animal. A wolf must have got it or a predator must have got it. And here's the proof. Verse 13. If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for a witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn. He doesn't have to pay for the damaged goods. If he can prove, I didn't damage it, I didn't hurt it, I did everything I was supposed to do, a wolf must have got it, a lion must have got it. Look, here's the ear and here's the leg, and here's the pieces that were scattered. That's what the Old Testament law said. What Amos is saying, go back to Amos chapter 3, verse 12. Thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria. God is saying, when you are destroyed by the Assyrians, when the judgment of God comes upon your nation because of your cruelty and your lack of integrity and your lack of character, God says, I'm going to just be standing there with an ear and a leg saying, it wasn't my fault. You have only yourself to blame for this. As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed and the masses in a couch. Look at verse 13. Here ye intensify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel, upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground, and I will smite the winter house and the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. Why don't you notice that God here, Amos, ends by making the point that these people are cruel. They're being wronged. We've seen in other chapters that they've wronged the poor. They've taken advantage of the poor. But notice that these people are rich. I will smite the winter house and the summer house. You know what you are when you have a house that you winter in and a house that you summer in? You're rich. The houses of ivory, I don't know how much that costs, but I would imagine that costs a pretty penny. He says the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. And here's the application for us. It's that the United States of America is the most prosperous nation on this earth. And our riches and our economy and our wealth has made us proud people, proud, arrogant people. And we think that because we have a summer house and a winter house because we've got toys and we've got technology, because we've got everything that everyone in the world would want, that that somehow makes us better or somehow makes us immutable. But God would judge. And God has no respect for persons. And here's what I'm saying. He doesn't look down at the United States of America and think to himself, man, they've got it put together. Look at that. God says, I don't care about your winter house or your summer house. I don't care about your ivory house. You can call it the White House if you want. I don't care. The great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. And what we need to remember is that when God punishes, and God will punish, nations cannot be judged in the next world. They must be judged in this world. When God punishes, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. God will be standing there with two legs and a piece of an ear saying, it's not my fault. Because when the lion roars, he roars for a reason. And God is warning the children of Israel, and I believe that this could be a warning for us today, it matters how you treat people. It matters that you don't take advantage of people. It matters that you're not cruel to people. It matters that you're not mean to people. It matters that you don't gossip about people. It matters that you're just and righteous in your actions. Because God is the ultimate judge. And the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for this chapter. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to learn from the book of Amos This prophet, unlike maybe any other prophet in the Bible, just chapter after chapter just keeps drumming the same, just keeps hitting the same drum. And it's that it matters how we treat each other. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to be just, to have judgment and discernment, to be kind, to love our neighbor as ourself, to treat people the way we'd like to be treated, to be fair, to have equity. Lord, I pray that you would help us to be a church that, no matter what the world's doing, that we would at least have the right culture here. We love you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. All right, we're going to have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to say again thank you very much to all of you who took part in preparing for the potluck and the ice cream and all of you who participated and brought something I really do appreciate it. And I thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. And I hope you'll stick around and we'll have a good time of fellowship. My brother Moses, come up at this time. Please turn to your song books, page number 63. Page number 63. We're going to sing What a Day That Will Be. Page number 63, and let's sing it out on the first. There is coming a day when no heartache shall come No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore What a day, glorious day that will be What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see And I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace When he takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land What a day, glorious day that will be There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there And forever I will be with the one who died for me What a day, glorious day that will be What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see And I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace When he takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land What a day, glorious day that will be Great scene. So since today is Pastor's birthday, we are going to have a potluck and ice cream after the service. And we want to make sure that Pastor and his family are first in line. But let's all sing, Pastor, happy birthday. Is he in here? Let's make sure he comes in here. Don't want to embarrass anyone. Hold on, hold on, Brother Christian, let's wait until Pastor gets in here. So he can really feel it. Okay, let's sing it out. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you Happy birthday, dear Pastor, happy birthday to you Okay, let's close in prayer and pray a blessing for the food. Father God, thank you so much for this church, Lord. Thank you for our pastor who works so hard for this ministry. Thank you for all the sacrifice that him and his family have made for us. I pray that you bless the potluck. I pray that you would bless the rest of the service and the fellowship to come. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. In Jesus' name, amen. In Jesus' name, amen.