Righteous Judgement, Saving Judgement

[0:00] page 924, Amos chapter 9. I saw the Lord standing by the altar and he said, strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people. Those who are left I will kill with the sword. No one will get away, none will escape. Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hands will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them. Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good. The Lord, the Lord Almighty, he touches the earth and it melts and all who live in it mourn. The whole land rises like the

[1:07] Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt. He builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land.

[1:20] The Lord is his name. Are you not, are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites, declares the Lord? Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Kaftar and the Arameans from Kir? Surely the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob, declares the Lord. For I will give the commands and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword.

[2:06] All those who say disaster will not overtake or meet us. In that day, I will restore David's fallen shelter. I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins and will rebuild it as it used to be so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name, declares the Lord, who will do these things. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine. They will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them, says the Lord your God. Amen.

[3:14] Thanks, Joe, for reading. My name's Robbie. If we haven't met, I'm the youth pastor in training here at St. Silas and it is a joy to be here speaking from Amos 9. I'm sure as that was read, the vast majority of you were thinking, what on earth is going on? And don't worry, so was I when I first read this. When we read passages this difficult, I think it always points us to our own misunderstandings, the things we haven't got right. So the first thing I'm going to do is pray to the Lord, asking for his help that we might understand this, apply it well, and actually find the good news in what can seem like quite a dark passage. So let's pray together. Father Lord, you are wisdom itself, so we ask for that tonight. Give us knowledge, give us soft hearts that we might hear the good news, and give me the words to explain this clearly, so that we might, as your people, come to love you more and know your will more. We pray these things in your son's precious name. Amen. So we're at the end of the book of Amos chapter 9. It's been a good eight weeks or so as we've been studying this in our evening service, and it's not even the end of Amos. It's also the end of our evening service for the year.

[4:41] So it's great to be here to get to recap all of Amos, and as we look at Amos 9 in particular, it's really important that we understand all of Amos. Don't worry, we're not going to read it. I'm not going to go over it in immense detail, but what I'm going to start off tonight is by reminding us of some context, reminding us of some key things that Amos has said to Israel, because that is what the book of Amos is, is the Lord speaking to Israel through Amos. It's been a wild ride, I think, and to say it simply, we might say that God will judge Israel for turning away from him, but that's a really generalized summary of a whole book. So let me just take a few minutes to kind of remember how Israel turned from him, what they've done wrong, and what the Lord is going to do.

[5:30] Well, you might remember that the context of the book of Amos is spoken to Israel. That is God's chosen people who are a nation in a specific time, and it's who he's mainly speaking to in the whole book. And in fact, for Israel, this is a really good time in history. In fact, for that kingdom, this is probably the second best time. If you were to pick Israel, you know, I want to live in Israel, this is the second best time you could have picked it. And the Lord took them, and he expanded their borders, so it was as good as it was under the King Solomon, who was the wisest man to ever live, and Israel under his kingship was amazing. It was everything God had promised.

[6:09] So it's pretty great. King Jeroboam II is in charge, and, you know, through him, God has done great things for the city, for the nation. Before Jeroboam II, it was really bad times.

[6:19] Things weren't going well. They were being beaten down by the nations around them, but God heard the cries of mercy from his people and relented. God gave them success, and it led to wealth and prosperity. The people of Israel are rich and safe, and boy, are they making the most of that wealth.

[6:36] But the problem is, is that rather than highlighting their dependency on God, when Israel were rescued and given prosperity, well, it made their leaders fat, rich, and lazy. Israel began to oppress the weak.

[6:51] They began to pervert justice. They treat the poor horrendously. Sounds a bit recognizable for us today, but God's chosen people are not meant to be like this. This is as opposite for God's people as it could possibly get. When people looked at Israel, when the surrounding nations saw Israel, they were meant to see a reflection of the character of their gods. Israel were to care for the poor. They were to look after the needy and welcome the outsider. They were to provide for those who couldn't provide for themselves, and when they did that, the world got a glimpse of who God is. But in the time of Jeroboam II, if you looked at Israel to try and understand who their God was, well, you'd think that their God was not very nice. The world wouldn't see a God who is loving and kind and patient and gracious, but when people look at Israel, they'd see a God who is greedy, lazy, prideful, and complacent, because that is exactly what Israel were. They'd see a God who doesn't care about the weak, a God who doesn't care about justice. Last week, we looked at chapters 7 and 8, and I just want to direct us to chapter 8, verses 4 to 6. I think it summarizes the sin that Amos has been getting at through the whole book. So let me read verses 4 to 6 of chapter 8.

[8:09] Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, when will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat? Skimping on the measure, boosting the price, and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. Israel care more about money and profits than they care about God. And do you see the fake religiosity in those verses, the fake religion? They keep the festivals, you know, that's what the new moon is, it's what the Sabbath is, it's these things God told them to keep so they would remember him and rest, and they'd be able to live the good life. But instead of letting the Sabbath direct them to resting in the Lord's, they just find it as an annoyance when they could be selling. They find it as a hindrance when they could be making more money. They're still stopping, you know, it might look like they're doing the right thing, but it's not the right motives. God's people no longer reflect God's, and they've taken the love of God and monopolized it. They look to make money from religious ceremonies.

[9:20] They're focusing on their riches over the relationship and profit over the poor. And that is the reason why Amos was sent by the Lord to speak out. Amos is doing the hard graft of trying to tell Israel what they're doing is wrong. And he's trying to remind them of what God is really like, and he's warning them that after all the decades and generations of doing wrong against the Lord's, well, God is angry with Israel. And this is no impulsive anger. This isn't a petulant teenager slamming a door because they're annoyed. This is a God who is slow to anger. And yet finally, with all of the sins of Israel, it's built up. And so God sends Amos to say what he's doing next, that they will be punished. This is no tantrum. Israel are greedy, oppressive, uncaring, unloving, and merciless. They're selling people for a sandal. Can you imagine that? That's not just horrific slavery. It's horrific valuing of human life. What does that say about the God they're supposedly worshiping? It's important that we remember together just how bad Israel are here. It's important we understand the full extent of their sin, and not just for the reason that they're wronging their own brothers and sisters, but for what it paints God to be like. That is the truly awful thing that is happening in Israel. God's name is being misrepresented in the way that the poor are degraded and treated, and that the rich get fatter, lazier, and more complacent. When Israel stop living

[11:05] God's way, the nations no longer can see the Lord. Their sin is so vile and has lasted so long that God decides that it's now time to punish them. Amos has already told us early in the book that Israel will be sent into exile. They'll be taken away from the promised lands, the land that was dripping with milk and honey, the land that gave them their prosperity and wealth. Chapter 7 verse 9 says this, the high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined. With my sword, I will rise against the house of Jeroboam. The king won't last and the people won't last much longer.

[11:48] Their fake temples, their fake altars will be gone in the blink of an eye when the wrath of God comes upon these people for what they've done. The mercy that God showed Israel when he heard their cries has found its limits. They've pushed him too long and the Lord will spare Israel no longer.

[12:05] Which brings us to chapter 9. It's probably felt like a long bit of context and introduction, but I actually think all of that is key to understanding where chapter 9 comes into things.

[12:17] So it may be easier to think of it. I've not just given you context before my first point, but that is actually half of my first point. My first point is this, fear the righteous judgment of an angry God. I wonder how you felt as that passage was read out, as Joe so brilliantly read through it. It's absolutely terrifying and confusing. This isn't the God we know. This isn't the God we'd like to think of. This isn't the God that might be on our calendar verses. I spent all this time recapping Amos and highlighting the awful nature of Israel's sin to show that chapter 9 of Amos is not a temperamental God. This is not undeserved. This is a God working perfectly within his character to judge a nation who deserve it. This is not something that has got no warning. There has been generations of prophets. All the way from Moses, Israel knew what would happen when they rejected him, and this is finally happening. It has been a long time coming. So now the day of the Lord is on its way.

[13:19] The day of God's judgment is coming, and oh my, it's terrifying. This chapter opens with God standing beside the false altar of Israel, looking over the fat cats who are in the front rows of the temple.

[13:33] The corrupt judges and rich businessmen, who I imagine have paid top dollar to get there, to make sure they have the nice pew at the front row where they can see all the things that are going on. They can get first witness of the sacrifice to show that they are holy, but all they're doing is looking for their own reputation. So God looks out over all these false worshipers, and he declares, verse 1, strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring down the heads of all the people.

[14:00] God starts the great judgment by destroying the place of false worship, bringing it down on the heads of the false worshipers. This fake religion will not stand a minute before the anger of the Lord. He strikes the pillars so the roof falls in. It'd be the easiest thing to do here. Just, the roof comes down. The temple falls, and those within will not survive. But even if someone was lucky enough, maybe they slept in that morning, they missed the service and thought, it's not a big deal, it's all right. Well, they're not escaping. They're not getting away from God's judgment. Even if someone tried to run from the Lord, they will not get far.

[14:39] And going through chapter 9, we see that they can try digging to the depths. That's the depths of Sheol. That's the house of the dead, but God will get them there. They can try and hide in the house in the heavens, but God will find them. They can climb the highest mountain that they can find, but God will see them and they can swim to the deepest depths of the deepest ocean, and God still controls that area.

[15:01] He still has the serpent to get them for him. Even if the people are taken to exile, to the farthest region of the farthest land with a foreign ruler, God will still get them. God will see all wrongdoers punished for their rejection of him. It's one of the clearest cut descriptions of what happens when God judges people. When the judgment comes, it will be terrifying and it will be deadly. People who do not return to the Lord will be destroyed. Rejection of the Lord is no small matter. It is no simple matter.

[15:40] Everyone who rejects God forfeits their life because that is the just punishment for sin against the holy God. We can't read this chapter and pretend it's not here. We don't get to skip to verse 11.

[15:54] We have to see the judgment is coming and we have to act accordingly. In Amos's time, Israel were apostates, which is a word that basically means they weren't following God.

[16:07] God, they rejected him and weren't living the way he wanted them to. So God had given them this warning so they would return to him. He sent Amos so that they would return to him. Even this judgment is him saying he wants them to return if they see what he's going to do.

[16:24] Verse 4 is one of the scariest parts of this whole chapter. I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good. When God has been wronged, he will not relent. He will not go easy. He will punish fully and totally and justly.

[16:44] I think the whole book of Amos points towards verse 8. Throughout our series the past eight weeks or so, we've seen judgment pronounced. We've seen sins highlighted.

[16:56] Yet we've seen help be offered by the Lord and a way out given. Yet Israel did not return. Again, last week we saw that the king and the high priest rejected.

[17:07] They said, no, no, Amos, leave us alone. We don't need you here. Go back to Judah. Do what you want. We can't take what you're telling us. We don't want you here. The king and the priest have rejected the word of the Lord.

[17:19] So now there's nothing left but for the judgment to come. Beginning of verse 8. God will destroy the sinful kingdom. Verse 8 is the crux of the judgment against Israel.

[17:31] No longer will the political Israel exist. But behind that is a glimmer of hope. Verse 8 fully reads like this.

[17:42] Surely the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob.

[17:54] Seems contradictory. When I first read it, I thought it was. But it isn't. God will punish the nation. The nation will be wiped out forever because of their total and whole spread rejection of him and the sin of their false worship.

[18:07] The country of Israel will cease to exist after the exile. But God will not kill every descendant of Jacob. He promises that a remnant will survive.

[18:19] There will be a small portion of Israel who remain faithful, who stick true to God. And they will be rescued. They will find a better place. They will not be destroyed totally.

[18:32] How will that happen? How will they find safety? It's through the judgment of the sinful kingdom that the faithful remnant will be saved. So trust in the saving judgment of a merciful God, which is our second point.

[18:49] In the Bible, salvation, that is being saved, always comes through judgment. And it's true of the rest of the Bible, just as it is here in Amos 9.

[19:00] God promises a day where he will judge all of Israel. He will look at every person's actions and reward or punish them accordingly. Amos uses an analogy to describe this judgment.

[19:12] He uses a grain sieve. A grain sieve is a sieve used for grain. Basically what you do is they would scrape all the grain up on the floor and they'd put it through a grain sieve.

[19:25] And the good bits of grain would fall through. Yet the stones and rocks and pebbles that they didn't want would stay in the sieve. So the good things fall through and the bad things stay in the sieve. That's the important thing to get here.

[19:39] So they run it through the sieve and all the good stuff falls through and they take it off to the mill and they grind it. And it becomes flour and bread and it's great. And the waste is kept in the sieve and it's tossed away. And that's exactly what God is going to do to Israel.

[19:51] He'll put everyone through his sieve of judgments. The righteous will fall through. The remnant will fall through. And the rocks, the sinners will stay up here and they'll be discarded.

[20:03] Because they are not needed. So salvation comes through judgments. Because sin needs dealt with. If God didn't judge, there would continue to be evil in Israel.

[20:15] If we didn't sieve our grain before using it, there'd be rocks and dirt and things in it that mean it's not going to make good for eating. You're not going to be able to grind it. It would be useless. And salvation without getting rid of evil is also not salvation.

[20:31] If God doesn't remove evil from the world, it's just not going to be worth being saved in. It's just what it is now. For salvation to be salvation, evil needs dealt with.

[20:48] And this is hard. That is a hard truth for us to reckon with. It is personal and painful. When we think of the people we know who don't yet know Jesus, they are at risk of being judged and punished.

[21:03] This should bring fear to our hearts. This should worry us. And it should drive us towards telling our loved ones and the people in the world around us of this truth. But I think what Amos is showing us in chapter 9 is that judgment is good news.

[21:23] All evil will be punished as it deserves. And this punishment will be perfectly just because it comes from a perfect God. Evil will not stand against the Lord.

[21:34] The abuser, the despot, the liar, the rapist, the thief, the bully. Everyone will get what they deserve. No one will escape justice. No one will bribe the court.

[21:45] No one will sway the jury. There will be perfect justice for all evil. Everyone will be punished. If you're in the room and this is your first time at church and you've maybe never heard this before, this is heavy stuff.

[22:00] But it's good news that the Bible tells us. Because it is true. God is coming to judge the world. This isn't just a story of an ancient country thousands of years ago. When we think about judgment coming, it is still to come.

[22:13] That day of the Lord has not fully happened yet. And we know that each one of us will be put through the day of the sieve. Not one of us will fall through.

[22:23] As we were born, as we live, sin is present in all of our hearts and will always cause us to be thrown aside when put through that day of judgment. On our own, we can never fall through as the good grain.

[22:37] We will always be tossed away. But there is good news. There is great news. We are still saved through judgment. It doesn't look like how the remnant of Israel was saved, where the evil were judged and then the remnant survived.

[22:54] Instead, for us, we see that the judgment that is deserved, we are saved through that judgment because it has fallen on the one person in all of human history who did not deserve judgment.

[23:07] Each one of us are sinful and deserve it. But there is one man who did not, and he took that judgment for us. Two thousand years ago, God came down to earth. Jesus lived perfectly, a life free from sin.

[23:21] Yet he faced the most painful judgment imaginable. He was killed on a cross, crucifixion. It was reserved for the worst of the worst. And this perfect man died the most painful death.

[23:33] But it wasn't just the crucifixion that was painful. It wasn't just crucifixion that was the judgment we deserve. Instead, it wasn't just the wrath of man. It was the wrath of God.

[23:45] The Bible describes it as the whole cup of God's wrath was poured out on him. Jesus willingly went to the cross and bore the punishment, the judgment for sin of anyone who believed in him.

[23:59] So if we believe in the words of Jesus, if we believe in the promise of God, then we are saved through that judgment. The judgment that fell on Jesus, the Son of God, is the judgment we deserve to have faced.

[24:13] But he took it and we are saved. It's difficult to process, but the day of the sieve is good news. It is good news for the believer because we can be assured that we will fall through the sieve like the good grain.

[24:27] Because we trust in a God who sent his son that we might be with him on that day. Often for Christians, we can read these passages and be alarmed, be worried. Our doubt alarms start going off.

[24:40] How on earth do I know I'm safe from the sieve? Well, we know because Jesus told us. He says to us that if we follow him, we will be okay.

[24:52] John chapter 10 verse 28 says this, I give them eternal life, meaning the people that follow him, and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hands.

[25:04] We believe in him. He gives us that gift. We will not die and no one will take us away from him. No one can even get near. We believe in Jesus.

[25:16] We can't be snatched. If we are faithful to him, he will be faithful to us. Judgment still brings fear for the Christian, but that fear should drive us to Jesus for mercy rather than away from him.

[25:30] If you don't yet know Jesus, if you wouldn't call yourself a believer yet, well, this is a word of warning for you from Amos. The day of the sieve is coming and there are two places to be.

[25:43] The first place is to bear our own judgments, to see if we might, through our own actions, fall through as good grain. But in the Bible, we find out that's not true.

[25:54] No man can. We'll just be thrown out with the stones. The second option. The second option that everyone has access to is that we go to Jesus acknowledging our brokenness and sin.

[26:09] Let him take away that judgment you deserve. Let him take away the punishment that will come your way. Just by Amos telling us this warning, he wants you to hear it.

[26:23] He wants you to accept it. He wants you to turn away from the life you've lived against him. Trust in that word of warning today and you will be saved through judgment. We will be able to face the coming day with hopeful expectation.

[26:37] Amos goes on to talk about what life will look like in the day of the sieve. Those who fall through the sieve will have a great time.

[26:49] And that brings us to our third point. Rejoice in the prosperous promise of a good God. Amos is speaking into a nation where the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer.

[27:01] They're being oppressed and left to do what they want. Or they're being sold for the benefit of the rich. The rich take too much money from those who have none. For my money, if I think that a faithful remnant is going to come out of Israel, it's not going to be the rich ones.

[27:19] It's not going to be the people who can have a good time, who are worldly, wealthy. They're unlikely to be the people to hear about this. Because as we saw in chapter 7, they didn't believe it. They didn't need to hear it.

[27:31] Amos, leave us alone. We don't need this word. So I think that the faithful remnant are the ones who are being oppressed in Amos' time. The ones who stay faithful are the ones who don't get distracted by that wealth.

[27:44] Those Israelites who look for God instead of prophets. And so in that day, once the evil has been judged, those people are the ones that God will restore.

[27:58] And in that day, in the day of the save, God is going to restore the rightful king onto his throne. Jeroboam II will be nowhere near after his rejection of the word of the Lord. Instead, we see, look with me to verse 11.

[28:11] I will restore David's fallen shelter. Israel, as a kingdom, rejected David, King David and his family. They appointed their own king. And that king led them astray.

[28:23] And the next king led them astray. And it went very badly. But God is saying here that he will restore David's line. The line that was promised to last forever.

[28:34] The Lord will repair the walls of David's city. He will restore the ruins left behind after the exile. The nation that were rightfully taken away and destroyed will be remade by God's gracious hands.

[28:50] This word restore in verse 11, I don't normally like doing like the Hebrew stuff. But I think this is a really amazing point. So the word restore in verse 11, I will restore David's fallen shelter and restore its ruins.

[29:02] It also means return. And actually we've seen this quite a lot in Amos already. So turn with me to chapter 4 please. Because I think this is, it shows us who God is and what he wants in the most wonderful way.

[29:17] So a few pages back, we've basically seen the Lord telling Israel through Amos that the Lord has done a lot to try and get Israel to come back to him.

[29:28] So let me just read verse 6 for you. I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me. Down to verse 8.

[29:40] Yet you have not returned to me. Verse 9. Yet you have not returned to me. Verse 10. Yet you have not returned to me. Verse 11. Yet you have not returned to me.

[29:50] The Lord did so much getting these, trying to call these people to him, yet they did not return. Yet in the day of the sieve, it's no longer the people who are going to return to him.

[30:02] Instead, God is returning the people. God is doing every bit of this. He's rebuilding the nation that rejected him. They chose to not return to him, yet he still has grace and love and mercy and wants them again.

[30:19] Through the day of the sieve, he brings the faithful to his city. He fulfills all his promises. And this isn't just a promise that is true for Israel.

[30:30] This isn't just for that historical nation. James, in Acts 15, quotes this to point out that the promises that come are not just for Jews. They're for Gentiles.

[30:42] They're for every nation. That's what verse 12 is saying. So that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name. Any person in the world who is faithful to Jesus will be in this restoration.

[30:57] I imagine for the faithful remnant who were around in Amos' time, life was hard. Life was poor. Life was difficult. They'd be seeing wealth and rich people around them.

[31:10] Yet they'd be getting none of that and only ever having to give, give, give all that they have. Yet here is a great promise of what life will look like in the restored nation that God will bring in the day of the sieve.

[31:24] It is one of abundance. It is one of prosperity. It is one of just all the things that God has ever promised them will be there in more than they could ever imagine.

[31:37] These poor families who are scrimping and saving yet staying faithful will finally see that the mountains will drip with wine. That's verse 14 and 13.

[31:49] The reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. The farming and the prosperity will be so much that as the sower goes, the reaper is already getting the grapes in. There will be too much to continue planting.

[32:03] This abundance is huge, but it's not just a theoretical abundance. It is abundance that Israel will enjoy, that the remnant will enjoy. They'll rebuild the cities. They'll plant vineyards and drink wine. They'll make gardens and eat fruits.

[32:16] Life will be good when this happens. Even better is the final promise that God gives us in the book of Amos.

[32:30] Look with me to verse 15. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I've given them, says the Lord your God. Exile is promised, it's assured from a God who is going to punish those who deserve it.

[32:48] But to those who are faithful, they'll be brought back. All of God's promises will be filled and they never again will be taken out of that land. Never again will God have to punish or judge because all those who are left after the day of the sieve are righteous in his sight.

[33:06] So for us today, we do not want to be like the rich who Amos was speaking to. We can't assume that because our life is going well now, that it will when the day of the sieve comes.

[33:20] Our nice cars, our nice houses, our successful jobs will not get us through the sieve. It does not mean we are okay. We cannot let worldly prosperity blind us to the true reality of the coming day.

[33:38] What you have now is nothing compared to what it might be yours. Nothing is compared to the joy of the abundance that will come in the day of the sieve. On the other hand, if you're struggling now, if the cost of living crisis is getting to you, we are promised abundance when we stay with Jesus.

[33:55] What we get now is nothing compared to what we will get if we stay true. Amos is promising true abundance and a place and a time to enjoy it. Judgment is never an easy thing to talk about.

[34:09] It's never a fun thing to preach or to tell people. But Amos is clear and the Bible as a whole is very clear that it is coming. Israel rejected God, so he punished them.

[34:23] He sent them into exile and eventually they all died as their punishments. They reaped what they sowed. However, it is in that judgment that the faithful remnant were saved.

[34:35] And it's only through judgment that today we are saved. If Jesus did not live, die, and rise again, then no one could have paid for our sins and we will have to face that punishment.

[34:49] But the good news of the gospel, the good news of our Bibles, is that he did do those things. We can look to it in history and believe in those truths. He did come, he did live, he did die, and he did rise again so that our punishment would be paid for.

[35:05] We will fall through the sieve with the righteous because Jesus has paid for it. If we trust in his saving death and resurrection, then we can rejoice in the day of the sieve that we will reign with him forever as the true Davidic king.

[35:22] We can rejoice in the coming abundance and prosperity that he promises. Amos is a heavy book, but it comes with a great message behind that judgment.

[35:36] In that judgment, we have a great message. We have a God who loves the poor and needy. He's passionate about justice and truth, and God will punish those who deserve it. But he will offer a way back.

[35:50] He has offered a way back. Just in Amos speaking is the offer of mercy. For us, just in the hearing of the word of Jesus, we have that option to return to him despite what we've done wrong.

[36:05] The name of the Lord will be glorified in the day of the sieve because people will finally see who he really is, even though Israel didn't live like that, even though we don't always live like that.

[36:17] And we'll also see his great wrath and his great love, that though we don't always return to him immediately, he still returns for us. We're given the chance of salvation through the judgment that Jesus bore for us.

[36:35] So, brothers and sisters, hear the warning of Amos and return to God. He is waiting, but he will not wait forever. The day of the sieve is coming.

[36:48] Be on the right side and trust in Jesus so that we may be seen as the good grain and not the stones and rocks. Let me pray.

[37:03] Father God, this message is hard. This book is painful and it can bring us fear. But let that fear be the right kind of fear.

[37:14] Let it be a fear of you, a righteous fear of you in our hearts. Lord, let this warning change the way we act, the way we live. May it direct us to you and your mercy.

[37:28] May we see the great news that Jesus died for our sins, that we may be saved and not face that judgment. May we recognize that salvation comes only through judgments, yet we don't have to bear it.

[37:41] May we rejoice in the truth that you are a loving God who hates injustice, who loves the poor and needy, and you love us enough to send your son. May we live for you.

[37:53] May anyone here who does not yet know you, Lord, come closer to you because of tonight. May they see their needs and may they come to follow you and your son and be there to rejoice in the prosperity that you promise us.

[38:06] We pray these things, Lord, in your holy name. Amen.