The Justice of God’s Judgement Part 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Justice of God’s Judgement Part 2. He will be reading out of Amos 3:1-15.

We should say, Lord, I want to change. And that’s what repentance is. It is not only confessing my sin, but it is getting up and walking out of here a different person. It’s a change of the mind. It’s a change of the heart.

And it is a change of action. Hello, this is Pastor Mike Sanders from the Open Door Church, and we’re bringing you the radio broadcast of Hope Worth Having. Hope Worth Having is a ministry that is involved in radio, television, internet, and social media.

Our goal is to spread the gospel to every person on the planet. Now we have been studying the book of Amos, chapter 3, and we have been learning about the justice of God. And so today, we’re going to continue that study on the justice of God’s judgment.

So let’s grab our Bibles and our notes and begin our study. But as God is helping the people of Israel to understand all that He has done for them, and yet they have still been apathetic, and they have still not made Him number one in their life, He is helping them to grasp the fairness of His judgment that is to come upon them for not only did He bring them out of the land of Egypt, but would you note in verse 2, He says, you only have I know of all the families of the earth.

You only have I know. It means more than just a acknowledgement that He was aware of their existence, but it’s the idea of intimacy. It’s a word of relationship and covenant, and it’s a connection that’s deeper than just a surface understanding of each other.

And that’s why we’re going to continue to study the book of Amos. When God says to them, you only have I known, He is saying that I have made a covenant with you and I have intimately known you, that I have shown you my favor, I have shown you my loving kindness, I have shown you my grace.

And that’s why the next statement in verse two stands out to us, therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquity. Remember that when God brings judgment, it’s not that He is bringing it upon us in a fit of anger.

His judgment is always fair. It’s not like the justice of man or the anger of man. You and I are witnessing across our country that an incident might happen and there may be injustices within those incidents and all of a sudden people just react out of anger and they start looting and burning.

This is the anger and unrighteousness of man. But the judgment of God is in contrast to that. After hundreds of years of patience and love and grace and showing kindness to the people of God, He finally says to them and sends the message to them, I will punish you for your iniquities.

Now, God is going to reverse the Exodus. He called them out of slavery. He called them out of darkness. He called them out of exile. And now He is sending them back. He is bringing judgment upon them.

Now, when we see the judgment of God, do not think that somehow He is reversing His covenant. No, He is not reversing His covenant. I want you to take your Bible and go to Psalm 89, if you will, this morning.

Just go there with me, because this is an important passage that you should highlight in your life, because there are times that the judgment of God will come upon a nation or a people or even a person.

And what hope is there in the midst of this judgment that is upon us? Psalm 89, verse 32, helps us to understand the context of God’s judgment upon His people. So that we can continue to be comforted.

Verse 32 of chapter 89, then I will punish their transgressions with the rod. And their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving kindness, I will not utterly take from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.

My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips. You may be under the judgment of God, and a nation may be under a judgment of God, and a people may be under the judgment of God, but God has not forsaken us in the midst of that judgment, but just the opposite.

His judgment is showing his love and his grace and his kindness to us. When we see the judgment of God, it is no difference than when a parent disciplines their child. The Bible says if you love your children, that you will discipline your children.

There are many times that our children get off track, or sometimes they go in a direction or they behave in a way or their attitude is in a way that is not honoring and respectful to the family. Every morning when I used to drop my children off, I would say to them, don’t shame the name of Jesus and don’t shame the name of the Sanders family.

Right? And that’s important that that being instilled in the heart of children, that they understand that they must live up to the name of God and they must live up to the family name that their grandparents have built and their great grandparents have built and on down the line that there is a heritage that they must live up to.

But when that is dishonored, whether it’s the name of God or the name of the family, there must be discipline, right? There must be correction. But in the midst of that correction, there’s never the denial of the parent to the child of their love, but just the opposite.

That when the parent disciplines the child, it is out of a heart of love and grace that they are desiring that the child would come back in full commitment to their values, to their love for God, to their commitment, to their heritage.

God is not reversing his covenant when he judges a nation or he judges a people or he judges a person. It is within the judgment that he is revealing the covenant and he is reminding them that they will emerge from this as a purged people, as a refined as a people who are fully devoted followers of Christ.

Hebrews 12, 11 says, now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. You remember what it was like when your parents disciplined you and how many times did they say, oh, this hurts me more than it hurts you.

And if you were like me, I was like, I don’t think I believe that, mom. But he says here, nevertheless, afterward it yields peaceable fruit of righteousness. To those who have been trained by it, when you are trained by chastening and you are trained by discipline and you are trained by understanding that there are consequences for your actions.

Oh, Pastor Mike, we don’t wanna hurt the child. That’s why God gave extra muscles, gluteus maximus muscles. Thank you. Don’t worry about it. All we hate to take away their devices. All my friends, buy them every device so that you have leverage on your child forever, amen.

God disciplines us not because he doesn’t care about you. His judgment is always fair. But he desires peaceable fruit of righteousness in your heart. And he is training you out of his kindness and grace.

Amos reminds God’s people that the Exodus that they experienced is part of God reminding them how far they’ve gone off track. This Exodus lies at the heart of the Old Testament history. We look into the Bible and we remember that Adam and Eve were disciplined because they disobeyed God and they were, if you will, kicked out of paradise.

You remember that Cain wandered in the land of Nod. You remember that Jacob and his sons ended up in Egypt. You remember when we come to the book of Daniel that a nation had so rejected God and that Daniel was a righteous young man who was trying to live for God, but God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take over in Daniel chapter one and verse one and two.

Over and over again, God uses the Exodus as a center point. To remind the people that he is showing to them a kindness and grace. and a grace, and thus his judgment upon them is very fair. The second thing that I want you to learn this morning is that God’s judgment is inevitable.

In verse 3 through 8, we are going through a series of questions, rhetorical questions, forcing each and every one of us to answer them to understand what God is saying. Look at verse 3, can two walk together unless they are agree?

No. No. When Amos uses this, can two walk together, it’s the idea in the Hebrew, can they continue to walk? Can they continue to be in a relationship unless they agree? That’s what we’re experiencing in our nation.

We’re experiencing division because all of a sudden what used to unite us as a nation relating to our commitment to the Constitution, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and on down all the wonderful things about the Constitution that mean so much to us.

Now all that’s been turned on its head. And there’s a group that doesn’t believe in the Constitution, and there’s a group that does believe in the Constitution. Can two walk together unless they agree?

If you’re in partnership with a business with someone, how can you be in partnership with them if you don’t have the same values? If you don’t have the same vision and the same ideals? How can a husband and wife walk together in a relationship if they don’t have the same principles that they embrace?

They may be different in personalities, they may be different in preferences, but they’ve got to have that rock solid foundation of faith to walk together. I remember a young lady came to me one time, and she wanted me to officiate her wedding, and she wasn’t a Christian, and she wanted to marry a Christian, and she was very upset with me when I said, that’s not going to work, and I shall be responsible.

And I won’t officiate because the Bible says and teaches us that we’re not to be unequally yoke. And that is not only true spiritually, but that’s true in every aspect of our life. And here’s the point.

How can a people claiming that they love God, but yet they live their lives opposite of what God expects, and how can they walk with God, and how can they live for God, and yet their heart is far from God?

That is only going to lead to the inevitable judgment of God. God. Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into the snare of the earth where there is no trap for it?

Again, over and over these questions are causing us to thank and reminding us that as believers, if we choose to go opposite of what God has for us, it’s going to inevitably lead to His judgment upon us.

The most miserable people in this world are not those who do not know Christ, but they are those who know Christ and are living out of alignment with Christ, who are refusing to follow Jesus Christ. These are the most miserable people.

the the protocols of this world who have constantly knowing that they are supposed to give their lives fully to God and there to be honoring and glorifying to God, but yet they are living in defiance to God.

How can two walk together unless they are in agreement? The Bible teaches us that there is inevitable judgment upon their life. Now, I’m going to get a little heavy here for you, but I believe that if you’re a true believer and you are backslidden and you are living in defiance to God, that the Bible teaches us that there is a sin unto death and that if you become no earthly good in this world, God can snatch you at any moment at any time out of this world.

And finish the sanctification of your life through his great grace. Yes, many a prodigal has left this world too early because they have not followed Jesus Christ. The third thing that I want you to learn this morning is God’s judgment is comprehensive.

It is comprehensive. Amos now begins to expand on the nature of the judgment. With irony, he begins to summon the old enemies of Israel. And he is calling on in verse 9 through 15, the Philistines, the Egyptians, the Samaritans.

And he’s saying, look at God’s people, look at them. They’re not even living for God. Look at verse 9, proclaim the palaces at Ashtad and in the palaces in the land of Egypt. and say, Assemble on the mountains of Samaria, See great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her, For they do not know to do right, Says the Lord, Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

Therefore thus says the Lord God, An adversary shall be all around the land. He shall sap your strength from you, And your palaces shall be plunder.” God is going to judge us if we choose to not live for Him.

He is going to deal with us swiftly. He is going to deal with us rightly. He is going to deal with us deeply in our hearts until our hearts are fully surrendered to Him. And here’s what I want you to know.

He will use the circumstances of life. He will use all the things that are happening in this world to get our attention. So how do we respond to this judgment? Let me give you three things real quickly.

First, for the believer is confession. It is confession. I want you to take your Bible and go back to 1 Corinthians, chapter 11. This is a passage that you and I often reference as we are partaking of the Lord’s Supper, but there is a principle in here that cannot be forgotten in our life.

And that is verse 32 of 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, or verse 31, excuse me. Now Paul is warning the believers, don’t come to the Lord’s table with a heart that is not right with God. Don’t come to the Lord’s table with grudges.

Don’t come to the Lord’s table a pretender. Don’t come to the Lord’s table, not fully committed to God. And he then explains to them in verse 30, that’s why some of you are weak and that’s why some of you are sick and that’s why some of you have died or they sleep.

God doesn’t play games. And he takes the Lord’s table very serious. It is a holy moment. That’s why I tell parents, you must train your children about the Lord’s table. We will do our part, but we should only be complimenting what is happening in the home.

And the home is a place where you learn what is important to God. But he says to you, Here in verse 31, an important principle, if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world.

What is that teaching us? If we would judge ourselves, then God would not have to judge us. If we would be real with God every day of our life, if you and I would just take care of those little sins, if we would address those little things in our life and in our hearts as we come to the Bible every morning, as we come to the word of God, as we come and assemble together as God’s people, that we would not be prideful, we would not be arrogant, we would not be complacent, we would not be apathetic, but we would say, God, what do you have to say to me?

And what sin is there for me to confess? Your daily devotion is more than a coffee pickup. It is making sure your heart is in tune with Jesus. It is recognizing that if you will judge your sin, if you will acknowledge it and confess it to God, in this private moment, God would never have to do it publicly and God would never have to judge you because you will have already addressed it in your heart and when he gave you that warning through his word that you were honest enough and humble enough to say, God, yep, that’s me.

I got a bad attitude and I need you. I’m calling on you to forgive me about my attitudes. Now it’s easy for us to become so prideful that we follow all the rituals, we do all the right things and we seem to be doing good spiritually, but the truth is that there are little things in our life that are chipping away at the integrity of our faith towards God and we overlook them.

Why? Because we measure everything that’s in our mind. If our mind says we’re okay, then we say we’re okay. When really what we need to do is to have a confrontation by God’s word into our heart. And God says, Mike, here’s something that you forgot about.

And if it’s not your attitude, maybe it’s your motives. And if it’s not your motives, maybe it is your actions. And maybe it’s not so much what you did, but what you didn’t do that God wants to address in your life, that you’ve chosen to just kind of be on the sidelines disengaged, not really active for the Lord.

Whatever it is, it might be. What is our responsibility? It is to confess it to God. It is to confess it. The second thing, how do I respond to the judgment of God is repentance. We don’t hear that word much, but when Jesus came preaching, He preached, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

It is at hand. It is near. This is your time and this is your moment when we hear a message from Amos like this that is so striking and it is so in your face. Our response should not be, don’t talk to me like that.

But if it’s from God, which the book of Amos is, we should say, Lord, I want to change and that’s what repentance is. It is not only confessing my sin, but it is getting up and walking out of here a different person.

A person who’s going to make some serious changes in their life. The idea of repentance is to turn around. It’s a change of the mind. It’s a change of the heart. And it is a change of action. Now, sometimes people want to dissect it and say it’s only one of those three, but I believe the scripture teaches us that it’s all those three.

That’s what God wants. He wants me to repent. So our heart is always this, Lord. What do you want me to change? And Lord, help me change. Because in and of myself, in my flesh, I can’t do it. But through the grace of God, the spirit of God, the word of God, the people of God encouraging me, I can be what God has called me to be.

I said there were three things. Confession, repentance and surrender. It’s surrender. All three of these require that I daily practice these in my life. Confessing, repenting and surrendering. The Bible teaches us in Romans chapter 12 that we are to yield our lives.

And the basis of our surrender and the basis of relinquishing our life and yielding our life is the mercy of God. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present yourselves.

Again, the word present meaning yield or relinquish, let go. And he is in essence saying get back on that altar and. and be a living sacrifice for God every day. Now this cannot just be a one -time decision in your life, never to be brought up again.

But it must be a daily habit of your life, that I am daily saying, Lord, here is my life. Send me. Who’s gonna reach out to that neighbor? Send me. I’m your servant, God. I am here. Who is going to minister to others?

Here am I, Lord, send me. Who is gonna step up and take that position in the church? Here am I, Lord, send me. Who is gonna be that person God is calling you to be each day? Here am I, Lord, send me.

I’m ready to step up for you. And I am fully surrendered to whatever your purpose. And your cause is in my life. This is how we respond. And we are given a promise. And I wanna encourage you today as we leave.

In Romans 8, one, that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The key to shielding yourself from the judgment of God is to be in Christ. And not only to be in Christ, but not to walk according to the flesh, but walk according to the Spirit of God.

And that as you are living in step with the Spirit and you are living in a true authentic relationship with God Almighty, you are sheltered and protected by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But know that if you get out of step with God and if he figuratively spanks you, do not be traumatized by it. But know it is an affirmation of God saying, I love you, you’re mine, and you got a heritage to live up to.

And I am helping you yield the fruit of righteousness in your life. It’s a lot to digest when you think about the justice of God. It’s a lot for us to really wrap our brains around it. But I pray that the justice of God’s judgment would call us into obedience and motivate us to serve faithfully for the Lord.

We see that God does deal with sin. sin, he does not overlook it, he does not shrink from it. And so it is in our own life, we have the promise if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness.

May that be true in your life today, that you would confess your sin to God and he would wash away your sin and that you would experience his grace and mercy even in these times of his judgment upon this earth.

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This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope. worth having.