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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church Can I please have everyone find their seats and grab their song books and we're going to turn to page number two hundred and eighty-eight Please find your seats and grab your song books Turn to page number two eight eight, we're gonna start the service off singing. I am resolved That's page two eight eight I Am resolved and let's go ahead and sing that out on the first I am resolved no longer to linger charmed by the world's delight Delight things that are higher things that are nobler these have alert my side I Will a sin to him a sin so glad and free Jesus greatest highest I will come to thee Days 288 let's sing it out on the second. I Am resolved to go to the Savior leaving my sin and strive He is the true one. He is the just one. He had the words of life I will hasten to him a sin so glad and free Jesus greatest highest I will come to thee I Am resolved to follow the Savior faithful and true each day What he say Is the living way I will hasten to him a sin so glad and free Jesus Great is highest I will come to thee Great singing let's open up in a word of prayer Father God, thank you so much for this church Lord Thank you for these people coming out here and now on a Wednesday evening to serve and praise you I pray that our singing would glorify you Lord and I pray that you'd bless the service and the preaching come in Jesus name I pray amen Please turn your songbooks page number 180 Page number 180 we're gonna be singing isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful Page number 180 isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful and let's sing it out on the first There will never be a sweeter story Story of the Savior's love divine Love that brought him from the realms of glory Just to save a sinful soul like mine Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful Wonderful, oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful wonderful it is Boundless as the universe around me reaching the farthest all the way Saving keeping love it was that found me. That is why my heart can truly say Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful wonderful Wonderful Wonderful wonderful it is Page 180, let's sing it out on the last Beyond our human comprehending Love of God and Christ, how can it be? This will be my theme and ever-ending Great redeeming love of Calvary Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful wonderful wonderful Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful wonderful it is Great singing Amen we want to welcome you to the midweek service here ready Baptist Church. We're glad you're with us Let's go ahead and take our bulletins We'll look at some announcements this evening if you do not have a bulletin just raise your hand and one of our ushers or I Guess we don't know either we don't have bulletins or the ushers are threatening my life, but they're going like this So, I don't know they're the Mafia back there But if you have a if you need a bulletin, maybe you can share with somebody so Galatians 2 20 I'm crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and that's a good verse there when they're Going like this to me during the announcements. It means no bulletins when they're going like this to me while I'm preaching It means it's a good sermon. So that's good there. You open up your bulletins You'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m And we do invite you to be with us on the Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church Sunday evening service 6 p.m And of course, we're glad you're with us for the midweek service If you look at our sowing times our main sowing times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m And then we have additional sowing times on Thursdays Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m So we'd love for you to join us for any of those times. We of course are a family integrated church What that means is that 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. So you have a child that's been distracting during the service so if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use those rooms as Needed and of course all the rooms have comfortable seating they've got monitor set up so you can watch the service and listen to it to make sure that you use those if you look at the Announcements and upcoming events, of course We had the next generation youth rally last week and it was a huge success And again, we just want to say thank you to everybody who helped with that vision offering. It's coming up on Sunday, March 26 You should have one of these cards In your bulletin and if you've not taken a chance to look at it We want you to take a look at it and we're gonna be talking about this on Sunday morning But not this Sunday, but next Sunday is our vision offering and this is a special offering We take every spring here at Verity Baptist Church and it allows us to do Several things, like I said, we'll go into detail on this on Sunday morning But I do want you to just be aware of this. Of course we have a goal to raise money for a down payment for a future building and That's probably the main thing we're raising money for right now. So we are wanting to continue to Head in that direction and then of course want to continue to support our missions work in the Philippines We have our evangelist Matthew Stuckey who we support Full-time in the Philippines and then we have another missionary Dave kablintala that we support For a pretty good amount every month and we want to continue to do that We've got church plants in the Philippines Manila Pampanga be cold want to continue to support those and then of course the eighth annual Red-hot preaching conference if you look at the back of the bulletin You'll see there the giving opportunities to bring a one-time offering on the day of the vision offering or you can make a commitment to give towards the vision offering over the next three months April May June or you can do both and if you remember last year I challenged our church family to raise a hundred thousand dollars in one special offering we Blew that goal out of the water But I do not want you to think that just because we easily hit that goal last year that we will Easily hit that goal this year. I don't want you to have that false confidence First of all because pride goes before destruction So it's not good to just have this confidence in ourselves God blessed us last year But that doesn't mean you'll bless us this year and just a couple of things to consider Things have changed from last year to this year last year We had a YouTube channel with 20,000 subscribers that we were able to Send information to and got a lot of donations through that of course YouTube has since then kicked us off of YouTube So we don't have that anymore Also the economy obviously has changed and you know the recession or whatever inflation all those things I'm not saying any of that to to make you feel bad or guilty or or or to To have you lose your confidence. I'm saying that to say this we need you to engage all right We need you to take the vision offering seriously And if you would please pray about what the Lord would have you to do And how you can participate and how you can help we would really appreciate your help with that if you look at the announcements there Of course we've got a baby shower this Saturday for Miss Skylar Thompson on Saturday March 18th at 3 p.m.. In the fellowship hall Miss Skylar is having a girl She's registered on Amazon It is a potluck so if you can please bring a dish to share if you'd like to attend you can sign up on your Communication card usher dinner and training is on Friday March 24th So make sure that all the ushers are there for that we would appreciate that and of course we have Easter coming up On Sunday April 9th. You should have one of these cards in your bulletin as well And we want you to be thinking about who you can invite to church for Easter and this is the easiest time of the year to invite someone and bring a guest to church and We just be thinking about that all right so make plans of course to be here for Easter And then we're gonna have a soul winning push the weekend before Easter Thursday April 6 at 6 p.m. Friday April 7th at 6 p.m.. And Saturday April 8th at 10 a.m. So if you could come to one of those two of those all of those we would appreciate that We want to have a nice a soul winning push before Easter And we encourage you to just make plans to be at those soul winning times and invite someone to church and of course you yourself Be at church on Easter choir practice is on Sundays at 5 p.m.. They're practicing for Easter homeschool group They've got PE class tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.. So please don't forget about that 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 that they're not a distraction to anybody If you look at the back of the bulletins birthdays and anniversaries for the month of March and Of course on Sunday was my mother's birthday get any c-menis on March 12 and today is Montel Johnson juniors birthday March 15th and Tomorrow is miss a jana gansharov's birthday on March 16th praise report money matters all those things are there for you to look at And I think that's it for all of the announcements, so let's go ahead and take our song books and let's go to page number 174 page number 174 and we'll sing my Jesus. I love thee as we prepare to receive the offering this Evening 174 my Jesus. I love thee. I know thou art mine sing it out on the first my Jesus I love Me I know Mine for the Of sin I resign my gracious Redeemer My Jesus Is now 174 sing it out on the second. I love the because Just my pardon on Calvary I love before wearing Thorns on my brow My Jesus All of the Crazy And Good 174 sing it out on the last Ever On my Oh 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 Heavenly Father Lord, we do. Thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight Lord We pray that you'd bless the offering the gift and the giver We ask that you'd meet with us as we take time To pray for our church family and of course for the preaching of your word in Jesus name we pray. Amen You You You You You You Amen all right well let's go ahead and take our prayer sheets tonight We'll go through our prayer list if you Did not get a prayer sheet on your way in just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you You need a prayer list just put your hand up and we'll get one for you And of course we want to remind that the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your Communication card on the back of the card. There's a place for you to write down a request and You can mark please mark whether it's private or public if it's private only I will see it if it's public We'll put it on the prayer sheet. You don't mark it. We'll do our best to figure it out But we usually don't put those on there They are added in the order that they are received and they are removed after a couple of weeks And then I just want you to notice there on the back of the prayer sheet that of course We were praying for missionary Dave kabuntala We've been supporting missionary kabuntala in Cebu in the Philippines since he got there. I don't know maybe it's been like seven years or something and of course his wife angel was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and I just want you to notice that the praise report the cancer is localized which is what we were praying for It's not spread and but she does have a surgery That she the surgery is scheduled for Thursday the 16th, which is tomorrow But in the Philippines, they're actually 15 hours ahead. So it's it's 10 18 a.m. There right now So she's probably already at the hospital if not in surgery, so we'll hold her up in prayer Tonight and of course praying that everything goes well with that surgery, but let's take these Requests to the Lord. I'll pray out loud and I ask that you would follow along in your mind in your heart We can pray together Heavenly Father Lord, we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family Lord We thank you for our church family and we pray For these requests beginning with of course the request dealing with health. We pray for miss Midori praying for pain and recovery With her leg Lord asking that you would heal her and relieve the pain help her to get better We also pray for miss Laura Beth for healing for her back and that you would help her to Be able to not struggle with that and to not have the pain that she's been having and the issues She's been having there. We pray for the rolled in family praying for Alina's skin and healing and Lord we ask that you would please Be with the rolled in family and help the rolled in family Lord. We asked for a little urezi She's making requests here that she would feel better soon and of course brother Edgar miss Alina have a request that your Etsy continues to be healthy and We know that she's dealing with cystic fibrosis and she can't get sick. It's very Difficult for her when she gets sick and Lord we just pray for this Young lady Lord this girl that you would put your healing hand over her help her to be healthy and strong and keep her safe But we also pray for miss Trish Thompson who's praying for her mother who was recently diagnosed with cancer and asking that you would help her mother and heal her and help her to get the Help that she needs we asked for miss Christine Ortiz Praying for her health and also the hand that the health of her grandson Azariah Brother Salvador were praying for his health as well and miss dogma praying for her pain Asking that you would believe the pain Lord and help her what we ask that you would be with all of these Individuals that you would help them to recover that you'd give wisdom to the doctors the nurses dealing with them And then we pray for miss angel kabuntala She's the wife of a missionary in the Philippines and they've given their lives to serve you and now she's dealing with this cancer and Lord we're Want to hold her up in prayer right now and realizing that She will be going through if not, she's not already in surgery She'll be in surgery in the next several hours and Lord. We just pray that you would Calm her heart and we ask that you would help her husband help her children Lord We pray that you'd give wisdom to the doctors the nurses dealing With with her Lord, we pray that the surgery would be successful Pray that they would be able to do what they're setting out to do that They would not find any more cancer and Lord We just pray that you would please be with that whole situation help that situation and bless them and bless their family Well, we also pray for these ladies in our church that are expecting we asked for Miss May and Miss a Jana Miss Schuyler Miss Karen Miss Ava Miss Rebecca and Miss Kiki asking that you give them all healthy pregnancies with no issues no complications, but we also pray for the Requests regarding friends and family miss Brandy Barrett praying for her sister Brittany and for her dad also brother Matt Borello praying for George Boken and who is grieving the loss of his wife and Brother Alan praying for Nathaniel's recovery Lord. We thank you for Nathaniel We pray pray that you'd help him and bless him Lord up brother Sabra praying for his family as well And we ask that you'd help all these individuals be with them. Give them healing and strength Lord where they needed We also pray for these that have financial requests physical requests miss Brandy praying for Kayla's living situation and Miss Christine Ortiz praying for her finances and also for a new job for her daughter Victoria brother Sabra praying for his finances and his work Lord We ask that you'd help these individuals open doors and guide them and be with them. We also pray for these that have Salvation requests miss Natalie praying for the salvation of her husband family brother Ron praying for the salvation of his mother and his family Miss Christine Ortiz praying for the salvation for her children and her grandchildren's salvation Miss dogma praying for her daughter and her family's salvation Lord. We ask for all these individuals We pray that you would help them more to Come to the place where they'd be willing to hear the gospel and that a soul winner would communicate the gospel Clearly to them and help them what we pray for the these that also have Requests for their spiritualized miss Christine brother Sabra praying for their faith and their walk with you We pray for these that have unspoken requests miss Natalie miss Michelle Scott miss Emily Gessler the rolled in family For the Salvador miss dogma all of these having unspoken requests You know what their petitions are and you know what their prayers are Lord. We pray that you would please answer according to your will Well, and then we pray for our ministry here. I pray for the prison ministry Lord and the hundreds of inmates that get Letters from us every Every month and sermons that are transcribed and I know that it's being a blessing to them every week we get letters from inmates all over the country thanking us and Signing up other inmates and their friends and Lord We just pray that you'd continue to bless this ministry and help it to go forward We pray for the upcoming trip to the preaching trip to the prison Here in a few weeks and Lord we ask that you would please Give all the men that are going up their safety and then give them The help that they need and help them to be able to preach and to see many souls saved up there Lord we ask for the upcoming events here at our church. We pray for the vision offering which is just a couple of Sundays away and Things have changed for us Lord, but we are thankful that you've not changed and Lord we ask that you would please Help us Lord. I pray that every single Person in our church would take this vision offering seriously that they would think about it Pray about it and consider what they could do to help to be a part of it Lord We ask if it would be your will that you would Allow people the online givers who are not part of our church here But support us financially that you would work in their hearts that they would be willing to sacrifice and give and Lord We just pray that you would give us a great vision offering this year like you've done in the past What we ask for the Easter service coming up a lot of work goes into Easter and flyers and soul winning I pray Lord you to give us a Good group of soul winners that would go out an army of soul winners that would go out The weekend before Easter and see many people saved and invited to church Give us a good service on Easter the choir the orchestra all the things going on Lord We pray you'd bless it We ask that you'd continue to bless our church plants in the Philippines Manila from Pong and be cool that you continue to bless these locations help for the sticky and It's tan give them the strength they need the wisdom they need and we pray of course for our church here in Sacramento that you Would continue to bless and help our church, but we ask that you'd meet with us tonight I pray you'd help me to preach with your power I'm gonna say the things that you'd have me to say Lord I pray that we would hear from your word and that we might draw closer to you as a result of what we hear in The matchless name of Christ we pray amen Amen Please open up us to aim is chapter 8 Aim is chapter 8 if you need a bike you put your hand up in unless you can combine me your Bible Aim is chapter 8 if you need a bra keep your head up on us. You will come by Aim is chapter 8 we read the entire chapter as our custom Aim is chapter number 8 being in verse 1 thus hath the Lord God showed unto me And behold a basket of summer fruit, and he said Amos What seest thou and I said a basket of summer fruit Then said the Lord unto me the end has come upon my people of Israel I will not again pass by them anymore and the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day say the Lord God There shall be many dead bodies in every place. They shall cast them forth with silence Hear this OE that swallow up the needy even to make the poor of the land to fail Saying when will the new moon be gone that we may sell corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat Making the ephah small and the shekel great and falsifying the balances by deceit That we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes Yea and sell the refuse of the wheat the Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob surely I will never forget any of their works Shall not the land tremble for this and everyone mourn that dwelleth therein And it shall rise up holy as a flood and it shall be cast out and drowned as by the flood of Egypt And it shall come to pass in that day say it the Lord God That I'll cause the Sun to go down at noon and I'll darken the earth in the clear day And I'll turn your feast into morning and all your songs into lamentation And I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins and baldness upon every head And I'll make it as a morning of an only Sun and the end thereof as a bitter day Behold the days come say it the Lord God But I'll send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor thirst for water But of hearing the words of the Lord And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst They that swear by the sin of Saint Mary and say thy God Oh Dan liveth and the manner of Beersheba liveth Even they shall fall and never rise up again. Let's pray Heavenly Father. Thank you for this evening God, I thank you for your word for our church or for everyone that's here as he please meet with us tonight God as he please be the pastor just strengthen him and fill in her spirit. We love you and in Jesus name pray. Amen Amen All right, we're there in Amos chapter number eight and of course on Wednesday nights We've been going through a chapter by chapter Study in the book of Amos and we are almost done with the book of Amos. We're in Amos chapter 8, of course there's nine chapters in the book of Amos and it seems like every week as I've Been studying the book of Amos and it's like this not just for Amos is for many books of the Bible It seems like at the beginning of the week when I start studying the chapter For our Wednesday night Bible study I always have this thought and I think to myself what in the world am I gonna say about this chapter? And then by the time Wednesday rolls around and I've spent a couple of days studying it I end up having more material than I can cover in one sermon And that's just how the Word of God is you start digging into it and you find that it's a lie so we've got a lot a lot to go over tonight and I hope you're just be ready to just Go through the Bible and study the Bible together But tonight we are in Amos chapter number eight And of course if you remember last week we began a section in this book the ending sections chapter 7 8 & 9 Where we see five visions that God gives to the prophet Amos We saw three of them three of the five visions last week in in chapter number 7 and of course We saw the grasshoppers and the fire and the plumb line and then tonight We're going to see one vision in chapter 8 and it is the vision of the basket of the summer fruit You're there in Amos chapter 8 look down at verse number one The Bible says thus hath the Lord God showed unto me the word showed there again is the reference to the fact that there's a vision That Amos is having so we've seen his preaching but now we're seeing the visions that God gave him and I said and Notice, excuse me Verse 1 and behold a basket of summer fruits verse 2 and he said Amos what see is thou So we have of course the Lord speaking to the prophet Amos and he asked him What is it that you're seeing what see is thou I like the straight forwardness of Amos. There's no messing around with him He's just a clear Straightforward communicator and he said Amos what see is thou and I said a basket of summer fruit All right, so that's pretty straightforward there. He saw a basket of summer fruit He said I see a basket summer fruit and then notice there in verse 2 then said the Lord unto me The end has come upon my people of Israel and I will not again pass by them anymore now Keep your place there in Amos chapter 8 obviously after text for tonight But go with me just real quickly to the book of Leviticus Leviticus chapter 23, and let me just kind of explain a little bit about this Basket of summer fruit Leviticus 23 if you start at the beginning of the Bible You've got of course Genesis Exodus Leviticus Leviticus 23 Leviticus chapter 23 in verse 10 Leviticus 23 10 10 the Bible says speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them when he come into the land, which I give unto you and Shall reap the harvest thereof then ye shall bring a sheep of the first fruits of your harvest Unto the priests. I want you to notice Because we saw in Amos chapter 8 that The vision that we see in chapter 8 the fourth of the five visions is a vision of a basket of summer fruits The Lord showed unto me the Bible says Amos a basket of summer fruit And he said Amos what seeest thou and he said a basket of summer fruits now the nation of Israel in the Old Testament had several different Harvests throughout the years they harvested different things at different times and here in Leviticus 23 We're actually given a list of several of the harvests because the harvests are connected to the feast That they would have and here we see in verse 10 the first fruit of your harvest And this was the first harvest of the year of course it represents the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ And I don't have time to go into that I preached about that when we were studying the book of Leviticus together But we have the spring harvest that is the first fruits of The year then skip down to verse 15 notice what the Bible says and you shall count unto you This is from the spring harvest. This is of course the Representing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Which is what we celebrate during Easter time verse 15 and he shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath From the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering notice what he says seven Sabbaths shall be complete So you have the first spring harvest of the first fruits, and then he says I want you to count seven Sabbaths shall ye complete knows verse 16 even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath Show you number 50 days, so he says after that first harvest. I want you to number seven Sabbaths of course We know that the Sabbath was Completing a one a one-week a seven-day week so when you have seven Sabbaths It's gonna be 49 days He says once you get there I want you to number 50 days And you shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord look down at verse 22 Just the first part of verse 22 and when you reap the harvest of your land And we're gonna come back and look at the rest of that But I just want you to notice that the context is about reaping the harvest and here's what I want you to understand They had a spring harvest which was the first fruits of course that was a picture of the resurrection Easter and then they were to number seven Sabbaths and Once they got past the 50-day mark then they had another harvest This would be the summer harvest and of course this is Aligned itself with the day of Pentecost in the New Testament the reason that the day of Pentecost or the celebration of Pentecost is called Pentecost is because it was 50 days after this harvest of the first fruits and I'm just showing this to show you that they had a spring harvest that a summer harvest and When here when we see go back to Amos chapter 8 that the Lord is showing Unto Amos a basket of summer fruits The idea is that the summer harvest has already ended and they've got this fruit from that harvest They've already gone through the spring harvest. They've harvested that they've ate off that they've celebrated off that then They've had the summer harvest and now they have this basket of summer fruit The idea is that the fruit is ripening and it's going to run out of time You can't just have fruit sitting there forever You've got to use it or you will lose it and that's the idea that is being brought here in Amos chapter 8 verse 1 Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me and behold a basket of summer fruit and he said Amos what seest thou? And I said a basket of summer fruit then said the Lord unto me the end is come He said in the same way that this fruit is going to ripen and eventually rot He says the end has come upon my people of Israel and I will not again pass by them any more Go to Jeremiah chapter 8 if you would Jeremiah chapter 8 And do me a favor when you get to Jeremiah put a ribbon or a bookmark or something because we're gonna leave it and we're gonna Come back to it Jeremiah chapter 8. I meant to tell you to keep your place in Leviticus 23 as well But we're gonna go back to Leviticus 2 if you want to find that as well Jeremiah chapter 8 verse 20 notice here How this is highlighted this idea of the summer The basket of the summers fruit because this idea of the summer fruit comes up in other places in the Old Testament So I want you to understand it pictures the fact that the harvest is over the end has come time is running out Leviticus Excuse me, Jeremiah 8 verse 20 notice what the Bible says the harvest is past The summer is ended and we are not saved I want you to notice the idea is that when the summer ends and the harvest is over if you're not saved and of course This is prophetically speaking of the great harvest of the rapture That if we're not saved the harvest over and the summer is ended we're not saved then that's going to be a problem Of course you want to make sure you're in that harvest But the idea when you see the summer is that time is running out Remember Jesus in the New Testament talked about the fact that we must work While there is day because the night cometh the summer is ending It's going to grow dark. The summer is going to end and you will run out of time. So that's the Context in which we start Amos chapter 8 go back to Amos if you would It's a context of coming judgment. It's a context of the end is coming you're running out of time and God is going to deal with his people and of course the takeaway for us is this is that though God is a patient God There is an end with God there comes a time the Bible says that the Spirit will not always strive with man We know that for all of us that will be death The Bible says and as it is appointed unto men wants to die, but after this judgment But even more than that there comes a point in The lives of Christians and churches where God says enough if it is enough I'm going to have to judge you now and the end has come This is what the Prophet Amos is saying to the children of Israel and what is being communicated to them through this Vision of the basket of the summer of the summer fruits now, here's what I want you to understand I've explained this to you several times as we've gone through these prophetic books There's often a dual meaning whenever you read these passages on prophecy And that's what we're gonna see here in Amos chapter 8 there are two judgments being spoken of one is a current or contemporary Judgment that's literally physically going to come to the children of Israel during their lifetime But then we'll also see that there are glimpses of the coming judgment and the judgments of the end time So let's begin by looking at the current judgment tonight And if you're taking notes you can divide your notes into two sections the current judgments I always encourage you to take notes on the back your course week. You can write some things down We'll look at it in two different sections the current judgment and the coming judgment the current judgment in the coming judgment and notice We begin with the current judgment at Amos chapter 8 in verse 3 There's several things we see here regarding the current judgment first We see the ruin of their judgment verse 3 notice what he says and the songs of the temple shall be howling's In that day and that's quite a description description there The idea is that in the temple there were those who would be singing and playing instruments. They would be Singing and and having religious worship. Of course, we know that these people are not right with God They're going through the motions, but their hearts are actually not right with the Lord But that would not change the fact that the music that they are producing would be very beautiful And we saw earlier in the book of Amos that it would be patterned after the music of King David who wrote the most of the book of Psalms and here Amos is telling us that the songs of the temple are going to be turned into howling I mean howling when I when I see the word howling I think of like a dog You know howling and what he's saying is that when my judgment comes it will be so harsh and it'll be so Terrible that you're not gonna hear singing but the voices that you'd normally would hear singing because of the terror of the Lord It's going to be howling's there's gonna be screaming and yelling notice He says and the songs of the temple shall be howling in that day say it the Lord God Why is there going to be howling notice there shall be many dead bodies in every place and the picture that Amos was? painting is really a horrific picture if you think about it the idea and when I Read this and when I imagine this in my mind's eye I imagine that there would be men and women bowed down at the bodies of loved ones and looking up to heaven and howling and screaming and fear and terror Because of the judgment of God there shall be many dead bodies in every place They shall cast them forth with silence So we see the ruin of their judgment in verse number three, but in verses four five and six I want you to notice the reason for their judgment There's several reasons why God is going to bring this judgment upon these people The first is that they took advantage of the poor notice verse four hear this. Oh he that swallow up the needy Even to make the poor of the land to fail saying when will the new moons be gone and That we may sell corn and the Sabbaths that we may set forth we making the ephos small and the shackle grade and falsifying The balance by deceit notice verse six that you may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes Of course as we've been going through the book of Amos we've learned that the theme of the book of Amos is justice and What Amos really emphasizes is the fact that these people were doing? Injustice to the weak and specifically to the poor they were taking advantage of the poor That's what we see here in verse 4 He says hear this Oh ye that swallow up the needy even to make the poor of the land fail verse 6 that you that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes they were taking advantage of The poor and they were mistreating the poor now real quickly go back to the Leviticus 23 I meant to have you keep your place there and I apologize I didn't tell you that but go back to Leviticus 23. Let me just highlight a couple of things first of all We've seen this idea of the needy for a pair of shoes We saw that earlier in the book of Amos and the idea is this that the rich sold the poor Into slavery in exchange for the money that they owed even though the amount that was owed was an insignificant amount It was the price of a pair of shoes It was something that they could have honestly forgiven but they chose not to they were harsh with the poor They were harsh with the needy which is why Amos says that you swallow up the needy You make the poor of the land to fail You buy the poor for silver and the needy for the pair of shoes and the idea is that it matters how we treat people Look in business. It matters how you treat people It matters how we treat people in our lives and in the world and especially the poor in Leviticus 23 We see that they were supposed to take care of the poor Notice Leviticus 23 in verse 22 Remember we saw in Leviticus 23 the different harvests the spring harvest the summer harvest in verse 22 The Bible says and when you reap the harvest of your land thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field Why don't you notice what God is instructing the children of Israel to do? He says you've got land and you've got a harvest you go ahead and harvest that land But I don't want you to make clean riddance of the corners of thy field. What does that mean? He says I don't want you to go like an inspector and make sure that you've got Every fruit or every stock of corn that you've cleaned up everything He said go ahead and just leave the corners the way they are notice what he says and When you reap the harvest of the land thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of the field When thou reapest neither shalt thou gather any gleanings What is a gleaning a gleaning is something that was left over something that you missed the first time something that maybe as you were Bringing in the harvest you might have dropped Some of it and God says I don't want you to make a clean riddance of the corners of thy field When thou reapest neither shalt thou gather any gleanings of thy harvest Why does God say this notice thou shalt leave them unto the poor and to the stranger? I am the Lord your God what we're reading about in Leviticus 23 22 was God's Welfare system. It was how God took care of the poor and here's what he told the rich who had a big harvest He said go ahead and harvest the land But don't go through there and just look at every little corner and make sure if you leave a little behind That's okay If you realize you didn't get it all leave it there for the poor Because they were supposed to take care of the poor not take advantage of the poor now what I like about God's Welfare system is that notice he doesn't say let's institute some sort of a government System where we're gonna go through and grab all the corners and the gleanings and then we're gonna ship it to people Notice the poor were expected to at the very least Hey, if they were poor and it was not their fault God said I want to help you I want to take care of you, but notice at the very least they were expected to get up and get to the field And go look for what was left for them It wasn't just sent to them. So God is always perfect. God is always right His system is always the best system, but I want you to notice that they were not supposed to take advantage of the poor They were supposed to try to take care of the poor not enable They weren't to be enablers They weren't supposed to send them checks for doing nothing But they were supposed to be generous and to leave some and leave it on purpose That those who needed it might be able to find it and and and and be taken care of and what God is upset With the children of Israel in the book of Amos go back to Amos chapter 8 is that verse 4 you have swallowed up the needy You make the poor of the land to fail He says you buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes He says you're not being generous and taking care of the poor you're taking advantage of them notice verse 6 yay And sell the refuse of the wheat He says even just the what's left over the the refuse He says even just what what you should have left there for the poor you've taken that and you're trying to make a profit off of that and you know The the idea is that we should be generous and yes go to work make money harvest What you need to harvest but it's okay to leave You don't have to you don't have to squeeze every penny is the idea that you can try to be generous and help people and leave for other So the reasons for their judgment was that they took advantage of the poor. That's not the only thing notice verse 5 Another reason for their judgment was that they saw the commandments of God as grievous. Look at verse 5 saying When will the new moon be gone? I want you to understand this the new moon That's being referred to here they're asking when will the new moon be gone Why do they want the new moon to be gone that we may sell corn? Notice and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat These are religious observances the new moon the Sabbath days these were days that they were supposed to observe unto the Lord and they were days in which they were not to work and Amos is calling them out on the fact That while they're going through the motions of religion While they're observing the new moons and observing the Sabbath days in their hearts They're asking the question. When will the new moon be gone? What is this gonna be over? Why do you want it to be over? This was to be a day where you rest This was a day where you celebrate God This is supposed to be a day where you're not out there trying to make money But you're focusing on the God that has provided the money for you, but they're added to this When is this gonna be over that we may sell corn? And when is the Sabbath day going to be over that we may set forth wheat because they weren't supposed to work on the Sabbath day They weren't supposed to sell on the new moon, but they're going through these motions of religion But their heart is far from God They see the commandments of God as grievous or as hindrances and really in their heart. They're just saying I wish this was over And you say how does this apply to the average Christian today? You know applies to the average Christian who sits in church on a Sunday morning thinking when is this gonna be over? I've got things to do. I've got places to be This idea that the commandments of God are grievous and there's some sort of a hindrance Go to 1st John chapter 5 1st John chapter 5 If you go backwards from the book of Revelation you go back you have Jude 3rd 2nd and 1st John 1st John chapter 5 Do me a favor when you get there put a ribbon or a book right there because we're gonna leave it We're gonna come back to it You should have your place in 1st John and you should have your place in in in the book of What book did I need you in Jeremiah? You can lose your place in Leviticus. We're not gonna go back to Leviticus go to Jeremiah Keep your place in Jeremiah. Keep your place in 1st John 5 look at verse 3 1st John 5 and verse 3 for this is the love of God That we keep his commandments notice what the Bible says and his commandments are not grievous Is that word grievous it means causing severe pain suffering or sorrow Oftentimes Christians will act as though the commandments of God are grievous Oftentimes young people who grow up in church will act like the commandments of God are grievous and they'll have these attitudes Well, I wish I could watch that that movie. I Wish I watch that superhero movie. My parents won't let me watch Let me tell you something superheroes are fake And they're stupid Why why can't I listen to that music why can't I have that phone why can't I go to that place? Why can't and they act like the commandments of God are grievous Let me tell you something young people the commandments of God are not grievous You ought to know what the Bible says the Bible says that the way of the transgressor is hard You ought to know what's grievous is being enslaved to drugs and alcohol and being in prison and being a homeless bump Hey, that's what's grievous Go to church Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday, that's good for you and that this ad just says well ladies is gonna be over Why do I have to go to this? Why do I have to do that? Why why when can I finally get out of here? When can I finally graduate and in turn 18 so I can leave home and do what I want. Hey, you're a fool To have this ad just says when will the new moons be gone that we may sell corn this attitude that says I'm I got to go through the motions I Come to church cuz my wife makes me I Come to church cuz my husband may why don't you just love God? And look this is this idea of people who are looking for any excuse to not do the things of God Looking for any excuse to skip out on church now look If you're here tonight and you're and you're new to our church or you're you're coming back to church. I'm not talking to you We're we're glad you're here And we're glad that you're here on a Wednesday night and all of that. But but those of you who should know better Those of you who should already understand you you you you you're you're a volunteer You're a leader here at Verity Baptist Church You've committed to do certain things and then it's always funny to me how people are just looking for any excuse to Skip out on soul wedding looking for any excuse to skip out on church Looking very excuse to skip out on Sunday night church or Wednesday night church and look it's this idea that says well When is the new moon's gonna be gone that we may go do what I want to do What are the Sabbath day is going to be over that I could do what I actually want to do and it's always silly, you know Sometimes you ought to consider actually writing or speaking the excuses that we give And you might realize how stupid they are. I Always think it's funny. Look if you if this is you I don't know of any I'm using this illustration right now because I've Searched in my mind and no one has used this excuse recently that I can think of So if you've used this excuse recently, I don't know that all these disclaimers Because people like to think that I'm God and I know everything But you know, it's all it's always funny to me when it's like oh We can't be in church cuz the baby sick It's like all of you. I mean our family of eight eight two grown adults Teenagers, you know, just just all the entire family has to stay home cuz the baby's sick You know, it's worse than that We all we all have to stay home cuz cuz the husband sick the husband sick He's a grown man. I think you can make it through an hour and a half Without having his mama. I mean his wife I I'm just saying this is the Christianity that upset God this idea that when is it gonna be over any excuse? Look any excuse to not do what God wants us to do And here's the question I have for you men, and I'm not mad at you, but I am trying to pick on you I can't come to church as a baby. It's like oh, you do not go to work when the baby sick. Oh Whoa, no, I gotta work. Well, you know what God is more important than work I I'm just saying that we should grow into a Christianity that actually loves the Lord and the commandments of God are not grievous and we're in church because we love God's people And we love the Word of God and we want to go soul winning because we love people and we want to see them Reach for the gospel. Hey, I don't read the Bible because nobody makes me read the Bible. I just love God But these people said when will the new moons be gone that we may sell corn Sabbath day that we may set forth week. What is this vision offering gonna be over because I want to hear about giving anymore They saw the commandments of God is grievous Look at Amos chapter 8 and verse 5 notice the third reason for the judgment They were deceptive and crooked in their financial dealings saying When will the new moons be gone that we may sell corn and the Sabbaths that we may set forth week making the ephah small And the shackle great falsifying the balances by deceit These people were deceptive and crooked in their finances. Go back Go to Deuteronomy 25 if you kept your place in Leviticus, you got after the biggest you have numbers in Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 25 in verse 13. Here's what the Bible says thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights and a great and a small Thou shalt not have in thine house diverse measures a great and a small But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight a perfect and a just measure Shall thou have that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee God was judging these people because of the fact that not only did they see his commandments as grievous Not only did they take advantage of the poor but they were deceptive and crooked in their finances. They had an ephah That's a measurement which was small meaning of smaller than it should have been for an actual ephah and a shackle That's a measurement That was great meaning it was greater than it should have been for a shackle and the falsifying of the balances by deceit They had these balances that they it said shackle and it said ephah, but it wasn't actually the sizes They used it to rip people off And God says thou shalt not have in my bag diverse weights, you know, wait diverse means different, you know, that weight shouldn't be different Five pounds should be five pounds every time Ten pounds should be ten pounds every time He said I don't want you to have diverse weights a great and a small Thou shalt not have in thine house diverse measures a great and small one cup is one cup every time Half a cup is half a cup. It should be half a cup every time These people had measurements instead of certain thing But the measurement was actually different and they used it to rip people off to get over on people to get more and pay less They were deceptive You say well today we don't deal with that and we don't have those type of measurements Here's the application for you today. You shouldn't have diverse weight. You know, your life should be consistent There shouldn't be a different you at church and a different you at work There shouldn't be a different you at church and a different you at home To the best of your ability we ought to be the same Don't have diverse weights small and great in your house Don't have diverse diverse measurements great and small in thine house Go back to Amos chapter 8 We see the ruin of their judgment we see the reasons for their judgment and I want you to notice the remembrance of their judgment The Remembrance of their judgment look at verse 6 Amos chapter 8 verse 6 that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for Ferris shoes. Yea and sell the refuse for the wheat. We've talked about that verse 7 the Lord Has sworn by the excellency of Jacob surely Notice what he says. I will never forget any of their works That's an interesting statement there. I will never forget any of their works You know the Bible teaches That God will either Remember everything you've done that's wrong or he will forget everything you've done. That's wrong And you and I get to decide which part of the coin we can be on Go to Hebrews real quickly. You kept your place in first John you go backwards You have first John second Peter first Peter James and Hebrews first John second Peter first Peter James and Hebrews God Looked down at these people. He said I will never forget any of their works Say why did God say that to them? because they refused him and Look here the options God can either remember everything you've done wrong if you refuse his way of salvation if you refuse his his mode of Salvation and you want to pay for your own salvation God says that's fine. I'll just make sure to remember everything And at the judgment, you'll be found wanting For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Or God says I can forget everything you've done if you place your faith in my son Hebrews 812 for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness I'd rather be here. I don't know about you. But if the options are Amos 8 7 I will never forget any of their works or the options are Hebrews 8 12 and their sins And their iniquities. Will I remember no more? I'd rather be there. I Rather place my faith in Jesus Christ and know that my sins and my iniquities. Will he remember no more? Here's how he says that in Psalm you have to turn there Psalm 103 in verse 12 as far as the east is from the West so far has he removed our transgressions from us The beautiful thing about that illustration is that the east number catches up to the west If you start going east In a round globe, you'll never get to the point where you start going west You'll always be going east if you start going west. You'll never get to the point where you're going east You'll always be going west and as far as the east is from the west so far they removed our transgressions from us We get to choose whether God will remember or not remember Amos 8 7 they refused God they refused his faith They refused to believe on him to call upon him for salvation He says I will never forget any of their works at the great white throne the books will be open He will look at the books He will look at the fact that they are a sinner and he will say I have found you wanting I have found you guilty There is none that do it good for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God But for those of us that are saved When the books of our life are open and he looks through the book and he finds Roger He meant as he looks at page one and all he sees is the blood of Christ He turns over to page two and all he sees is the blood of Christ and he turns over to page three and all he sees Is the blood of Christ and I'm covered in the blood of Christ Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more It's a beautiful place to be But It's a scary place For these people when God says I will never forget any of their works Look at Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 10 just real quickly Just to show you that God can forget the bad and remember the good you say how does God do that? I don't know But I'm glad he does Hebrews 6 and verse 10 for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love Which he have showed towards his name and that ye have ministered to the Saints and do minister Go back to Amos chapter 8 Amos chapter 8 So remember in this chapter we see two judgments the current judgment We saw the ruin of their judgment their songs were turned into howling we saw the reason for their judgments They took advantage of the poor They saw the commandments of God as grievous and they were deceptive and crooked in their financial dealings and then we saw the remembrance of their judgment that God says I will remember I will not forget and Then in verse 8 we have a shift and in verse 8 we are now no longer dealing with the current judgment, but we're looking ahead to the coming judgment and What we see in these verses is a glimpse of the end times. Let me just quickly show that to you Amos chapter 8 Look at verse 8 shall not Now I want you to just highlight certain things in this chapter You can literally highlight it with the pen or underline it with a pen if you'd like in your Bible if you don't mind writing Your Bible or I just want you to remember these things but in verse 8 he says shall not the land tremble for this the first thing I want you to notice we see the land trembling and everyone mourn I want you to notice that everyone will be mourning that dwelleth therein and It shall rise up. Holy as they flood. I want you to notice we see the land trembling Every one morning we see a flood and it shall be cast out And drown that's the flood as by the flood of Egypt Verse 9 and it shall come to pass in that day Usually when you see that phrase in that day It is a reference of the day of the Lord And it shall come to pass in that day saith the Lord that I will cause the Sun To go down at noon and I will darken the earth in the clear day. So Amos chapter 8 I honestly I haven't heard a lot of preaching out of the book of Amos and So, I don't know what most people consider if most people would agree with me that this is a reference to the coming judgment And I'm not even a you know, just dogmatic if you have a different opinion on it That's fine with me, but it's interesting to me because what I see here is some characteristics that resemble the rapture we see the land trembling everyone mourning a Flood and we see the Sun it goes down at noon and I will darken the earth in a clear day now Let's just contrast that to the day of the Lord and the day of the rapture go to Revelation chapter 6 Last book in the Bible should be fairly easy to find revelation chapter 6 look at verse 12. We have to do this quickly All right, Revelation chapter 6 verse 12 Revelation 6 12 and I beheld When he had opened the sixth seal This of course if you're familiar with the seals of revelation, this is the day of the Lord in the rapture and Lo notice there was a great earthquake Amos 8 shall not the land tremble if you want to have your place in Both your finger in both places Amos 8 Revelation 6 shall not the land tremble for this What do we see at the sixth seal lo? There was a great earthquake Notice and the Sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became his blood Amos 8 9 I will cause the Sun to go down at noon and I will darken the earth in the clear day So we see in both instances. We have an earthquake. We have the Sun being darkened Revelation 6 13 and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth even as a fig tree cast to their untimely face when she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it's rolled together and every Mountain and island were moved out of their places as a reference to the earth trembling Look at Revelation 12 and verse 15 Revelation 12 15 So we saw an Amos 8 the land trembled we saw in Revelation 6 and verse 12 There was a great earthquake verse 14 and every mountain and island were moved out of their places We saw in Amos 8 verse 9 that I will cause the Sun to go down at noon and I will darken the earth in a Clear day we saw in Revelation 6 12 the Sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became his blood I'm going through this quickly because I'm running out of time we saw in Amos 8 8 and It shall rise up. Holy as a flood and it shall be cast out and drowned There's a mention of a flood Asked by the flood of Egypt in Revelation 12 15 and the serpent cast out is cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman That he might cause her to be carried away of the flood and the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and Swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth So I just want you to notice that if Amos 8 8 is not Prophetically speaking about the end times which I believe it is and I think I'm gonna give you some If this isn't convincing enough, I'll give you some evidence that that definitely is convincing but there's definitely a resemblance here Because you have the land trembling in Amos 8 8 and a great earthquake in Revelation 6 you have the the flood in Amos 8 8 we see the flood in Revelation 12, you see the Sun going down at noon and Darkness on the earth and a clear day and then we see in Amos 8 9 and we see in Revelation 6 12 the Sun became Blackest act of hair and the moon became as blood Keep your finger there in Amos go back to excuse me Revelation go back to Amos chapter 8 The characteristics of the rapture But we also see the characteristics of the coming of the Lord now the ones regarding the rapture I'll give you that maybe those are similar But not specific. I think it's definitely picturing the rapture, but this you can't get away from Amos 8 in verse 10 and I will turn your feast into mornings and your songs into lamentations and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins and baldness upon every head and I will make it as the morning notice this phrase as the morning of an only son and The end thereof as a bitter day Now I want you to notice this phrase as the morning of an only son because when God brings up specific Phrases on purpose throughout the Bible He does that that we might connect the dots and see a point that's being made in Amos 8 10 Amos says that this day will be as the morning of an only son go to Zachariah chapter 12 Zachariah chapter 12 if you start at the end of the Old Testament the last book in the Old Testament is Malachi Right before Malachi you have the book of Zechariah Zechariah chapter 12. Look at verse 10 Zechariah chapter 12 in verse 10 and I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of Supplication and they shall look on me whom they have pierced. Who is that? That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one that was pierced He says and they shall look on me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as don't miss it one Mourneth for his only son So Amos 8 10 tells us as the morning of an only son Zechariah 12 10 says as One mourneth for his only son, but I want you to notice Zechariah 12 10 Not only says as one morning for his only son, but it also has this famous Prophecy of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced go to Revelation chapter 1 Look at verse 7 Revelation chapter 1 in verse 7 We're gonna bring this all around. It's gonna be you'll see how it's all connected revelation 1 7 behold He this is Jesus cometh with clouds notice what it says and every eye shall see him Zechariah 12 10 says and they shall look upon me and They also which pierced him Zechariah 12 10 sends whom they have pierced So here we see and he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also were pierced Here's the point. I'm trying to make Amos 8 10 connects to Zechariah 12 10 because Amos 8 10 says as the morning of an only son Zechariah 12 10 says as one mourneth for his only son Zechariah 12 10 Connects to Revelation 1 7 because Zechariah 12 10 says and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced Revelation 1 7 says every eye shall see him and they also would pierce them But wait a minute Revelation 1 7 connects back to Amos chapter 8 in verse 8 because Revelation 1 7 says and all the kindreds of the earth shall well because of him Amos 8 8 look at it shall not the land Amos 8 8 tremble for this and everyone mourn So it's all connected and this is the point that I'm making this is about coming judgment Now the reason I'm making a big deal about this is because there's a really famous passage coming up in Amos 8 8 probably the most famous passage of this chapter maybe of the whole book and I want you to understand the context in which it is. I believe that Amos 8 8 9 10 is a reference to the Characteristics of the rapture and of the coming of the Lord. Why is that important? Because it is a reference to the removal of God's people When the sixth seal is open when the Sun turns dark when the earthquakes when when all these events happen is When God's people are gonna be raptured out of here now we see a Removal of God's people and then I want you to notice what happens in verses 11 and 12 of Amos chapter 8 Behold the days come Have they came yet? Not yet, but they're coming The days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread Nor a thirst of water but of hearing the words of the Lord And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east and they shall run to and fro To seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it Now I want you to notice usually when people come to Amos 8 11 and 12 They make the application that this is the secular world and this is America and I'm not against people making that application I think there's definitely Application that could be made there. In fact, I'm gonna make that as very similar application here in a minute but I want you to understand that the primary application of Amos 8 11 and 12 is that After the Sun is darkened the earthquakes the flood comes and God's people are removed Then there's also going to be a famine of the Word of God. I will send a famine in the land He says not a famine of bread nor thirst of water But if hearing of the words of the Lord He says in verse 12 and they shall wander from sea to sea from the north even to the east They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it There's coming a day When and of course we know that once the rapture happens and once the Antichrist and the mark of the beast Well, it's it's gonna be a reprobate culture and the Bible is saying that there's coming a day when People if someone is searching because we know that not everyone's gonna take the mark of the beast and not everyone's gonna be safe There's gonna be some just unsaved secular worldly people on this earth and they might be seeking But they're not gonna find it. There's gonna be a famine of the hearing of the word of the Lord These little left-behind movies where people are like, oh they're gonna go on YouTube and watch TD Jakes and get safe No one's getting saved watching TD Jakes now Much less then There's going to be a hearing a famine of the words of the Lord to seek the word of the Lord and they shall not find it This is after the rapture and look America is obviously wicked. But is this true of America today? You can seek the Word of God today It's 180 plus of you here tonight in Church for a Bible study where you're hearing the Word of God Now this is the contrast to the millennial reign, let me just contrast that to the millennial reign go to Jeremiah 31 Did you keep your place in Jeremiah Jeremiah 31 look at verse 34? If you didn't keep your place in Jeremiah, if you go backwards you have you go past Amos Joel Hosea Daniel Ezekiel limitations Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31 Jeremiah 31 look at verse 34 During the wrath of God The Bible says the days come saith the Lord God that I will send the famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst of water but of the hearing of the word of the Lord and they shall wander from sea to sea and from north to even to the East they shall run to and fro and seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it now Contrast that to the millennial reign of Christ after the wrath of God when Jesus comes to this earth physically and establishes his kingdom Jeremiah 31 34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor Do you understand what the Bible saying here? there's gonna come a day when soul winning is not gonna be needed and They shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying no the Lord No one's gonna say hey know the Lord for they shall all know me From the least of them even unto the greatest of them sayeth the Lord for I will forgive their iniquities Notice how it's all connected and I will remember their sins no more There's coming a day on this earth when you won't have to tell somebody hey know the Lord for they shall all know me But right before that millennial reign there's gonna come a day when people who want to seek the word of the Lord shall not find it You say well, what's the application for us? Go to Hosea Hosea chapter 4 if you're there in Jeremiah go past Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea. I Believe that this is a reference to a coming day the days come saith the Lord God But unfortunately today there is a voluntary famine of the Word of God Though it's available Though you can literally go down to the 99 cent store and for a dollar and 15 cents purchase the Word of God today There is a famine of the Word of God not because it's not available, but it's because people are not interested Hosea chapter 4 in verse 1 notice what the Bible says hear the word of the Lord I Love that little phrase Hear the word of the Lord you children of Israel for the Lord have a controversy You know that means the Bible says God has beef with you God has a problem with you children of Israel God you said what is God's problem with his own people and by the way today? You're the children of Israel You're the people of God so hear the word of the Lord ye children of Israel For the Lord have the controversy with the inhabitants of the land because there is no truth nor mercy Nor knowledge of God in the land Look at verse 6 my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge That's not talking about the secular sinful world it's talking about Christians God's people who are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because thou has rejected knowledge I will also reject thee thou shalt be no priest to me seeing thou has forgotten the law of thy God Notice how it's all connected. I will also forget thy children Let me tell you something there's coming a day when people will not be able to find The Word of God they will not be able to read the Word of God. They won't find the preaching of the Word of God But that day is not today So if you're not getting the Word of God is because you're not choosing to There is a voluntary famine of the reading of the Word of God and again It shows up in our Christian living It shows up in your church attendance It shows up in how willing how flippant we are about just ah just skip Wednesday night Bibles I just skip Sunday night Church. I just skip Sunday morning Church. I just kept so winning I don't need it, you know, but when's it gonna be over? It's already 816. Why is he still preaching? You know what Jesus said Jesus said blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled The Bible says and God says and what to God that at Verity Baptist Church There'd be a group of people who would thirst and hunger for the things of God And say I want the Word of God. I want to hear the Word of God. I want to read the Word of God I want to memorize the Word of God. I want to live the Word of God Job said neither have I neither have I gone back from the commandments of his lips I've esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food Jeremiah 15 16 says thy words were found and I did eat them and thy words were unto me the joy and Rejoicing of mine heart for I am called by thy name. Oh Lord God of hosts Jesus said this It is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God and here's all I'm telling you is if you and I had a Thirst for the things of God if you and I had a hunger for the things of God It would show up in our Bible reading. It will show up in our church attendance It will show up in us talking about Jesus to the unsaved world. It would you you have it available Why don't you make use of it Because there's coming a day When people will want it and not be able to find it But that's not this thing this day the problem is You have it But you won't read it You have it But you're looking for every excuse to not be faithful to the house of God You have the gospel, but you're looking for every opportunity and excuse to not present it to a lost and dying world So he says Amos chapter 8 Behold the days come sayeth the Lord God, but I will send the famine in the land Not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water But of the hearing of the words of the Lord. I do believe that's prophetic, but I got to ask you the question are you living in that verse right now a Famine of the Word of God Or will you be like job who says I will esteem my words He says I'm gonna steam these words more than my necessary food I'm not III don't go a day. I don't think any of you in this room I don't think anybody in this room goes a day without eating How many days do we go without reading and eating and feasting from the Word of God? Why are we so flippant But I'm just telling you if if I were you I May anytime anytime the Word of God is gonna be open and a man's gonna preach God's Word I'd make it a prior to be there He said well, I knew that brother Matt was gonna be preaching on Sunday night. That's why I Was a great sermon brother Matt Anytime the Word of God is open. It's good. You say what if we're on vacation go to church when you're on vacation What what if what if this what if that here's all I'm saying? Why don't you be as consistent to church as you are to your job? I know for somebody that doesn't mean anything That's a sermon for another day I'm just saying don't live in a famine of the Word of God That's why I had the number to prayer Heavenly Father Or think of this chapter Aim is chapter 8 I Know that today is not a day In which there's a famine of the Word of God because the Word of God is everywhere It's just people don't want it We're living in the day talked about in 2nd Timothy Where men will not endure sound doctrine But Lord I wonder how many Christians are destroyed for a lack of knowledge I Wonder how many Christians like these people in Amos Are just thinking when is this gonna be over so I can go do what I want to do What I pray you'd give us a thirst I Pray you'd give us a hunger for righteousness That we would esteem thy words more than our unnecessary food We would realize that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God I Pray that there be a revival of the Word of God in our lives That we would take full advantage of the opportunities you've given us In the matchless name of Christ we pray Amen All right. Well, thank you for being here tonight. Just want to give you a couple reminders. First of all, don't forget That there's a baby shower this Saturday for Miss Skylar Thompson on Saturday, March 18th at 3 p.m. And then of course, don't forget that we have Soul winning on Saturday morning at 10 a.m We've got soul in tomorrow at 2 and and and Friday at 2 as well And then I want you to just be thinking about and I'm asking that you would just if you would pray And I'd like you to commit to this I don't need to raise your hand or anything But I'm asking that there'd be a group of you who would say pastor I'll commit to pray for the vision offering every day I'll commit to pray every day. I'll take this card I'll put it somewhere where I can see it on a regular basis for some of you the refrigerator be a good place But maybe maybe a mirror you look at or something I'll make sure it's somewhere where I see it every day and every day. I'll say a quick prayer for the vision offering and I believe that God can do a great work But you know, I don't want to I don't want us to do a work without God. I want God involved So if there'd be a group of you that would say pastor, I'll take that challenge. I'll pray every day From now to the vision offering just a couple of weeks I'm not asking you to spend 30 minutes praying just every day when you see it Hey that the Lord would bless it the Lord would move in our hearts I would appreciate that and if there's anything that we can do for you Please let us know why would the Moses come up and lead us in the final song? Please center songbooks page number 97 Page number 97, we're gonna finish the service off with I need the every hour Page number nine seven and let's sing it out on the first I need the every hour most Gracious Lord No tenor voice like I can be I need Every hour I need the oblast me now my Savior I come to thee I Need the every hour say that nearby Temptations lose their power when I need the oh, I need the every hour Bless me now my Savior Page 97 let's go ahead and sing it out on the third Every hour in joy or pain Or I need the I need the Every hour I need the no bless me now my Savior I need the every hour Oh Me Sing it out. I need the oh I need the Every hour I need the oh bless me now my Savior Great singing can I please have brother Joe Lucetta close this on our prayer? So much for the word You're in daily for your You You