00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Timmy just read Amos chapter 4 and beginning of chapter 5 out for us.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:11 And what Amos says there should really change our view of God.
00:00:12 --> 00:00:17 I say that and I think it's really important because there's way too many people sitting in churches,
00:00:17 --> 00:00:24 particularly I think in the Western world, where we believe that Christianity means that we should work hard at being really good.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:39 And they believe that God exists to serve them and by helping them in life to make them feel happy and good and secure and at peace in life.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:50 And they believe that even though God might have made the world, fundamentally God isn't active in his world unless I need God to come in and fix stuff,
00:00:50 --> 00:00:55 which is when we pray, when things aren't going so well, God come and fix this situation.
00:00:56 --> 00:01:01 The rest of the time, they work on the assumption that God pretty much stays out of the way as I go on with my life.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:06 And when I need him, he'll come in and fix things up for me, bail me out.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:15 The God that we find here in Amos, in fact, the whole book of Amos, but certainly clear in Amos 4 and 5, is not like that at all.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:26 As we saw last week, Amos was sent by God to preach a message of judgment to the 10 tribes of north in Israel, about 750 BC.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:33 Two tribes, Israel at this point has split into two, Judah down the bottom, two tribes, 10 tribes of Israel to the north.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:38 Judah has got the temple and the city and the north has got naming rights.
00:01:38 --> 00:01:49 Amos was sent by God from the south to the north to preach to a people who had become corrupt and complacent and self-centered.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:54 That is, they were meant to be God's people, but they were no different than the nations around them.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 The justice system was corrupt.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:57 The rich exploited the poor.
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 Their sexual standards were no different than the pagan nations.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:04 And yet at the same time, and Sam will probably touch on this a bit more next week,
00:02:04 --> 00:02:08 at the same time, their religion was, they were really serious about it.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:12 They were deeply serious and committed to their religious practice.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:17 But instead of turning their creed into deeds, they've turned their creed into greed.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 Money and security had become their God.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:26 And at the beginning of chapter four, we get a feel for the state of this nation.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:37 It says, hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, bring us some drinks.
00:02:38 --> 00:02:43 See, Amos here is not being particularly polite to the ladies of Israel.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:50 Bashan was the richest agricultural area in Israel.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 It was the food bowl, if you like, of Israel.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:59 And the livestock from that area were plumped and round and well conditioned.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 They were the ones who got the best price at the market.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:13 And in a time back in those days where the poor looked like they really needed to have a feed, sort of like supermodels,
00:03:13 --> 00:03:22 the rich, on the other hand, displayed their opulence, displayed their wealth by their figures.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 They looked like they were well fed.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:29 And so what Amos is referring to here is the champagne set.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 They've surrounded themselves in lives of luxury.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 These are the desperate housewives of Samaria.
00:03:36 --> 00:03:42 And the problem is not so much with the champagne and the caviar and the thermomixers.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:47 It's in their luxurious lifestyles.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:49 Sorry, I'm just picking the thermomixers.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 It's just the theme of mine at the moment.
00:03:52 --> 00:03:53 It's a cult.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 So I read that.
00:03:56 --> 00:03:57 Sorry, I read that somewhere.
00:03:57 --> 00:03:58 I read it somewhere.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:01 I know I've got one.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:04 Sorry.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:16 The problem is, it's the fact that in all of this, they've lost sight of the poor and the needy and ultimately God.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:21 They walk over the needy and they don't even notice it.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:22 Like they trample them under their feet.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:23 So what's God's response?
00:04:23 --> 00:04:48 The wall, the city wall, the walls of Samaria, the place of their fortress, the things that they had built up for themselves.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:53 Their place of their fortune and their security are going to have gaping holes in them.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:59 You see, what's described here is that Haman is up in the north, up above Samaria.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:08 And what is described here is what we saw last week that happened 28 years after Amos preached this message.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:18 Assyria, the greater nation of Assyria, up around where Turkey is nowadays, came down from the north and they destroyed the capital city of Samaria.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:26 And they led 27 of the rich and the elite away into captivity.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 And one of the things they used to do, the Assyrians did, they were fairly brutal kind of people.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:36 And one of the things they used to do was they would attach all of their captives together with chains.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:43 And they would attach the chains through the noses or through the lips of their captives and march them.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:45 And that's what's described here.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 You're going to be carted away like fish hooks.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:52 Like if you've got a fish hook stuck in your mouth, you're going to be carted away through the walls of Samaria.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 Now, it's just not the women that he's picking on here.
00:05:56 --> 00:06:00 In chapter 6, verse 1, Amos says this about the men.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:00 He says,
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 And then in verse 4 of chapter 6, he says,
00:06:05 --> 00:06:09 You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:21 You drink wine by the volfil and you use the finest of lotions.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 But you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 You do not grieve over the ruin of God's people.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 They're celebrating, they're relaxing, and they should be grieving.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:42 And the absolute height of their hypocrisy is that they think God's more interested in their sacrifices
00:06:42 --> 00:06:47 and their attendance at their church services and all their religious duty
00:06:47 --> 00:06:51 than he is in the state of their hearts.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:56 Chapter 4, verse 4 is referring to their altar in Bethel.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 It's where they would go and do their rituals.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:02 Bethel literally means house of God.
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 So this is what they did when they went to the house of God.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:05 Go to Bethel and sin.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:07 That's what they did when they went to church.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:09 Go to Bethel and sin.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 Go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 Burn your leavened bread as a thank offering.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 And brag about your free will offerings.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 Boast about them, you Israelites, for that is what you love to do.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 Their religion was complacent.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:27 It was smug.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 It was self-congratulating.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:35 And in chapter 5, verse 21, Sam will deal with more of this next week,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:41 but it gives us a bit of a sneak peek into what God thought about their religion.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:46 And it turns out here that God hated going to church with these people.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:47 He says,
00:07:47 --> 00:08:08 What does God want them to do?
00:08:08 --> 00:08:17 He wants them to live out who they are as his special covenant people.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:18 That's what he wants.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:27 And what is happening here in Amos chapter 4 is God actually throwing out warning sign
00:08:27 --> 00:08:34 after warning sign after warning sign in the hope that his people would remember
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 his special relationship with them and they would come back to him in repentance.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:41 So let's see how God does that.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:43 Let's start at verse 6.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:48 I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:53 Yet you have not returned to me, declares the Lord.
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:04 That's crucial because the three-month part is when the grain starts to form in the head.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:06 No rain at that point.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:07 Crops useless.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:15 As sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another.
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 One field had rain, another had none and dried up.
00:09:18 --> 00:09:23 People staggered from town to town for water, but did not get enough to drink.
00:09:24 --> 00:09:28 Yet you have not returned to me, declares the Lord.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:34 Many times I struck your gardens and your vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 Yet you have not returned to me, declares the Lord.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 I sent plagues among you as I did in Egypt.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:49 I killed your young men with a sword along with your captured horses.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 That's the rotting corpses of their children.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 Yet you have not returned to me, declares the Lord.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:08 You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 Yet you have not returned to me, declares the Lord.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 Five times we read there that God says,
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 I threw the warning signs out at you.
00:10:20 --> 00:10:21 I threw it at you.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 It should have been obvious for you to see so that you would return to me in repentance.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 It should not have been a surprise to them at all.
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 They had God's word in front of them.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 It was all spelled out to them in black and white.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:38 You see, 500 years before this, 500 years before,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 just as Israel was about to come into the promised land,
00:10:43 --> 00:10:44 God speaks to them.
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 And in Deuteronomy 28,
00:10:46 --> 00:10:50 we have God telling them what would happen.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:52 He says,
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 If you ignore me, you get in the land and you ignore me,
00:10:55 --> 00:10:56 I'll withhold the rain.
00:10:58 --> 00:10:58 He says,
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 If you get in the land and you ignore me,
00:11:00 --> 00:11:01 you will go hungry.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:03 If you ignore me,
00:11:03 --> 00:11:07 I will send blight and mildew upon your vineyards.
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 If you ignore me,
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 the promised land that I'm bringing you into will spit you out.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 God told them it would happen.
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 And their only hope here is that they would turn back to God and repent.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 So God is saying here,
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 I have been trying to get your attention.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:26 I gave,
00:11:26 --> 00:11:27 I withheld,
00:11:27 --> 00:11:27 I sent,
00:11:27 --> 00:11:28 I struck,
00:11:28 --> 00:11:28 I killed,
00:11:28 --> 00:11:29 I filled,
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 I withheld.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 God did it all.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:34 He did it all to his people.
00:11:34 --> 00:11:40 He's trying to get their attention.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:43 Now imagine,
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 my family sound asleep upstairs in our home at two o'clock in the morning,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 and someone decides to throw bricks through the bedroom windows.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 My immediate response would be,
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 that's really antisocial.
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 Probably in a slightly more extreme form than that,
00:12:00 --> 00:12:01 at two o'clock in the morning.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:07 But what if downstairs is on fire,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 and those people are trying to get my attention?
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 That changes it,
00:12:14 --> 00:12:14 doesn't it?
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 And that's what God's doing here.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 All of these things came from the hand of God.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 He's calling them to listen,
00:12:23 --> 00:12:24 to read the signs,
00:12:24 --> 00:12:25 to see what's happening.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:26 Look,
00:12:26 --> 00:12:26 look,
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 look.
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 Something is desperately wrong.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:35 And he's trying to call them back.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:40 He's trying to remind the Israelites of their covenant relationship.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 These disasters were,
00:12:42 --> 00:12:42 yes,
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 they did come from a God in a sense of judgment,
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 but they were the severe mercy of a patient God.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:50 They were his tough love,
00:12:51 --> 00:12:51 if you like.
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 God has been throwing bricks through the window for Israel,
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 but they hadn't returned.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:00 They hadn't repented.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 And so God says,
00:13:02 --> 00:13:02 in chapter 4,
00:13:03 --> 00:13:03 verse 12,
00:13:04 --> 00:13:04 Israel,
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 prepare to meet your God.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 And then,
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 we get a description of what this God is like.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 This is the God who made the stars.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 This is the God who turns blackness into dawn.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:15 This is the God who speaks,
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 and the waters fill this sea.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 This is the God who speaks,
00:13:17 --> 00:13:18 and he brings mountains down to nothing.
00:13:19 --> 00:13:20 This is the God who loves righteousness,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:21 justice,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:21 mercy,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:22 and compassion.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 So I want to ask you,
00:13:25 --> 00:13:26 the very first thing,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:28 how big is your God?
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 How big was the God that you came here tonight with?
00:13:32 --> 00:13:36 Is he big enough to be a God of righteous anger and compassion?
00:13:36 --> 00:13:41 A God who brings both blessing and disaster?
00:13:41 --> 00:13:46 Or is he just the God who jumps in and solves your problems when you need to solve a problem
00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 and just stay away from most of the time?
00:13:49 --> 00:13:53 There are not many places in the Bible clearer on this issue than Isaiah 45,
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 exactly who this God is.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:55 Isaiah 45,
00:13:56 --> 00:13:56 verses 5 to 7,
00:13:56 --> 00:14:26 It says,
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 I, the Lord,
00:14:29 --> 00:14:30 do all of these things.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 Is that your God?
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 That is the God of the Bible.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:37 A God who,
00:14:39 --> 00:14:40 as you see in,
00:14:40 --> 00:14:40 for instance,
00:14:40 --> 00:14:41 the book of Romans,
00:14:41 --> 00:14:44 who has his heavy hand on his creation.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:50 Has his heavy hand where he has set these frustrations at the creation into frustration
00:14:50 --> 00:14:54 that we might not put our hope in the things that God gives us,
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 the things that he has made,
00:14:56 --> 00:15:00 but in actual fact have our hope in the God who creates all things.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:09 The bad things of our world are the nature of the world in which we live in under the heavy hand of God.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 It is our God,
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 our creator,
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 lovingly,
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 mercifully throwing bricks through the window.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:18 They say,
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 come back to me.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:24 He's trying to get our attention to remind us that we need him
00:15:24 --> 00:15:28 and that hope and glory and joy and life is found only him.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 We need to seek him and come back to him.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 And that's the essence of his appeal in chapter 5 of Amos.
00:15:34 --> 00:15:34 It says,
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 seek me and live.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:41 Seek the Lord and live or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire
00:15:41 --> 00:15:45 and it will devour them and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 Seek me and live.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 And Amos is saying this to Israel,
00:15:50 --> 00:15:50 saying,
00:15:51 --> 00:15:51 dudes,
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 it's not too late.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 Repent.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 Come back to God.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 God did all of these things to Israel
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 and they should have seen the writing on the wall.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 They should have acknowledged it as being the hand of God.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 They should have feared him and turned back,
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 but they didn't.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:11 Why?
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 Because life was too good.
00:16:15 --> 00:16:19 And they just assumed that because life was good and things were flourishing,
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 that's God,
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 because that's what God does,
00:16:22 --> 00:16:22 doesn't he?
00:16:22 --> 00:16:23 God just,
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 he's there to support my life and my goals and my adventures.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 And these things that were sent by God were just seen as mere speed humps.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 In an otherwise comfortable,
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 self-indulgent life,
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 they ignored God.
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 They rejected his warning signs
00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 and 28 years later,
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 fishhooks carted off to Assyria.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 750 years later,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 after Amos,
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 Jesus turns up in Israel
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 and declares himself to be
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 this same God in the flesh.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 It's God to come and dwell amongst his people.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 The same God who made Israel his special people
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 centuries earlier,
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 has now come amongst his people.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 And when God actually turned up,
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 Israel did,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 750 years later,
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 what they did in Amos' time
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 and they rejected Jesus,
00:17:16 --> 00:17:17 is what they did.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 Luke chapter 12 to 14,
00:17:20 --> 00:17:20 if you've got your Bibles,
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 flick over to Luke.
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 Luke chapter 12 to 14,
00:17:23 --> 00:17:29 we have Jesus issuing warnings to Israel again
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 and lamenting the state of Israel.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 He says that Israel is desolate
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 and will be until,
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39 they will be desolate,
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 they will be barren
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 until they recognize their Savior and their Lord.
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 And in chapter 12,
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 verse 49,
00:17:46 --> 00:17:50 Jesus says that he has come to do God's will.
00:17:50 --> 00:17:53 And his mission statement is this,
00:17:54 --> 00:17:57 I have come to bring fire on the earth
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 and how I wish it were already kindled.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 In other words,
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 the same language which is used in Amos
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 as Jesus now uses here,
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 language of fire,
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 that is the judgment of God,
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 is now here.
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 And Jesus says,
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 I wish it was already kindled.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 In fact,
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 I wish it was happening right now,
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 is what he says.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 I've come to bring judgment
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 and I want it to happen right now.
00:18:18 --> 00:18:24 And what he says is,
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26 a little bit,
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 next verses on,
00:18:28 --> 00:18:29 anyone,
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 anyone who's got eyes to see
00:18:32 --> 00:18:35 can see that that is what I am here to do.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 Notice who I am
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 and what I've come to do.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 You'll be able to see that God is at work.
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 He's doing something really important.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 And so right at the very end of chapter 12,
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 Jesus calls people to settle
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 their spiritual accounts with God.
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 And he says,
00:18:53 --> 00:18:56 a failure to settle the spiritual account with God
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 will result in God extracting
00:18:58 --> 00:19:02 every single last cent out of you
00:19:02 --> 00:19:02 that you owe him.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 And it's a debt which is incalculable
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 that we can never pay back.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 And it's a picture of God's eternal judgment
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 upon sinners.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:17 And that is what sets up
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 this interaction that Jesus has
00:19:19 --> 00:19:22 in Luke 13,
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 where he says,
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 now there was some present at that time.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 So hearing Jesus say this,
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 there was some present at that time
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 who told Jesus about the Galileans
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 So there's some kind of political uprising
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 in Galilee
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 and Pilate comes along,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 squashes it,
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 and he squashes it
00:19:41 --> 00:19:42 by killing everyone in church.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 That's kind of what he does.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:44 And so,
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 and then it goes on,
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 Jesus answered,
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 do you think
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 that these Galileans
00:19:50 --> 00:19:50 were worse sinners
00:19:50 --> 00:19:53 than all the other Galileans
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 because they suffered in this way?
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 I tell you,
00:19:57 --> 00:19:57 no.
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 But unless you repent,
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 you too will all perish.
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 Or,
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 those 18 who died
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 when the Tower of Siloam fell on them,
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 do you think that they were more guilty
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 than all the others living in Jerusalem?
00:20:10 --> 00:20:12 I tell you,
00:20:12 --> 00:20:12 no.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 But unless you repent,
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 you too will all perish.
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 In our world,
00:20:18 --> 00:20:22 there's two major ways
00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 that we respond to disasters in this world.
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 There's the moralistic,
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 legalistic,
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 religious approach,
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 which instinctively assumes
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 that when I've,
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 when something disastrous,
00:20:33 --> 00:20:35 some crisis hits my life,
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 I've done something wrong.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 I cannot tell you
00:20:39 --> 00:20:39 the number of people
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 who I face
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 who have,
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 who've got some problem
00:20:42 --> 00:20:42 in their life
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 and their immediate response is,
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 I must have done something wrong.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 I can't think of what I've done wrong.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 I must have done something wrong.
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 We put the blame
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 on the individual.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 Another name for it is karma
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 or the,
00:20:57 --> 00:20:59 what we generally refer to
00:20:59 --> 00:20:59 as what goes,
00:21:00 --> 00:21:00 what goes around,
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 comes around.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:05 The other response,
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 so one response lays it
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 on the responsibility
00:21:08 --> 00:21:08 of the individual.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 The other response
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 is the skeptical,
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 irreligious response
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 where we blame the universe
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 generally or God.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 The purposelessness of the universe,
00:21:17 --> 00:21:17 you know,
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 they're really unlucky,
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 bad timing,
00:21:20 --> 00:21:20 wrong place,
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 wrong time,
00:21:21 --> 00:21:21 that kind of stuff
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 or we just simply blame it on God.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 And this view
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 works on the assumption
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 that most people
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 are good,
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 hardworking
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 and deserve a decent life.
00:21:32 --> 00:21:33 The first one assumes
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35 you do something wrong,
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 you deserve to pay for it.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 The other one assumes
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 we're good,
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 we're hardworking,
00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 deserve a decent life.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 This means that some people
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 don't get the good life
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 they deserve.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 Life stinks,
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 it makes no sense
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 and the universe
00:21:49 --> 00:21:49 or God
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 is unfair
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 and doing something
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 terribly wrong.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:52 So it's either
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 I'm doing something wrong
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 or God's doing something wrong.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 That's generally
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 the two ways we split it.
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 And Jesus comes along
00:21:59 --> 00:21:59 and says,
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 no,
00:22:00 --> 00:22:00 that's not wrong.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 That's right.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 That's all totally wrong.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 He said,
00:22:05 --> 00:22:05 no,
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 is what he said.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:06 He said,
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 no.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 He said,
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 that's not the way
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 to look at it.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:14 He says,
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 both of those alternatives
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 don't work.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 One makes you
00:22:17 --> 00:22:19 incredibly proud
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 or smug
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 because no disasters
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 happen in my life
00:22:22 --> 00:22:22 and I'm getting
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 what I deserve.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 I'm doing all right.
00:22:24 --> 00:22:25 I'm not doing anything wrong.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:25 Proud and smug.
00:22:26 --> 00:22:26 The other makes you
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 totally despondent.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 Don't know if I'm going
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 to step out today.
00:22:29 --> 00:22:29 I'm going to get
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 splattered by a bus
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 no matter what I do.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 It doesn't matter how I live.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:33 Anything.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 A rock can fall on me.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 Who knows?
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 And in verses 3 and 5,
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 Jesus says,
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 no.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 But if he just
00:22:43 --> 00:22:43 lifted it at that,
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 the crowd would go,
00:22:45 --> 00:22:45 well,
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 that's a relief.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:46 Thanks for that.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 Fantastic.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:47 Let's move on.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 But he adds.
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 He says,
00:22:50 --> 00:22:50 no.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 And then he adds,
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 but unless you repent,
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 you too will all perish.
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 Why do you have to add
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 that bit?
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 Why does he add it?
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 Because he's saying
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 something really tough.
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 And it's probably
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 one of the hardest things
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 that Jesus says.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 This has been the category
00:23:11 --> 00:23:12 of hard things Jesus says.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:15 What he's saying here is
00:23:15 --> 00:23:19 everyone deserves
00:23:19 --> 00:23:20 to have the tower
00:23:20 --> 00:23:20 fall on them.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 Not just that 18.
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 Everyone deserves
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 to have the tower
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 fall on them.
00:23:29 --> 00:23:29 He's saying
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 if God gave us
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 what we deserve,
00:23:32 --> 00:23:32 if he,
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 going back to the end
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 of chapter 12,
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 if he extracted
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 the very last cent
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 out of what we owe him,
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 we all would have
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 towers fall on us
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 with no mercy
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 whatsoever
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 if he gave us
00:23:44 --> 00:23:45 what we deserve.
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 He's showing us
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 something really important here.
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 Something that,
00:23:49 --> 00:23:49 frankly,
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 our human hearts
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 don't want to accept.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 There isn't a single person
00:23:58 --> 00:24:01 who has ever received
00:24:01 --> 00:24:03 even a small fraction
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 of the consequences
00:24:05 --> 00:24:07 of the stupid
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 and the wrong
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 and the proud
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 and the selfish things
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 that they've done.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 not a single person.
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16 I cannot tell you
00:24:16 --> 00:24:18 how many times
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 I have escaped
00:24:19 --> 00:24:21 certain death
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 because of the stupidity
00:24:23 --> 00:24:23 of my actions.
00:24:25 --> 00:24:27 I grew up with motorbikes,
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 explosives,
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 and guns.
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 Just to give you an idea.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 Stupid actions.
00:24:33 --> 00:24:35 God has rescued me.
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 God has rescued me.
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 God graciously
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 again and again
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 and again
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 and again
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 does not give us
00:24:41 --> 00:24:43 what we deserve.
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 And yet,
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 on the other hand,
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 if we really saw
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 what was truly wrong
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 with our hearts,
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 the pride,
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 the anger,
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 the deception,
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 the envy,
00:24:57 --> 00:24:57 the denial,
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 the greed,
00:24:58 --> 00:25:01 we would actually
00:25:01 --> 00:25:01 know that God
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 owes us
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 nothing.
00:25:05 --> 00:25:05 He doesn't owe us
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 anything
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 and he certainly
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 doesn't owe us
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 a comfortable life.
00:25:11 --> 00:25:11 That is not
00:25:11 --> 00:25:12 the purpose
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 of his mission.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:17 We are much more
00:25:17 --> 00:25:17 flawed and lost
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 than our hearts
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 dare believe
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 and yet,
00:25:22 --> 00:25:22 what we'll see
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 in a moment
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 in Jesus,
00:25:24 --> 00:25:24 we are much more
00:25:24 --> 00:25:26 loved and cared for
00:25:26 --> 00:25:26 and protected
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 than we could ever
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 dream possible.
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 Notice it's Jesus
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 who's doing the talking here
00:25:34 --> 00:25:37 and notice who it is
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 that he's talking to.
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 Jesus is addressing
00:25:40 --> 00:25:41 people who have
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 witnessed
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 a tragedy
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 but they haven't
00:25:46 --> 00:25:46 experienced it
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 themselves.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 They've seen
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 towers fall,
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 they've heard about it
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 but it's not
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 falling on them.
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 He's warning
00:25:59 --> 00:25:59 these people
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 because when you
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 are going through
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 a smooth patch
00:26:03 --> 00:26:03 in your life,
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 you're seeing
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 disaster somewhere
00:26:05 --> 00:26:05 else but it's
00:26:05 --> 00:26:06 not happening to you,
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 you're in a very
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 dangerous spiritual
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 territory is what
00:26:10 --> 00:26:10 he's saying.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 what he's saying
00:26:13 --> 00:26:13 here is there's
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 no greater
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 spiritual crisis
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 than to have
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 no crisis
00:26:17 --> 00:26:17 in your life.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 That was the
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 problem for Israel
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 and it's a problem
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 for us.
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 The default mode
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 of the human heart
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 is it's self-justifying.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 That's what it does
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 and there is no
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 better time
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 for self-justification
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 to happen
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 than during the
00:26:33 --> 00:26:34 calm times,
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 the safe times,
00:26:35 --> 00:26:35 the comfortable times,
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 the prosperous times
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 because in that
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 moment we get
00:26:38 --> 00:26:40 greater and greater
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 confidence in ourselves
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 and our ability
00:26:42 --> 00:26:44 and we don't need
00:26:44 --> 00:26:44 God.
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47 We become self-made
00:26:47 --> 00:26:47 people
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 and what does
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 Jesus say to do
00:26:50 --> 00:26:50 in the dangerous
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 times,
00:26:51 --> 00:26:51 the safe times,
00:26:52 --> 00:26:52 the comfortable
00:26:52 --> 00:26:52 times,
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 the secure times?
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 He says repent.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 That's what the call
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 is here.
00:26:58 --> 00:26:58 Repent
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 and the most
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 important time
00:27:00 --> 00:27:00 to repent
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 is in fact
00:27:01 --> 00:27:02 when things
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03 are going well.
00:27:03 --> 00:27:06 it's in those
00:27:06 --> 00:27:06 times we become
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 complacent,
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 self-assured,
00:27:08 --> 00:27:08 self-secure,
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 self-confident.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 You see the essence
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 of sin in the Bible
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 is where we substitute
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 God for ourselves.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 We don't need a
00:27:16 --> 00:27:16 sovereign God
00:27:16 --> 00:27:17 to run life
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 our way
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 and it's in those
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 days of comfort
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 and safety
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22 and ease
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 that we're most
00:27:23 --> 00:27:23 likely to say
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 we don't need
00:27:24 --> 00:27:24 God,
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 we've got life
00:27:26 --> 00:27:26 worked out
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 ourselves.
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 That's what Israel
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 did in Amos'
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 time and in
00:27:31 --> 00:27:31 Jesus' time,
00:27:32 --> 00:27:32 they become
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 complacent,
00:27:33 --> 00:27:33 they become
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 self-righteous,
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 self-justifying
00:27:35 --> 00:27:37 and very
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 religious.
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 The real hope
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 of their hearts
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 had become
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 the comforts
00:27:45 --> 00:27:45 that they were
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 enjoying,
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 they had given
00:27:47 --> 00:27:47 their hearts
00:27:47 --> 00:27:47 and their
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 allegiance to
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 the blessings
00:27:49 --> 00:27:49 God had given
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 them and taken
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 it away from
00:27:51 --> 00:27:51 God himself.
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 And so like
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 Amos before him,
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 Jesus walks
00:27:57 --> 00:27:57 into this
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 situation,
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 he calls
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 Israel and
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 us to
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 repent,
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04 and that's
00:28:04 --> 00:28:04 where Jesus
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 leaves us
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 as he goes
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 on to tell
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 this little
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 parable in
00:28:08 --> 00:28:08 the very next
00:28:08 --> 00:28:10 verses in
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 Luke 13.
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 Starting at
00:28:12 --> 00:28:12 verse 6,
00:28:12 --> 00:28:12 it says,
00:28:13 --> 00:28:13 a man had a
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 fig tree
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 growing in
00:28:15 --> 00:28:15 his vineyard
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 and he went
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 to look for
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 fruit on it
00:28:18 --> 00:28:18 but did not
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 find any.
00:28:20 --> 00:28:20 So he said
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 to the man
00:28:21 --> 00:28:21 who took care
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 of the vineyard,
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 for three years
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 now I've been
00:28:24 --> 00:28:24 coming to look
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 for fruit on
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 this fig tree
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 and I haven't
00:28:27 --> 00:28:27 found any.
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 Cut it down.
00:28:29 --> 00:28:31 Why should
00:28:31 --> 00:28:31 it use up
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 the soil?
00:28:33 --> 00:28:33 Sir,
00:28:33 --> 00:28:33 the man
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 replied,
00:28:34 --> 00:28:34 leave it
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 alone for
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 one more
00:28:36 --> 00:28:36 year and
00:28:36 --> 00:28:36 I'll dig
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 around and
00:28:37 --> 00:28:37 I'll fertilize
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 and if it
00:28:38 --> 00:28:38 bears fruit
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 next year,
00:28:39 --> 00:28:39 fine.
00:28:40 --> 00:28:40 If not,
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 then cut
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 it down.
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 So there's
00:28:45 --> 00:28:45 this owner
00:28:45 --> 00:28:45 of this
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 tree,
00:28:47 --> 00:28:47 looking for
00:28:47 --> 00:28:47 fruit,
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 finds no
00:28:48 --> 00:28:48 fruit from
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 the tree.
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 Fig trees
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 bore fruit
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 in the third
00:28:53 --> 00:28:53 year so it's
00:28:53 --> 00:28:55 totally reasonable
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 that the owner
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 would expect
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 fruit from
00:28:57 --> 00:28:57 this tree.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 There's no
00:28:58 --> 00:28:58 fruit.
00:28:59 --> 00:28:59 The owner
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 is patient
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 with his
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 fruitless tree.
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 It's given
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04 one more
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 chance before
00:29:05 --> 00:29:05 the chainsaw
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 comes out.
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 The person
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 who tends
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 a tree is
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11 going to
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11 try and
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 make it
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 fruitful
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 before it
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 cuts it
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 down.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 So this
00:29:16 --> 00:29:16 tree I've
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 got in the
00:29:17 --> 00:29:17 backyard over
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 at home,
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 it's a
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 lime tree and
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 when I first
00:29:22 --> 00:29:22 moved there
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 about eight
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 years ago,
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 I had about
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 four or five
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 limes on it.
00:29:26 --> 00:29:26 I didn't know
00:29:26 --> 00:29:26 what they were
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 actually initially.
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 Found out they
00:29:29 --> 00:29:29 were good for
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 G&T.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:33 And apparently.
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 So this
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 tree, I
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 thought, well, I'd
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 like a lot more
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 limes than that.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 So I decided to
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 look after it.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 So dug around
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 it, fertilised it,
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 constantly put
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 trace elements in
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 it, all the
00:29:46 --> 00:29:46 stuff you're
00:29:46 --> 00:29:46 meant to do
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 for citrus
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 trees.
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 And ever
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 since then,
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 not a single
00:29:51 --> 00:29:53 fruit has come
00:29:53 --> 00:29:53 on this tree.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 Years have been
00:29:55 --> 00:29:55 waiting.
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 I've even
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 taken Luke
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 13 out to
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 the tree and
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 read it to
00:30:00 --> 00:30:00 the tree.
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 One more
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 year tree is
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 all I'm going
00:30:04 --> 00:30:04 to give you.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 But no fruit
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 yet.
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 I'm just
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 obviously patient
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 with this poor
00:30:10 --> 00:30:10 tree.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 So, but the
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 point here is
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 that God's
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 patience is long,
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 but we should
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 never be
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 jam on it.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 Even God's
00:30:20 --> 00:30:20 patience has an
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 end.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:21 fruit.
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 What he
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 wants here is
00:30:24 --> 00:30:24 fruit.
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 And what's the
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 fruit that he
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 wants?
00:30:26 --> 00:30:26 Repentance.
00:30:26 --> 00:30:26 How do I
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 know that?
00:30:27 --> 00:30:27 Because that's
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 what he calls
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 us to do in
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 the early
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 verses of
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 Luke 13.
00:30:30 --> 00:30:30 He calls
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 us to
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 repent.
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 And what
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 God's wanting
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 here from
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 Amos, from
00:30:34 --> 00:30:34 Israel in
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 Amos' time,
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 again here from
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 Israel in
00:30:37 --> 00:30:37 Luke, and
00:30:37 --> 00:30:37 what he's
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 calling us
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 to here as
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 well, is a
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 life of
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 repentance and
00:30:41 --> 00:30:41 faith.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:42 And repentance
00:30:42 --> 00:30:44 and faith,
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 sorry,
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 repentance is the
00:30:47 --> 00:30:47 fruit of
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 faith.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:50 Now, many
00:30:50 --> 00:30:52 people, religious
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 people, think
00:30:53 --> 00:30:53 that repentance
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 is what you
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 do when you've
00:30:55 --> 00:30:55 done bad
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 things.
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58 But the
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 Bible says
00:30:59 --> 00:31:01 all of life
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 is repentance.
00:31:03 --> 00:31:03 Repentance is
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 all of life.
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 The first of
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 Martin Luther's
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 95 thesis that
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 he nailed to
00:31:09 --> 00:31:09 the door at
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 All Saints
00:31:10 --> 00:31:10 Church in
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 Wittenberg about
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 500 years ago,
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 which started the
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 Protestant
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 Reformation in
00:31:15 --> 00:31:15 which we stand
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 as a church,
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 the very first
00:31:18 --> 00:31:18 of the 95,
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 he wrote
00:31:20 --> 00:31:20 this.
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 I'll read in
00:31:22 --> 00:31:22 English because
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 I can't read
00:31:23 --> 00:31:23 German.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:24 When our
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 Lord and
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 Master Jesus
00:31:26 --> 00:31:26 Christ said
00:31:26 --> 00:31:28 repent, he
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 willed the
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 entire life of
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 believers to
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 be one of
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 repentance.
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 And he was
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36 particularly
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 kicking against
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37 the idea you
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 just come to
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 church, you
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39 say you're
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 sorry, and
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 then you leave
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 church and
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 you live how
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 you want to
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 live for the
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 rest of the
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 week.
00:31:46 --> 00:31:46 Religious
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 understanding of
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 repentance is
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 I'm atoning for
00:31:49 --> 00:31:49 my sins once a
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50 week, just say
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 sorry and that's
00:31:51 --> 00:31:51 it.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 Gospel repentance
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 is fruit of
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 faith in God.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:55 Religious
00:31:55 --> 00:31:56 repentance is
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 what I do when I
00:31:57 --> 00:31:57 fail.
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 Gospel repentance
00:31:59 --> 00:31:59 is what I do
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 when I succeed.
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 All of life is
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 repentance and
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 the fruit that
00:32:04 --> 00:32:04 God is looking
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 for in Luke
00:32:05 --> 00:32:07 13 is
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 repentance.
00:32:10 --> 00:32:10 You cannot
00:32:10 --> 00:32:12 separate repentance
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 from faith.
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 That is, the
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15 idea that you
00:32:15 --> 00:32:15 can say, Jesus,
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 forgive me for
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 my sins, but I
00:32:17 --> 00:32:17 don't want you
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 to be in
00:32:18 --> 00:32:18 charge of my
00:32:18 --> 00:32:23 life, is a
00:32:23 --> 00:32:24 destructive
00:32:24 --> 00:32:24 delusion.
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28 Repenting of
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 any error means
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 going in the
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 opposite direction
00:32:31 --> 00:32:33 by practicing the
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 virtues that are
00:32:34 --> 00:32:35 directly opposite to
00:32:35 --> 00:32:35 the vice.
00:32:37 --> 00:32:38 Repentance is the
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 pathway to having
00:32:39 --> 00:32:41 sins forgiven and
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 restoration of
00:32:42 --> 00:32:42 relationship with
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 God.
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 A refusal to
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 repent is the
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 road to
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 destruction.
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 Anything,
00:32:48 --> 00:32:50 anything can be
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 repaired except
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 for an unwillingness
00:32:52 --> 00:32:53 to repent.
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 Any wrong can be
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 made right, but
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 not if you don't
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58 admit that it is
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 wrong.
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 Disaster looms
00:33:01 --> 00:33:01 for the
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 unresponsive.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 That is the
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 message of Amos
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 chapter 4.
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 It's the message
00:33:06 --> 00:33:08 of Luke 13.
00:33:08 --> 00:33:11 And that's the
00:33:11 --> 00:33:12 toughness of
00:33:12 --> 00:33:13 Jesus' words in
00:33:13 --> 00:33:14 Luke 13 verse
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 9.
00:33:15 --> 00:33:15 If it bears fruit
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 next year, fine,
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17 but if not, cut
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 it down.
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 Even God's
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 patience has an
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22 end and his
00:33:22 --> 00:33:23 judgment will
00:33:23 --> 00:33:23 fall.
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 Now the most
00:33:26 --> 00:33:28 interesting and I
00:33:28 --> 00:33:28 think the
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29 marvellous thing
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 about this little
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 story, the fig
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 tree, is that
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 apparently there are
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34 two people involved
00:33:34 --> 00:33:35 in this little
00:33:35 --> 00:33:35 story.
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 There's the owner
00:33:36 --> 00:33:36 of the fig tree
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 and there's the
00:33:37 --> 00:33:38 person who cares
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 for the fig tree.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:40 The owner who
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 wants the fruit
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 and the carer
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 who wants to
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 give it one
00:33:44 --> 00:33:44 more chance.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:49 In fact, it's
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 one person.
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 The owner of
00:33:52 --> 00:33:54 the tree is in
00:33:54 --> 00:33:55 fact the one who
00:33:55 --> 00:33:56 tends the tree
00:33:56 --> 00:33:58 and it's this
00:33:58 --> 00:33:59 person who is
00:33:59 --> 00:33:59 wrestling with
00:33:59 --> 00:34:00 themselves over
00:34:00 --> 00:34:01 the fate of
00:34:01 --> 00:34:02 their tree.
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 I want it to
00:34:04 --> 00:34:06 bear fruit, but I
00:34:06 --> 00:34:06 will cut it
00:34:06 --> 00:34:06 down.
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 There is a
00:34:09 --> 00:34:10 desire for both
00:34:10 --> 00:34:11 justice and
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 mercy.
00:34:13 --> 00:34:13 The owner of
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 the tree is at
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 the same time
00:34:15 --> 00:34:17 the one to be
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 escaped, the one
00:34:18 --> 00:34:18 that the tree
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 means to escape
00:34:19 --> 00:34:19 from because it
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 doesn't want to
00:34:20 --> 00:34:21 be cut down and
00:34:21 --> 00:34:22 yet it's also the
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 one in which the
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 tree might find
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 refuge.
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 The same Jesus
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 who said this
00:34:28 --> 00:34:29 hard word is
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 also the same
00:34:30 --> 00:34:32 Jesus who opened
00:34:32 --> 00:34:32 up the way back
00:34:32 --> 00:34:33 to God.
00:34:34 --> 00:34:34 He's the one who
00:34:34 --> 00:34:35 said,
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 my mission is
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 to bring fire,
00:34:39 --> 00:34:39 but he's the
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 one who put
00:34:40 --> 00:34:42 himself under
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 the flame.
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 He made it
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 possible for us
00:34:46 --> 00:34:47 to seek God
00:34:47 --> 00:34:47 and live.
00:34:47 --> 00:34:50 Jesus is the
00:34:50 --> 00:34:51 one who allowed
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 the ultimate
00:34:52 --> 00:34:54 tower of God's
00:34:54 --> 00:34:55 judgment to fall
00:34:55 --> 00:34:55 on him
00:34:55 --> 00:34:57 instead.
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 He allowed
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 himself to be
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 cut down by
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 God, the
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 massive tower of
00:35:02 --> 00:35:03 God's eternal
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 justice.
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 What we deserve
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 for trusting
00:35:06 --> 00:35:06 everything else
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 apart from God
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 and ignoring God
00:35:08 --> 00:35:10 came down on
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 him on the
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 cross.
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 And so the
00:35:14 --> 00:35:14 reason God can
00:35:14 --> 00:35:15 be so patient
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 with us and
00:35:16 --> 00:35:18 good to us and
00:35:18 --> 00:35:18 give us good
00:35:18 --> 00:35:19 things that we
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 do not deserve
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21 day in and
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 day out is
00:35:22 --> 00:35:22 because Jesus
00:35:22 --> 00:35:24 Christ got what
00:35:24 --> 00:35:25 he didn't
00:35:25 --> 00:35:26 deserve.
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 He was cut
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29 down so that
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 we don't have
00:35:30 --> 00:35:30 to.
00:35:30 --> 00:35:32 And the
00:35:32 --> 00:35:32 reason that
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 God will
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 never give
00:35:34 --> 00:35:34 the Christian
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 what they
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 deserve but
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 something infinitely
00:35:37 --> 00:35:39 better is
00:35:39 --> 00:35:39 because God
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 gave Jesus
00:35:40 --> 00:35:41 what he
00:35:41 --> 00:35:43 didn't deserve.
00:35:45 --> 00:35:46 Something
00:35:46 --> 00:35:48 incredibly bad.
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 Cut down to
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 death and
00:35:52 --> 00:35:52 abandoned by
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 God, pushed
00:35:53 --> 00:35:54 aside so that
00:35:54 --> 00:35:55 the great
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 tower might
00:35:56 --> 00:35:56 fall on him.
00:35:56 --> 00:35:59 and he
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 says to
00:36:00 --> 00:36:02 Israel, and
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 we get to
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 look on as
00:36:04 --> 00:36:04 he says this
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05 to Israel,
00:36:06 --> 00:36:08 look, look
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 and see what
00:36:09 --> 00:36:11 I am doing.
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 Look at the
00:36:12 --> 00:36:13 cross and
00:36:13 --> 00:36:15 marvel and
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 see something
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 significant that's
00:36:17 --> 00:36:17 happening at the
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 cross here.
00:36:19 --> 00:36:20 See the
00:36:20 --> 00:36:21 justice of
00:36:21 --> 00:36:22 God on
00:36:22 --> 00:36:25 display as
00:36:25 --> 00:36:25 mercy for
00:36:25 --> 00:36:26 you.
00:36:26 --> 00:36:29 see the
00:36:29 --> 00:36:30 justice of
00:36:30 --> 00:36:30 God poured
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 out on the
00:36:31 --> 00:36:31 cross and
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 flee to
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33 the cross.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:35 Don't
00:36:35 --> 00:36:35 ignore the
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 cross, read
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 the signs,
00:36:38 --> 00:36:38 see, look
00:36:38 --> 00:36:39 at the cross
00:36:39 --> 00:36:40 and see what
00:36:40 --> 00:36:41 your sin and
00:36:41 --> 00:36:42 your injustice
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 deserves.
00:36:44 --> 00:36:45 That's what you
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 should be getting
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46 when you see
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 Jesus on the
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 cross.
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 Look and see
00:36:47 --> 00:36:47 what you
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 should be
00:36:48 --> 00:36:50 getting and
00:36:50 --> 00:36:50 flee to
00:36:50 --> 00:36:51 Jesus.
00:36:52 --> 00:36:53 Find refuge,
00:36:53 --> 00:36:54 as I said
00:36:54 --> 00:36:54 last week, in
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 the lion who
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 roars.
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 He is a
00:36:57 --> 00:36:58 safe place.
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 Now in the
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 last number of
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 weeks, I
00:37:03 --> 00:37:04 preached on
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 loving our
00:37:05 --> 00:37:05 neighbor and
00:37:05 --> 00:37:06 the need to
00:37:06 --> 00:37:06 live below
00:37:06 --> 00:37:07 our means.
00:37:08 --> 00:37:08 For the
00:37:08 --> 00:37:09 gospel of
00:37:09 --> 00:37:10 Jesus demands
00:37:10 --> 00:37:10 a change in
00:37:10 --> 00:37:11 the stand of
00:37:11 --> 00:37:12 our lifestyles.
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 I preached on
00:37:13 --> 00:37:13 the spiritual
00:37:13 --> 00:37:14 battle that we're
00:37:14 --> 00:37:14 involved in and
00:37:14 --> 00:37:15 the need for
00:37:15 --> 00:37:16 us to be
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 Bible saturated
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 people,
00:37:18 --> 00:37:20 committing this
00:37:20 --> 00:37:21 church consistently,
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 its leaders,
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 its mission,
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 its vision,
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 its finances to
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 God in
00:37:24 --> 00:37:24 prayer.
00:37:26 --> 00:37:26 There's been a
00:37:26 --> 00:37:27 lot of
00:37:27 --> 00:37:27 challenges in
00:37:27 --> 00:37:28 the last
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 number of
00:37:28 --> 00:37:29 weeks that
00:37:29 --> 00:37:29 I've been
00:37:29 --> 00:37:30 preaching and
00:37:30 --> 00:37:31 I want to
00:37:31 --> 00:37:31 ask you,
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 what has
00:37:33 --> 00:37:33 changed?
00:37:37 --> 00:37:38 What have
00:37:38 --> 00:37:38 you done?
00:37:41 --> 00:37:41 What's
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 changed for
00:37:42 --> 00:37:42 you?
00:37:42 --> 00:37:46 Because to
00:37:46 --> 00:37:47 hear the
00:37:47 --> 00:37:47 word of
00:37:47 --> 00:37:49 God and
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 to ignore
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 it and
00:37:50 --> 00:37:50 for nothing
00:37:50 --> 00:37:51 to change,
00:37:54 --> 00:37:54 isn't that
00:37:54 --> 00:37:57 what Israel's
00:37:57 --> 00:37:57 been accused
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 of here in
00:37:58 --> 00:37:58 Amos?
00:37:59 --> 00:38:00 Of ignoring
00:38:00 --> 00:38:01 the word of
00:38:01 --> 00:38:01 God?
00:38:01 --> 00:38:02 This is a
00:38:02 --> 00:38:03 great sermon.
00:38:03 --> 00:38:03 In fact,
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 we're actually
00:38:04 --> 00:38:04 going to see
00:38:04 --> 00:38:05 they were very
00:38:05 --> 00:38:05 religious in
00:38:05 --> 00:38:05 church all
00:38:05 --> 00:38:06 the time.
00:38:09 --> 00:38:09 They
00:38:09 --> 00:38:10 presumed on
00:38:10 --> 00:38:10 the patience
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11 of God.
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 They took
00:38:11 --> 00:38:12 his patience
00:38:12 --> 00:38:12 as an
00:38:12 --> 00:38:13 excuse for
00:38:13 --> 00:38:14 complacency.
00:38:14 --> 00:38:14 They
00:38:14 --> 00:38:14 actually just
00:38:14 --> 00:38:15 assumed God
00:38:15 --> 00:38:15 was on their
00:38:15 --> 00:38:16 side because
00:38:16 --> 00:38:16 he wasn't
00:38:16 --> 00:38:16 doing anything
00:38:16 --> 00:38:17 too bad to
00:38:17 --> 00:38:17 them.
00:38:18 --> 00:38:18 Money and
00:38:18 --> 00:38:19 security become
00:38:19 --> 00:38:19 their true
00:38:19 --> 00:38:20 God.
00:38:20 --> 00:38:21 Money is what
00:38:21 --> 00:38:21 they actually
00:38:21 --> 00:38:22 served and in
00:38:22 --> 00:38:22 the pursuit of
00:38:22 --> 00:38:23 money they
00:38:23 --> 00:38:23 lost sight of
00:38:23 --> 00:38:24 what's right and
00:38:24 --> 00:38:24 they especially
00:38:24 --> 00:38:25 lost sight of
00:38:25 --> 00:38:25 God.
00:38:27 --> 00:38:27 Now let me tell
00:38:27 --> 00:38:28 you that as I
00:38:28 --> 00:38:29 said last week
00:38:29 --> 00:38:29 or the week
00:38:29 --> 00:38:30 before, we saw
00:38:30 --> 00:38:30 an incredible
00:38:30 --> 00:38:31 response to the
00:38:31 --> 00:38:32 mission project,
00:38:32 --> 00:38:32 a one-off
00:38:32 --> 00:38:33 response.
00:38:35 --> 00:38:36 We've got a
00:38:36 --> 00:38:37 card for it.
00:38:38 --> 00:38:39 But the church
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 finances have not
00:38:40 --> 00:38:41 changed at all.
00:38:42 --> 00:38:43 At all.
00:38:45 --> 00:38:45 We're currently
00:38:45 --> 00:38:47 $37.
00:38:47 --> 00:38:47 I got it wrong.
00:38:47 --> 00:38:48 I said $34 this
00:38:48 --> 00:38:48 morning.
00:38:48 --> 00:38:50 $37 behind.
00:38:51 --> 00:38:52 That's a
00:38:52 --> 00:38:53 repentance issue.
00:38:54 --> 00:38:55 It's not a bank
00:38:55 --> 00:38:55 balance issue.
00:38:55 --> 00:38:56 It's a repentance
00:38:56 --> 00:38:57 issue.
00:38:57 --> 00:38:58 It's a spiritual
00:38:58 --> 00:38:58 issue.
00:38:58 --> 00:39:00 The New Testament
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 word for repentance
00:39:01 --> 00:39:03 means the
00:39:03 --> 00:39:04 changing of my
00:39:04 --> 00:39:07 mind so that my
00:39:07 --> 00:39:09 values, my
00:39:09 --> 00:39:10 views, my
00:39:10 --> 00:39:12 goals, my
00:39:12 --> 00:39:13 ways, my
00:39:13 --> 00:39:13 behavior, my
00:39:13 --> 00:39:15 lifestyle change.
00:39:16 --> 00:39:17 All of life
00:39:17 --> 00:39:19 changes, live
00:39:19 --> 00:39:19 differently.
00:39:20 --> 00:39:21 And this radical
00:39:21 --> 00:39:23 change is both an
00:39:23 --> 00:39:24 inward change and an
00:39:24 --> 00:39:25 outward change.
00:39:25 --> 00:39:26 It's my mind and my
00:39:26 --> 00:39:26 judgment.
00:39:26 --> 00:39:28 It's my will and my
00:39:28 --> 00:39:28 affections.
00:39:28 --> 00:39:30 It's my behavior and my
00:39:30 --> 00:39:30 lifestyle.
00:39:30 --> 00:39:31 It's my motives and my
00:39:31 --> 00:39:32 purposes.
00:39:32 --> 00:39:34 Everything is changed.
00:39:34 --> 00:39:34 That's what repentance
00:39:34 --> 00:39:35 is.
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 It's not just saying
00:39:35 --> 00:39:36 sorry for doing some
00:39:36 --> 00:39:37 bad stuff.
00:39:37 --> 00:39:38 It's the radical
00:39:38 --> 00:39:40 reshaping of my mind
00:39:40 --> 00:39:41 because that's what the
00:39:41 --> 00:39:42 gospel demands.
00:39:43 --> 00:39:44 It's Lord and Savior
00:39:44 --> 00:39:45 Jesus demands my
00:39:45 --> 00:39:47 entire life.
00:39:47 --> 00:39:57 So friends, as Amos
00:39:57 --> 00:39:58 said to Israel, I
00:39:58 --> 00:40:00 say to you, seek the
00:40:00 --> 00:40:02 Lord and live.
00:40:02 --> 00:40:29 Theologian