Cutting Room Floor - Amos 5
As for the people in Amos 5, one of their problems is that they are presumptuous.
Presumption is the unwarranted assumption of God's favor.
You just assume God’s on your side without any reason to think that.
We are told that the people in this passage long for what’s called “the Day of the Lord.”
At this time, the Day of the Lord was a future day in which “Yahweh would intervene decisively in history to defeat Israel's enemies, vindicate his people, and establish his rule.”
The thought was - When God shows up, He’s gonna wipe out our enemies.
The assumption was - We are the good guys. We are Abraham’s descendants. Or, we go to church every week. Or, we vote the right way. Or, we read the right books.
God is surely on our side.
But God uses a few colorful word pictures to explain that the day of the Lord is going to be for them a painful surprise.
They looked to the future day when God would destroy their enemies, but they failed to realize that because of their unrepentant sin, they were God’s enemies.
They were presumptuous.
There’s a modern-day equivalent of this. It’s the person who lives in blatant unrepentant sin, but responds to anybody who has a problem with their sin by saying, “Only God can judge me.”
Oftentimes, when we hear people say this, we are left thinking (or saying) - I know, brother, that’s what I’m trying to warn you about.
Don’t be like these people. Don’t be an “Only God can judge me” person.
Don’t just presume that it’s gonna work out for you when God shows up as judge.
Recognize that you are a sinner. You. Not your promiscuous cousin. Not your alcoholic coworker. Not your absent father. You.
The day of the Lord means judgment on God’s sinful enemies, and the prophet says - that’s you.
On a Miami Dolphins podcast I listen to sometimes, the host was talking about how some Dolphins fans kept referring to our upcoming game with the Jets as our possible first win. The Jets are a perennially bad team, like us.
He angrily responded to this sentiment by exclaiming - You people don’t realize it yet, but we are the Jets!
We are the Jets.
We are the sinners.
These people were not confessing their sin; they were not repenting of their sin.
They’re not asking God for mercy or grace.
They’re just presuming it’s all gonna work out for them.
God’s on our side.
Do you think God is on your side?
If so, why?
If you have not confessed your sin and trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, God is not on your side, and when He shows up, it’s going to be horrific for you.
To borrow words and images from the passage, that day will be for you darkness, not light. Like meeting a violent animal.
God hates their worship because they are presumptuous.
But you don’t have to be presumptuous.
And God doesn’t have to be against you.
And the Day of the Lord? That can actually become the day you most look forward to, despite your sin.
You can know that God is for you, and that when He shows up at the end of time, it will be to welcome you home, not send you to hell.
How can you know this?
By agreeing with him about your sin. And looking to Christ for salvation.
When you do this, the Bible tells us that God is for us. And that He is preparing a place for us to be with Him forever.
And when He shows up at the end of time, it will be to extend to you the Father’s prodigal embrace, not a guilty sentence.
Presumption is the unwarranted assumption of God's favor.
You just assume God’s on your side without any reason to think that.
We are told that the people in this passage long for what’s called “the Day of the Lord.”
At this time, the Day of the Lord was a future day in which “Yahweh would intervene decisively in history to defeat Israel's enemies, vindicate his people, and establish his rule.”
The thought was - When God shows up, He’s gonna wipe out our enemies.
The assumption was - We are the good guys. We are Abraham’s descendants. Or, we go to church every week. Or, we vote the right way. Or, we read the right books.
God is surely on our side.
But God uses a few colorful word pictures to explain that the day of the Lord is going to be for them a painful surprise.
They looked to the future day when God would destroy their enemies, but they failed to realize that because of their unrepentant sin, they were God’s enemies.
They were presumptuous.
There’s a modern-day equivalent of this. It’s the person who lives in blatant unrepentant sin, but responds to anybody who has a problem with their sin by saying, “Only God can judge me.”
Oftentimes, when we hear people say this, we are left thinking (or saying) - I know, brother, that’s what I’m trying to warn you about.
Don’t be like these people. Don’t be an “Only God can judge me” person.
Don’t just presume that it’s gonna work out for you when God shows up as judge.
Recognize that you are a sinner. You. Not your promiscuous cousin. Not your alcoholic coworker. Not your absent father. You.
The day of the Lord means judgment on God’s sinful enemies, and the prophet says - that’s you.
On a Miami Dolphins podcast I listen to sometimes, the host was talking about how some Dolphins fans kept referring to our upcoming game with the Jets as our possible first win. The Jets are a perennially bad team, like us.
He angrily responded to this sentiment by exclaiming - You people don’t realize it yet, but we are the Jets!
We are the Jets.
We are the sinners.
These people were not confessing their sin; they were not repenting of their sin.
They’re not asking God for mercy or grace.
They’re just presuming it’s all gonna work out for them.
God’s on our side.
Do you think God is on your side?
If so, why?
If you have not confessed your sin and trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, God is not on your side, and when He shows up, it’s going to be horrific for you.
To borrow words and images from the passage, that day will be for you darkness, not light. Like meeting a violent animal.
God hates their worship because they are presumptuous.
But you don’t have to be presumptuous.
And God doesn’t have to be against you.
And the Day of the Lord? That can actually become the day you most look forward to, despite your sin.
You can know that God is for you, and that when He shows up at the end of time, it will be to welcome you home, not send you to hell.
How can you know this?
By agreeing with him about your sin. And looking to Christ for salvation.
When you do this, the Bible tells us that God is for us. And that He is preparing a place for us to be with Him forever.
And when He shows up at the end of time, it will be to extend to you the Father’s prodigal embrace, not a guilty sentence.
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