That hymn does go with what I want to try to preach this morning If you'd like to open your Bibles with me to the book of Amos Amos chapter 1 Amos chapter 7 verse 1. I'm sorry chapter 7 verse 1

Good morning Let's go to the Lord and ask his blessings on our time together our glorious and merciful Heavenly Father, you have caused us to need thee. Lord, for that, we are eternally thankful. We ask, Lord, that you would manifest your grace and your glory in our hearts this morning. Lord, as we open thy word, that your Holy Spirit would open the eyes of our understanding, open our hearts, that you reveal to us more of your glory, Lord, that we might be blessed, be comforted, be saved by thy presence. Lord, we We thank you for the faith that you've given us to believe all that you have spoken. And Lord, as we read thy word, Lord, might you speak these words effectually to our hearts and cause us to be reminded that in the volume of the book it is written of me, that our hearts to be drawn in love and faith to thy dear son, the Lord Jesus, our our savior. We ask it in his name. Amen.

That him that we just sang spoke of God's sovereignty in election Our hope is in the fact that he is immutable in all that he has purposed to do in the salvation of his people. Therein lies our hope that our God changes not. If there was ever any reason for a husband to divorce his wife, Hosea had reason to divorce Gomer, and Christ has reason to divorce me, an unfaithful spouse. And yet, when we believe not, he remaineth faithful, for he cannot deny himself. Our union with Christ He is the head, we are the body. And as he is, so are we. And he's faithful to himself. For that, we are eternally grateful. Without that, we would have no hope. We would have no assurance how long ago the Lord would have given up on each of us. if it was that he could change.

That being said, in our text this morning, in the book of Amos, and this is not the only place we read these words in God's word, the scripture speaks of the Lord himself repenting, repenting. What does that mean? We know that for us, repentance is a work of grace in the heart. Repentance is, as the word even defined means, a change of mind. How the Lord, in salvation, causes us to think and to believe everything just the opposite of what we thought before. He changes our mind about ourselves, He changes our mind about himself. He changes our minds about how it is that he is pleased to save centers, how it is that he justifies the guilty, a change of mind. It's a it's a miracle of grace. And apart from that work of repentance, uh, we would not be saved. We would continue believing what we naturally believe.

We know that for us, repentance is also a work of grace that the Lord continues to do in our hearts. Every time we find ourselves being tempted, every time we find ourselves looking away from Christ and attempting to find our affections and our happiness outside of Him in whatever means that might take. The Spirit of God gives to us a spirit of repentance. He causes us to have a sense, just a small sense, not a complete sense, but a small sense of that sin. He causes us to have a sorrow for that sin. not a sufficient sorrow to atone for the sin. We don't have a sufficient sense of our sin that would satisfy God's righteousness. We don't have a sufficient sorrow for our sin that would satisfy God's justice. Only the Lord Jesus has that. But he does do this work of repentance continually, repentance and faith, two sides of salvation, and both working together, never separated one from the other. And as we're brought to believe, we're brought to continually repent.

And in a very small sense, perhaps for a brief time, the Lord does stir in our hearts a desire of being separated from that sin. Not that any separation from the sins of the flesh would satisfy God's righteousness. The Lord Jesus had to put our sins away. He had to accomplish for us what we could not accomplish for ourselves. And that is the only way we'll be saved.

And yet, this is the believer's life. As he walks in faith, and as he fellowships with the spirit, this is the work of grace that God does for us in repentance.

None of those things can be true of our God. He never had to have a change of mind. He never has changed his mind about anything. I am the Lord and I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed.

If our God was mutable, if he made decisions based on what he saw in us, we would have no hope of salvation. If what he has purposed in his eternal covenant of grace could possibly change based on the circumstances of our hearts or of our lives, we would be lost. We would lose our salvation.

The scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, the word that was made flesh and dwelt among us, the one who is our substitute on Calvary's cross, bearing our sins and putting them away by himself, the one who ascended back into glory and took his rightful place at the right hand of the Father.

The Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. James tells us this in James chapter one, verse 17, every good gift and every perfect gift, if it's a gift from God, it's perfect. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the father of lights. with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

In other words, he doesn't change. He has purpose to save, he has purpose to bless, he has purpose to keep, and his immutable nature is our hope.

Most men have a God who mutates, a God who might save, a God who might not save, a God who is dependent upon the decisions and the circumstances of men in order for him to be able to do what he wants to do. That is not our God.

Psalm 33, the scripture says, the counsel of the Lord standeth forever, forever. Here's our hope. We have a God who has purposed in the secret counsels of his own, of his own divine heart and purpose to save a people. That cannot be changed by what we do. We can't do anything to earn it, and we can't do anything to lose it. Salvations of the Lord.

Turn with me, if you will, to Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah 46. This glorious truth is the means, if you will, to faith, that we would trust him for our salvation, that saving grace causes us to flee to Christ and to find in Him all our hope.

The unbeliever might hear what we're saying now and think, well, if I believe that, I'd live how I wanted. And the child of God wishes they could live how they want. They desire, they desire to know Him.

And And it's because of who he is. We've not created a God who is dependent upon us in any way, but one in whom we are completely dependent for everything.

Isaiah chapter 46, look with me at verse nine. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Oh, what a glorious God we have. I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my judgment from a far country, yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. And I will do it.

Our God has not only not changed in his purpose of salvation, but he's not changed in his fulfilling of that purpose. He calls us from the far. He knows where every one of his children are located. And he's brought a man, the God-man, the Lord Jesus, from a far country. He brought him from heaven to this earth to redeem his people. I have purposed it, and I will do it.

Now, I want to introduce this text with those glorious truths about our God, lest we misunderstand what's being said in this passage. And I would remind you that 2 Thessalonians 2, the scripture says that God has those who love not the truth, God has sent them a lie. He sent them a lie. He has caused them, let's look at that verse a moment, 2 Thessalonians 2. Verse 10, and with all deceivableness of ungodliness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. They had no love for Christ, they had no love for a God who gets all the glory in their salvation. They had no love for a salvation that stripped them naked before God and gave them nothing to boast in. And for this cause, God shall send them, these are the words I couldn't remember, God shall send them a strong delusion that they should believe the lie.

Now, what is the means by which God sends this strong delusion? We look at the religious world, particularly the vast Christian religious world. I think there's about two billion people in the world who claim to be Christian. They would all say that the Bible is the word of God. This is the way that the Lord has sent the strong delusion. How oftentimes we hear people who believe in a freewill gospel, people who believe in a works gospel, use the Bible to justify their position. God has sent to the world a strong delusion that men might believe the lie.

There are plenty of verses. You go to the Bible looking for something and you will find what you're looking for. If you're looking for a works gospel in the Bible, you'll find a works gospel. If you're looking for Rules and regulations, you'll find rules and regulations. If you're looking for something to do, you'll find something to do. If you're looking just for history, you'll find history. Or theology, you'll find a good argument to compete with your other theological friends with. We go to God's word looking for Christ. But you always find what you're looking for. And the world is full of people who are going to the Bible looking for some way to justify themselves before God. God has sent them a strong delusion that they might believe the lie.

This passage of scripture that we're about to read in Amos chapter six, you can turn to Amos chapter seven, you can turn back from there if you will, is an example of how God has written his word in such a way as to give the unbeliever enough rope to hang himself. Because it speaks of God repenting. the unbeliever will take all the other things that we've already that we've already spoken of and take something like this just like they'll take John 3 16 well you know whosoever and they'll deny everything else around John 3 16 in order to promote and to hold to a freewill gospel let us read these words in light of everything else we know to be true about our God.

And by the way, this is not the only place where this is spoken of. In Genesis chapter six, when there was wickedness throughout all the world, and God saw that every imagination and thought of the hearts of man was only evil, and that continually, the scripture says, God repented that he made man. And he determined to send a flood of judgment to destroy the earth. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

But there it says that God repented. When the children of Israel in the wilderness, most, the vast majority of which were unbelievers, were so stiff-necked and rebellious and unbelieving toward God, the scripture says that God repented and was going to destroy the whole nation and Moses interceded for them. And the Lord, well, I said he repented that he was going to destroy them. And Moses interceded. And the scripture says, and God repented. He did not destroy them as he said he would.

What does it mean? Another place in the Bible, King Saul. You remember the children of Israel begged for a king? And Samuel said, no, God is your king. And then they continued to say, well, we want to be like the other nations. And so the Lord told Samuel to anoint Saul. Saul was the kind of man they were looking for. What a wicked king Saul turned out to be. What agony Saul brought on the whole nation of Israel. And there's a passage where the scripture says that God repented that he made Saul king. And he made David king as a result of that.

Amos chapter six is God's word to Israel of impending doom, impending judgment. The wrath and judgment of God is coming because of their rebellion and because of their idolatry and because of their disobedience. And then chapter seven, the Lord summarizes this judgment when he says, thus hath the Lord God showed unto me, or now Amos is sharing this message to the people of Israel. Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me. And behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the ladder growth, And lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowing.

And it came to pass that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, I'm going to destroy all the crops. And when they start to come back, I'm going to send locusts, and they're going to eat that. And there's not going to be anything left. And the people are going to have famine and starve, and they're going to die. And I said, this is Amos speaking, Amos, whose name translated means burdened, burdened. And I said, oh, Lord God, forgive. I beseech thee, by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small. Lord, if you do what you say you're going to do to Jacob, there's no way for him to survive.

And Amos intercedes for Israel. And the Lord repented for this. For what? For the intercessory prayer of Amos. The scripture says that God repented. It shall not be, saith the Lord. I'm not going to bring that judgment. Verse four. Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me, and behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and it did eat up a part. Then said I, O Lord God, cease I beseech thee. The Lord gives Amos this vision of a fire that is consuming all the land. And Amos intercedes and says, I beseech thee, by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small. Lord, stop the fire. And the Lord repented for this, for the intercessory prayer of Amos. The scripture says that God repented. This also shall not be. How do we explain this?

David in Psalm 139, as he was contemplating the knowledge of God, David said, These things are too wonderful for me. They are high. I cannot attain unto them.

The fact that over 8 billion people could be walking the surface of this planet right now, all of their own volition, making multiple choices and decisions every day, and every single decision that they make affects something or somebody, so that the circumstances of life are in constant change. And yet, in all of that, seemingly infinite number of options In all of that, our God is in sovereign control of everything and is working all things together for good for them that love him, those that are called according to his purpose. That's a big God. That's a big God.

Heard a message one time, title of it was, And I have to confess, my God is too small. These things are too wonderful for me. How is it that God ordains means, and yet all of those different things that are happening in no way affect the outcome of what he has purposed? I don't know. I guess if I could explain that, I'd be God.

He makes everything beautiful in his time. The wisest man that ever lived said that. Solomon in Ecclesiastes chapter three, as he's contemplating all the different things that happen in time, he concludes with this. He makes everything beautiful in his time. In his time. He works all things together.

In order for us to have any understanding at all of what it means that God repents, we need to know that when God speaks to us, we have a six-month-old in our family. We don't talk to her like I'm talking to you right now. We coo and giggle and make all sorts of baby noises. And she responds in like manner. She responds with smiles and she's beginning to laugh and develop a little bit of a personality. But she has no way of understanding our language.

Is this not just a small example of what it must be for, like God, to communicate with us? When the scripture speaks of God's eyes going to and fro, when it speaks of the hand of God or the right arm of God, the mighty hand of God or the arm of God accomplishing his purpose, God is using language that we have some understanding of. He's kind of giving baby talk to us. We know what an arm is, we know what eyes are, we know what a hand is,

But in fact, when the Lord was speaking with the woman at the well in John chapter four, he said, God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. God was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the father full of grace and full of truth. The revelation of God, the Lord Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. The only part of God that we'll ever see or that we'll ever need is in the person of the Lord Jesus. It is his face, his face we long to see.

Our God is too infinite for us to explain all of his behavior and all of his language? When a course of action, in the Bible I've given you several, when a course of action or an event which God is in complete control of from beginning to end, changes, particularly as a result of another means that the Lord has ordained in his divine purpose, prayer, he uses this word, God repented. He didn't change his mind, didn't change his purpose. But he said, judgment and wrath is coming. And someone prayed. Someone saw his face, someone interceded. And the Lord heard that prayer. And the Lord said, I'm not gonna do it.

I've heard men use the sovereignty of God to devalue the importance of prayer. I've heard it. I've heard staunch Calvinist. Well, you know what will be, will be. God's sovereign, he's ordained it. No need to pray. No need to witness. No need to, no brethren. The fact that our God is sovereign ought to move our hearts to pray, that he's in complete control, and that peradventure, as Paul said to Timothy, peradventure, he would change his way, he would do something different

We're told to come boldly before the throne of grace, in prayer to find help in our time of need. We're told to pray without ceasing. In the song of Solomon, the husband is speaking to his bride, it's Christ and his church, you know that. And the husband, the Lord Jesus says to his bride, He's talking about her beauty and he says, you're so beautiful to me that one of your eyes ravishes my heart. That means that when you and I find ourselves in an attempt to pray, having just a glimpse of that throne of grace, having just a moment when we're able to approach him and offer to him our petitions and our needs and our praise and our offerings. He says, my heart is ravished by you looking to me.

The fact that our God is sovereign ought to cause us. The scripture says that he bottles up the tears of his saints in heaven, that our prayers go before him. as smoke rises. Faith prays. And we should be emboldened by our text in our time of need to come before the Lord. Oh, Lord, forgive me. Lord, have mercy upon me. Lord, help me. The Lord helped so-and-so. Perhaps the Lord will repent.

Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10. Look at verse 17. In Hebrews chapter 10, and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more. Oh boy. Separated them from their sins from them as far as Jesus from the West. I remember them no more. They're covered by the blood. When I see the blood, I'll pass by you. Now where remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. we're not trying to persuade God in our prayers as if as if our prayers are going to somehow add to the atoning work of Christ oh having therefore boldness we have boldness not in our prayers not in the effectualness of our prayers or the sincerity of our prayers or the or the frequency of our prayers, we have boldness in the finished work of Christ. That's where our boldness is. Our boldness is that we're able to come into the presence of God because of our advocate, the Lord Jesus, who has prayed for us.

having therefore boldness to enter in to the holiest by the blood of Jesus. No one but Aaron, no one but the high priest could go into the holies of holies in the tabernacle in the temple of the Old Testament and put the blood on the mercy seat. No one could do that. If any man ever got close to that veil, he'd be put to death. And the high priest could only go in once a year. And when the Lord Jesus bowed his mighty head on Calvary's cross, that veil was rent from top to bottom, and no longer did the priest stand outside the temple and warn men to stay away. Now the spirit and the bride say, come. Our high priest has gone into the holies of holies before us. He has put his blood on the mercy seat, and he has called us to come in with him. Come into where? The presence of God. How do we do that? Prayer. Prayer, that's how we do it. Prayer in worship.

By a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised." That's the profession of our faith. He is faithful.

Amos interceded for the children of Israel when God said, I'm going to destroy them. Moses interceded for the children of Israel when God said, I'm going to destroy them. God said, in the day in which you sin, you shall surely die. Not only have we sinned by Our thoughts and our words and our actions, we sin coming into this world by our very nature. In sin did my mother conceive me, David said. I was born a sinner. God said the judgment of God's wrath is upon thee. It's upon all sin. What did Amos' name mean? Burdened. burdened.

God who at sundry times and in divers manner spake unto our fathers by the prophets, Amos was a prophet, hath in these last days spoken us to us by his son. Was any man ever burdened as much as the Lord Jesus? Did any man ever bear the weight of the sins of God's people more than the Lord Jesus? Did any man ever intercede for us like the Lord Jesus? We ought by our text in Amos chapter seven be encouraged to pray more, to pray more often, to come to seek the Lord's face. But if the wrath of God is to be appeased for us, and if the judgment of God is to be turned from us, we need an intercessor. We need one to pray for us.

James said this, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Let us not underestimate what God might be pleased to do when we come before the throne of grace in prayer. Let us trust him. Let us flee often before his presence. But let us know most importantly that we have an advocate with the father. We have one who is seated at the right hand of God. Paul put it like this in Romans chapter 8, who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? For it is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even right now at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. Making intercession for us.

In the volume of the book it is written of me, this story between Israel and Amos is our story with the prophet. The burdened one, the one who carries all our burdens, come to him. He bears our burdens before God, does he not? Cast your burden upon him. Why? For he careth for thee.

All right, let's take a break.