Good morning. That's why we call the gospel good news. It's good news for sinners. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Sinners. He saves every one of them, every single one of them, and he only saves sinners.

I'd like to ask you if you'll open your Bibles with me to the prophet Amos, Amos chapter 8, Amos chapter 8. I pray the Lord will lay the weight of these words on our hearts and that he will make our ears burn with the gravity and the soberness of what he's telling us in these verses, that we will find ourselves this morning pleading for his mercy and for his grace to give us ears to hear. The scripture says, let them who have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And we know that the hearing ear is a work of grace in the heart. And every time we come before the throne of grace, we are asking the Lord to unstop the ears of our hearing and to enable us to hear his voice, hear his voice. My sheep hear my voice. and they follow me.

Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we come before thee in the name of thy dear son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is based on the merit of his righteousness and the accomplishment of his redemptive work that we're able to come before thee with confidence and ask you, Lord, for your mercy and know that you hear the cry of your children and that you are pleased to open the windows of heaven and to speak. Lord, we met here this morning that we might worship and how mindful we are now of our dependence upon you to enable us to that end and send your spirit in power. Open your word. Open our hearts. Speak, Lord, for thy servant listeneth. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.

Amos chapter eight. and we'll begin reading in verse 11. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord. The days come, saith the Lord. Amos is prophesying of a future event. Surely that prophecy is being fulfilled in our, this prophecy is being fulfilled in our world today. Our hope this morning is that it won't be a prophecy against us. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. There's the famine. The famine is not that God's word's not going out. The famine is that men are not able to hear what God is saying. And they shall wander from sea to sea and from north even to the east, and they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst, a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.

We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We know that without faith, It is impossible to please God for they that come to him must believe that he is and that he's the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. We know that faith is a gift of God for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works that any man should boast. If God sends a famine of hearing, there is no hope of salvation. Without hearing the word of God, we cannot have faith. And without faith, we cannot be saved. This is a very sobering prophecy. And we're reminded of what the Lord tells us at the very end of the book of Revelation, let him who has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. God has to give us an ear, and if he does, we will hear. Some have never heard the voice of God, the famine of hearing, has been on them always. They're often like we've had in our family an occasion or two where we've gotten together for a large meal, a banquet, and sometimes a particular individual in our family will not be feeling well. not be able to indulge in the food of that banquet.

And I thought how true that is in the churches where the word of God is being broken open and Christ is being lifted up, who himself is the word. The Word was made flesh and the Word 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. How often we sit at the King's table and Christ is being preached and yet because of some spiritual sickness, we're not able to hear what's being said.

And for those who have heard and for those who have been able to rejoice and those who have been able to see, in part, the glory of Christ seated at the right hand of God as their sin bearer and as their advocate before God, as their surety, the one who has accomplished their salvation, even you, child of God, even you, brothers and sisters, How many times have you sat at the king's table? And perhaps you heard something that the Lord spoke to your heart. And you were encouraged and you were blessed by something that the Lord revealed. And yet you know from your own personal experience how easy it is to forget what you heard. how many times I have been afraid, having forgot so quickly and so completely what God had spoken in times past, how oftentimes I've been afraid that perhaps I'm that wayside hearer. The seed fell, but it was quickly plucked away.

You see, whether we've never heard or whether we've heard, this warning, this sobering prophecy of God sending a famine of hearing should strike our hearts with concern and with cause to come to Him pleading, Lord, don't send a famine of hearing to me. Lord, I need to hear. I need to hear your voice. I need to believe. There's so many voices that are so distracting and so compelling in my life and in my heart. But Lord, if I don't hear your voice, I'll die. I'll die.

how true it is that we often find ourselves wandering from sea to sea, and going from north even to the west, and running to and fro in our pursuits of life in this world, and how the Lord, I hope, is reminding us, be still, be still, and know that I am God.

Has the world ever known, has man ever known, has any individuals ever known a busier time than we live in in our fast-paced information world that we live in? Increasing in knowledge and yet becoming fools in our hearts toward God.

I suppose it's safe to say that none of us have ever experienced a true famine, a true famine of bread and water. Closest we've ever had to a famine is when we exaggerate our hunger condition by saying that we're famished. We don't know anything about a physical famine, but how horrible famines are. We've read about them. We've seen pictures. Those of us that can think back to the 80s remember the last great famine that there was, true famine.

Now there's malnutrition and there's small places of need in the world, but our modern day world of food distribution has averted famines as the world has known in the past. The last time we ever saw a real famine was back in the 80s in Ethiopia, when there was a drought. And along with that drought, there was a civil war. And we saw on our TVs emaciated children dying in the arms of their brokenhearted mothers. And that was a regular That was a regular thing that happened during that famine.

And we read historically about famines that have taken place in the past. Horrible thing. Horrible thing it would be. And yet, as bad as that is, this famine that God is saying he's going to send is much, much worse. Much worse. A famine of bread and water will destroy the body. A famine of hearing the word of God will be the eternal damnation of the immortal soul. Much, much worse.

And this famine doesn't manifest itself in the same way as a physical famine. A physical famine might reduce the body to skin and bones, and it might leave people with a faraway look of desperation with hollow eyes. The famine of hearing the word of God, to the contrary, is often associated with times of great prosperity, material prosperity. It's often associated with the times of the promise of plenty. Yet with spiritual eyes, with spiritual eyes, we see the devastation of what happens when men are desperately gaunt concerning the things of God, when we are left hungering and thirsting after righteousness. And may God be pleased to meet the pains of hunger that he sends with the bread of life, with the bread of life.

Isaiah put it like this. Why do you labor for that which satisfieth not? You spend money for bread that doesn't feed the soul? The Lord Jesus put it like this. He said, labor not for that meat which perishes. but rather labor for that meat, which leadeth to everlasting life. Pray the Lord will stir our hearts to seek after Christ.

In the Beatitudes, the Lord put it like this. He said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. They should be filled. And as with all the Beatitudes, the Lord is not saying to us, I will bless you with fullness if you hunger and thirst after righteousness. Any more than he's saying in the beginning of those Beatitudes, blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. He's not saying if you can bring yourself to the place to where you can be poor in spirit, where you can be poverty stricken, and that means to be made a sinner, you have no righteousness, you have no claim on God, you have no way to present yourself before God apart from having the Lord Jesus as your advocate.

He's not saying. If you can find a way to make yourself poor in spirit, then you'll have the kingdom of God. If you can find your way of making yourself hunger and thirst after righteousness, then you'll be filled. Now, the blessing of God, here's the hope that we have, brethren. The blessing of God is to be poor in spirit. The blessing of God is to hunger and thirst after righteousness. That is the blessing.

We used to believe that the Beatitudes are attitudes that ought to be. No, no, no. No, this is the spirit of God at work in the heart. It is God who makes us to be poor in spirit. It is God who makes us to mourn. It is God who makes us to hunger and to thirst after righteousness. and then he provides for the need that he creates. What a hope, what a blessing. Lord, create that need for me. Lord, I'll not be able to make myself need you. I'll not be able to make myself hunger and thirst. I'll not be able to make myself here. Lord, if you don't, If you don't create the need, if you don't make me poor and needy, I'll not come to you. I'll go about my own way and do my own thing and I'll be satisfied with things of this world.

Famines are sent by God. It is God that holds the rain. If God shuts up the windows of heaven, then it won't rain. And here's what the Lord says about the bread that comes down from heaven, that manna that feeds the children of Israel in the wilderness, of which they cannot survive without. There we are. We're in the wilderness. dry and thirsty land where there is no water and there is no bread and if God doesn't send manna from heaven and here's what the Lord says about that a man can receive nothing except it be given to him from heaven Lord you said you were going to send a famine a famine of hearing Oh Lord How desperate I need to hear.

David said this in Psalm 1 in 44, bow the heavens, oh Lord, and come down. Psalm 73, the scripture says, and he shall come down like the rain upon the mown grass, and he shall shower water upon the earth. The windows of heaven opened 2000 years ago when the water of life was made flesh. He came into this world and he cried on that great day of the feast in john chapter eight. And he said this, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. I am the water of life."

He ascended back into glory. after having successfully accomplished the salvation of his people on Calvary's cross, and I emphasize that. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't die on the cross to make himself an offer to us to be accepted or rejected by our free will or to be deserved by our works. He died on Calvary's cross to make himself an offering to his heavenly father to satisfy the justice of God on behalf of his people, those whom his father had elected in the covenant of grace before the world ever began. The father saw the travail of his soul, and the father said, I'm satisfied. And the father received him back into glory. Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit. And before that, he said, it is finished. Everything that the father sent me to do to satisfy all that he required in order that my people might be saved. You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. And that's what he did. He saved his people. Oh, what a savior. What a successful accomplished savior we have.

And he goes back to his father and he said, it's expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away, the comforter will not come. But if I go, if I go, I will send my spirit." What's he gonna do? He's going to reprove you of your sinfulness because of your unbelief. That's a work of the Holy Spirit. He will convince you that you are a... I'm interpreting this verse. I'm elaborating on it a little bit. He will convince you that you are a sinner because of your unbelief. Not because of some shameful thing that you've done that you don't want other people to know about, because you are unable to believe God apart from a work of grace. He will convince you that you're a sinner. The Lord does that in our new birth. He convinces us that we're sinners. He shows us that we have no righteousness. That's the second thing he said the Holy Spirit would do, of righteousness because I go to my father. The only righteousness that we have is in the person of our substitute, our sin bearer, our surety, the one who's seated at the right hand of God. He is all of my righteousness before God. I have no righteousness outside of him. and of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. He has convinced me that he accomplished the putting away of my sin and the deliverance of his people from the powers of darkness when he bowed his mighty head on Calvary's cross. That's the spirit of God convinces us of that. And he continues to show us.

And the child of God, even after their new birth, after their regeneration, after having been given saving faith, know, they know, Lord, I believe. Lord, by your grace, I do believe, but oh, help my unbelief. Lord, I won't hear. How many times I've heard and I've forgotten? How many times you've blessed me and I've gone right on back running to and fro throughout the world looking for things in all the places that do not satisfy.

You see this prophecy of God sending a famine is for all men. We don't preach one message to unbelievers and another message to believers. All men, whether they're believers or unbelievers, need to hear the same message, the same gospel, the same good news. It applies just as much to all of us, doesn't it?

And all of scripture is given by inspiration of God. And all of scripture is profitable. for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God might be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. So this is scripture. This is for our prophet.

Say, well, God opened my ears and now I hear. Thank God for that. Lord, keep them open. Don't let me have a day of famine. Lord, feed me with that bread that comes down from heaven.

The Lord said to Solomon, if I shut up the heavens that there is no rain, who can save? If I shut up the heavens that there is no rain, who can save? Isaiah put it like this, oh, that thou would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. Lord, how many times the mountains of unbelief get between me and you. Lord, rend the heavens again and come down. Send that water of life, that that mountain of unbelief might melt away, that I might hear thy voice.

I was thinking about the situation in Ethiopia and oftentimes the famines that took place in the scriptures, and they oftentimes are twofold. It's not just God holding off the rain in a drought, but added to that is civil war or some sort of conflict that's happening militarily in the country. That's what happened in Ethiopia in the 80s. And one makes the other. Much, much worse.

I thought, how that relates to us spiritually. What happens, the children of Israel, God had warned them that I'm gonna send a famine from heaven, a famine of hearing. And it's interesting, it's a famine of hearing. All through the book of Amos, as well as the other prophecies in the Old Testament, the children of Israel had the scriptures. They met regularly. They used the name of Jehovah and they had the word of God written and read to them, but they mixed their worship with pagan worship. And so they were taking the message of salvation is of the Lord, they were taking the message that Christ is all, they were taking the message of it is finished, and they were adding to that message their own works. And so they were perverting the simplicity of the gospel. consequently they couldn't hear. They couldn't hear.

The Bible is more readily available and plentiful in the world than it's ever been. We broadcast our services on sermon audio as do many gospel preachers. And once a month, Sermon Audio will send me a report as to where these messages are being heard and how many downloads there are. And occasionally, I'll take a look at it. It's incredible. All over the world, literally. You know, you'd really only need one faithful gospel preacher in today's world to get the message out over the whole world.

And it reminds me of what the Lord Jesus said when he said, when this gospel is preached throughout all the world, then the end will come. I wonder. I wonder, could this be it? Could this be the sign that this gospel?

And yet, rarely do I hear from anybody. I don't know if they're hearing anything. You see, it's not a matter of the Word of God going out. It's not a matter of there being a famine of God's Word. It's a famine of hearing.

And not only is that true when the simplicity and the purity of the gospel of Christ is preached, but it's especially true with all the false gospels that are mixing law with grace. They're mixing works with grace. They're mixing free will with grace. They're taking the word of God and they're resting it to their own destruction and they're perverting the message of the gospel just like these Israelites did by adding man's works to the work of God. Robbing God of his glory and giving man something to boast in in their salvation. a decision that they made, a work that they performed.

And so even though you can listen to a false gospel preacher and you hear a lot of things they're saying that are true, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And the listeners are not able to hear the truth because it's mixed with error. No lies of the truth, the scripture says that. God doesn't bless error.

No, these voices and these sounds that are going out might have God's word in them. There's not a famine of what's coming, of what God has provided, but there's a famine of hearing, a famine of hearing. Lord, I need to hear. I need to hear, not the voice of a man. I need to hear the voice of God.

Drought and war. Men are at war with God over who's going to get the credit for their salvation. That's right. They've raised their fists to heaven like these Pharisees did. The New Testament Pharisees are doing the same thing. They had the living word of God right there before their eyes. They heard from him. And yet with their fists clenched, they said, we'll not have this man reign over us. We're not gonna bow to him. We're not gonna give to him all the credit and all the glory for our salvation. He's not gonna rob us of our contribution and of our righteousness.

What's the Lord Jesus say? What's the scripture tell us to do? Beat your sword into a plowshare and your spear into pruning forks. The sword of man's tongue which wars with God. You're fighting with God. Contending with a holy one. Ecclesiastes says he is contending with him that is mightier than he.

This is not a war like believers fight and fighting the good fight, the fight of faith, or laboring to enter into his rest. It is a war by where men are going about trying to establish their own righteousness. and being ignorant of the righteousness of God, denying Christ his glory and salvation, denying the one who himself is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.

And men contend with God. And their war against the truth. We are speaking the truth. God has spoken the truth. And what do we hear the unbelievers say? Well, yeah, I see what you're saying, but, but, and they'll take a passage of scripture out of context. Faith without works is dead. We gotta do our works in order to, yeah, faith works, there's no question about it. Most of the people I hear quoting James along those lines, are looking to their works as evidence of their faith. What's the child of God say at the day of judgment? Lord, when did we do those things? Lord, when did we do those things?

You see, faith doesn't look to works either as the cause of salvation or even as the evidence of salvation. Faith looks to Christ. Faith rests in Christ. Faith rejoices in Christ. Faith relies upon Christ. Faith gives to the Lord Jesus Christ all the glory and all the praise and all the honor for having done all the work all by himself. That's what faith does.

But those that are dying of the famine of hearing, not only have the drought sent by God where there is no rain, but to make that problem worse, they have a war going on with God himself. He will not bow. He will not believe. He will not submit. They will not lay down the weapons of their warfare. No, instead they wander from sea to sea. You see that? Go back with me to our text, look. And they shall wander from sea to sea and from north even to the east, and they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it.

We're familiar with scripture and we know that this phrase to and fro is often repeated in God's word. And as with much of scripture, the first time that a particular word or phrase is used in the Bible usually sets the definition of that term throughout the rest of scripture. And so we looked up where do we find to and fro first mentioned in the Bible?

After Noah's Ark settled on Mount Ararat and the water was receding, Noah opened that one window in the top of the Ark Scripture says that it was a cubit by a cubit. That ark is Christ, we know that. The one door coming into the ark is Christ. The ark was pitched from within and without, and the only place of life and safety was in the ark. And now Noah's going to open this one window. Somebody said, well, what's a cubit? 18 inches out of this huge ship. There was one 18-inch window where the light could shine in. And Noah went to that window, and he let a raven loose. And the scripture says that the raven went to and fro throughout all the earth, never came back. Can you imagine what those receding waters must have looked like? What the shores of dry land must have looked like as the waters receded as far as the carcasses of dead animals and bodies of men? They would have been everywhere. Plenty of food for the raven to eat on till his heart was content. The raven didn't come back.

Noah went to the window and he sent out a dove. And the scripture says that the dove had no place for the sole of its foot. And it came back to the ark. You see unbelief runs to and fro throughout all the earth. It's satisfied. with what flesh has to offer, not knowing that that which is of the flesh is flesh and that the flesh profiteth nothing. They that are after the flesh, they do mind the things of the flesh. That's what unbelief does.

Child of God, you know that's a part of you. You've mined the things of the flesh. And yet, thank God, you're able to say, the Spirit of God has shown me that there's no profit in that. There's no life. There's no peace. There's no forgiveness. There's no joy. There's no grace in all the things that my flesh would pursue in this world. I've got to hear from God. And the only way I'm gonna hear from God is if I return to the ark. I've gotta come back. The raven can fly to and fro throughout all the earth seeking the word of God. I know where the word of God is. The word of God is Christ. I must come back to him. I must have Christ.

Lord, speak to my heart. Lord, reveal yourself to me again, and again, and again. We hear religious people say, well, I got saved, or I came to Jesus, or I did this, or I, and they're talking about a past experience, and the child of God says, like Peter, to whom coming. Coming. I can take no comfort in a past experience. I cannot feed my soul off of yesterday's manna. I've got to have manna fresh today. Lord, I've run to and fro. I've wandered from sea to sea. I've gone from the north even to the east. And like the fair virgins and the young men, I've fainted. I have fainted. And Lord, now I have no place else to go. I've got to have you. Lord, open my ears. Speak to my heart. Make your word effectual. And above all, Don't send a famine of hearing to me.