It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for, Lord, that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now, here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled the message
for this morning, A Famine to be Dreaded. I'm going to read
a verse of scripture from the book of Amos, chapter eight,
verse 11. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord God, 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. Now, this is the greatest famine
of all. And God said this is a famine
that I will send as a judgment. A famine of hearing the words
of the Lord. I cannot imagine what it would
be like to be living through a famine. Maybe you've experienced
it. I haven't, but I can't imagine
knowing I wouldn't have anything to eat today and I wouldn't have
anything to eat tomorrow. People dying of malnutrition
and hunger in the time of a famine. And then there's the famine of
water where there wouldn't be enough to drink. And from what
I understand, that would be much more painful than a famine of
hunger. But here, God gives this warning,
I'm going to be sending a famine far greater than a famine of
food or water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. I'm going to be silent. I will
not speak. Now, what led the Lord to make
this statement? In the context, the people were
participating in what is known as the sin of Jeroboam. Let me read verse 14 of this
same chapter. They that swear by the sin of
Samaria and say, thy God, Odan, liveth, the manner of Beersheba
liveth, even they shall fall and shall never rise again. Now
what this is a reference to is the golden calves that Jeroboam
set up in Dan, in Beersheba, in Bethel, in the land of Samaria. 23 or 24 times in the Old Testament
were warned about the sin of Jeroboam. Now what took place
in this sin of Jeroboam? Now this is right after Rehoboam,
the son of Solomon, had been made king and there was a divided
kingdom for the first time. There was Israel and there was
Judah. Rehoboam was the king of Judah, the place where Jerusalem
was, the place where the sacrifice was, the place where all of the
Israelites were commanded to go once a year and show themselves
and present themselves to the Lord. Rehoboam was the king of
Israel. Now when Jeroboam watched the
people going to Jerusalem, he became afraid. He said, all the
people are going to be turned back to Rehoboam and they're
going to be against me and they're going to kill me. So here's what
I'm going to do. I'm going to set up golden calves
in Dan and in Bethel. And I'm going to tell the children
of Israel, it's too much for you to go all the way to Jerusalem.
It's too difficult. It's too expensive a journey.
Let's make it a little bit easier. You can go to Dan instead. You
can go to Bethel instead. It won't be as costly a trip,
and you'll get the same benefit out of it. And this sin was the
measuring stick. as to whether a king was good
or bad, whether or not they sinned according to the sin of Jeroboam.
Now, in what Jeroboam did, you can read about this in 1 Kings
chapter 12, in what he did on the very surface, it was idolatry,
making a golden calf. Now, he didn't say this golden
calf is Jehovah. He said this golden calf represents
Jehovah. But God has made a commandment
against all likenesses of him. It was idolatry on the very surface. And remember, the command of
God was, you go to Jerusalem. This represents Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's one place of God's blessing.
There's one place of God's sacrifice being accepted. That's in Christ,
Jesus, the Lord. It's the gospel. He said, you
go to Jerusalem to offer up your sacrifice and present yourself
before the Lord. Jeroboam said, now, it's OK to
go to Jerusalem. It's fine, but you can go somewhere
else. Also, it's not necessary. He's
taking the necessity out of the gospel, the necessity of hearing
the truth. It's good if you do hear, but
it's not necessary. And he was making a religion
of personal convenience. Personal, no sacrifice involved
is what it is. You don't need to go all the
way to Jerusalem, that's far too costly. Just go to Dan or
Bethel. And this was an abomination to
the Lord, the sin of Jeroboam. And this is what the children
of Israel were participating in at this time. It was idolatry.
It was taking away the necessity of God's work in salvation, the
necessity of Christ. And it was a religion without
sacrifice, without a religion based on personal convenience
and so on. And God said, all right, if that's
the direction you want to go, have at it. I will not speak. I will send a famine of hearing
the words of the Lord. Silence from God. Now that is a famine I dread
above all other famines. Oh, I want to hear from the Lord. I don't want to deal with the
silence of God. But God said in this judgment,
I will send a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Now I want to talk for a moment
about the words of the Lord, or the Word of God. God said,
I'm going to send a famine so you cannot hear the words of
God. What is the Word of God? What
are the words of God? First, the Holy Scriptures, the
Bible. claims to be divinely inspired. It's God's revelation of Himself. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 says, All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And listen to me carefully.
I am to treat the Bible with the same reverence and respect
and awe and fear that I treat God Himself with. If I have the
fear of God, If I have the fear of God, I have the fear of His
Word. I treat the Bible with the same respect, with the same
awe that I do God Himself. This book is the Word of God. It's the divine inspiration. We would not know God apart from
this book. It's the revelation He's given
of Himself. Somebody says, well, I can't
believe the Bible is the completely inspired Word of God. Well, I
do. I do, I know it is. Can I prove
that to you? No, I can't. Do I feel a need
to prove it to you? No, I don't. But I know that
this is the Word of God, and I hope you know it too. And if
you ever know who God is, you'll know that this book is the inspired,
infallible Word of God, the Scriptures. The Word of God is the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He is the Word
of God. We read in Revelation 19 where
he's called the Word of God. He is God's Word. Now what's
going on in my mind, the only way you can know is by the words
that come out of my mouth. Now, Christ Jesus is the Word
of God. All I'm ever going to see of
God is Jesus Christ the Lord. He is the Word of God. And the Word of God is the gospel
message. Now, I can say things about the
Word, the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, from the Word of
God, from the Scriptures, without ever preaching the Word. The
Word is the gospel message. The Word is the Word the message
from the Word, from the written Word of God, which reveals the
living Word of God. Paul said to Timothy, preach
the Word. Now I want to show you a scripture
where the Word is used in all three of these senses in 1 Peter
chapter 1. Peter said in verse 23 of 1 Peter
chapter 1, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever." Now, that's the Lord Jesus Christ who gives life. He's the incorruptible Word.
He's the one who gives life. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which lives
and abides forever. The Lord said the Son quickens.
He gives life to whom He will. And then He quotes a passage
from the written Word out of Isaiah chapter 44. All flesh
is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower
thereof falls away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word, this is
the message which by the gospel is preached unto you. Now salvation
comes through the word of God. In John chapter 6, we read of
some people after hearing the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. They said in verse 60, many therefore
of his disciples, when they'd heard this, said, this is an
hard saying. Word is the same word. This is
a hard word. Who can hear it? Who can be expected
to listen to such harsh teaching as this? And that's how they
viewed the teaching of our Lord. Harsh and inhumane, that's what
the word means, unsympathetic toward humanity. Who can listen
to stuff like this? Now that's a horrible way to
look at the words of the Lord. He came to save sinners and they
listen to what He says and says, this is bad stuff. We don't like
this. Now look what our Lord says.
When Jesus knew it Himself that His disciples murmured at it,
He said unto them, Doth this offend you? What, if ye shall
see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before? If you're
offended by what I've said now, you're really going to be offended
when you see me seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling
and reigning. Now, listen to what he says about
his word. It's the spirit that quickeneth. God, the Holy Spirit
gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The
flesh has nothing to do with spiritual quickening. The words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. James 1.18 says, Of his own will
begat he us through the word of truth. Romans 10.17 says,
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Now, the word of God, the words
of the Lord, I cannot be saved if I do not hear and believe
and receive the word of God. And the Lord says, I'm going
to send a famine of the words. of the Lord. Now, hearing the
words of the Lord. Hearing the words of the Lord. Now this means much more than
hearing the audible sound. The word hearing is usually translated
obey or obedient. Being obedient to God's word. It's to hear with obedience.
It's to hear with discernment. It's to hear with understanding. Do you remember when God said
to Solomon in 1 Kings 3, ask what you will and I'll give it
to you. Whatever it is you want, ask
me for it and you'll have it. And Solomon made this one request. He said, give me an understanding
heart. And that word understanding is
the same word that's translated hearing. Give me a hearing heart,
a heart that hears what you say. Like Samuel, speak Lord, thy
servant heareth. The word of God will not do me
any good if I do not hear it. Now, what does it take? to hear
the Word of God. Well, the Lord said to the Pharisees
in John chapter 8 verse 43, why do you not understand my speech?
Because you cannot hear my Word. You lack the ability to hear
my Word. For me to be able to truly hear
the Word of God, He's going to have to enable me. If He leads
me to myself, I will not hear. In John chapter 8, verse 47,
he said, He that's of God, heareth God's word. You therefore hear
them not, because you're not of God. You see, if I'm of God,
I will hear what God says. Now, how many times did the Lord
say to his disciples, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Not everybody has ears to hear.
Oh, if you have ears to hear, Let him hear. It was the good
ground hearer who heard the Word and understood. You see, this
is hearing. It's hearing with understanding.
Not just hearing the sound, but hearing with understanding. Now,
what does it mean to hear with understanding? Now, everything
God has revealed is His Word. How He saves sinners. The Gospel. For instance, the great doctrine
of justification. Justification by faith. That
means that I am brought into a state of justification before
God. God justifies me. He makes it
to where I'm not guilty, and this is His work and His work
alone. There's nothing I can do to justify
myself. I'm totally dependent upon Him
to justify me. Now, I see that that's the teaching
of the Scripture, but not only do I see it's the teaching of
the Scripture, I understand my need of God to justify me. election. There's another great
Bible doctrine. God chose who would be saved
before time began. Now, I see that that's the teaching
of the scripture, but I understand that I need for God to choose
me for me to be saved. The atonement of Christ. I understand
somewhat of the fact that God can't accept me unless my sins
are atoned for by the blood of Christ. But I see my need of
the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. I see my need of Christ
to die for me. And if you tell me that he can
die for somebody and they wind up in hell anyway, even though
he paid for their sins, you've taken away the only hope I have
because I see my need of the blood of Christ as everything.
I hear with understanding the good ground here. heard with
understanding, and brought forth fruit. The Lord said, My sheep,
hear My voice." I want to be one of His sheep, don't you?
And hear His voice. Now, God says, I will send a famine. Not of
bread, not of water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And this
is the famine to be dreaded above all famines. Now, I can't help
but wonder how much of this famine is going on in our day. Now, there's plenty of religious
voices, but they're not from God. They
don't speak according to the truth. And it seems, in large
measure, God has sent this famine in our day. A famine of hearing
the words of the Lord. Oh, there's plenty of religion.
There's plenty of entertainment. There's plenty of foolishness.
There's plenty of man-made, self-righteous religion. But, oh, to hear the
words of the Lord. Now, God can send a famine to
the world. What about the days of Doa? Eight
people were saved. The rest of the world were drowned
and judged by God. Somebody says, literally? Yes,
literally. An entire nation can be under
the judgment of God. And God sends a famine in the
land. It can happen to a nation. It
can happen to a city. There may be a city where the
gospel is not preached. Oh, there's plenty of religion,
plenty of buildings that go under the name of churches, but the
gospel of God's grace, His sovereign grace in Christ Jesus is not
preached. You know, religious assemblies,
didn't the Lord warn the church at Ephesus, I'm going to remove
your candlestick if you don't repent. What about During Eli's
time when the ark was taken and Eli's daughter said, Ichabod,
the glory has departed. The ark is gone. God's presence
is gone. God can leave a place as a judgment
and send a famine in the land. The machinery may keep going
on, but the gospel is no longer there. And this famine can happen
to an individual. We can become dull in hearing. as the writer to the Hebrews
warns us, and gradually and imperceptibly we'll lose our discernment and
we won't be able to tell the difference between God's words
and the words of men. We won't be able to tell the
difference between law and grace, between faith and works. There's nothing much more scary
than the silence of God. Oh, I don't want him to leave
me to myself. Lord, speak to me from your word. Don't let me have this famine
that you warn of. You know, after Malachi, God
went 400 years without giving a prophetic word until John the
Baptist. Now, let me show you some warnings
in the scripture regarding this thing of God ceasing to speak. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2,
I want you to listen to the language real carefully. Now Paul was
warning about the coming of Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
He says in verse 9, even him whose coming is after the working
of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders. Now a false prophet, the messenger
of Satan, has power and signs and lying wonders. People will
be impressed with what he does. Verse 10, and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish, Because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. They didn't
receive the love of what God says. It didn't come as good
news to them. They didn't see it as wonderful. Verse 11, for
this cause, God shall send them strong delusion. Who sends this
delusion? God does. Why? that they all
might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure. in unrighteousness. Now, if I
do not receive the love of the truth, the Scripture says that
God will send me strong delusion. He'll let me be fooled. He'll
let me be deceived as a judgment against me for not receiving
the love of how He saves sinners by His grace. Now, He can also
cease to send true God-called preachers. I want to read a passage
of Scripture in Romans chapter 10. Now, this thing of preaching,
understand this. If I'm a true preacher, that
means God has sent me. Not man, but God. A preacher is a man sent from
God with a message from God. That's what preaching is. God
has manifested His Word through preaching, which is committed
to my trust. Now, listen to this scripture
in Romans chapter 10. How then shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? God can refuse to send a true
preacher, a true prophet, someone who brings the Word of God. It
may be a man-sent preacher, a mama-sent preacher, a church-sent preacher,
a seminary-sent preacher, but that preacher's not going to
do anybody any good. The only preacher who's going to do anybody
any good is a God-called, God-sent preacher. He can remove his hand
on us. In this thing of a famine from
hearing the words of the Lord, he can remove his hand so that
we can't even hear the truth preached. It may be being preached,
but we don't understand, we don't discern, we can't hear. Let me
read a passage of scripture from Matthew chapter 13, beginning
in verse 9. This is right after the Lord
had given the parable of the sower in Matthew chapter 13.
And he said, Who hath ears to hear? Let him hear. And the disciples
came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And
he answered and said unto them, Because it's given to you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Now, if you believe
the gospel, it's been given to you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, the mysteries of how God saves sinners by Christ,
the mysteries of justification, the mysteries of union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. If you're a believer, it's been
given to you to know these mysteries. But let's go on reading. But
to them, it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing,
see not." And hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says,
By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand. And seeing
you shall see, but shall not perceive. For the people's heart
is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. And their
eyes, if they close less than any time, they should see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with
their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Now the
Lord can make it to where you and I are dull of hearing and
are unable to hear the gospel. He can remove His hand from me
to where I don't even care whether or not I hear the Word of God
or not. I can become indifferent toward the things of God. Now,
that scares me to death. Where the Lord said, I'm going
to sin to famine, not of bread nor of water, but of hearing
the words of God. Now, how does that affect me
when I hear this? Well, it makes me cry out from
my heart, oh, give me a true appreciation and love and understanding
of Your Word. Cause me to hear. Cause me to bow. Cause me to
believe Thy Word. You know, the gospel is called
the hearing of faith. And the best thing that can ever
happen to me is to become a true hearer of the Word of God. And the highest thing I can aspire
to is to be a true hearer of the Word of God. Speak, Lord,
thy servant here. Give me your word. And give me
the grace to receive it. Give me the grace to love it.
Give me the grace to bow to it. Give me the grace to believe
all that you say. Now, I've had people ask me this
question so many times. How much does a man have to believe
to be saved? Or what does a man have to know
to be saved? Beloved, you have to believe everything God says.
It doesn't matter what it is. You have to believe everything
God says And I have to bow to everything God says. Here is the famine to be dreaded,
to be avoided. Oh, Lord, don't send this famine
of hearing the words of the Lord, but grant us your word graciously
for Christ's sake. To request a copy of the sermon
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