You Have Been Warned | Pastor Karl Lindquist

Amos brings a warning that sounds strange at first: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord.” The day of the Lord is not treated like a little religious slogan to throw at enemies. Amos says that day is darkness and not light for people who are not ready to stand in what they are asking for.

God is not warning pagans here. God is warning Israel itself, the people showing up with songs, offerings, worship, and all the right religious activity. Amos aims the word at people who believe what God says but are not living like it. The warning lands in the house, not outside the house.

God says, “Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs.” The noise of songs becomes a terrible picture of worship that is not really being offered to God. Religious activity can become a way of saying, “I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, so I’m good,” but God is not asking for empty performance. God wants praise because He is who He says He is, the Creator, the living God, the One whose light has no darkness in it.

The day of the Lord exposes presumption. Israel assumed judgment was coming for enemies, but Amos shows that the people were calling destruction down on themselves. The right side of what is coming is not “my side.” God’s side is the right side, and there is no safe place sitting on the fence.

God’s warnings call for attention and obedience. When God says go, speak, move, or stop, obedience matters even when the reason is not clear. Delay can cost something. Not paying attention may bring injury, correction, or consequences, yet God can still use even a bruise to keep a person out of worse trouble.

Amos does not leave justice as a threat only. “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everlasting stream” shows that God’s justice is better than no justice at all. Christ’s blood gives righteousness. His death and resurrection make God’s people clean, and the empty grave proves that the Savior lives.

Peter says the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Paul speaks of a crown of righteousness for those who love His appearing. The same day brings two outcomes: darkness for presumption, a crown for those walking with Him. The question is not when it is coming. The question is which side a person is on when it arrives, because then there will be no time to answer for the first time.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God warns religious people first. Amos does not aim the warning at outsiders who never claimed God. The word lands on people with songs, offerings, and worship in their mouths, because religious motion can hide a heart that is not listening. God’s correction often begins where His name is already being spoken, because presumption is most dangerous when it dresses itself up as faith. [07:03]
• 2. Empty worship becomes only noise. God’s refusal to hear the songs shows that worship can be present and still not be received. The problem is not melody, volume, or religious effort, but a heart using worship to justify itself instead of honoring God. Praise becomes true when it rises from surrender to who God is, not from bargaining for what a person wants. [09:10]
• 3. Obedience matters before understanding. God’s command does not always arrive with an explanation attached. Delayed obedience can miss the moment God intended, and the cost may only become clear after the chance is gone. Trust learns to move when God speaks, because God sees the whole road while a person sees only the next step. [12:32]
• 4. There is no fence with God. The image of sitting on a picket fence makes the warning plain: divided loyalty is not a safe middle place. God’s side is the only right side, and slipping in compromise brings wounds that could have been avoided. The day of the Lord will not honor religious assumptions, only the reality of where a life has been standing. [21:06]
• 5. Readiness is obedience now. The day of the Lord is certain, but the timing is not given. Readiness is not date-setting, fear, or last-minute repentance, but walking with Christ before the day arrives. When that day comes, the question of allegiance will already have been answered by the life that was lived. [47:08]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:32] - Running Aware and Being Warned
• [02:30] - Amos the Ordinary Messenger
• [03:47] - Woe to Those Desiring the Day
• [07:03] - A Warning for God’s Own People
• [09:10] - Songs God Refuses to Hear
• [12:04] - Obedience When God Says Go
• [20:34] - Presumption and God’s Side
• [30:26] - Justice Like Ever-Flowing Water
• [33:36] - Religion, Righteousness, and Christ’s Blood
• [39:19] - The Day Comes Like a Thief
• [41:03] - A Crown for Those Who Love His Appearing
• [44:40] - New Creatures Ready for That Day
• [50:24] - Submit to God and Resist
• [52:32] - Ready by Obedience Now

Bible Reading

Amos 5:18
“Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light,” [03:47]

Amos 5:23-24
“Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” [09:23]

2 Peter 3:10
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” [39:27]

2 Timothy 4:8
“Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” [41:20]

Observation questions

1. In Amos 5:18, what two words are used to describe the day of the Lord, and why would that have sounded surprising to people expecting victory over their enemies? [20:34]
2. In Amos 5:23-24, what does God say He does not want from His people, and what does He say He does want instead?
3. What kinds of religious actions were the people still doing even while God was warning them? [08:25]
4. In 2 Peter 3:10 and 2 Timothy 4:8, what are the two very different outcomes tied to “that day”? [43:25]

Interpretation questions

1. If God warns His own people in Amos rather than outsiders, what does that suggest about the danger of religious presumption inside the church? [07:03]
2. God calls their songs “noise.” What makes worship become noise instead of praise that is truly offered to Him? [09:35]
3. If the day of the Lord comes “like a thief,” how should that shape the way a believer thinks about readiness, timing, and daily obedience? [40:42]
4. Paul speaks of a “crown of righteousness” for those who love Christ’s appearing. What does loving His appearing look like in an ordinary life, not just in words? [41:57]

Application questions

1. God’s warning lands on people with songs, offerings, and worship in their mouths. Where might religious routine be tempting someone to assume everything is fine with God when something actually needs to change? [08:03]
2. Worship is not meant to be a way of saying, “I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, so I’m good.” When does that mindset show up most easily in a person’s life—during church, prayer, giving, or somewhere else? [09:46]
3. Obedience often has to come before full understanding. Is there anything God has been pressing on someone here to do, say, stop, or begin, where delay has started to feel easier than obedience? [13:09]
4. There is no fence with God. Where does divided loyalty show up most often right now—in habits, relationships, priorities, entertainment, work, or private thought life? [21:23]
5. The day of the Lord will not be the moment to answer for the first time. If that day came sooner than expected, what in a person’s life would reveal which side he or she has really been standing on? [47:22]
6. Christ gives righteousness through His blood and resurrection, not through human performance. When a person fails, is the deeper instinct to hide behind effort, or to come honestly back to Christ for cleansing and help? [34:17]
7. Readiness is not date-setting but obedience now. What would being more ready this week look like in one concrete area of life? [54:03]