MICAH 4-7 WALK IN THE NAME OF GOD2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Micah 4-7 Walk In The Name Of God

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011.

As we pick it up in Micah chapter 4, we studied the first three chapters last week and we saw that Micah was ministering to the nation of Judah. And the work that he had to do or the work that he was doing was effective because it was taking place in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah.

And we saw from the reference from Jeremiah as well as the references there in Kings that as Micah was prophesying, there was a revival that took place and people were brought back to the Lord and came back to right relationship with Him, to worship Him and to participate in the things that were happening in the temple. The temple was restored and the doors were reopened and there was a mighty revival that took place as Micah was ministering.

And so the Lord used this man and his words to be effective there in the nation of Judah.

And so now as we continue on in chapter 4, we'll see the rest of his message to the nation and the other things he has to say. He's looking through much of it into the distant future, even future for us today during the millennium kingdom when Jesus rules and reigns here on the earth and some of the things that will be happening just prior to that. And so we'll get to see some of the things that God has in store.

But as we pick it up in Micah chapter 4, let's read verses 1 through 5. It says this, Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it.

Many nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree.

And no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk, each in the name of his God. But we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

Here as we look at the first five verses here of Micah chapter 4, we're looking at, as I said, something that's yet future, something that is yet to take place even as we study it today. And that's not very hard to discern or to understand because, well, verse 2 is not happening, right? Verse 2 says that many nations will come and say, let's go to the mountain of the Lord. He will teach us His ways.

That's not happening today. That's not happened throughout history where the world has decided, yes, we're going to go to Jerusalem and we're going to learn from God and He's going to teach us His ways. That is something that is going to take place after Jesus returns, after the second coming of Jesus.

Now you and I as believers, we're looking for the rapture of the church, but if you remember the chronology of the end times events, the thing that we're looking forward to is the rapture, but after the rapture takes place, then the world is going to go through seven years of tribulation, seven years of trouble like it's never seen before. And at the end of that seven year tribulation period, Jesus will return and that's referred to as the second coming.

The rapture of the church is not the second coming because Jesus doesn't actually set foot on the earth. He actually is in the clouds and then Paul says we are caught up to meet Him in the clouds. And so that's something different, the rapture of the church where we're caught up to meet with Him. And the second coming is when He returns and He actually sets foot upon the earth. And as He sets foot upon the earth, He actually establishes a kingdom here on the earth

And He rules and He reigns there in Jerusalem for 1,000 years. That's called the millennium. And that's the time period that Micah is talking about here. It's during that time that all the nations will flock to Jerusalem to hear the Lord speak, to learn His ways, to walk with Him. It's going to be a glorious time there as Jesus rules and reigns on the earth.

Verse 3, we have some more insight that it's not yet been fulfilled because it says that they won't learn war anymore. They'll take their plows, their swords and their spears and beat them into plows and make them farming instruments rather than war instruments. And that hasn't taken place yet. War has not ceased. But when Jesus rules and reigns, then war will cease and there will be peace.

upon the earth as Jesus reigns. He says in verse 4 that there's going to be a fruitfulness. Everybody is going to sit under their vine and no one will make them afraid. And then he says in verse 5 something very important. He says, For all people walk, each in the name of his God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. As we consider verse 5, I would encourage you to consider that

The things that Micah declares here in Micah chapter 4 verses 1 through 5 are for the millennium, they're yet future. But for you and I as believers, there's a spiritual aspect to these things that we can walk in, we can enjoy today. That there is a spiritual peace that you and I have in Jesus Christ. When He rules and reigns in our hearts...

just as He will rule and reign here on the earth in that day, when He rules and reigns in our hearts, there is a peace upon us. There is a peace within us that cannot be matched, that has never been seen in anything else before. When He rules in our hearts, there is a fruitfulness in our lives. As Jesus said in John chapter 15, if you abide in Him, you'll bear much fruit. And so there is a fruitfulness in our lives today,

When we allow Him to rule and to reign in our hearts. And so I want to encourage you this evening as we look at verse 5 with this statement. He says, all people walk each in the name of His God. And I want to challenge you this evening to consider, is Jesus Christ ruling and reigning in your heart? Is He on the throne?

Is there that peace and that fruitfulness and that desire to go to the Lord and for Him to teach you His ways? Is that taking place in your heart? Because it shows whether or not He is on the throne. He is ruling in your heart. He makes a statement though that's really important. He says, all people walk each in the name of His God.

Everybody is walking according to their God. Everybody lives their life according to the God that they worship. Everybody does. There's no exceptions to this. Everybody worships a God and everybody lives their life according to that God that they worship. The God that we worship may not be the God that we proclaim or say that we worship because the evidence of who we worship is really proven in our lives.

And the way that we walk shows who our God is. And so you are walking in the name of your God. So the challenge is, the question is, who is your God? What does your life show? What does your walk show? Which God are you serving? And who is it?

That you are living for. And of course this evening I want to encourage you and I want to challenge you to make sure that that God is Jesus Christ. That you're fully surrendered to Him. That you're fully submitted to Him. And that you've given Him complete authority, complete freedom to reign in your life. And so as you think about that, as you meditate there on verse 5, let's just worship the Lord for a moment here on...

Giving God our hearts.

All I have within, I give you free. And all that I adore is in you. Lord, I give you my heart. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul.

I live for you alone. Every breath that I take. Every moment I'm awake. Have your way in me. All people walk, each in the name of his God. But we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

You know, we rearranged the sanctuary this evening so that you could have a little bit more space in front of your chairs. And so as we continue in worship, as we sing this one more time, I just want to encourage you, if this is something God's working in your heart and you want to really make sure that He's your God and He's prompting you,

Then there's room there. You can get on your knees. You can spend time just between you and the Lord. The guys are going to dim the lights. So we just have an intimate time. Just drown out everybody else. Forget about who's around you or what people might think. But really let these words and these lyrics really mean it. Mean it from your heart. Let this be your prayer, your desire. That He would have your heart. That you would walk.

in His ways forever and ever. So just be led by the Lord as you worship and be obedient to what He prompts in your heart to kneel down, to stand, to lift your arms, to give yourself to Him completely and wholly. This is my desire to honor you

Lord, with all my heart, I worship You. All I have within me, give You praise.

All that I adore is in You Lord, I give You my heart

♪ Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my soul. ♪ ♪ I live for you alone, every breath that I take, ♪ ♪ every moment I'm awake. ♪ ♪ Lord, have your way in me, ♪

Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my soul. I live for you alone, every breath that I take.

Every moment I'm awake Lord have your way in me Lord I give you my heart I give you my soul I live for you alone Every breath that I take

Every moment I'm awake. Have your way. So Lord, we do pray that you would have your way in us. Lord, that you would be our God. And Lord, that we would walk in your ways and walk according to your name forever and ever. Lord, we commit ourselves to you. And we ask, Lord, Lord, that you would receive our hearts as we deliver them to you.

Lord, that You would work and that You would transform us. Lord, that You would teach us Your ways. Lord, that You would produce the fruit that You declared would be produced as we walk with You. Lord, that You would cover us, Lord, with the peace that passes all understanding as we surrender to You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As we continue now in Micah chapter 4, we pick it up in verse 6.

So I know that's a little different, right? And you're like, well, aren't we supposed to do more songs? Are you teaching? Are you doing worship? Make up your mind, Jerry. So the Lord just wants to shake things up. And He likes to do that every once in a while. And this isn't because this is what I want to do, but really this is what the Lord said to do. I'd rather do service the routine way. But God wants to check our hearts. He wants to challenge us. And so I want to encourage you this evening, don't fight it.

Just embrace what God wants to do and respond as He speaks to your heart. As we look at His Word, as we spend time in worship, just respond as God is speaking to you and let Him do the fullness of the work that He wants to do in our hearts.

When Micah was sharing these things in his day, it brought about a mighty revival because the people responded to the Word. And so I want to encourage you to do the same. Let's start a revival in our hearts this evening by responding to the Word of God. Well, as we're here in Micah chapter 4...

We pick it up now in verse 6. It says,

Even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished? For pangs have seized you like a woman in labor. Be in pain and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city. You shall dwell in the field and to Babylon you shall go.

There you shall be delivered. There the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. Now also many nations have gathered against you, who say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand His counsel. For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Here as we finish up chapter 4, there's a few different things happening.

We just saw God was looking towards the millennium and the future work that He will do when He establishes His kingdom here upon the earth. Verses 6-8 is continuing that. He talks about making the lame a remnant and the outcast a strong nation. The children of Israel, as Micah is sharing these things, in the not too distant future, they're going to be conquered by Babylon. And they're going to go into captivity.

And they will come back, but there's a regathering of the people that is promised in the Word of God that will not be fulfilled until that 1,000 year reign of Christ.

And so what God is saying here is, during that time, the children of Israel are going to be scattered. There's many of them now back in the land of Israel, but they're still scattered all over the earth. There's much more trouble coming with the tribulation period, which the children of Israel will go through, and they'll be scattered once again. And God says, the remnant, the few that are left, the few that are survived,

The outcast of His people, He will make into a strong nation. And so He will gather His people from all over the earth back to Israel in that day and they will become a strong nation. They'll become the center really of the earth, the capital of the earth as Jesus establishes His throne there. And so God is going to do a great work of regathering and glory there

But he's going on to point out before that happens, before that takes place, you're going to have some difficulty and some judgment as a consequence of your disobedience and rebellion against me.

And so he asks in verse 9, why are you crying aloud? Why? Well, because their kings have perished. Their leaders, even though they have kings on the throne, they're really not leading the people. And if they are leading the people, it's leading them away from God and leading them into more and more destruction. And so in verse 10, he talks about this pain and this labor, like bringing forth a child, that they're experiencing these pains,

As they're beginning now to experience the judgments of God as a result of their rebellion against Him. And so He says in verse 10, to Babylon you shall go. He says, you are going to go into captivity. You are going to experience judgment and consequences for your rebellion against Me. But I will bring you back and I will establish you. So it's not that I'm done with you, I'm not finished with you, I haven't given up on you.

But I'm going to allow this to take place, to deal with the issues of your heart. And then I'm going to bring you back. You're going to be scattered, captives in Babylon. But I'll bring you back. In verse 11, he talks about many nations gathering against Israel. And that's happened throughout Israel's history, even today. The nations want to wipe out Israel. They want to get rid of Israel.

But he points out in verse 12, but they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand His counsel. And so God says, they don't know. They come against you because they don't know Me. They don't know My thoughts about you. They don't know that you're My people, that I gave you this land, and it's yours by right, because Me as the Creator has given it to you. And so no matter what they do, no matter what they claim, that land belongs to Israel.

But they don't know the thoughts of the Lord. Essentially, God is telling them, you can do this the easy way or the hard way to the nation of Israel. He says, look, you can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can turn and get right with me and I'll do a work in your midst or you can continue on as you are. You're going to be scattered. You're going to go to Babylon. You're going to experience affliction and captivity and destruction but I'll bring you back.

Now the nation of Judah chose the hard way. Although there was a revival in Hezekiah's day, they didn't pass it on to their children. And so the next generation began to walk away from the Lord. But the interesting thing that I see here is it looks at kind of this big picture of what God's doing with Israel is that even though they rebelled against God, it did not change God's ultimate plan for them.

God didn't give up and say, never mind, I'm not going to reign here on the earth for a thousand years. I'm not going to regather you. I'm going to give up on the plan that I had for you. It didn't change God's plan. God's still promising, I'm going to make this happen. It's going to take place. And so they are still going to experience God's plan, but the difference is, it cost them greatly along the way. And you and I as children of God,

We need to know that God has some great plans for us. Right? We often quote Jeremiah 29 11 where God says, I know the thoughts I have towards you. I know the thoughts I think towards you to give you a future and a hope, not of evil, but of peace. God has a plan for your life. But like Israel, you can do it the easy way or you can do it the hard way. You can do it with great cost along the way.

Because you're insisting on rebelling against God. Or you can submit to Him and surrender to Him now. And experience the plan of God without having to pay those penalties for rebelling against Him. Well, now we go on into chapter 5, verse 1. It says, Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

Verse 1.

Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel, and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide. For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and this one shall be peace. Here as we head into chapter 5, he now begins to talk about the Savior that will come.

And so he's talking about the future kingdom that will be ruled by the Savior, by Jesus. He talks about in between there's going to be some affliction and trouble because of their rebellion against God. But in the midst of that, he's going to bring forth a Savior. And he declares where the Savior will come from, where the Savior will be born there in verse 2. He says the Savior will be born in Bethlehem.

In Bethlehem, Ephrathah. Ephrathah is another name for Bethlehem, the region that it's in. And so, he's identifying a very specific place, a very small city where the Messiah would come from. And I'm sure you're familiar with the Christmas story and you know that in Matthew chapter 2, the religious leaders quote this verse saying,

When Herod asked them where the Messiah is going to be born. And they say, well, everybody knows that. He's going to be born in Bethlehem. Can anybody tell me where Jesus was born? In Bethlehem. It was a trick question, sorry. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, exactly where God promised that the Messiah would come from.

In a very small city, not a big place, not like Los Angeles, not even like Norco. It'd be like a very little... We used to travel, when we would go down the 40 when I was a kid, there was a place called Nothing Arizona, population 4. That's kind of like how Bethlehem would be. I mean, it was a very small place.

But that's where God said the Messiah would come from. And that's where Jesus was born. He says that the Messiah will come, the Savior will come through Bethlehem. He says, the one to be ruler in Israel. So the one who's going to rule and reign for that thousand years, that person is going to come from Bethlehem. But notice the end of verse 2. "...whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."

Here God is highlighting for us. He's making it clear. The person who comes from Bethlehem did not begin in Bethlehem. The person who comes from Bethlehem, this Savior that God promised, is from everlasting. That it's not just someone who was born and that began their existence like you and I.

But it's someone who has always existed. It's a highlight for us of the reality that Jesus Christ is God. That yes, He was born in Bethlehem, but that's not when He began. When did He begin? Well, He has no beginning, because He is God. He's the Creator, the Everlasting God. He's from Everlasting, God says.

And so it says in verse 3 that the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel and He'll stand and feed His flock. And so it's this Savior that is coming from Bethlehem that will rule and reign for a thousand years. It's this Savior that will feed and take care of the flock. And again, He's looking forward to that thousand year reign where Jesus physically is there with the people.

ministering to them and meeting their needs. Now again, as we look forward to those things, I would encourage you with the reality that this is what Jesus does for us spiritually today though. When He is our Savior, when He is our ruler, then He is shepherding us and He is meeting our needs. He is feeding us and taking care of us, providing for us and protecting us.

And so it's an encouragement once again to make sure that Jesus is your Lord, that He is your ruler, that He is on the throne of your life.

Well, we continue on with the rest of verse 5 through 9. It says, "...when the Assyrian comes into our land and when he treads our palaces, then we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight princely men. They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. Thus he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders."

Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass that tarry for no man, nor wait for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, both treads down and tears in pieces, and none can deliver."

Here in verses 5-9 we see a great reversal taking place.

Right now, the nation of Israel is being attacked and taken advantage of continually. And they're trying to rip, really rip off the nation of Israel and take the land from them. They're persecuting and afflicting Israel from all sides and all kinds of nations are against them as we saw earlier.

But now there's going to be a reversal that takes place. Again, looking forward to this millennial kingdom. That when Jesus is there, when the kingdom is established, Israel will be the stronghold. And right now...

They're like sheep. They're under attack. They seem to be defenseless against these monstrous nations around them. But God says it'll turn around there. In verse 8, He says it'll be like a young lion among flocks of sheep. But the people of Israel, as they go out into the nations, everybody's going to be like, ooh, don't mess with them. They're God's people.

Right now, it's like everybody get them. That's the way that the nations are. They're against the Jews. But in that day, there's going to be a reversal. And they're going to realize these are God's people. We dare not touch them. We dare not mess with them. They'll be like a lion amongst sheep. You ever seen a sheep pick on a lion? You know, pick a fight with a lion? No. No.

No way. That's the way it's going to be in that day where God lifts up and honors His people. He's made these great promises to them and He says, your enemies are going to be cut off. Everybody who comes against you, they're going to be cut off. They won't stand a chance. God promises great protection upon the people.

We're going on in verse 10. He says, And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that I will cut off your horses from your midst and destroy your chariots. I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds. I will cut off your sorceries from your hand and you shall have no soothsayers. Your carved images I will also cut off and your sacred pillars from your midst

You shall no more worship the work of your hands. I will pluck your wooden images from your midst. Thus I will destroy your cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury. Notice this last portion. It says, On the nations that have not heard. God pronounces this cutting off, this destruction upon the nations who have not heard.

During that time, when Jesus returns, there's going to be a great destruction upon the nations that have not heard. Now this is not that they've not heard like they've never heard the message, but not heard in the sense that they've not obeyed.

They heard, it went in one ear and out the other. But they didn't respond, they didn't obey the message. They didn't obey what God had declared. That's the state of the nations today. They have not heard. And so God says, I'm going to cut off from you everything that you trust in. I mean, look at these things that our nation trusts in, all nations trust in. Cities, horses, chariots, horses.

Those were their instruments of war in those days. He says, you're trusting in those things? I'm going to cut them off from you. Your cities where you find safety, where you're comforted,

You have all this nice luxury and provision. I'm going to cut that off from you. Your sorceries, your soothsayers, the divinations and the things of seeking the spirits and even sorceries can be a reference many times as well to drugs and alcohol and that type of abuse.

I'm going to cut off those things from you, God says. I'm going to cut off your sacred images or pillars, the things that you're worshipping. Remember, each one walks according to their God. God says, I'm going to cut off those gods from you. I'm going to execute vengeance, He says in verse 15, on the nations that have not heard.

Again, it's the nations who have not obeyed. Jesus is going to be dealing with the nations that have not responded to Him and He's going to purge them of the things that they've trusted in instead of God. And once again, this is something that is yet future that's going to take place literally, physically, here in this earth. But there's also a reality to these things for us spiritually.

As I shared in verse 5 of chapter 4, we all walk in the name of our God. And we can tell who our God is by the way that we walk, by the way that we live. And you can rest assured, if you've given your life to the Lord, you can rest assured, you can guarantee that when you begin to walk after other gods, here verses 10 through 15, is going to take place in your life. God will cut off from you those things that you trust in instead of Him.

He'll take them away. If you start holding on to, if you start trusting in, if you start following after another God, it will come to a point where God says, I'm taking it away. I'm casting down that idol, that sacred pillar, so that you remember that I am the true and living God. And so it's a reality that will take place when Jesus returns, but it's also a reality that takes place spiritually for you and I.

And again, it's a call for us to make sure that we hear. Those who do not hear, as God is speaking, as we have these studies on Wednesday evenings and God speaks to your heart throughout the week in your devotions and you do not hear, you do not obey and you do not respond to what He's speaking to your heart. God says, if you don't respond, I'm going to cut it off from you. I'm going to cast it down. I'm going to bring destruction upon it so that you remember that I am the Lord.

But we don't have to wait until then and experience that destruction and devastation. We can respond right now and hear and say, yes, I surrender it to you. I give it all to you. Let's continue on into chapter 6.

Verse 1 it says,

Here in chapter 6, there's a proclamation now. Hey, listen up everybody. Specifically, listen up you mountains. And God is calling the mountains of Israel to be witnesses against Israel. It's like a courtroom scene and He's calling, He's summoning Israel to court. And He calls the mountains as witnesses against Israel. As witnesses of the complaint that the Lord has against His people.

What is his complaint? Verse 3. O my people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against me. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt. I redeemed you from the house of bondage. And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak, king of Moab, counseled.

And what Balaam, the son of Baor, answered him from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord. What's God's complaint? As he calls the mountains to be witnesses against Israel, his complaint is, he's done nothing wrong. And yet they've turned against him. He says, what have I done to you?

What have I done to you that you've dealt with me so treacherously? What have I done to you that you've turned against me and that you've not walked with me? He says, how have I wearied you? Testify against me. He's giving the people opportunity. You tell me, what have I done wrong? God says. And of course, the obvious answer is God has done nothing wrong. In fact, He's done the opposite. In verse 4, He says, I brought you from the land of Egypt.

I delivered you from bondage. Now he's talking to the nation, but let God speak to your heart this evening. What has he done wrong against you that you have not surrendered your life to him completely? That you've allowed these other things to occupy his place. What has God done wrong? What has God done against you? That you're not fully surrendered to him. God would say to you, I delivered you from bondage, just like he delivered his people.

I sent my son to die upon the cross for you that you could be delivered from sin, that you could be set free, that you could have eternal life. What have I done wrong? How have I wearied you? God would ask us. He calls him to remember there in verse 5 what Balak, the king of Moab, was counseled, what Balaam told him. Remember, Balak hired Balaam to cast a curse upon the people and he could not curse the people.

And so in frustration, and because Balaam wanted to get some money because his God was not the creator of the universe, Balaam says, okay, give me some money and I'll teach you. We can't curse them. I'll teach you how to make them curse themselves. And how did he do that? He told them, hey, get your girls, send them down there, seduce them, get them involved in sexual immorality. And as they rebel against God,

then they'll experience the consequences and judgment that come with that. We can't curse them, but they can curse themselves by living in disobedience. God says, look at that account that you may know the righteousness of the Lord. You see, God is righteous. And God was protecting His people. And they could not be cursed. They could not be touched. He protected them. But they experienced destruction not because God fell short,

But because they turned in rebellion. And they lived in disobedience. And they disregarded the word of God. And they brought upon themselves destruction and judgment. And so he's calling the people to testify. What is it that I've done? He says, look, I've done nothing. Even this pagan king Balak knows that I protected you. And no one could curse you. Nothing could touch you. Until you started walking in disobedience. Verse 6.

Here the people are responding. With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousands rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? And so the people are responding to God here in this portion. And essentially what they're saying is,

You require too much, Lord. It's ridiculous what you require. What sacrifice could we bring? You see, they're not saying, we've not sinned against you. They're saying, we've sinned so greatly, there's nothing we can do. We gave up. What could we do? 10,000 offerings? Is that what you want? We could try to bring that. Or rivers of oil? You want us to bring that kind of sacrifices? They are...

Kind of like what we talked about on Sunday. They're trying to relate to God on the basis of a system. Our sin is bad, so one offering isn't going to do it. How about two offerings? How about a thousand offerings? Will that satisfy you? It's kind of sarcastic. It's kind of, well, they're coming against God and saying, you require too much. What sacrifice can we bring? Can we offer our firstborn? Will that satisfy you? They're saying, God, you require way too much and we can't do it.

We can't fulfill what you've asked of us. But God responds in verse 8 with a verse I'm sure you're familiar with. He says, He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

You see, they're looking to try to answer God with some type of system. Okay, let's just throw a bunch of offerings and sacrifices at our sin condition. But they're not considering the reality that they need to change. They're not repenting of their sin. They're just saying, well, let's just make some offerings. Let's just, you know, have some great sacrifice. But God says, look, what I want from you, you know, I've already shown you. It's simple. It's not complicated. It's not complicated.

It's not some humongous sacrifice. I'm not asking for you to give me your firstborn and offer them on the altar. By the way, that's what some of the pagan gods that they would worship, those gods did require their children. And they would offer their children on these altars and sacrifice them to these false gods. God says, I didn't require that of you. I've never required that of you. Here's what I require of you. Three things. Do justly. That is, do what's right.

Do what is fair. In regards to the things of God, do what's right. In regards to the people around you, do what's right. You see, they were not treating each other according to what was right. They were ripping each other off and taking advantage of each other and seeking to gain from each other, the people around them. They were not doing justly.

But instead of repenting and doing justly, they said, well, we'll just offer some sacrifices. We'll just be very religious. God says, here's what I require. Do what's right. Do justly. Live it out. Don't just make sacrifices. Then secondly, He says, love mercy. Have mercy on people. Again, we talked about this on Sunday with the religious leaders who they'd lost sight of God's mercy. And they wanted to...

hold to the system that they built, they wouldn't just love the person that was right in front of them. They wouldn't have compassion and loving kindness. This word mercy could also be translated loving kindness. It's a loving kindness towards people. Have God's heart towards people, God says. This is what I want from you. Is that some ridiculous, crazy thing for God to ask? No way. What is He asking us?

He's asking them to demonstrate, to show the same type of mercy and loving kindness that God has shown them. God is asking you and I, show that same kind of love and mercy to people around you. That same kind of forgiveness. That same kind of sacrificial giving and servanthood that God has done towards you. You show that to other people. And then finally He says, walk humbly with your God.

Not in pride, not in arrogance, not on your own, but with your God. With your God, walk humbly. Humility is not beating yourself up and declaring how terrible you are. Humility is an accurate view of yourself based upon what the Word of God says. One way to tell if you're humble, if you get offended, you're not humble.

You can't offend a humble person. One who accurately sees who they are, their need of a savior. How do you offend someone who recognizes, "Yeah, I deserve. I deserve hell. I deserve judgment." How do you offend someone who says, "Yeah, that's true. I am a liar. I am prideful. I am ugly." Or whatever it is. How can you offend someone?

Who understands who they are and what God has done for them. Walk humbly, but with your God. With God. Walk with God. Connect with Him. Have that relationship with Him. And once again, we come back to that subject of relationship. That God does not want some...

huge sacrifices from you. That's not what He's looking for. He's not saying, give your firstborn and then you can make things right through that. He's saying, I want you. I want your heart. I want your life. And I want you to consider that as we... Is this mine? Thanks. As we sing this next song, this is a new song. You probably have not heard it before.

So just listen to the words. Listen to the words and allow God to speak to your heart. Let them be meaningful to you. Let them be your prayer and your desire. That it's not about some great religious action, but it's about you walking with your God. You getting to know Him.

Amen? Let's worship the Lord. Can we hit the lights again, guys? On my knees I call to Knowing that you hear my cry Jesus, I can't live my life Without you I surrender all

I surrender all I am for your glory I am your Father hear me say one surrender

So let my life be an offering of praise, an offering of praise.

To live my day by the power of your grace.

Let my life be an offering of praise.

An offering of praise to you. You live my day by the power of your grace.

The power of your grace in me. On my knees I call to you, knowing that you hear my cry.

Jesus, I can't live my life without you. I surrender all. I surrender all. I, for your glory, I am yours. Father, hear me say once more.

♪ I surrender my life to be an offering of praise to you. ♪

To live my day By the power of your grace The power of your grace In me

All the days of my life give you praise, day and night, with my hands lifted high, being praised. With my heart filled with joy, with my voice shouting out, I'm forgiven and now saved.

Singing praise all the days of my life. Give you praise day and night with my hands lifted high. Singing praise with my heart filled with joy.

And my voice shouting out, I'm forgiven and now singing praise. All the days of my life give you praise, day and night, with my hands lifted high, singing praise. With my heart filled with joy, with my voice shouting out, I'm forgiven and now

now singing praise so let my life be an offering of praise an offering of praise to you to you

To live my day by the power of your grace, the power of your grace in me. Let my life be an offering of praise.

Truly, Lord, we call out to you.

And Lord, we ask that You would let our lives be an offering of praise to You. Lord, that our actions would demonstrate that You truly are our God. And Lord, that each step we take, each conversation we have, Lord, each decision we make, Lord, that it would bring praise and honor to You. Lord, that it would glorify You. Help us, God, not to hold back, not to leave areas of our lives off limits for You.

But to fully open up the doors, to fully surrender our hearts, Lord, that You would have Your will in Your way. God, what You require of us is not some great, huge, sacrificial act, but Lord, to walk humbly with You, to be real, and to really have a relationship with You. Lord, to really seek to do what's right, to show loving kindness to people around us, and to live moment by moment in Your presence.

So God, take our lives as an offering. We surrender to you. We seek to glorify you by the lives that we live. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As we continue on in Micah chapter 6, we now pick it up in verse 9. This is what God has requested and required of the people. Not some great huge sacrifice, but to walk with Him. To do what's right. He asked them to repent and to live faithfully.

The way He's called them to. But of course we know the story, we know the history as we look back and they didn't. And so God now goes on to declare what will take place as a result of their rebellion because they would not do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with their God. Verse 9 says, The Lord's voice cries to the city, Wisdom shall see your name, hear the rod who has appointed it.

Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked and the short measure that is an abomination? Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales and with the bag of deceitful weights? For her rich men are full of violence. Her inhabitants have spoken lies and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

Verse 1.

Here God gives some heavy words to the people.

He says, listen up, hear the rod, the rod of discipline that's coming. He says, hear it, listen to it, pay attention to it, respond to the rod, respond to the correction that I am bringing, he says. He says, look, are there treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked?

He talks about the short measure that is an abomination. Now, the short measure would be something that they would use in order to rip people off. So your ruler is shorter than the normal 12 inches. And so you put your ruler to the goods that you're buying and you say, hey, this isn't enough. Or the goods that you're selling and say, hey, it's only this much that I'm selling you. And so they would use different measures and different weights and different rulers to

In order to sell them less for more money or to buy more for less money. It depended on which way the transaction was going. And so they were just trying to rip people off, rip each other off and just looking out for their own gain. But he asked an important question in verse 11. He says, Shall I count pure those with wicked scales? Shall I count them as pure? Is that what you want from the Lord? You want Him just to say, Okay, it's fine, never mind. Everybody's pure.

Don't worry about sin. It's no big deal. Is that what we want from God? Is that what we want God to say? No, of course not. First of all, God would never say that. He could never say that because it's completely against His nature. He is just and holy. And He can't count as pure those who are practicing wickedness. There must be a life that corresponds with, there must be obedience to the Lord. There must be the doing justly and loving mercy and walking humbly. God's not just going to, you know,

Wipe the slate clean and say, oh, never mind, no big deal. I'll just count you pure even though you're living in rebellion. We don't want that. Trust me, we don't want that. We might think in our own case, God, just let me have this sin. Let me have this area of my life. It's just, you know, it's what I want. But if God does that, so where do you stop that? So then all of the atrocities that are committed in this world,

You might have heard about the shooting that took place in Orange County today. You want God to say, "Ah, no big deal. I'll just count the person as pure." Is that what you want? No, of course we don't want that. But in our lives, that's kind of what we ask God. We're like, "Hey God, I don't want to give this up. Just count it as pure. Just let me have a right relationship with you even though I don't want to change, even though I don't want to repent." God says, "I can't count them pure who are practicing wickedness.

So what does He need? He needs repentance from us. He needs us to stop living in disobedience, to stop living in sin. He cannot count us pure when we're living in disobedience to Him. And so He talks about how they're full of violence, and their tongues are deceitful. They're practicing these things continually. And so He says in verse 13, Therefore I will make you sick by striking you. Again, hear the rod. I'm bringing some discipline because you are rebelling against Me.

He says, you're going to eat, but you're not going to be satisfied. And so you're chasing after and you're ripping people off in order to get food, but you're not going to be satisfied. And you're going to work really hard and you're going to make wine, but you're not going to get a partake of the wine. You're going to reap the crop, but you're not going to be able to partake of the crop. You're going to sow, and then you're also not going to be able to reap what is produced by the land.

This is all part of his rod that he's bringing against, his correction that he's bringing to the people because of their rebellion against God. Now verse 16 is kind of key. It says, For the statutes of Omri are kept. All the works of Ahab's house are done. And you walk in their councils. Remember what he said in verse 5 of chapter 4? Everyone walks according to their God. How were these people walking? They were following God.

The lifestyle, the practices of Omri and Ahab. Now those names probably don't mean a whole lot to you, but these are two very wicked kings of the nation of Israel. They lived in full out rebellion and idolatry and just wickedness and corruption. And it's those guys that the people of Judah are following. It's their counsel that they're listening to. It's their practices following.

that they are keeping. Instead of doing justly and loving mercy and walking humbly with God as He called them to, instead of listening to His counsel and responding to Him, they're paying attention to all these wicked people and saying, hey, I want to be like that. I want to live my life that way. We're going to follow that pattern, that lifestyle. Yesterday morning I was at a Bible study that Pastor Raul Ruiz was teaching and he shared an interesting story

I don't know how long ago it was, but he shared about a situation, I think it was on the Leno show, where people in the audience were quizzed. And nobody in the audience that was there that evening could name all four Gospels. But 90% of the people in the audience could name all four Beatles. Who's their God? Not the Lord.

They don't even know His Word. They don't even know the Gospels. They don't know the message. Listen, who's your God? Do you know the four Gospels? Do you know the rest of the books of the Bible? Do you know what God has to say in His Word? Do you know Him? Do you follow Him? I think we need to really consider. God wants to challenge your heart. Why do you live the way that you live? Is it because that's what everybody around you does? Why do you dress the way that you dress? Why do you talk the way that you talk?

Why do you watch what you watch and listen to what you listen to? Why do you do what you do? Why do you live your life the way that you do? Is it because you're following Omri and Ahab, the counsels of this world and what the world tells us we must be doing and should be involved in? Or is it because you're walking with God and God is leading you and giving you instruction on doing justly and loving mercy and walking humbly with your God? God wants to challenge us to the core this evening, guys.

That's why He shifted up our schedule here. That's why He's called us in this way because we need to stop and consider and not just go through the motions and go through the routine, but are you really living your life as an offering to the Lord? Is that the reality? Is that the truth? Or are you following the counsels of this world, of wicked rulers or popular people? The popular people today are not

demonstrating for us righteousness, doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. That's not what's modeled for us. And yet, so many dress like Him, talk like Him, listen to everything they have to say, live their lives according to their thoughts and what they think. But we don't even know the Word of God. How can we follow the counsel of God when we don't even know the Word of God? Oh man, who's your God? Is it really Jesus?

Are you seeking Him? Are you walking with Him? Living your life the way that He instructs you to? Well, we go now into chapter 7. And we see now some sorrow, some woe for the sins of Israel. It says, Woe is me, for I am like those who gather summer fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes. There is no cluster to eat on the first ripe fruit which my soul desires.

The faithful man has perished from the earth and there is no one upright among them. They all lie in wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with a net. God says, look, it's like I'm trying to go pick fruit off the vine and there's nothing there. There's nothing left. It's all rotten. It's all gone. He says, the faithful man has perished from the earth. There's no one who's faithful amongst my people, God is saying.

There's no one who's seeking after God. There's no one who is doing justly and loving mercy and walking humbly. The faithful have disappeared, have perished. Verse 3, that they may successfully do evil with both hands. The prince asks for gifts. The judge seeks a bribe.

And the great man utters his evil desires, so they scheme together. The best of them is like a briar. The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen and your punishment comes. Now shall be their perplexity. Verse 5. Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence in a companion. Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.

For son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own household. Verse 7. Therefore, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. As God is talking about the corruption of His people and there's no one who's faithful, there's no one who's dedicated to the things of God. He says, look, they've committed to evil with both hands.

For a while, they were trying to hold on to the things of God and then hold on to the things of the world. They were trying to do both. But whenever you do that, just so you know, whenever you practice that, eventually, you're going to have to make a choice. And you're either going to have to let the things of the world go and grasp hold of the Lord, or you're going to let the things of God go and you're going to grasp hold of the things of the world with both hands.

And that's what they had done. They came to that point and they turned away from God. And they've committed themselves completely to sin, to wickedness. And so their judges are taking bribes. They're seeking gifts. Every man utters his evil desire. They're speaking forth wickedness and whatever it is that they want. They're scheming together. He says, the best of them is like a briar, like a tumbleweed, like a thorny bush. The best of them is like a briar.

And so he says in verse 5 and 6, don't trust a friend. Don't put confidence in your companion. Even guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies with you, from your spouse. Don't trust them. Why? Well, here's the thing. If you look at the cross, you can see what God is talking about here.

Because the most important thing for you and I is a vertical relationship with God. That I'm down here, God's up here, and when I'm right with God, it's straight up. I don't know if I'm straight up, so imagine that I'm straight up. So it's straight up. It's plumb. When you're right with God, it's a vertical line.

When you're off kilter with God, it kind of changes. And you start to fall one way or the other. Sometimes it's to liberalism, sometimes it's to legalism, but you fall one way or the other. But where we need to stay is right relationship with the Lord, walking with Him in humility. But there's also another plane. It's a horizontal plane. And that's our relationships with one another. So when you are right with God, your relationships with one another are also right. Right?

And so when you're right with God, you're treating people around you right. You're relating to them in godliness. You're showing mercy. You're doing justly. You're not whipping them off or treating them badly or talking behind their backs and slandering them. It's a right relationship that's established because you're right with God. But when you're not right with God, it changes all of your relationships with everybody else around you.

And so he says, the faithful have perished, so don't trust anybody. You can't trust anybody who's not right with the Lord. You cannot. Not friend, not family, not even spouse. If they're not right with God, you cannot trust them. Who can you trust? Verse 7, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for God of my salvation. My God will hear me. God is the one that you can trust. But when they're not walking with the Lord, you cannot trust them.

They will not be faithful. And when you're not right with God, listen, other people shouldn't trust you. You're going to hurt them. You're going to mess up their lives. You're going to rip them off. You're going to seek for your own pleasure. You're going to look out for yourself. Even though you say, no, no, no, I won't do that. I just want to pursue this area. I just want to live in this sin. It's not that big of a deal. No, when you're not right with God, it affects all your other relationships. And you'll mess up your marriage.

You'll mess up your children. You'll mess up your friends, your co-workers. We have to look to the Lord. We have to hold on to Him and trust in Him and no one else. Trust God first. Follow Him first. Verse 8. He says,

Verse 1.

He says, look, verse 9, I will bear the indignation of the Lord.

There's destruction that's coming that God's promised upon His people for their rebellion against Him. And a heart of repentance says, yeah, I deserve. I deserve it. I'm going to bear my indignation. I'm not going to stay here forever. God doesn't chastise and He's not saying, I'm done with you, forget you, I'll never work with you again. But you have to bear your indignation. You have to endure the consequences for your rebellion against God.

He says, because I've sinned against Him. I've sinned against God. Yeah, it's right. It's just that I experienced some chastisement, some discipline from the Lord until He pleads my case. He's not given up on me. He's not done with me. But He needs to deal with this sin in my heart. And He does that with affliction, with difficulty, with judgment, chastisement, however you want to call it. He uses those things to drive from us

our sinful practices, to cleanse our sinful hearts, to cause us to turn to Him completely and fully.

Let's finish it up in verse 14. It says, Shepherd your people with your staff. The flock of your heritage who dwell solitarily in a woodland in the midst of Carmel, let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days of old, as in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt. I will show them wonders. The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall put their hand over their mouth. Their ears shall be deaf.

They shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of you. Verse 18. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities.

He goes on, he ends up, this message, his book, saying God's going to forgive Israel. They are going to go through a period of indignation, consequences for their rebellion against God. They have to face the music. God's going to be using this to drive from them those sinful practices.

But when He does His work, He says the nations around, they're going to be dumbfounded. They're going to lick the dust. Not because of God's great wrath, but because of verse 18. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity? Because of God's mercy.

Because of His loving kindness to His people. The restoration work that He will do will cause the world around to take notice, to pay attention, to bow down and fear God because of His great mercy that He's expressed towards His people. Again, these are things that are yet future for the nation of Israel. And yet, they're spiritual realities, they're spiritual truths for us today. God wants to work. And He wants people around to take notice, to know Him.

He doesn't reveal Himself to them through His wrath primarily, but through His mercy that He extends to us. Who is a God like Him who does not retain His anger, but delights in mercy? Who is a God like that? Who is a God that forgives us, that shows us kindness? Yeah, He deals with us, He chastises us, and it's just, it's right, we need it, because

It's through that process that we turn over those sinful conditions, those areas of our hearts. But He doesn't just cast us off and get rid of us. He then takes us from there and shows us mercy upon mercy. And He pardons iniquity and our transgressions and sin. He doesn't hold on to His anger forever. That's the God that we serve. That's the God who's here this evening speaking to your heart.

And I trust that as we've been studying through these things this evening, that the Holy Spirit's been speaking to you about some areas in your life perhaps that He wants to address, He wants to deal with. And listen, just like the nation of Israel, you can do it the easy way or the hard way. I mean, God's going to accomplish His purposes. He's going to fulfill His plan. And you can go the hard way and you can continue to run from God and those things that He's speaking to your heart about. You can continue to try to run out away from Him and escape Him.

What He has said, but He will not count pure those who are living in sin. Those who are practicing wickedness. He won't count you pure. He won't let you get away with it. He's calling you to repentance. He's calling you not to offer some big huge sacrifice, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. To respond as He's speaking to your heart. And so I want to give you opportunity as we do this last song.

To respond to what God is speaking to your heart about. Respond to what He's saying. Turn those areas over to Him. Don't continue on. He won't allow it to continue. Do it the easy way. I know it doesn't feel easy in the moment. Repenting of sin, turning from those things. But it is way easier than the alternative. Insisting, refusing to listen to God and having Him bring upon you correction and discipline and chastening.

Turn to Him now. Surrender completely now. And again, I just want to encourage you, if you need to, if God's prompt your heart, respond to Him. Kneel down before Him if He calls you to. Stand before Him. Lift your arms before Him. Don't just sit through and finish up the service and just like, okay, we're glad that's over. Engage as we worship the Lord. Engage in what God is speaking to you. Allow Him to have full reign of your heart.

Lord, I stand to praise you, but I fall down on my knees. My spirit is so hungry, but my flesh is so weak. Light the fire.

In my soul. Than the flame. Make me whole. Lord you know. Just where I've been. So light the fire. In my heart once again. Lord I stand. Lord I stand to praise you.

But I fall down on my knees My spirit is so hungry But my flesh is so weak Light the fire in my soul And the flame

Make me whole Lord you know Just where I've been So light the fire In my heart once again Light the fire

In my soul, and the flames make me whole. Lord, you know just where I've been. So light the fire in my heart once again.

Lord, light the fire in my heart once again. Light the fire in my heart once again. Fill your arms around me as the power of your healing begins. Bring new life right through.

Like a mighty rushing wind. Light the fire in my soul. And the flame make me whole. Lord, you know just where I've been.

So light the fire in my heart once again. Light the fire in my heart once again. Lord, light the fire in my heart once again. Lord, You know just where we've been. Nothing's hidden from You. Lord, You see our thoughts. You see our hearts.

You see our actions. Lord, whether it's light or dark, whether it's in public or behind closed doors, whether it's in secret or in openness, You know. You see. You know just where we've been. And Lord, because of that, we ask, light the fire in our hearts once again. Light the fire in us. Lord, draw us near to You. Give us a passion for You. Help us to pursue You completely and wholly and no longer follow the counsels of this world.

But Lord, that we would hold fast to You. That we'd be on fire for You. That what You value, what You desire, that would be most important to us. Lord, that we would do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.