1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,560 Well, as we come to Micah in chapter 6 this morning, we come to what is probably one of 2 00:00:04,560 –> 00:00:10,240 the best-known verses in all of the Old Testament and certainly one of the most important, Micah 3 00:00:10,240 –> 00:00:12,880 chapter 6 and verse 8. 4 00:00:12,880 –> 00:00:16,360 It’s perhaps the best-known verse in the whole of the book of Micah, and it really 5 00:00:16,360 –> 00:00:21,080 is the clearest statement of what God requires from His people. 6 00:00:21,080 –> 00:00:25,440 If you want to know the kind of life that God is calling you to lead, you won’t get 7 00:00:25,520 –> 00:00:31,040 a better summary than this, Micah 6, 8, what does God require of you? 8 00:00:31,040 –> 00:00:40,279 And the answer is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 9 00:00:40,279 –> 00:00:43,259 That’s where we’re heading this morning. 10 00:00:43,259 –> 00:00:49,200 The best way to understand the significance of this very, very well-known verse is for 11 00:00:49,200 –> 00:00:54,320 us to look at the whole chapter, and for us to see the message that the Lord is giving 12 00:00:54,320 –> 00:00:55,680 to His people here. 13 00:00:55,680 –> 00:00:59,000 Now, I do hope that you have the bible open in front of you because you’ll be able to 14 00:00:59,000 –> 00:01:02,160 see as we move through this chapter, what it’s all about. 15 00:01:02,160 –> 00:01:04,300 It’s a very dramatic picture. 16 00:01:04,300 –> 00:01:10,639 You’ll see from verse 3, if you have it open there, that God is responding here to certain 17 00:01:10,639 –> 00:01:15,160 things that His people have been saying about him. 18 00:01:15,160 –> 00:01:17,900 Notice verse 3, my people, what have I done to you? 19 00:01:17,900 –> 00:01:20,739 How have I burdened you? 20 00:01:20,739 –> 00:01:22,160 Answer me. 21 00:01:22,160 –> 00:01:27,419 Currently, these people had come to a place where they felt that God had placed unreasonable 22 00:01:27,419 –> 00:01:30,559 burdens on their lives. 23 00:01:30,559 –> 00:01:35,000 I guess we all have times in our lives like this, something goes wrong for you or for 24 00:01:35,000 –> 00:01:38,339 your family and you say, Well, what is God doing? 25 00:01:38,339 –> 00:01:44,720 He’s allowing an intolerable burden in my life. 26 00:01:44,720 –> 00:01:46,980 Sometimes we feel that God has let us down. 27 00:01:46,980 –> 00:01:49,720 Well, that’s how it was in Micah’s days. 28 00:01:49,720 –> 00:01:52,800 These believers, they wasn’t happy with God. 29 00:01:52,800 –> 00:01:53,800 They were complaining. 30 00:01:53,800 –> 00:01:54,800 God has let us down. 31 00:01:54,800 –> 00:01:56,400 God has given us these great burdens. 32 00:01:56,400 –> 00:01:58,459 God has made our lives difficult. 33 00:01:58,459 –> 00:02:01,559 God’s not coming through for us. 34 00:02:01,559 –> 00:02:07,639 Now, God’s people have been making all these charges and accusations against Him, and what 35 00:02:07,639 –> 00:02:15,820 happens in Micah in chapter six, very simply, is that God counters by bringing a case against 36 00:02:15,820 –> 00:02:17,460 His own people. 37 00:02:18,080 –> 00:02:23,919 Now, if you like drama, then you will love Micah chapter six, because what we have here, 38 00:02:23,919 –> 00:02:27,899 very simply, is a courtroom drama. 39 00:02:27,899 –> 00:02:32,240 And in any courtroom, of course, the natural place you would expect to find God would be 40 00:02:32,240 –> 00:02:37,839 the position of the judge, but actually that’s not the scene here because in this court case, 41 00:02:37,839 –> 00:02:41,119 God is the prosecuting attorney. 42 00:02:41,119 –> 00:02:43,080 God is the plaintiff, if you like. 43 00:02:43,080 –> 00:02:46,339 God is the one bringing the case against His own people. 44 00:02:46,380 –> 00:02:47,919 We see it there in verse 2. 45 00:02:47,919 –> 00:02:53,020 The Lord has a case against His people. 46 00:02:53,020 –> 00:02:58,220 He is lodging a charge against Israel. 47 00:02:58,220 –> 00:03:04,300 So now let’s think through this court case that runs through the chapter together. 48 00:03:04,300 –> 00:03:06,720 First of all, the witnesses. 49 00:03:06,720 –> 00:03:09,619 Now if you’re going to bring a case, you have to have witnesses. 50 00:03:09,619 –> 00:03:14,940 And in this case that God is prosecuting against His people, He brings some very remarkable 51 00:03:15,320 –> 00:03:17,820 witnesses indeed. 52 00:03:17,820 –> 00:03:19,759 Look at verse 2. 53 00:03:27,759 –> 00:03:29,220 Now the point here is quite simple. 54 00:03:29,220 –> 00:03:34,100 God had hundreds of years before made a covenant with His people. 55 00:03:34,100 –> 00:03:40,160 And when that happened, God spoke about the heavens and the earth being witnesses to that 56 00:03:40,160 –> 00:03:41,500 covenant. 57 00:03:41,500 –> 00:03:43,580 You find this in many places in the Old Testament. 58 00:03:43,820 –> 00:03:47,639 One example is Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 19. 59 00:03:47,639 –> 00:03:52,720 If you want to follow through, where God lays out two ways to live for His people. 60 00:03:52,720 –> 00:03:55,520 There’s a way that will lead to blessing, a way that will lead to cursing, a way that 61 00:03:55,520 –> 00:03:58,580 will lead to life and a way that will lead to death. 62 00:03:58,580 –> 00:04:07,080 Then God says deuteronomy 30 verse 19, on this day I call heaven and earth as witnesses 63 00:04:07,080 –> 00:04:12,699 against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. 64 00:04:12,699 –> 00:04:17,420 The idea here you see is that as God speaks and as the people make their vows in response 65 00:04:17,420 –> 00:04:23,100 back to Him, that the heavens and the Earth are the witnesses, they heard these words 66 00:04:23,100 –> 00:04:29,399 as it were, God’s promises to His people and His people’s promise to God. 67 00:04:29,399 –> 00:04:35,859 And so now that there is this case that comes up with regards to God and His people, the 68 00:04:35,859 –> 00:04:42,760 heavens and the Earth standing as witness to this covenant, God sends out the subpoenas 69 00:04:42,760 –> 00:04:46,779 and He calls the witnesses, as it were, into His court. 70 00:04:46,779 –> 00:04:50,779 He’s bringing a case against His people. 71 00:04:50,779 –> 00:04:55,380 Now it’s worth pausing here for a moment to say that being witness to a covenant is a 72 00:04:55,380 –> 00:04:57,579 serious business. 73 00:04:57,579 –> 00:05:03,059 Perhaps the most obvious situation in which we see that happens regularly, right here 74 00:05:03,220 –> 00:05:04,359 on this platform. 75 00:05:04,359 –> 00:05:10,040 In a wedding, you have a bride, you have a groom. 76 00:05:10,040 –> 00:05:14,920 You have the groomsmen and you have the bridesmaids. 77 00:05:14,920 –> 00:05:17,880 Why do we have the groomsmen and the bridesmaids? 78 00:05:17,880 –> 00:05:21,679 We know why we have the bride and groom, but why do we have the rest standing up here? 79 00:05:21,679 –> 00:05:27,279 Well, I mean, is it simply to make the front of the church look more colorful? 80 00:05:27,279 –> 00:05:31,660 Is it so that the bride has someone to hand the flowers to while she makes her vows? 81 00:05:31,660 –> 00:05:36,820 Is it so this guy who stands here can fumble in his pocket at the time, not already having 82 00:05:36,820 –> 00:05:39,140 the rings in his hand? 83 00:05:39,140 –> 00:05:43,519 No, there’s much more. 84 00:05:43,519 –> 00:05:49,440 The groomsmen and the bridesmaids are witnesses to the covenant. 85 00:05:49,440 –> 00:05:55,559 Now, think about what happened when you were a groomsman or perhaps if you were a bridesmaid 86 00:05:55,559 –> 00:05:59,380 if you have had that opportunity at some time in your life, even if it was 30 or 40 years 87 00:05:59,380 –> 00:06:00,380 ago. 88 00:06:01,100 –> 00:06:07,739 Think about what happened, your friend the groom made some vows and you were standing 89 00:06:07,739 –> 00:06:15,880 right there beside him when he did it, closer enough to see him sweating. 90 00:06:15,880 –> 00:06:22,720 Your friend or perhaps it was your sister, the bride made vows and you were standing 91 00:06:22,720 –> 00:06:29,299 right there beside her, close enough to feel her trembling. 92 00:06:29,299 –> 00:06:35,399 Now that gives you a big responsibility, because there may come a time you see when things 93 00:06:35,399 –> 00:06:40,779 aren’t going so well in their marriage 5, 10, 25 years later and the bride or the groom 94 00:06:40,779 –> 00:06:44,880 may get the idea that somehow they could do better. 95 00:06:44,880 –> 00:06:47,859 And that’s where the witnesses come in. 96 00:06:47,859 –> 00:06:53,000 If you were at the wedding, you are in a position to hold your friend, the bride or the groom 97 00:06:53,000 –> 00:06:56,700 accountable to their promise. 98 00:06:56,700 –> 00:07:00,500 That’s by the way why it’s good to have someone of your own age group, standing with you in 99 00:07:00,500 –> 00:07:05,320 a wedding because you need someone who can hold you accountable to your promise, perhaps 100 00:07:05,320 –> 00:07:12,119 long after your mother and your father have died. 101 00:07:12,119 –> 00:07:18,540 He said he would love her, cherish her, honor her, keep her. 102 00:07:18,540 –> 00:07:23,239 Is he doing that, your friend? 103 00:07:23,239 –> 00:07:30,119 He said she would love him, cherish him, honor him, keep him. 104 00:07:30,119 –> 00:07:32,200 Is she doing that, your friend? 105 00:07:32,200 –> 00:07:39,019 No, you see the whole idea of witnesses and the very reason why we would have a wedding 106 00:07:39,019 –> 00:07:44,200 in public indeed, as we’re talking here this morning about what covenant means. 107 00:07:44,200 –> 00:07:49,640 The idea is that there should be accountability for following through on serious boughs of 108 00:07:49,640 –> 00:07:51,359 commitment that are made. 109 00:07:51,380 –> 00:07:54,459 Long after the tuxedos have been returned to the clothing company. 110 00:07:54,459 –> 00:07:59,700 So, if you think your job is over when you send back the tuxedo, you have not understood 111 00:07:59,700 –> 00:08:02,899 what it means to be a groomsman or a bridesmaid. 112 00:08:02,899 –> 00:08:09,559 So, if you’re planning a wedding, think carefully about who you choose as your witnesses. 113 00:08:09,559 –> 00:08:11,859 Your groomsmen and your bridesmaids, talk to them. 114 00:08:11,859 –> 00:08:15,779 Sit down with them and say something like this, tell them what it means to be a best 115 00:08:16,720 –> 00:08:21,220 man and a bridesmaid, and say to them, now look, I am going to make a vow. 116 00:08:21,220 –> 00:08:26,980 It’s the vow of my life, and I’m deadly serious about it, and I want you to hold me accountable 117 00:08:26,980 –> 00:08:29,420 for the rest of our lives. 118 00:08:29,420 –> 00:08:33,239 And, if you ever see me wandering away from it, here’s what I want you to do. 119 00:08:33,239 –> 00:08:35,099 I want you to give it to me straight. 120 00:08:35,099 –> 00:08:38,659 I’m asking you to commit yourself to that right now. 121 00:08:38,659 –> 00:08:44,880 And, if you are a witness to a covenant, you have a responsibility to do what you can to 122 00:08:44,880 –> 00:08:47,539 see that that covenant is fulfilled. 123 00:08:47,539 –> 00:08:51,940 You have a special role in supporting this marriage as, indeed, every member of the wedding 124 00:08:51,940 –> 00:08:52,940 party does. 125 00:08:52,940 –> 00:08:59,380 You see, God’s plan is that there should be a community around every marriage to support 126 00:08:59,380 –> 00:09:01,580 the fulfillment of vows that are made. 127 00:09:01,580 –> 00:09:04,640 It’s not a private thing, you see. 128 00:09:04,640 –> 00:09:07,559 It’s a marriage. 129 00:09:07,559 –> 00:09:13,179 And there may come a time when you have to say to your friend, you know, I heard you 130 00:09:14,140 –> 00:09:23,859 say, till death us do part, I was standing right there with you when you said it. 131 00:09:23,859 –> 00:09:29,619 That courage and that true friendship might just save a marriage. 132 00:09:29,619 –> 00:09:35,080 Now God’s covenant with his people, this ultimate covenant, of course, was made to continue 133 00:09:35,080 –> 00:09:38,299 from generation to generation. 134 00:09:38,299 –> 00:09:41,520 And because it continued from generation to generation, I mean, who could remain then 135 00:09:41,520 –> 00:09:42,619 as the witnesses? 136 00:09:43,020 –> 00:09:47,059 Well, the angels in heaven are witnesses, but God calls the mountains the heavens and 137 00:09:47,059 –> 00:09:52,260 the earth as witness to the covenant promise that he made to his people and that his people 138 00:09:52,260 –> 00:09:53,700 had made to him. 139 00:09:53,700 –> 00:09:58,960 Remember, of course, the covenant was cut at Mount Sinai, the mountain, you see. 140 00:09:58,960 –> 00:10:01,359 God came down to the mountain. 141 00:10:01,359 –> 00:10:05,979 And the point here seems to be that if God’s sacred promises to his people or their sacred 142 00:10:05,979 –> 00:10:10,419 promises to him were ever to be broken, the very mountains, the heaven, and the earth 143 00:10:10,419 –> 00:10:13,619 itself would be shaken. 144 00:10:13,619 –> 00:10:15,179 So that’s the witnesses. 145 00:10:15,179 –> 00:10:18,299 Second, the evidence. 146 00:10:18,299 –> 00:10:19,299 The evidence. 147 00:10:19,299 –> 00:10:23,419 Now, the evidence in this trial comes in two parts. 148 00:10:23,419 –> 00:10:28,179 First, that the Lord has kept his promises to his people. 149 00:10:28,179 –> 00:10:29,900 The Lord has kept covenant. 150 00:10:29,900 –> 00:10:31,419 Look at verse four and five. 151 00:10:31,419 –> 00:10:35,460 I brought you out of the land of Egypt and reduced you from the land of slavery. 152 00:10:35,460 –> 00:10:40,739 I sent Moses to lead you and also Aaron and Miriam, and so on. 153 00:10:40,739 –> 00:10:44,739 God is reminding the people that going back generations, their fathers and mothers were 154 00:10:44,739 –> 00:10:46,559 slaves. 155 00:10:46,559 –> 00:10:51,380 If it had not been for the Lord, that would’ve been their lives too. 156 00:10:51,380 –> 00:10:56,299 But God stepped in and brought their parents out of slavery in Egypt and brought them into 157 00:10:56,299 –> 00:11:00,780 entirely new position of blessing and of prosperity. 158 00:11:01,780 –> 00:11:07,440 The Exodus, of course, was the definitive act of God in the Old Testament that changed 159 00:11:07,440 –> 00:11:13,020 everything for His people, and again and again, it points forward to the death and resurrection 160 00:11:13,020 –> 00:11:18,380 of Jesus, which is the definitive act in the New Testament that changes everything for 161 00:11:18,380 –> 00:11:22,919 those who come to Him, releasing us from slavery to sin and death 162 00:11:22,919 –> 00:11:26,900 and hell and bringing us to an entirely new position in Christ. 163 00:11:26,900 –> 00:11:29,380 Now, God says, I’ve kept my promise. 164 00:11:29,380 –> 00:11:34,460 I’ve kept you, I have provided for you, I have kept covenant with you, whatever the 165 00:11:34,460 –> 00:11:36,559 difficulties of your life. 166 00:11:36,559 –> 00:11:40,900 Those who are in Christ know that this is true. 167 00:11:40,900 –> 00:11:45,479 And it’s good to remember that God’s covenant is established by grace. 168 00:11:45,479 –> 00:11:49,700 It wasn’t that the slaves in Egypt sort of negotiated their release through God. 169 00:11:49,700 –> 00:11:51,380 How could they have done that? 170 00:11:51,380 –> 00:11:57,119 No, it was God that reached down from heaven and just saved them. 171 00:11:57,239 –> 00:11:59,919 And this is the kind of God He is. 172 00:11:59,919 –> 00:12:04,440 The first thing that’s established in the evidence is, look, I’ve kept my covenant promise. 173 00:12:04,440 –> 00:12:10,500 Here’s the second thing, God’s people have broken their covenant promise to Him. 174 00:12:10,500 –> 00:12:21,900 You find this in verses 9-16, where God speaks specifically about the sins of the city. 175 00:12:21,900 –> 00:12:29,320 In this He is referring especially to sins that are rooted in the business world, the 176 00:12:29,320 –> 00:12:30,320 sins of the city. 177 00:12:30,320 –> 00:12:39,820 Listen, verse 9, the Lord is calling to the city … Am I still to forget, O wicked house, 178 00:12:39,820 –> 00:12:40,960 your ill-gotten treasures? 179 00:12:40,960 –> 00:12:48,179 As He is talking as He brings out evidence in this case about the way in which folks 180 00:12:48,179 –> 00:12:53,739 in the business community have made their money. 181 00:12:53,739 –> 00:13:01,239 Some folks have become pretty wealthy, but God has questions about how they made all 182 00:13:01,239 –> 00:13:04,099 this money. 183 00:13:04,099 –> 00:13:07,619 This comes pretty close to home. 184 00:13:07,619 –> 00:13:13,340 Some of us have done pretty well in business, but there are situations in which you may 185 00:13:13,500 –> 00:13:19,940 feel uncomfortable about how you made that money. 186 00:13:19,940 –> 00:13:24,119 You look back at some of the things you did over the years, decisions you made, and your 187 00:13:24,119 –> 00:13:28,619 conscience isn’t entirely clear. 188 00:13:28,619 –> 00:13:33,820 Things weren’t as straight as you would have liked them to be. 189 00:13:33,820 –> 00:13:36,280 It was complicated. 190 00:13:36,280 –> 00:13:41,979 Now, that’s what God is speaking about here. 191 00:13:42,020 –> 00:13:43,840 But he gets pretty specific. 192 00:13:43,840 –> 00:13:51,760 Verse 11, shall I acquit a man with dishonest scales with a bag of false weights? 193 00:13:51,760 –> 00:13:57,979 You know, of course, in those days that trading was done, buying and selling using balancing 194 00:13:57,979 –> 00:13:58,979 scales. 195 00:13:58,979 –> 00:14:03,000 You put the weight in one side and the commodity that’s being bought or sold, in the other 196 00:14:03,000 –> 00:14:05,140 side until they balance. 197 00:14:05,140 –> 00:14:09,500 And the way in which the weights were done was simply with stones that would be marked 198 00:14:09,820 –> 00:14:12,359 according to their weight. 199 00:14:12,359 –> 00:14:15,820 And you’d have a one pound stone, a two pound stone, a five pound stone, and you’d carry 200 00:14:15,820 –> 00:14:18,320 them around in a bag. 201 00:14:18,320 –> 00:14:24,580 Now the bag of false weights that is referred to here would be a bag of stones that was 202 00:14:24,580 –> 00:14:26,200 wrongly marked. 203 00:14:26,200 –> 00:14:30,380 So, in other words, you would take a stone that really weighs a pound and a half and 204 00:14:30,380 –> 00:14:32,780 you would mark it two pounds. 205 00:14:32,780 –> 00:14:36,780 Then you put it in the scale, and someone comes to buy barley, or whatever it is, and 206 00:14:36,780 –> 00:14:38,520 you pour the barley into the scale. 207 00:14:38,520 –> 00:14:42,599 The scale’s balance at a pound and a half. 208 00:14:42,599 –> 00:14:47,159 You charge the person for two pounds, they go away thinking that they’ve got two pounds 209 00:14:47,159 –> 00:14:48,159 of barley. 210 00:14:48,159 –> 00:14:51,640 Actually, they’re only carrying a pound and a half in their sack. 211 00:14:51,640 –> 00:14:56,440 Now, this is the sort of thing that was rife in the world of business then, which, in different 212 00:14:56,440 –> 00:15:01,840 ways, it is rife in the world of business today. 213 00:15:01,840 –> 00:15:09,599 There are hundreds of us here who go out every day of our lives into the world of business 214 00:15:09,599 –> 00:15:11,359 to make our living. 215 00:15:11,359 –> 00:15:18,640 You know that it’s a jungle out there. 216 00:15:18,640 –> 00:15:26,979 You experience this pressure every day of your life, and it is intense, competition 217 00:15:27,020 –> 00:15:34,700 over contracts, and therefore the pressure to cut corners and shade truth. 218 00:15:34,700 –> 00:15:40,539 Trying to match bids with unscrupulous competitors. 219 00:15:40,539 –> 00:15:46,940 Large companies building a position that will force others out, get rid of the competition. 220 00:15:47,580 –> 00:15:52,099 Look at verse 12, speaking about the city. 221 00:15:52,099 –> 00:15:59,580 God says her rich men are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully. 222 00:15:59,580 –> 00:16:02,739 Does that sound like business in Chicago today? 223 00:16:02,739 –> 00:16:06,820 It does, doesn’t it? 224 00:16:06,820 –> 00:16:11,460 See why is it that the days of trusting a man’s word or a woman’s word in business 225 00:16:11,460 –> 00:16:15,039 are so long gone? 226 00:16:15,080 –> 00:16:20,559 Why do we need these endless contracts with every detail? 227 00:16:20,559 –> 00:16:25,320 Because we’ve got to cover every possible way in which someone else might creatively 228 00:16:25,320 –> 00:16:28,059 imagine they can do you over. 229 00:16:28,059 –> 00:16:35,820 We can’t trust because there isn’t integrity. 230 00:16:35,820 –> 00:16:40,099 Now, let’s summarize then what we’ve learned here. 231 00:16:40,099 –> 00:16:43,599 God’s people have been grumbling and complaining about the burdens of their lives. 232 00:16:43,599 –> 00:16:45,559 God’s failed us they say. 233 00:16:45,559 –> 00:16:49,200 Now, God’s listened to this long enough and He says, now, wait the time has come for me 234 00:16:49,200 –> 00:16:53,780 to bring my own case against the people, and He calls the mountains, the earth and the 235 00:16:53,780 –> 00:16:55,599 heavens as witness. 236 00:16:55,599 –> 00:16:56,859 He lays out the evidence. 237 00:16:56,859 –> 00:17:03,840 Now, look I made covenant promises to you and I’ve been faithful to them. 238 00:17:03,840 –> 00:17:10,000 You made covenant promises to me and you’ve broken them. 239 00:17:10,079 –> 00:17:13,839 So, while the people have been going around moaning and complaining saying the Lord’s 240 00:17:13,839 –> 00:17:20,079 failed us, the reality is actually completely the reverse, the truth of the situation is 241 00:17:20,079 –> 00:17:22,000 we have failed the Lord. 242 00:17:22,000 –> 00:17:28,479 So, the prosecution rests its case. 243 00:17:28,479 –> 00:17:29,920 Now what about the defence? 244 00:17:29,920 –> 00:17:38,839 Well, you can read Micah chapter 6 a few dozen times, you won’t find any. 245 00:17:39,199 –> 00:17:40,560 There is no defence. 246 00:17:40,560 –> 00:17:46,479 I mean let’s face it, what is the case for the defence? 247 00:17:46,479 –> 00:17:49,540 There is none. 248 00:17:49,540 –> 00:17:51,239 What defence could we possibly bring? 249 00:17:51,239 –> 00:17:56,680 I mean, is there anyone here who wants to make the case that the business world in Chicago 250 00:17:56,680 –> 00:18:00,900 is a shining model of integrity for the world? 251 00:18:00,900 –> 00:18:07,079 Well, you see no one was ready to make that case in Jerusalem either. 252 00:18:07,099 –> 00:18:11,800 There is no defence. 253 00:18:11,800 –> 00:18:15,640 So what do you do if you’re facing a court case and there is no defence that you can 254 00:18:15,640 –> 00:18:16,599 offer? 255 00:18:18,000 –> 00:18:21,180 PLEA bargain, right? 256 00:18:21,180 –> 00:18:22,599 Plea bargain. 257 00:18:22,599 –> 00:18:27,780 Now that’s exactly what happens in verses 6 and 7, it’s all about plea bargaining because 258 00:18:27,780 –> 00:18:32,160 notice this is very significant, there is an awareness of guilt here. 259 00:18:32,160 –> 00:18:35,280 Folks are coming to the point of saying OK, I know that everything in my life isn’t 260 00:18:35,439 –> 00:18:39,060 as it should be, I’m going to concede that, well now let me find, how can I get my way 261 00:18:39,060 –> 00:18:40,060 out of this situation? 262 00:18:40,060 –> 00:18:43,560 Let’s negotiate, let’s plea bargain. 263 00:18:43,560 –> 00:18:49,920 Notice that here we’re talking about offerings and sacrifices for my transgressions, for 264 00:18:49,920 –> 00:18:51,339 the sin of my soul. 265 00:18:51,339 –> 00:18:55,979 There is an admission of guilt here, an acceptance of responsibility. 266 00:18:55,979 –> 00:19:00,359 So these words in verses 6 and 7 are really the words of someone who kind of holds up 267 00:19:00,359 –> 00:19:04,000 their hand before God and says OK you’ve got me, you got me. 268 00:19:04,000 –> 00:19:05,020 I’m guilty, okay. 269 00:19:05,099 –> 00:19:08,900 I’ve not been straight, I’ve dodged, I’ve weaved as I’ve made my money. 270 00:19:08,900 –> 00:19:09,979 Sometimes it’s on my conscience. 271 00:19:09,979 –> 00:19:12,140 OK you got me, you got me, I’m guilty. 272 00:19:12,140 –> 00:19:16,199 Now what do you want me to do? 273 00:19:16,199 –> 00:19:20,060 With what shall I come before the Lord? 274 00:19:20,060 –> 00:19:24,599 Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings and calves a year old? 275 00:19:24,599 –> 00:19:35,520 Isn’t it interesting that when we feel guilty, there is an impulse within us to become religious, 276 00:19:35,520 –> 00:19:39,859 have you noticed that? 277 00:19:39,859 –> 00:19:44,859 A bad conscience will make a man religious, very often. 278 00:19:44,859 –> 00:19:46,479 Burnt offerings, sacrifices. 279 00:19:46,479 –> 00:19:51,880 I made a lot of money, I don’t really feel at peace about all of it. 280 00:19:51,920 –> 00:19:54,040 So maybe I could give something to the church. 281 00:19:54,040 –> 00:19:58,900 Or maybe I should do some work in the church or maybe I should do some work in the community, 282 00:19:58,900 –> 00:20:01,959 maybe some voluntary service in the community, I can give something back that way. 283 00:20:01,959 –> 00:20:08,439 I’ll feel better about what I’ve taken out. 284 00:20:08,439 –> 00:20:15,540 The other thing that’s interesting here is the ascending scale in the plea bargain. 285 00:20:15,540 –> 00:20:19,060 What can I do in the light of the guilt that I feel? 286 00:20:19,219 –> 00:20:22,439 And it starts with, you know you start bidding low here. 287 00:20:22,439 –> 00:20:25,719 What about a few year old calves? 288 00:20:25,719 –> 00:20:29,119 But that doesn’t feel like enough. 289 00:20:29,119 –> 00:20:33,040 What about a few thousand rams then? 290 00:20:33,040 –> 00:20:36,140 Well if that doesn’t cut it, what else can I offer? 291 00:20:36,140 –> 00:20:38,959 There’s another note of exasperation that comes in here. 292 00:20:38,959 –> 00:20:43,000 I mean, come on God, how much is enough? 293 00:20:43,000 –> 00:20:46,219 What do you want from me? 294 00:20:46,239 –> 00:20:50,599 You want me to offer my first born for the transgression of my soul. 295 00:20:50,599 –> 00:20:54,479 I mean, we’re into the world of the grandiose gesture now. 296 00:20:54,479 –> 00:20:58,099 Hey, maybe I should sell my cabin in the country. 297 00:20:58,099 –> 00:21:01,560 Maybe I should become a priest or a missionary. 298 00:21:01,560 –> 00:21:04,920 Maybe I should just start up my life all over again. 299 00:21:04,920 –> 00:21:07,920 I don’t know God, how do I deal with this guilt? 300 00:21:07,920 –> 00:21:13,520 How do I settle this case, what’s enough? 301 00:21:13,579 –> 00:21:15,479 What do you want of me? 302 00:21:15,479 –> 00:21:18,520 You been there? 303 00:21:18,520 –> 00:21:26,479 Now see that is where we come to this marvelous answer that’s so well known here it is. 304 00:21:26,479 –> 00:21:31,060 Verse 8, he has showed you a man what is good. 305 00:21:31,060 –> 00:21:39,199 And what does the Lord require of you three things, to act justly, to love mercy, 306 00:21:39,199 –> 00:21:41,479 and to walk humbly with your God? 307 00:21:42,079 –> 00:21:47,619 Now you see what God is saying, here’s what I want you to do. 308 00:21:47,619 –> 00:21:56,359 I want you to separate yourself from the sins of the city, not by coming out of the business 309 00:21:56,359 –> 00:22:03,060 world, but by doing business in a different way, in a way that honors me because it’s 310 00:22:03,060 –> 00:22:09,479 marked by justice, mercy, and faithfulness to your word. 311 00:22:12,079 –> 00:22:15,920 Now of course, these verses apply to more than business but it’s important, I think, 312 00:22:15,920 –> 00:22:20,520 for us to see that that is actually the first context in which they are set. 313 00:22:21,939 –> 00:22:29,020 If you belong to Jesus Christ, your calling is to a life that is marked by justice, mercy, 314 00:22:29,020 –> 00:22:30,760 and faithfulness. 315 00:22:30,760 –> 00:22:32,920 God’s not looking for you to be religious. 316 00:22:32,920 –> 00:22:40,219 In fact, putting a veneer of religion over an unchanged life merely adds to your offense 317 00:22:40,219 –> 00:22:41,400 before God. 318 00:22:41,500 –> 00:22:45,180 And it certainly won’t impress other people and it certainly won’t impress God. 319 00:22:47,020 –> 00:22:51,839 Now there is an absolutely fascinating cross-reference to this in the New Testament, I’m just gonna 320 00:22:51,839 –> 00:22:55,439 give one today, and it really is worth turning to and worth knowing. 321 00:22:55,439 –> 00:23:03,359 If you look over in Matthew’s Gospel and Chapter 23, you’ll find that Jesus takes up this message 322 00:23:03,359 –> 00:23:10,979 of Micah and, as it were, underscores it with his own unique authority. 323 00:23:10,979 –> 00:23:14,380 And it’s very interesting that he does this in the context of talking to the most religious 324 00:23:14,380 –> 00:23:18,040 people in the history of the world, the Pharisees. 325 00:23:18,040 –> 00:23:24,680 Matthew 23 and verse 23, easy one to remember, Matthew 23,23. 326 00:23:24,699 –> 00:23:27,079 Now look at what Jesus says here. 327 00:23:27,079 –> 00:23:33,060 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! 328 00:23:33,060 –> 00:23:40,479 You give a tenth of your spices— mint, dill, and cumin. 329 00:23:40,479 –> 00:23:50,119 But you have neglected the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness.” 330 00:23:50,119 –> 00:23:52,239 Now you see what he’s saying? 331 00:23:52,239 –> 00:23:56,319 These folks are so religious, it’s almost unbelievable. 332 00:23:56,319 –> 00:24:00,540 They have taken tithing to the nth degree. 333 00:24:00,540 –> 00:24:02,319 They don’t just tithe their money. 334 00:24:02,319 –> 00:24:06,020 They tithe their salt and their pepper, right? 335 00:24:06,020 –> 00:24:08,819 Dill, cumin, mint. 336 00:24:08,819 –> 00:24:14,060 I mean, you are so punctilious about doing this. 337 00:24:14,060 –> 00:24:19,640 You know the problem, he says to the Pharisees? 338 00:24:19,640 –> 00:24:25,219 For all that religious discipline in your life, you’ve completely ignored the more 339 00:24:25,219 –> 00:24:28,660 important matters of the law. 340 00:24:28,660 –> 00:24:32,459 Now what are the more important, the weightier matters of the law? 341 00:24:32,459 –> 00:24:35,520 What are the things of substance to which God is calling us? 342 00:24:35,520 –> 00:24:37,300 And Jesus says, there’s just three. 343 00:24:37,300 –> 00:24:41,979 Justice, mercy, faithfulness, Micah 6.8. 344 00:24:41,979 –> 00:24:45,979 Now notice Jesus says you should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. 345 00:24:45,979 –> 00:24:49,140 In other words, Jesus is not saying, hey, don’t worry about tithing. 346 00:24:49,140 –> 00:24:50,420 It’s not a big deal. 347 00:24:50,420 –> 00:24:54,880 What he is saying is look, God’s calling you to much more than tithing. 348 00:24:54,880 –> 00:24:58,660 It’s not just discipline in the way that you handle your money, it’s integrity in how 349 00:24:58,660 –> 00:25:09,739 you make it, justice, mercy, faithfulness to your word. 350 00:25:09,739 –> 00:25:12,280 You want to know what really matters to God? 351 00:25:12,280 –> 00:25:13,579 It’s right here. 352 00:25:13,579 –> 00:25:22,619 That you do justly, that you love mercy, and you walk humbly with your God. 353 00:25:22,760 –> 00:25:27,380 Well, let’s then just focus on these things for a few moments in the time that remains 354 00:25:27,380 –> 00:25:34,020 as we ponder what they actually mean by way of application for us, acting justly. 355 00:25:34,020 –> 00:25:37,739 That means that you do right, even when it’s costly. 356 00:25:37,739 –> 00:25:42,260 That you pursue integrity rather than convenience. 357 00:25:42,260 –> 00:25:47,500 It means I ask the question, how can I give full value rather than wondering all the time 358 00:25:47,500 –> 00:25:49,140 what I can get away with? 359 00:25:49,839 –> 00:25:56,060 As I approach my work as I approach all of my responsibilities as a husband, as a father. 360 00:25:57,939 –> 00:26:00,800 It means refusing to take advantage of someone who’s vulnerable. 361 00:26:00,800 –> 00:26:04,060 It means treating someone who’s weak in the same way as you treat someone who is 362 00:26:04,060 –> 00:26:05,060 strong. 363 00:26:05,060 –> 00:26:09,280 It may mean standing up for a person who’s bullied at school, the believer who is persecuted. 364 00:26:09,280 –> 00:26:14,079 It means showing proper respect to every person as someone made in the image of God. 365 00:26:15,079 –> 00:26:28,040 To act justly towards your kids means that your kids would say in a moment of honesty 366 00:26:28,040 –> 00:26:31,439 – and they might not say this all the time – but when they reflect and they look over 367 00:26:31,439 –> 00:26:38,140 the long haul they’ll say this, You know, Dad wasn’t the kind who flew off the handle. 368 00:26:38,140 –> 00:26:42,619 He always got to what was true and what was right. 369 00:26:42,640 –> 00:26:45,660 He was fair with me, he was really fair. 370 00:26:46,619 –> 00:26:52,859 It would mean a kid saying, you know mum, she had a soft heart but when I went down 371 00:26:52,859 –> 00:26:54,900 the wrong track she called me on it. 372 00:26:56,280 –> 00:26:57,500 And that really helped me. 373 00:26:58,640 –> 00:26:59,439 It’s justice. 374 00:27:01,079 –> 00:27:06,040 Perhaps the best guide for justice in life is to think of it this way that I speak and 375 00:27:06,040 –> 00:27:11,900 act in private in a way that would not make me ashamed if it was known in public and you 376 00:27:12,000 –> 00:27:13,780 That is how every Christian should live. 377 00:27:14,599 –> 00:27:19,540 Because one day we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and everything that 378 00:27:19,540 –> 00:27:22,900 we’ve done in secret will be brought out into the open before him. 379 00:27:24,560 –> 00:27:31,459 And since Jesus has told us that justice is among the weighty matters of the law, I reckon 380 00:27:31,459 –> 00:27:37,040 we can expect pretty clearly, that on the last day issues of justice will be high on 381 00:27:37,040 –> 00:27:39,060 his list of questions for us. 382 00:27:39,339 –> 00:27:43,520 In other words, the first question on the list that he will be asking of you, and of 383 00:27:43,520 –> 00:27:47,920 me, will not, in all probability, be how many prayer meetings did you go to, or how many 384 00:27:47,920 –> 00:27:51,420 times were you in church or at communion, or whatever. 385 00:27:51,420 –> 00:27:57,020 It’s much more likely to be, tell me about the way you dealt with that complaint. 386 00:27:57,020 –> 00:28:03,119 Tell me about the counts you presented during the merger back in 1997 or whenever it was. 387 00:28:03,119 –> 00:28:06,380 Tell me about why you didn’t hire that person of color. 388 00:28:06,380 –> 00:28:07,640 You said they weren’t qualified. 389 00:28:07,640 –> 00:28:11,079 Was that really true? 390 00:28:11,079 –> 00:28:17,560 Now, you say, well, now, what can I do about these things now? 391 00:28:17,560 –> 00:28:20,680 Probably nothing. 392 00:28:20,680 –> 00:28:26,939 There are some situations in which you can make restoration, and if you can, you should. 393 00:28:26,939 –> 00:28:27,939 That’s what Zacchaeus did. 394 00:28:27,939 –> 00:28:31,859 He knew who he’d taken money from when he shouldn’t, and he didn’t just give it back. 395 00:28:31,859 –> 00:28:33,640 He gave it back four times over. 396 00:28:33,760 –> 00:28:38,760 It’s an expression of his real change in beginning to follow Jesus. 397 00:28:38,760 –> 00:28:43,319 But the truth is that most of what we have done wrong, most of the injury that we have 398 00:28:43,319 –> 00:28:48,020 brought through our lives, can’t be put right now. 399 00:28:48,020 –> 00:28:51,400 And God knows that. 400 00:28:51,400 –> 00:28:59,000 But what you can do is make a new commitment to justice today. 401 00:28:59,000 –> 00:29:03,359 That’s your calling. 402 00:29:03,400 –> 00:29:07,000 Not just doing justice, but loving mercy. 403 00:29:07,000 –> 00:29:12,119 See this is the second dimension of our calling, to act justly, to love mercy. 404 00:29:12,119 –> 00:29:17,239 Not just to show mercy, but to love mercy. 405 00:29:17,239 –> 00:29:21,900 People who love mercy are always looking for another way to show it. 406 00:29:21,900 –> 00:29:26,619 We’ve talked about ways in which we might have wronged other people, but boy, in the 407 00:29:26,619 –> 00:29:31,920 world of business, is there anyone who hasn’t been wronged by someone else? 408 00:29:32,699 –> 00:29:39,339 Now, you see, if someone else has wronged you, it is very likely that at some point, 409 00:29:39,339 –> 00:29:43,400 God will put you in a position where you have the opportunity to get your own back to settle 410 00:29:43,400 –> 00:29:44,819 the score. 411 00:29:44,819 –> 00:29:48,739 And the great question that will reveal your character will be, what will you do when you’re 412 00:29:48,739 –> 00:29:51,319 in that position of power. 413 00:29:51,319 –> 00:29:57,739 See, there are lots of things that you can do when you’re wounded. 414 00:29:57,760 –> 00:30:00,560 You can embarrass. 415 00:30:00,560 –> 00:30:03,099 You can humiliate. 416 00:30:03,099 –> 00:30:04,540 You can cold shoulder. 417 00:30:04,540 –> 00:30:05,540 You can penalize. 418 00:30:05,540 –> 00:30:06,540 You can ruin. 419 00:30:06,540 –> 00:30:07,680 You can destroy. 420 00:30:07,680 –> 00:30:15,859 The options are endless, and sometimes taste delicious, right? 421 00:30:15,859 –> 00:30:22,819 Settling the score. 422 00:30:22,880 –> 00:30:29,359 Someone said to me recently, I had years of conflict with my father, so I punished him 423 00:30:29,359 –> 00:30:35,780 by not allowing him to see his grandchildren much. 424 00:30:35,780 –> 00:30:36,780 He died last month. 425 00:30:36,780 –> 00:30:41,439 I wish I hadn’t done that. 426 00:30:41,439 –> 00:30:45,219 What you do when God puts you in a position to get even will say a great deal about your 427 00:30:46,219 –> 00:30:49,099 character. 428 00:30:49,099 –> 00:31:01,300 When you have your day in court, will it become obvious that you love mercy? 429 00:31:01,300 –> 00:31:05,459 Think about the difference it would make if 2,000 members of the Arlington High East Evangelical 430 00:31:05,459 –> 00:31:10,819 Free Church went out this week, many into the world of business looking for opportunities 431 00:31:10,819 –> 00:31:13,380 to show mercy. 432 00:31:13,380 –> 00:31:25,780 Suppose we did that for a week or a month, or a year, or a lifetime. 433 0:31:25,780 –> 00:31:33,979 Mercy changes lives, and changed lives bring changed communities. 434 00:31:33,979 –> 00:31:34,979 Do you love mercy? 435 00:31:34,979 –> 00:31:37,839 Do you love it? 436 00:31:38,619 –> 00:31:43,280 And then the third, that we walk humbly with our God. 437 00:31:43,280 –> 00:31:45,000 I’ve called that faithfulness. 438 00:31:45,000 –> 00:31:49,160 That’s really the word Jesus used to sum up that phrase in a single word, faithfulness. 439 00:31:49,160 –> 00:31:53,719 What God is calling us to here is not a passing phase, a little bit of mercy here, a odd bit 440 00:31:53,719 –> 00:32:01,239 of justice here and there, what he’s calling us to is a way of life, an expression of character 441 00:32:01,239 –> 00:32:04,920 that reflects the very character of God. 442 00:32:04,920 –> 00:32:09,300 Faithfulness means that we keep doing these things over a long period of time. 443 00:32:09,300 –> 00:32:15,939 It means walking in this way that is steady and sustained and constant, walking with God. 444 00:32:15,939 –> 00:32:20,280 You see, it is just as mercy and faithfulness that are his character. 445 00:32:20,280 –> 00:32:21,959 This is how he is towards us. 446 00:32:21,959 –> 00:32:27,680 And therefore, our calling is that this is how we, if we are his people, should be towards 447 00:32:27,680 –> 00:32:28,680 others. 448 00:32:29,579 –> 00:32:35,800 Well, now in these last moments there’s one obvious question that has to come at the end, 449 00:32:35,800 –> 00:32:37,599 and that is the question of the verdict. 450 00:32:37,599 –> 00:32:40,160 We’ve talked about a trial. 451 00:32:40,160 –> 00:32:43,859 We’ve seen the witnesses, the evidence, the lack of defense, the plea bargaining. 452 00:32:43,859 –> 00:32:46,160 What about the verdict? 453 00:32:46,160 –> 00:32:52,239 Well, you don’t get a verdict in this chapter, although if you read to the end of the book 454 00:32:52,239 –> 00:32:56,339 of Micah, you will find that, and we’ll come to it in two weeks’ time, that God speaks 455 00:32:56,339 –> 00:33:04,839 about treading our sins underfoot and hurling all our iniquities into the depth of the sea. 456 00:33:04,839 –> 00:33:06,260 Beautiful. 457 00:33:06,260 –> 00:33:09,839 That sounds like God dropping all charges. 458 00:33:09,839 –> 00:33:14,439 That sounds like God throwing the case out of court. 459 00:33:14,439 –> 00:33:20,319 It sounds like God embracing us and being reconciled to us in a wonderful way, and that’s 460 00:33:20,319 –> 00:33:22,339 exactly what it is. 461 00:33:22,540 –> 00:33:24,739 Here’s the point. 462 00:33:24,739 –> 00:33:34,579 Before we get to the forgiveness of Micah chapter 7, we have to face up to the calling 463 00:33:34,579 –> 00:33:37,560 of Micah chapter 6. 464 00:33:37,560 –> 00:33:44,780 In other words, in the gospel there is no forgiveness without what? 465 00:33:44,780 –> 00:33:46,579 Repentance. 466 00:33:46,579 –> 00:33:48,619 No forgiveness without repentance. 467 00:33:49,439 –> 00:33:54,459 I remember as a teenager hearing time and again Dr. Alan Redpath using a phrase that 468 00:33:54,459 –> 00:33:57,380 got deeply into my mind and I thank God for it. 469 00:33:57,380 –> 00:34:07,140 He used to put it this way, God has not promised to forgive one sin that you will not forsake. 470 00:34:07,140 –> 00:34:11,060 When Jesus came preaching the gospel, he said the kingdom of God is near, so what are you 471 00:34:11,060 –> 00:34:11,659 to do? 472 00:34:11,780 –> 00:34:15,219 Repent and believe the good news. 473 00:34:15,219 –> 00:34:16,219 You know what we’ve done? 474 00:34:16,219 –> 00:34:18,580 We cut it right in half. 475 00:34:18,620 –> 00:34:23,020 We’ve dropped repent and we’ve said let’s just go with believe the good news. 476 00:34:23,020 –> 00:34:28,300 And so the result is, believers who live their lives in the city, often indistinguishable 477 00:34:28,300 –> 00:34:33,419 in the way that they do business from others around them. 478 00:34:33,419 –> 00:34:37,459 God is not in the business of ferrying unchanged people into Heaven. 479 00:34:37,459 –> 00:34:41,280 He is calling us to a different way of life that will bring change and a different kind 480 00:34:41,280 –> 00:34:44,939 of community marked by justice and mercy and faithfulness. 481 00:34:44,939 –> 00:34:48,340 These are the marks of a person who walks with him. 482 00:34:48,340 –> 00:34:51,000 This is our calling. 483 00:34:51,000 –> 00:34:55,459 And the wonderful good news of the gospel is that God offers to deal with you with me 484 00:34:55,459 –> 00:34:59,919 on the basis of justice, mercy and faithfulness. 485 00:34:59,919 –> 00:35:04,860 This is why he offered his firstborn son for the sin of your soul. 486 00:35:04,860 –> 00:35:08,879 Christ bore the sentence on the cross. 487 00:35:08,879 –> 00:35:16,500 He got the justice so that you could have the mercy and God is faithful to that. 488 00:35:16,500 –> 00:35:24,280 But you receive that mercy by entering a relationship in which you walk with him, the 489 00:35:24,280 –> 00:35:28,340 Christ who says, follow me. 490 00:35:28,340 –> 00:35:38,419 And he invites you to walk humbly with him, in every sphere of your life, to treat others 491 00:35:39,419 –> 00:35:49,100 as he has dealt with you, with justice, with mercy and with faithfulness. 492 00:35:49,100 –> 00:35:57,860 Let’s bow in God’s presence in prayer together, shall we? 493 00:35:57,860 –> 00:36:05,100 Lord all of us, speaker and hearer alike, are now bowing under your word, and feeling 494 00:36:05,179 –> 00:36:13,780 that your calling to us is serious business that means real change in our lives. 495 00:36:13,780 –> 00:36:22,020 And if that’s gonna happen we really do need your help. 496 00:36:22,020 –> 00:36:35,060 Father, help me today to move forward in acting justly, in loving mercy, in being faithful 497 00:36:35,139 –> 00:36:41,139 as I walk humbly with you. 498 00:36:41,139 –> 00:36:52,979 Make me in every sphere of my life a true follower of Jesus Christ whose life reflects 499 00:36:52,979 –> 00:36:57,060 his character. 500 00:36:57,219 –> 00:37:06,659 Father, I thank you that in walking with him, I find his grace and his mercy, the hope of 501 00:37:06,659 –> 00:37:11,260 new ways and of new beginnings. 502 00:37:11,260 –> 00:37:24,580 Hear my prayer, read my repentance, and lead me forward even to everlasting life, through 503 00:37:24,580 –> 00:37:28,879 Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.