Alright Let's take our Bibles
now and turn to the book of Micah chapter 6 11 56 in my Bible Micah Chapter 6 I'd like to look at verses 1
to 8 and In this blessed book, Micah chapter 6 in verse 1, the
Lord here is speaking to the prophet. And this is what the
Lord says to Micah, Hear ye now what the Lord saith, Arise, contend
thou before the mountains and let the hills hear thy voice."
The Lord is telling Micah, I want you to go and bring a message
to my people, but I want you to do it, Micah, before the mountains
and hills, for those mountains and hills in which my people rebelled against
me. I want those mountains and hills
to be a witness to what I'm going to say. And in verse 2, Micah
does just exactly what the Lord told him to do. Micah is going
to talk to the mountains and the hills. He says in verse 2, the Lord's controversy. And ye
strong foundations of the earth, for the Lord hath a controversy
with his people, and he will plead with Israel." He's going
to reprove them. Now you mountains and hills,
you strong foundations, you ever heard the old saying, boy if
this house could just talk. The things that this old house
has seen, you know. I love old houses. I just love
them. I just love the character. They've
kind of proven themselves, you know. Time is a way of kind of
seeing what something's made out of. The Lord said, Micah,
I want you to send a message to my people and you should do
it in the mountains and the hills. They're going to be a witness.
of what I've got to say. Here, verse 3 and 4, O my people,
what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me. Now listen
to what the Lord has to say to his people. Notice who he's speaking to.
His people. Those that he's eternally loved
according to that covenant of grace. Listen, you my people. What have I done unto you? My long-suffering patience and
my kindness toward you, that you've shunned me, I redeemed
you. Now listen, we're not talking about these people
back then. I'm talking to us right now.
Now let's just bring it right on up to date right now. Here
is the message. God's Word is eternal. It's alive, it's quick, sharper
than any two-edged sword. Now, this is right now. You know,
you look back in this, well, I tell you, those people back
then, I don't know, I'm talking to us. Now, here's what the Lord
has got to say. My people, mine by creation,
mine by redemption, Mine according to you, confessing Me as your
Savior and Lord, as I made you willing in the day of My power,
with My providence, My power that I've kept you, all of the
great deliverances, guiding you, loving you. Here's what He's
saying. What have I done? to cause you to be weary of me. Now read it. Verse 3, O my people,
what have I done unto thee? And wherein? Where? Have I wearied thee? What have I done that would cause
you to weary? Be weary. You know when somebody
just wears you out. They're just high maintenance.
They just, you think, man, you're wearing me out. That's what he's
saying. Where have I wearied you? Have I ever left you? Here again, I'm talking to us
now. Have I ever left you? Have I ever forsaken you? Have
I ever withheld any need that you had? Tell me. Tell me this. Tell me what I've done against
you to give you occasion to be weary of me. I read these words
and if it were not that the Lord is saying, wherein have I wearied
thee? Now he's talking to his people. Is it possible to be weary of
the Lord? To be weary of His goodness?
Is it possible to be weary of His mercy? Well, obviously it
is. It's like the last message, is
it possible to say, I go fishing, I'm leaving, I'm going back? Let me tell you something, I've
said this before, the only difference of those that went out from us
because they were not of us, for surely had they been of us,
they wouldn't have gone. The only reason, the only difference
between those that leave and never come back and me or you
is the grace of God. Let me tell you something, there
is no difference in any of us. I'd never think like that. Oh,
yes, you will. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. You that know Him, admit it.
Admit it. Is it possible? Well, the Lord
declares that they had. And let me ask you this, what
is the evidence of being weary of the Lord? See, when I read
that, that's how I got to thinking. I'm thinking, Lord, if you said
that to them, and there ain't no difference in them and me,
what's the evidence of that? Let me just throw out a couple
of questions here, and you think about them, and I'll leave it
up to you, and I'll do the same for me. Do we ever find, at times,
the worship of God in the hearing of the gospel, the assembling
together of ourselves with God's people. Do we ever find that
there are times that that's just maybe not a priority? What's more important than hearing
the word of God? Let me ask you this. Faith cometh
by hearing. Hearing by the word of God. What
is more important than hearing the gospel? We become weary. Wherein have
I wearied you? How is it that it's so easy to
not burn intensely in your heart to hear my word? Is there ever
a time or a temptation that the first priority, the first priority
of the day is to meet with God? It's the first thing, first priority,
last priority of the day before I close my eyes. Is there ever
a temptation to make that first priority of that private closet
of communion with Him to be a burden? I'm just tired tonight. I'm just
wore out. I've run all day long. I just
need to just relax for just a few minutes. I just don't have time. I just don't have the heart.
Now you won't say that. You're not going to say that.
Nobody will come out and say it. But I'm talking about if
you ever thought it. Has there ever been a time when
the searching, the searching of the scriptures. I'm talking
about to get into God's Word. and just search out, find out
if these things that are being preached from this pulpit right
here, find out, are they so? Is he pulling my leg? Where is
he getting that? I've never heard that before,
but I'll be honest with you right now, I don't have time to figure
it out. We're guilty. We are guilty. We're guilty. We are Lazy. We're slothful. We're slothful
people. Lazy slackers. Oh, but that God Almighty would
just come and mercy and grace and rekindle that fire. Come,
oh, north wind. Blow, oh, south upon my garden
that the spices may come forth. Lord, oh, don't leave me alone. Lord, if you leave me alone,
this is me right here. Prone to wander? Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. Listen, we may weary in His service,
but God forbid that we ever weary of it. That we just don't really care
anymore. And when somebody goes away,
that's the bottom line. I don't care. I just don't care. Why? This God that you're preaching,
wearies me. He wearies me. As I've said before,
the only reason a true believer doesn't leave is because God's
not going to let him leave. And he's going to feel that battle
inside. He knows that there's a war going
on in there. One side says, let's get out
of here. And the other side says, where
are we going to go? He's got the words of eternal
life. Oh, I'm telling you, the Lord
says, What have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee?
Testify against me. Here's what he's saying. I want
you to just be up front. Be up front with me. In our hearts,
in our hearts. Here again, we're not going to
say it in front of anybody. I'm not going to say this in front
of you and expose myself. Well, I guess that's what I'm
doing, but really, I don't want to bare my heart completely to
you. and embarrass myself before you? But God knows. This is what He's
saying, testify against me. Give me the reason. Give me the reason for you being
weary of me. And here's the Lord, He's speaking
to Israel, but Israel is a picture of spiritual Israel. God's people
are the ones that are going to hear this. Those that are not
the Lord's, those that have no heart for these scriptures, they
don't care about this. This is just taking up time. Testify against me. Tell me the reason. He said, listen what I've done
for you. Look at verse 4. I brought thee up out of the
land of Egypt. Here's what God Almighty says.
I brought you out of bondage, out of the bondage of sin. That's
what Egypt is always a picture of. It's the bondage of sin. I brought you out by a mighty
hand. I redeemed thee out of the house
of servants. Let me ask you this. Has he not
gone in to the strong man's house? bound the strong man and brought us out. Satan, self,
this world, have I not redeemed thee out of the house of servants?
You were a servant of sin, a servant of Satan, a servant to this world. He said, I sent before thee Moses,
Aaron, Miriam, I gave you my law, gave you Aaron, the priest,
offer sacrifice for you, Miriam. Miriam, let me remind you who
Miriam was. Miriam was Moses' and Aaron's
sister. One that watched over Moses,
you know, in the river. But the scripture says in Exodus
15-20, she was a prophetess that directed the women in the word,
in worship, and praise. That was Miriam. Has the Lord
not met every need, every spiritual, every personal, every civil need? Has He? My God shall supply all your
need. according to his riches in Christ
Jesus. What have I ever done to cause
you to be weary of me? I've given you everything. And
consider the overruling power that I exert every day for you. Look at verse 5. Oh, my people! Remember now what Balak, king
of Moab, consulted, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered
him from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness
of the Lord." Here's what he's saying. My people, remember what
this wicked king tried to get a false prophet to do. to curse Israel, but I overruled
and turned the intended curse into a blessing. I want you to remember, my people,
all things, all things, now, whatever you're going through
right now, whatever you're facing, whatever's coming up tomorrow,
whatever happened yesterday, next weekend, all things, work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. What's God going to do? He's
going to overrule. You say, well, I tell you what,
this thing's coming up right here. I don't say, this is not
good. This is not good. It's not good. God said He's going
to work together for good to them that love God. I'm going
to overrule it. And it's going to be for your
good. And it's going to be for my glory. How long did you do
that, Lord? He said, well, from Shittim,
from the place where the children of Israel committed whoredom
and idolatry before God, to Gilgal, to the place where they passed
over Jordan into the promised land. He said, I overruled everything
for you. I did this for you. Testify against
me. Tell me. What have I done to
cause you to be weary of me? All of these precious calls to
remembrance, are they not intended for God's people? Let me ask
you this as I begin to wind this up. How would I know that they're
intended for me? How do I know, Lord, that you're
talking to me? I know you're talking to your
people, but how do I know that you're pleased to arouse a remembrance
in me? Lord, am I one of yours? How do I know that your heart
is for my good? Well, these last three verses,
6, 7, 8, and I'll just touch on them. They're so beautiful.
I want you to listen to these questions and to the Lord's answer
concerning an enlightened sinner. An enlightened sinner that asks
a question not only the first time that God Almighty begins
to deal with him in power, but a question that that sinner Regenerated
by God's grace, wants answered every day in his heart. Listen to verse 6. Wherewith
shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high
God? Now listen to the question again.
Wherewith or how? How shall I come? Now, I know that all that the
Father has given the Son is going to come to Him. But here's what
I want to know. How am I going to come? See, you're not going to stand
before God for me. I'm going to stand before God.
I'm going to stand before God. You understand that? Now, this
is important to me. Wherewith shall I come before
the Lord? I'm talking about the one that
is of pure eyes and to behold iniquity. How shall I come and
bow myself before the High God? How can I come before Him who
is a flaming fire? How can I come? who will by no
means clear the guilty. How shall I come before Him who
will be visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
to the third and fourth generations? I know others do, but how shall
I? That's what I want to know. Now listen, this language right
here is the language of the sin-smitten soul seeking an audience with
God, seeking acceptance with God. Here's what they're saying. Wherewith or with what shall
I be found bringing as an offering or sacrifice before God to find
acceptance in His eyes? How? I said before in this last
message, every man knows that We need a covering. Every man
knows we've got to have a sacrifice. Look at Cain and Abel. Which
one of them gave a sacrifice unto the Lord? Both of them.
Both of them. What did Cain bring? The best
he had. His vegetables. The best corn. The best watermelon. The best
beans. And God didn't accept it. Why? Because without the shedding
of blood, Abel brought a lamb, a picture of Christ. And God
accepted that sacrifice. Not Cain's. Cain knew he had
to have a sacrifice. Cain was wroth. He was mad. He was mad at his brother because
God accepted it. Wouldn't accept his. Bring the best you got. I tell
you this, if it's not Christ, You're going to perish. I'm going
to bring the best I can with my free will. You're going to
die. You're going to die. I'm going to bring everything
that I can do. You're going to die. I've heard all these opinions
on what does a man have to do to be saved. I want to know what
does God have to say. The best a man can do. Listen
to this. Shall I come before Him with
burnt offerings and calves of a year old? Hebrews 10.14 says that's not
going to do you a bit of good. It's not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sins. No, that ain't going
to work. Keeping the law, that ain't going
to work. Look at verse 7. Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of rams Again, a believer knows that
he needs a sacrifice. How about thousands, thousands,
thousands of rams? Listen to 1 Samuel 15, 22. Samuel
said, "...hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to
obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams." Is God going to be pleased with thousands of rams? No. How about ten thousands of rivers
of oil? Thousands of rivers of oil. Matthew 26, 6 and 7. Now when
Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, there came
unto him a woman having an alabaster box, a very precious ointment,
poured it on his head and set to meet. This woman came in,
took this alabaster box, broke it, poured it on the Lord. And the Lord's disciples chastised
her for being wasteful. And the Lord said concerning
her, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole
world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be
told for a memorial of her." She wrought a good work upon
the Lord, but let me ask you this. Did that work that she
did atone for her sins? Titus 3.5 says it didn't. not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost." I know this. In order for God to be pleased
with me, my sin is going to have to justly, justly, according
to God's justice, be separated from me. I'm going to have to
have an atonement. I'm going to have to have a covering
to cover me. And it's going to be a covering
that I can't supply. He said, without me, you do nothing.
Nothing. Well, I can. No, you can't. No,
you can't. Here's what I know. For me to
be accepted by God, Almighty God is going to have to deal
with my sin. How is that going to be done
in justice and me live? My sin is going to have to be
charged to Him. Only God can do that. I can't
give you my guilt. I can't give it to you, and you
truly bear it, and I'm free now. I can't do that. God can. God can give it. God Almighty
took all of the sins of His people, and His Son was made that. Whatever
sin is, transgression of the law, I don't even know how to
explain that. I don't know what that is. I know it's not good.
I know it's evil in the sight of God. I know that God's going
to judge it. But I can't tell you what sin is. It's rebellion. I don't know. I can't tell you.
But I can tell you this. Christ was made that. He made
Him sin for us who knew no sin. And God Almighty judged Him. poured out His wrath upon the
Lord Jesus Christ and put away, paid the debt of, the guilt of
His people. Now the presence of it's still
here in every one of us, but the debt of it's gone. It's gone. I got to have my sin truly dealt
with. And me walking down an aisle
and falling down at this piece of carpet right here and begging
and begging and begging and thinking that that begging is going to
atone for my sins, it'll never, it'll never do it. Justice is
going to have to be satisfied. I can sit here and beg until
I die and I'm still just as guilty. If God hasn't taken my guilt
off of me, put it on his son. God Almighty is going to have
to robe me. I'm going to have to be holy.
I have to have no sin and I got to be holy. How holy? As holy
as God. How can that be? Only being found
in Christ. Robed in His righteousness, I
am as righteous as He. Found in Him. Here's what it's
gonna take for me to stand before God accepted. I gotta have no
sin and I gotta be holy. And I can't produce that. But
He has. Well, let me ask you this then.
What's the evidence? And here's the last verse. What's
the evidence that He's done that for me? I mean, I've not contributed
to this. I'm telling you, this is what
He's done. What is the evidence that He's done that for me? It's
going to show. It's going to show. I'm going
to tell you. It's going to show. What is the evidence of it? Verse
8. He has showed thee, O man, what
is good. This is so wonderful. What God requires, He reveals. to have been accomplished in
His Son. This is my beloved Son, whom
I'm worshipping. Now, you hear Him. But how is it going to come
out on me that God's done something for me? Listen to this. Buddy,
I'll tell you this. If there's ever a verse of Scripture
that I want to know the meaning, this is it right here. What doth
the Lord require of thee? Number one. Three things. Number
one. to do justly. What do you mean to do justly?
Well, I'll tell you this, the word justly there means to pronounce
a just verdict. To do justly is to admit from
the heart or to confess from the heart that because of sin I justly deserved his wrath and
judgment. I justly deserved it then and
in and of myself still deserve it. But he's not going to give
it to me. He said, I've not appointed you
to wrath. What is the evidence? Have you got a scripture that
can tell me something what it is to do justly? Yeah, let me
just read this for you. If you want to turn it, it's
Luke 18. Read this many, many times. Luke 18, listen to this.
Verse 10, two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee,
the other a republican. Pharisee stood and prayed thus
with himself, God, I thank Thee that I'm not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this republican. You're
a liar. You're a liar. You're just like
everybody else. You're a liar. He said, I'm not. I fast twice in the week, I give
tithes of all that I possess, maybe so, but you're just like
everybody else. And the publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much of his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me. Now here's to do justly, right
here. I'm a sinner. I tell you, this
man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalted himself shall be abased. He that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. What does the Lord require of
thee to do justly? Here it is. Here's to do justly
right here. I acknowledge my transgression
and my sin is ever before me. That's the evidence of what God's
done for you. What's the second evidence? Here
it is right here, verse 8. To love mercy. To love mercy. If I believe that I've done something
or can do something to justify myself and God rewards me for
what I've done, that's a debt paid. That's not mercy. That's not mercy. is when I cannot
help myself, and Almighty God does something for me that I
can't. That's mercy. It's coming toward
one that deserves wrath, and God is pleased to not give it,
but to give it to another, His Son. Mercy. Old Blind Bartimaeus,
you want a scripture? Here's Blind Bartimaeus, sitting
on the side of the road, begging, begging. And Jesus of Nazareth, he heard,
was walking by, and the Spirit of God taught him who Jesus of
Nazareth was. And he cried out, Jesus, thou
son of David, You're the Messiah. Have mercy on me. Lord, do something
for me that I can't do. I can't see. I'm a beggar. But Lord, You're the one that's
merciful to sinners. Have mercy on me. What does blind Barnabas have
to offer the Lord? What's the evidence of one that
God Almighty has done something for? They do justice. They admit what they are and
they love mercy. They love mercy. Exercise your free will. I don't
have one. I'm bound in trespasses and sins. What can I do? I gotta have mercy. And then lastly, thirdly, to
walk humbly with thy God. That is to walk with humility. Now this verse of scripture is
given to those who in themselves are just proud, arrogant, haughty
people. But what is it? To walk humbly
before God. Here's the attitude of one that
walks humbly before God. I am what I am by the grace of
God. What do you got? I got Him. He's merciful to me. And He showed
me mercy when I didn't deserve it. Called me out of darkness
when I wasn't looking for it. I'm not worthy. Reminded me,
I jotted this down. Remember that centurion that
came to the Lord, his servant was sick. The Lord said, I'm
going to come to your house. And here's what that centurion
said. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I'm not worthy. That thou shouldest come under
my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. I'm not worthy that you should
come. But Lord, I know this, if you
speak concerning my servant's disease, I know he's going to
be healed. And you know what the Lord said
about that centurion? This was a Roman soldier. He was a Roman
soldier. And the Lord said, I have not
seen so great faith. No, not in Israel. What does
the Lord require of thee? How shall I come before the Lord? How shall I come? I know this,
I can't come in myself, because I'm going to die. Then how shall
I come? I'm going to have to come in
His Son. In the Lord Jesus Christ. If He's done something for me,
He's going to give me a new attitude. One that I wasn't born with.
And this is what it's going to say in the heart. I'm going to
do justly. I'm going to admit what I am.
I know what I am. And because of Him doing something
for me that I couldn't do, I love mercy. I love mercy. And thirdly, I'm going to walk
before Him by His grace saying this, I am what I am by the grace
of God. Lord, bless these words to our
heart. Cause us to remember, for Christ's sake,