May it please almighty God to
bless our souls this evening as we meditate in his word let
us turn to the prophecy of Micah chapter 2 and we'll read verse
10 the prophecy of Micah chapter 2 and reading verse 10 arise ye and depart for this
is not your rest because it is polluted. It shall destroy you
even with a sore destruction. Micah was a prophet of the Lord
and we're told at the beginning of the first chapter when he
lived and we're told that he lived in the days of Jotham Ahaz
and Hezekiah and we know that Jotham and Hezekiah were good
kings but Ahaz was not and this occurred some 600 years really
after the Israelites had come into Canaan so there were many
years which had passed and of course when they'd come into
Canaan or at least just before they came into Canaan Moses had
written that wonderful book of Deuteronomy which instructed
them so clearly as how they were to live their lives in accordance
with the Word of God and then gradually they had departed from
it until we come to the times of well Isaiah lived at the same
time as Micah more or less and others, Jeremiah lived afterwards
and others are the minor prophets and we see therefore what a need
there was in that day and age to remind the children of Israel
of the situation which they were in and how they turned really
to a large extent their back upon the Lord and yet we know
that the Lord had a promise towards them that they would be restored
and of course we know that having gone down into Babylon after
70 years they were restored but they were very painful years
and yet when this was written they were still in Jerusalem
and they were warned then about the position and yet you see
they really ignored the Word of God truly that's so similar
today as we look around today we see people warned and yet
ignoring the Word of God not following the words of the Lord
not directed by his promises but indeed pleasing their own
way and as this second chapter commenced with those words woe
to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds
and what it indicates to us is that of course this is done as
you might envisage in private Other people wouldn't understand
what was being devised while they were on their beds at night. And yet the Lord knows. The Lord
looked upon all these people in this age. He's looked upon
all the people down through the ages and He still looks upon
us today. We should not therefore think
that such words as are recorded by the prophets only relate to
the times in which they lived. They did relate to the times
in which they lived, but they also related to times which were
to follow. And therefore, they are words
of instruction and correction to us today. And we should be
concerned that we do follow the blessed words of the Lord. We have the Bible. full of instruction
from Genesis to Revelation. How often we omit to follow the
gracious words of Scripture. The Lord's given us many gracious
commands and those commands are for our good and they're also
for the honour and glory of our God. And yet, we find the nations
of the world, we find our own nation, gradually declining in
following the Word of God, gradually moving away. And we find ourselves,
we're not very careful, swallowed up by the spirit of the age. We need to be aware that it's
a downward road, it's the broad way which leads to destruction. The narrow way is a more difficult
way, it's a harsher way, but it's a way that leads to eternal
life. And so we should be concerned
to be following in the narrow way, the right way, which is
set before us so clearly in the Word of God. And here Micah prophesies
to Israel of old, and indeed, as I've said, to the Church of
God. And in this verse, he tells us,
arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest. They were living
in Jerusalem for the most part, And yet you see they were not
following the ways of the Lord. And yet Moses has so clearly
directed them when he wrote the book of Deuteronomy and of course
the other books as well, but especially Deuteronomy, that
they might remember the way that the Lord had set before them. And often think the words that
he's left on record by the Spirit of God are so good and so direct,
especially in the early chapters, you might think about the sixth
chapter, where he writes and speaks to the Israelites and
he tells them this in the sixth chapter, the third verse, Hear
therefore, O Israel, and deserve to do it, that it may be well
with thee and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of
thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with
milk and honey. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command
thee this day shall be in thy heart and then he goes on to
encourage the Israelites and he says this and thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children and shall talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when
thou liest down and when thou risest up And thou shalt bind
them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between thine eyes. You see, it's a very clear picture,
isn't it, that we have here, instructing the children of Israel
how they should organise their lives. And it is still appropriate
for us today. If you think of what he says
here, we shall, we should teach our children diligently and shall
talk of the things of God when we sit in our house and when
we walk by the way and when we lie down and when we rise up. Well, this is the word of God. and how far short I'm sure we
come in these things in the day and age in which we live. Again, just remember we are to
teach them diligently and we are to talk the things of God
when we sit in our houses and when we go for a walk and when
we lie down and when we get up. Well, I'm sure if we were to
observe such important statements more carefully and more sincerely,
I'm sure we would find there would be far more blessing than
there is today. You see how we find ourselves
guilty and how we come short in these things and how it's
so easy not to speak of these things and how more difficult
it is to speak of these things and yet if we just consider the
value of our soul and the value of our children's souls and the
value of the souls of those we meet with surely it's far more
important than all the things of this life the things which
we may speak of often and speak of freely, and yet they pass
away, they disappear. and moth and rust corrupts them
thieves break through and steal and one day we'll have to leave
everything and yet here set before us is the truth of God and in
the earlier verses, in the earlier chapters God's servant Moses
tells Israelites what the Lord has done for them I often think
and often say we are backward, you know in telling the generation
to come, what God has done, what blessings he's granted to us. We should be very willing and
desirous to testify of his goodness and to not be ashamed of the
things of God. and to not be tempted by the
devil who will say, well, that's not worth speaking about. That's really too insignificant. Let us never forget a little
that a righteous man hath is better than the treasures of
many wicked. So do not despise the day of
small things. Do not despise the work of God. in our souls, but may we testify
it. And may it be for the honour
and glory of God. Again, the devil, you see, will
say, well, you can't speak about those things because it will
just bolster your pride. Well, remember, the devil has
been and always is a liar. So don't listen to what he says. but desire to follow the word
of God. Because Moses was so concerned
that the Israelites would not forget what God had done for
them. And all that he had spoken to
them ensured it should be as important for us today as it
was in the day of Moses. Perhaps we might even say there's
a greater need today than there was in the day of Moses, especially
as he was still alive when he wrote this, and the Israelites
hadn't yet come into Canaan, and many of them would have been
familiar with the great blessings that God had done for them. But
nonetheless it was important that he should write these things
down so that they would be reminded of them and therefore today we
should recognise they're written for our instruction also that
by our lives, by our testimony we might show forth the favour
of God to our souls, and the blessing of God to our souls. And never be ashamed of these
things, but desire that by such words souls may be blessed. In the name of our God, honoured
and glorified and exalted. Don't forget the devil wants
you and me to never say anything. He wants our mouths to be closed
he doesn't want the name of God to be spoken about he doesn't
want his work to be revealed he wants us to be involved in
all the things of time the trivial things of time and so we have
a world like this some 600 years later and still the concern was
there might be the evidence of God's work. And so, faced with
this situation which had developed in Jerusalem, where they were
clearly a very ungodly crowd, clearly departed from the ways
of God and were to depart more and more. There were times of
returning because, as we know in Hezekiah's day, there were
times of blessing. But generally speaking, this
is the picture that we have of departure from the ways of God. And as there were those times
of blessing, we should not say, well of course there were times
of blessing and like we have today, there are times of blessing. We should be concerned that there
might be greater times of blessing. There may be a wonderful outpouring
of the Holy Spirit of God. that many souls may be converted
that many souls might be saved that many souls may be encouraged
because in the pathway of life it is of course the vital thing
to be converted but it is also important that the younger generation
should be encouraged when they have to face difficult situations
which perhaps we faced in our lives And the Lord has encouraged
us and appeared for us and brought us through and answered prayer. We should encourage the younger
generation in these things and by these things. Well, then Micah
calls to preach the gospel in his day, called to prophesy. And these prophets, they were
blessed of God and they were willing and able to declare the
great truths of God. And so we've read tonight in
this verse, Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest, because
it is polluted. Well, it's a picture that testified
of the situation which existed at that time in Jerusalem. And therefore Micah very clearly
told them, this is not your rest. Perhaps they were settling down,
trying to make everything very comfortable. ignoring the Word
of God, ignoring the truth of God, but concentrating their
lives on their homes. You may remember when Israel
came back out of captivity and returned to Jerusalem, they stopped
building a wall and stopped building the Temple. And what did they
do? they concentrated on their own homes and therefore we were
thankful and I'm sure the people were thankful and God was very
gracious to raise up Habakkuk and Zechariah to go and to tell
them that they should not concentrate on their own things but they
should concentrate on the things of God well we live in a day,
don't we? where we might say the The walls
have been broken down. The things of God have been destroyed. The devil has crept in. Crept
in while the church of God has been asleep. The church of God
have been dozing. And the devil has taken his opportunity
and crept in. He's destroying the churches.
He's destroying the nations. He's doing all that he can to
destroy the work of God. Well, our strength is in the
Lord, to believe that our God reigns, and He will always reign. And that's a great blessing,
isn't it? And it should be a wonderful comfort to us. But here we have
this statement, this is not your rest. And we should be very mindful
of that. to realise that this world is
not our rest. We should think of it this way.
It's not our home. We are indeed in a place of lodging. You know, when Israel passed
through the wilderness, they didn't have any permanent dwellings. They were strangers, they were
pilgrims. And they journeyed from place
to place wherever the Lord led them, just in their tents. No
permanent places. Abraham moved from place to place
just in his tent. We know of course that David
and Solomon etc. were privileged to build places
to live in. But they were also pilgrims and
strangers on this earth. This was not their real home. It was just a lodging place. And our homes today are just
a lodging place. One day we shall have to leave
them. We'll have to leave everything.
We'll have to leave absolutely everything, our clothes, everything. Therefore what value to be really
put on natural things. Well here says Micah, Arise and
depart for this is not your rest. well, I hope that our homes which
God has provided for us we should be very thankful for them but
to realise they're not our rest they're not our rest and the
words here tell us because it is polluted well the things of
this world are polluted you only have to look around, don't you?
to see the pollution which exists to see the evil which exists
in the day and age in which we live and therefore to recognise
that no, this is not our rest it is polluted that's why I read
to you tonight that fourth chapter of the Hebrews where the Apostle Paul writes so very
clearly and he tells us He says this, there remaineth therefore
a rest to the people of God, and that is an eternal rest. And it's an interesting and important
consideration to think as to whether we are looking forward
to that eternal rest, or whether we're so occupied with time that
we don't think about our eternal rest. I wonder how often, if
you're honest, we do think about our eternal rest. Because that's
a place of wonderful peace and happiness. And the great thing
is, well two things really, there'll be no sin there, nothing to distract
us, and Christ will be in the midst. to praise and to worship
and to adore. What a difference from the things
of time. As we read down this chapter,
as Paul said, and he says, for we which have believed do enter
into rest, as he said, I have sworn in my wrath if they should
enter into my rest. Although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world, for he spake in a certain place
of the seventh day, and this wise God. And God did rest the
seventh day from all his works. And the seventh day was a day
of rest. And we can look upon glory as
the eternal Sabbath. Now to natural man That is not
attractive. Natural man does not want an
eternal Sabbath. And the person who is not born
again does not want an eternal Sabbath. We don't want to spend
our time worshipping God. We will find perhaps naturally,
worship irksome. We wish it was shorter. We wish
it was soon passed over. But you see, to the true believer,
the true believer, first of all, the natural Sabbath or Lord's
Day is the best day of the week. well I wonder whether that's
true to you and me it definitely wasn't the best day of the week
when I was a boy Saturday was the best day of the week for
me but it's a wonderful thing if now which I believe it is
the Lord's Day is the best day of the week the day to look forward
to not the day to wish it was soon to be over but to be thankful
for it, and to bless God for it, and to rejoice in it. It
really is a test of the reality of our religion, whether we love
Sunday or the Lord's Day, or whether we like the other days
of the week better. It doesn't hurt to just sit down
for a moment and just carefully think about that. And do be honest. And if you come to the conclusion,
well, the Lord's Day is not my best day, then pray that it might
be your best day. It might be the day that you
look forward to, that when you've finished one Lord's Day, you're
looking forward to the next Lord's Day well when we pass out of
time what a blessing then to enter in to the eternal Sabbath
eternal happiness eternal joy nothing to distract us nothing
to separate us. And so the apostle goes on to
tell us, for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day, and
this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works,
and in this place again, if they should enter into my rest, seeing
therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein. And they
to whom it was first preached enter not in because of unbelief. We see their separation. We see those who believe by the
grace of God will enter into this eternal rest. But those
who do not believe, who are unbelievers, will not enter in. And so we
read that David said, today, after so long a time, as it is
said, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. And that's a very gracious word,
really. If you and I take it to our hearts,
as the word of God is read or spoken, that we don't harden
our hearts against things, perhaps, which we don't find very attractive,
that we might pray to God that we will find them attractive,
and that we will rejoice, therefore, in the Lord's day, and that we
will be found looking forward to that glorious time of an eternal
Sabbath. And so, as he says today, if
ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus
had given them rest, then we need not afterward have spoken
of another day. Because this life is not a day,
a world of rest. There is no real rest. You only have to think of it,
don't you? Each day is a day of labour. Each day there are
difficulties. Each day there are things which
perhaps aggravate us. There is no real true peace,
even perhaps when we go on holidays. And we look forward to a wonderful
time. We will still find there are
things which are aggravating. We will still find there are
things which are annoying. And we still have to battle with
our own selves. But what a mercy it is to look
forward to the eternal day of rest. And that's why the apostle
says, for if Jesus had given them rest, Then would he not
afterward have spoken of another day? But he does. There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did
from his. Let us labour therefore to enter
into that rest. Let us pray urgently for the
clear indication, a clear understanding that we are amongst those who
are born again. that we are seeking that better
country that isn't heavenly, that we may look forward to that
eternal Sabbath as a time of wonder and a time of joy. Let us labour therefore to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. For the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart." You see, God thrusts that two-edged sword, the Word
of God, which penetrates into our heart and we can't hide from
it sometimes we might want to we're not able to when the Lord
works His great work and what a blessing therefore and the
Apostle goes on and speaks about the wonder of our High Priest
and I hope you know that our High Priest of course is none
other than the Lord Jesus Christ and we're told who's passed into
the heavens James is the son of God. Let us hold fast. our profession. Don't let it
go. That which God has done for you,
hold it fast. Don't throw it away. Don't think
it's of no value. Because if it's given by God,
it is of eternal value. What a mercy. Well, there we
have this rest that remaineth to the people of God. Arise ye
and depart. For this is not your rest, it
is polluted." Well, I wonder whether we agree with that. I wonder if you're happy to acknowledge
that such a word is true. That this world is not your rest. Can you honestly say, well, and
you'll only say it by the grace of God, But it's a wonderful
blessing if you are able to honestly say, and again not in a wrong
attitude, not as it were weasel words, I mean false words, but
in all honesty, to be able to say yes, this is not my rest. this world. I'm thankful for
what God has given me. For what God has provided. And
I hope we do really. Because if we look at the things
that we have today, all of us, how blessed we are. Naturally,
many things. Good food to eat. Haven't we? Every day. Good food. Variety of food. All of us. what
a blessing, you think of those who don't have any food, have
to beg and yet the Lord surrounded us with food we don't wear rags,
do we? we wear clothes we don't have
to sleep under the trees, do we? God's given us homes, isn't
He? God's given us warm homes what
a blessing that is and God's given us friends We're not solitary. We're not isolated. God's given
us the Bible to read. God's given us a place to worship
in. How many, many things God has
given to us. And we do need to be thankful
for these things. We do need to be thankful for
health and strength. How often we're not thankful
until we're ill. And we realise, well, I wasn't
thankful for the health and strength I did have. So how important
it is that you and I are thankful for the health and strength that
we have as we travel through this life. But nonetheless, to
realise that although we're surrounded with so many blessings, and let
us always thank God for them, every day to thank God for them,
to realize that this word is true. For this is not your rest,
and as Micah says, because it is polluted. And he goes on to
say, it shall destroy you. And that means the things of
this earth. Many things are good, many things
are evil. Many things have been invented
by men that turn us away from the things of God. To occupy
our minds, if you try and analyse your life, to sit down, perhaps
at the end of the day, and say, well now, what have I done today? How have I spent my time? When
did I think about the things of God? What else did I think
about? Were they more important? Were
they more relevant? Sometimes we need to do that
and we'll be shocked perhaps at the, as it were, atheistic
seen we've been walking in. God has not been in all our thoughts.
In fact, God has been far away from our thoughts. Well, says
the word here then, arise and depart from that condition and
that situation. because the Lord told Jerusalem
because it is polluted and it shall destroy you even with a
sore destruction and of course Jerusalem was sorely defeated
destroyed the Chaldeans came burnt the city broke down the
walls broke down the temple, it was indeed a ruin. They had ignored the faithful
messages that God's servants had spoken to them. In their
mind they had said, things will continue as they do today. but they weren't going to and
they didn't and the temptation is for us today to say, well
things are going to continue I shall be alright and I'm not
too worried about the future I'm pretty happy with what's
occurring today well, the Word of God is a very solemn word
for that and it's this Thou fool This night, thy soul shall be
required of thee. Then, what shall these things
be? If God speaks that into our hearts,
it will prove and it will show where we really are. And we shall
recognise before God that we have been a fool, that we are
fools. We don't seem to recognise the
value of our soul. We don't seem to realise that
we are on this earth for a very, very short time. Israel didn't. They ignored it. What a blessing
if the Holy Spirit directs us to realise this is not our rest. It is polluted. and that we are
travelling fast through time and may it be to our eternal
rest that the Lord has reserved for us in heaven and that we
may have a real desire for glory at last and if we don't have
a desire and again we must be honest Before God, he said, the
devil wants to make you and me dishonest because he's a deceiver. And he said, and he says, don't
worry about that. It'll be all right anyway. You're
a good person anyway. You haven't done much wrong.
Be not deceived. God is not mocked. We should not hide behind the
subtleties that Satan brings before us. But my friends, turn
to the Word of God. Thy Word is truth. You can rely
100% on the Word of God. Read it, study it, pour over
it. you may find the answers to all
your questions and to be confirmed that such words are true. This is not your rest, it's not
my rest, it's not all of our rests. It is polluted and we
seek a city yet to come. And if you and I have a little
glimpse of the glory of Emmanuel's land, what a difference that
will make. To view by faith the glory reserved
for the Church of God, I have not seen nor e'er heard the wonderful
things that God has reserved for them that love Him. Oh, my
friends, what a blessing it is, then, to know, as we said this
morning, the love of Christ toward us, and to therefore rejoice. The Lord Jesus, as He tells us
in the 14th of John, has gone to repair a place for us, that
one day, by His grace, He will receive us unto Himself. For there we shall see Him face
to face, that great and glorious Saviour who gave His life that
you and I might inherit eternal life, who shed His most precious
blood that you and I might be redeemed eternally. Oh, bless God for the Gospel. Bless God for the truths of the
gospel. Rejoice in it and pray that you
and I may each be found at last in glory with the Saviour and
with the whole Church of God to praise him forever and ever. What an exchange from this poor,
sinful world. What a blessing to be found amongst
that number, that no man can number, who shall eternally sing
the praises of God. Well, may we not say, to God
be the glory. Amen.