Now in Micah 6, verse 6, Wherewith
shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high
God? Shall I come before him with
burnt offerings and calves of year old? Will the Lord be pleased
with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for
my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my
soul? He hath shown thee, O man, what
is good. And what does the Lord require
of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly
with thy God? This afternoon, My subject is,
what does God require of me? It's my subject. It is a question
that every man, sooner or later, will ask himself. Whether we
live to be 100, or whatever age we might be in this hour, We
will, sooner or later, ask ourselves that question. What does the
Lord require of me? Sooner or later, in the quiet
time of a night, we're going to say, what do I need to do? How can I get right with God? What do I have to do to win the
favor of God? What am I going to do to atone
for my sins? Now, we're in a church this afternoon. We've been in church probably
all of our lives. But there's a multitude of men
and women who have never darkened the door of a church. Whether
They're atheist or just have never really thought about entering
into a church, worshiping Almighty God. Every person, regardless
of who they might be, will sooner or later come to this question. And that's what I want to deal
with this afternoon. When a sinner is made aware of
his guilt and sin, before being taught of God the Holy Ghost,
before being convinced of sin and righteousness and judgment,
the guilty sinner first seeks mercy by merit. He wants to know what is and
what he must do to amend to God. What he must do to atone for
his sins. What he must do to make peace
with God. as that Philippian jailer said,
what must I do to be saved? This is the language of the human
heart. It's not the language of a Christian
minister, but it's the language of the human heart to ask this
very question within himself. We all presume that we must do
something by which to turn away God's wrath. appease his judgment,
his justice, and make ourselves acceptable with a holy God. Sinful man has been trying to
save himself by good works ever since Adam fell in the garden. He wants to know what does God
require of me. Tell me what God requires and
I'll do it. It's not unwillingness of man
to work to be forgiven, but it is beyond his capacity to perform
the chore that is before him. The problem will escape him. Even after we have been saved
by God's saving grace, the heart still pulls and strains and desires
works before God. It is something that is innate
in every one of us to want to do something that we may appease
God, that we may get on a better side of Almighty God. Nothing makes man more proud,
self-righteous, and mean-spirited than his own works. Yet all men
and women by nature, we all love works. It's a part of us. It's a part of us, our nature. Micah wrote this book, the book
of Micah, in 742 through 686 BC. The key personalities are,
for whom he wrote this book, is the northern kingdoms, the
ten northern tribes of Israel. And then you have those two little
tribes to the south, Judah. And this man, Micah, was a contemporary
of that great, great prophet of God, Isaiah. Isaiah wrote
those multiple chapters, but this man, Micah, only wrote just
a few chapters. But yet, he prophesied to the
same people that Isaiah prophesied to, and the message of Micah
was the same. Micah describes the impendent
judgment that would eventually exile this nation. In chapter
1 through 5, we see the judgment of the wicked nation. The scripture
says, for I will make Samaria a heap of ruin in an open country,
planning places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into
the valley and will lay bear her foundation. And then in chapter
five, Micah predicts the birthplace of the Messiah in Bethlehem. And also in chapter two, he teaches,
in verse two, he teaches that the Messiah is the infinite savior
from everlasting. In chapter six and seven, Micah
declares what God requires of men. He has told you, old man,
what is good and what is bad. does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God. And then in Micah, he proclaims
God's restoration in chapter 7. Who is a God, he says, like
you? Who is a God like you who pardons
iniquity and passes down the rebellious acts of the remnant
of his possession. He does not retain his anger
forever because he delighteth in unchanging love. Verse 18. This afternoon I speak to you
from this book of Micah and I thought a lot about the similarity of
the prophecy of this great prophet And at the time he preached this
message to the people, how similar we are in this very day. God's people, the portion of
God, had left their first loved. They had walked contrary to the
will and the purpose of God. And here comes this prophet Micah. Here comes a prophet named Amos. Here comes a prophet named Isaiah. And these prophets had the message
to go to their own people and to proclaim that God was going
to pour out the wrath of God upon them. For what reason? because they had denied the power
of Almighty God. They had walked contrary to the
will and the purpose of God. And because of it, he was going
to take them into exile. He was going to destroy their
nation. And some of them, the northern
tribes, would never again, their people, see their homeland. But
then he talks about Judah. He talks about Judah that they
would again come into the land and that in that small two tribes
out of Judah would come a Lord that is going to be eternal.
And that Lord would be a King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And that would be the salvation
of this people. Would to God. that God would
raise up a prophet like unto Micah in this hour. That God
would send a prophet to America and prophesy to America of its
deficiency, its lack of faith, its history of falling apart,
just dissolving before our very eyes. the strength that God had
placed in this country, and yet America is falling apart, and
it seems. Would to God that the Father
would show mercy upon a nation like he did that of Judah. Not that of Israel, but that
of Judah. He's preached the restoration
of the people of God. Now, do I speak of Jews? Do I speak of the Jewish heritage? No, I speak to the people of
God, that God speaks of the restoration of the people, the chosen people
of God. He sent this prophet to preach. Would to God Micah would come
and preach to us. Call us back unto God that God
might as he did with Israel Say I'm going to destroy you I'm
gonna tear your stones down into the valley and I'm gonna make
your valley no more than a planning place for vineyards Our nation
stands today at a point where, or will God preserve us as we
know it today? Or will God bring judgment upon
us? Will God tear us apart? Will
God separate our people because our wickedness that is before
our very eyes this day? God in this chapter, in our message
this evening, in the book of Micah, he talks about man's presumption. America is filled with presumption. America feels that we've been
so great so long we can walk any way we want to walk and we'll
be blessed in spite of our sin. The Word of God says no, no. God will judge sin. God will come before us and judge
us as he judged Israel. So God will judge us also. May God have mercy upon our nation. First in Micah 6 in verse 6 through
8, we see the presumption of the people. Every man's proud,
vain presumption that he can and must do something to save
himself. There's a group of people throughout
our land today, they have a plan. I've got a plan that's gonna
take care of this problem. I've got a plan that's going
to take care of the economy. I've got a plan to take care
of the immigration problems. There is one plan that's going
to be successful, and that's going to be the restoration of
God's people in this country. That when our hearts are turned
to God, we're going to be preserved. We have to turn away from our
presumption and live according to the will and the purpose of
God. Wherewith shall I come before
the Lord and bow myself before God? It's like that passage in John
chapter six, verse 28. What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Presumption. Presumption. What
can I do? What can I do to make this a
better country? What can I do to preserve the
economy? What can I do to solve this problem? The truth is, we can't do anything. We can't do anything to solve
any problem. It is God that solves these problems. that every question that man
has, he presumes, he presumes that he has the answer and that
he can perform what is necessary. Man is willing to bow himself
in ceremony and ritual, in body exercise of religion, by fasting
and ashes, as if bowing his head and doing penance and pilgrimages
will appease the wrath of Almighty God. They said, shall I come
before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Shall
I propitiate God with burnt offerings? Shall I meet God marching against
me with burnt offerings and thus make my peace with him? Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Is it universally
understood by proud men, fallen men? We all presume that there is
something that can be done. There is a song that we sang
in this very church. And it goes like this, nothing
in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I claim. That's the truth. Lest we claim to the cross of
Christ, lest we return unto the Father, lest we believe and trust
in his word, there is no peace. What's that saying? No justice,
no peace? Will there be no peace apart
from the work of God? Not the work of my hand. Not
the work of your hand. Not the work of my favorite presidential
candidate. I have confidence in him that
he will be faithful and true. I have a candidate in my mind
that I think would not lie to us. I believe that he'll stand
and defend the Constitution. I believe he'll give his last
breath because he believes in America. But even though I have
this much confidence and faith in this man, yet he can't do
it apart from the power and the glory of God being manifested
in our very presence. No man can do it. No man can
do this. verse 7 it says shall I give
my firstborn for my transgressions the fruit of my body for the
sin of my soul these Jews they even went to the place that they
were burning their little children in the arms of the idol I read
that they would heat this great item and it had supposedly arms
like this and they would heat that up until he was red hot
and they would cast their little loved ones up into the arms and
burn that little child up in front of them thinking they could
appease this God and that maybe the rains would come and that
the famine would stop. To appease a false God. That's all we'll ever do in this
life is to appease the God of our own hearts. It does no good. The Jews were corrupted in their
idolatry, sacrificing their sons and daughters to Malak and burning
their children in fire. Nothing is more absurd than man's
religion. Some of you, I know you so well. I was around your families when
you had your children. I know the love and the compassion
of your heart for your family. And for me to stand here and
talk to you about a family that would take their little one and
put it into the arms of a burning fire just dissolves you into
putty, to think that man could be so ungodly, so blind that
they would give that precious child for what? To try to appease a false god. But this is where we find Israel.
This is the depth of their idolatry. This is the depth of their sin. Yet the Word of God, every word
denies that salvation is by works of the flesh. Though we've tried,
though we are still, even today, we still try sometimes to appease
God. Thank you. Well, I'll do this
and it won't be so bad on me. Instead of falling down upon
our hands before God and say, have mercy upon me like that
poor one did in the New Testament. He wouldn't look, but he said,
have mercy upon me because he knew who he was talking to. When
you come to God, you don't come with a bushel of corn. You don't
come with a lamb in your hands. You come to God empty handed
and say, Lord, I have nothing to bring to you because I know
there's nothing precious enough. that I might receive what I'm
asking. That's the reason that our Heavenly
Father sent His own Son, not just any son, but the blessed
Lord Jesus Christ, the most precious thing that our Father had. He sent His own Son to die for
our sins, to appease His wrath. That appeased His wrath. It had
to be something more precious than anything in the world. and
He chose the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And by doing so, we
have mercy on Him today. Galatians 2 verse 16 says, Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even as we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by faith of Christ and not by
works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh
be justified." Galatians 2, 20 and 21. I am crucified with Christ,
nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And
the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God for it, Righteousness cometh by the law. Then Christ is dead in pain.
One more. Ephesians 2 verse 8 and 10. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained.
that we should walk in him. Your presumption will damn you.
Your ideas will damn you. Your presumption and your ideas,
your ideas of this world, your persuasion. This week I was talking to someone
online and their idea is If I can present the very best argument
and nail it down with every corner, then they'll believe. They'll
trust and see what I'm talking about and trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I wrote back. I wrote back and
I said this, I believe that if you answer every one of their
petitions, and you argued with a hundred scriptures per argument
and you left nothing to rest, at the end they wouldn't be any
closer to believing in the Lord Jesus Christ than when you started. Because it is not persuasive
arguments. It's not presumption. It is the
grace of God that brings us into salvation. It is the quickening
power of God, the Spirit of God, that awakens man and makes us
alive and then allows us to believe and repent of our sins. Man's foolishness and damning
presumption is that salvation is by good works. And that is nothing. There is
something we must do to win God's favor. There's nothing that we can do
to win God's favor. It is the work of God. First
of all, I talked to you about presumption. Micah presents to
them their presumption that they can do something to save themselves.
Secondly, Micah in this book talks about God's revelation. Here is God's marvelous revelation
of his grace in the gospel. That is my second point, God's
revelation. This is what God requires and
this is what God gives. If you don't get anything out
of what I'm saying as I ramble here and there, take this to
heart. Write this one down. That whatever
God requires of us, he gives. It's so precious that he didn't
allow you to mess it up. But if God requires something
of you, He takes care of that Himself in the person of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Micah 6, verse 8 says, He hath
shown thee, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God. But ye have not, so learn Christ,
Ephesians 4, 20. This message, this truth, this
truth of coming to God, coming to God in faith, in Jesus Christ
with open hands, bowing and begging for God's mercy is a message
that is not learned in a university. It's not learned in a self-help
book out of the library. This message of grace and mercy
towards sinners is not transmitted by any other means other than
the Spirit of God itself. This is how we come to this knowledge. How I thank God that we have
not learned this in school, but we have been taught this of God. He says, do justly. do justly. This is not talking
about treating all men justly, though we certainly should try
to treat all men justly. It's not talking about paying
your bills and paying them on time and being a good citizen. It's not talking about being
honest with all men and thank the Lord we are honest, I believe. We trust in our Lord. We don't
want to do something that will bring dishonor upon our Lord
Jesus Christ. So we are in attempt to be honest
with all men. It's not talking about treating
all men right. And you should treat all men
right. You shouldn't treat this person this way and this person
this way. We should treat all men equally
and treat them honestly and truly. This is talking about doing justly
with God. How can I do justly with God? By confessing that in ourselves,
by reason of sin, we justly deserve the wrath and indignation that
broke all the righteous laws. We have to somewhat confess our
sins every day. We somewhat have to admit unto
God in our hearts that I am as filthy and unrighteous and unholy
as I ever was in my life. The truth is, I didn't know enough
50 years ago to know how mean and ugly I was, how unrighteous
I was, how unkind I was, but that's just talking about life
in this life. I didn't know how horrible that
I was before God. I didn't know that everything
that I did was an offense unto God. I didn't know that. But as time has gone on, God
has spoken more and more and more to my heart to enlighten
me that it is not that I am such a great sinner in this life.
It's not that I have such a wicked tongue in this life. It's not
that I don't pay my bills like I should. It's not like I don't
treat my neighbor like I should. But everything about me inside,
not outward, not the volition that I do, but everything within
me is rotten to the core. And regardless of what I do,
regardless of what bandage I put on it, it will never make me
any better before God, apart from the blood that has washed
me and cleanses me and covers me in this hour. I can't make
myself any better. I can present myself to God as
a living sacrifice. I can do it. I can give Him all
the praise that I know to give Him. Yet, even my prayers, my
willingness to serve God does not come up to the point of doing
justly before God. I can't do justice before God
because it is only through Christ I can be just. I can't do justly
before God. There's no justly parts in me. There's this and there's that.
But the part that I need most is the part that God has given
me. Remember what I said, whatever
God requires of me, he's given it to me already. And it's through
the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, love mercy.
Who does not love mercy? Let me see your hand. How many
of you, how many of you don't love mercy? Human illustration. You're driving
down the road and you may be listening to one of Brother McDaniel's
messages on your CD. And you're going 74 miles an
hour. And the policeman says, Mr. Wilson, do you realize how
fast you were going? It's an admission of guilt, folks.
Well, no, I didn't. Well, sir, you were doing 74
miles an hour in a 65-mile speed limit. I'm going to give you
a ticket. Well, can you show mercy today? I haven't had a ticket in 10
years. No, 15 years. Can't you show mercy? Don't I
deserve mercy? Officer, I was listening to my
pastor preach. Don't I deserve mercy? The point
is we all want mercy. The point is we all think that
we deserve mercy. Let me go a little deeper now. What if your neighbor, your neighbor,
has a problem. Personal illustration. My neighbor's
tree fell off, fell out of his tree on top of my roof. It's
not my responsibility to get off, get that tree off my roof.
He never tried to get it off the roof. So I had to get it
off the roof. I showed him mercy. I never said
a word to him about it. Just got up there and got it
off myself after about six, eight weeks. I showed him mercy. That's not the kind of mercy
he's talking about. That's not the mercy that he's
talking about. He's talking about the mercy
that we find in God himself. Love mercy. Love the mercy that
is found in God. Find the mercy that's in Jesus
Christ our Lord. I can show you mercy. I can forgive
you 70 times 7 and it will not appease the wrath of God. It's
not me showing mercy and it's not you showing mercy to me.
This is talking about love the mercy of Almighty God. Every day this mercy, it comes
in my presence. Some days more than others. But
I'm thinking more and more about his mercy, how he's preserved
me, how he's cared for me. But most of all, that his mercy
was eternal. And before the foundation of
the world, I found mercy with God. We talk about this subject
of eternal justification, meaning that before the foundation of
the world, I was justified in the very purpose of God. Ooh,
they call me a hyper-Calvinist because I believe that. that
I believe that God loved me for all eternity and that before
the foundation of the world that he has justified me before I
was ever born, before I ever sinned in this world, I had the
justification of God because he purposed it. That's the mercy. That's the mercy I'm talking
about. To love that mercy, not to make
it a common grace that some of these people talk about, but
to love the sovereign mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Then he says to walk humbly. To walk humbly. What does that
mean? That means to consider your position before
God. Consider what God has done for
you, that we're sinners, we are not worthy in this hour of His
mercy and His grace. We never will be worth His grace
and mercy. But knowing that all of these
things are true, it should make us humble. Walk humbly. Walk humbly with
thy God, knowing that he is God that has brought me all the way.
I haven't brought myself away a bit. When the brothers had
a birthday this week, I had a birthday a week or so ago. Isn't it wonderful
that God has shown us mercy and grace all these years, that He
gave us His Son, He gave us faith and trust, He gave us repentance
to believe and continue to believe and continue to repent before
God. That, that's what He's talking
about. To walk only before God. Now let's go back to Israel.
Israel is going to go into captivity. They're going to go off. They're
never coming back. The people are going to be dispersed. Their nationality are just going
to be scattered throughout the entire world. That's not good. I pray that
God might not judge America like that. That God would have mercy
upon us. We don't deserve it. We are no
better than Israel. We're as adulterous as they were.
We walk contrary to the will of God. But thanks be unto God,
in this book of Micah, he talks about the presumption, but he
talks about the revelation. He talks about the fact that
he's going to judge them and judge them hard. He's going to
disperse them. They're never coming home. But
then he talks He talks about an everlasting Lord, an everlasting
King. David never thought this would
ever happen. Solomon never dreamed that this
would happen. But he had a son, Rehoboam, that
pulled every shine there was. And because of the sins of the
children of David, God broke this country up. And he judged
it, and he judged it severely. And now the people says, what
does God require of me? What do we have to do now to
make this right? What do we have to do? Just tell
them, just tell me what it is. We'll do it. We'll, we'll get
this taken care of at two o'clock because I have a TD program that
comes on two o'clock every day. It doesn't work that way. God judged the people. There
was nothing that Israel could do to stay off the judgment that
was coming upon that nation. There's nothing that any man
can do to stay off the wrath of God upon him because he's
a sinner and he's going to perish apart from the grace of God.
Give your children to be burned if you will. give him 10,000
grams, if you will, oceans of oil, you will, but it will not
appease the wrath and the mercy of wrath of God. It won't give
us the mercy of God. Only one thing will give us the
mercy of God. And that is God or himself chooses
to save us. It's the sovereignty of God.
It's not the responsibility of man to save himself. It is the
sovereignty of God that saves his people. May God bless you
today. May God's face shine upon each
of you. May God bless our country. May God give us restoration as
he did