today we're<\/p>\n
continuing our series in the book of<\/p>\n
micah<\/p>\n
which so far has been filled with<\/p>\n
judgment<\/p>\n
sinclair<\/p>\n
as you remember last week chapter 2 was<\/p>\n
also about<\/p>\n
judgment and presuming on god's grace<\/p>\n
well guess what chapter 3 is also on<\/p>\n
and it might be at this point where we<\/p>\n
start feeling like the old testament is<\/p>\n
very hard to read which is true at<\/p>\n
points<\/p>\n
[Music]<\/p>\n
for<\/p>\n
but just like a physician knows what the<\/p>\n
patient needs to be healthy<\/p>\n
god knows what we need better than we<\/p>\n
ourselves do and so we want to go<\/p>\n
through the entire word of god<\/p>\n
because it's there<\/p>\n
foreign<\/p>\n
the bible is wiser than we are and we<\/p>\n
want to filter our life through the<\/p>\n
bible's wisdom<\/p>\n
and we also believe that the bible is<\/p>\n
god's primary way of talking to us today<\/p>\n
so that being said let's not turn to<\/p>\n
micah3 that was going to read it in thai<\/p>\n
and both languages will be on the screen<\/p>\n
know<\/p>\n
oh<\/p>\n
um<\/p>\n
is<\/p>\n
thanks though so<\/p>\n
this chapter as we've just read is not<\/p>\n
one that makes us feel good on the<\/p>\n
inside<\/p>\n
here<\/p>\n
judgment and condemnation are being<\/p>\n
proclaimed god is going to hide his face<\/p>\n
and turn away from israel and jerusalem<\/p>\n
is going to be destroyed<\/p>\n
the question is what could have happened<\/p>\n
to bring such a strong response<\/p>\n
what would cause god to bring about such<\/p>\n
judgment and possible destruction over<\/p>\n
his own city<\/p>\n
over the past few weeks we've looked at<\/p>\n
the theme of justice and here is a<\/p>\n
perfect example about what god thinks<\/p>\n
about<\/p>\n
injustice<\/p>\n
this chapter shows us in great detail<\/p>\n
what god's standards are for justice<\/p>\n
as well as what god thinks about<\/p>\n
it shows us the problem of injustice and<\/p>\n
exploitation<\/p>\n
it shows us the source of exploitation<\/p>\n
and then it shows us the solution<\/p>\n
so verse 1 verse 1 shows us that micah<\/p>\n
is addressing the leaders and rulers of<\/p>\n
israel<\/p>\n
for neglecting justice<\/p>\n
he says should you not embrace justice<\/p>\n
you who hate good and love evil.<\/p>\n
the leaders of israel are exploiting and<\/p>\n
taking advantage of their own people<\/p>\n
they failed to maintain the standards of<\/p>\n
right and wrong<\/p>\n
in fact they've reversed it the very<\/p>\n
ones who are supposed to be upholding<\/p>\n
justice and protecting their people are<\/p>\n
the very ones who are committing robbery<\/p>\n
in the worst way possible<\/p>\n
micah says you tear the skin from my<\/p>\n
people<\/p>\n
and eat my people's flesh strip off<\/p>\n
their skin break their bones into pieces<\/p>\n
chop them up like meat for the pan and<\/p>\n
flesh for the pot<\/p>\n
this is very strong language he's saying<\/p>\n
the leaders of israel are<\/p>\n
eating their own people<\/p>\n
in the bible the image of eating flesh<\/p>\n
is often used to describe<\/p>\n
oppression and that's the case here<\/p>\n
the courts of justice were run by<\/p>\n
officials who<\/p>\n
impoverished their own community and<\/p>\n
deprive the people of their legal rights<\/p>\n
like butchers whose skin and bone<\/p>\n
carcasses the government leaders prey on<\/p>\n
their own people<\/p>\n
economically judicially socially morally<\/p>\n
hong kong<\/p>\n
but the leaders are not alone micah goes<\/p>\n
after the religious leaders too<\/p>\n
the prophets whose duty it is to connect<\/p>\n
the people to god to speak god's word to<\/p>\n
the people they are the ones who are<\/p>\n
leading them astray in verse 5.<\/p>\n
not<\/p>\n
tells us that they're motivated by their<\/p>\n
own desires they proclaim good news to<\/p>\n
those who pay them but to those who<\/p>\n
don't<\/p>\n
they wage war against them in other<\/p>\n
words<\/p>\n
their behavior depends on what they can<\/p>\n
get out of it<\/p>\n
the officials who are responsible for<\/p>\n
upholding justice are the ones who<\/p>\n
judge for a bribe verse 11 the priests<\/p>\n
who are supposed to teach<\/p>\n
do so for a price and those who are<\/p>\n
supposed to speak god's word tell<\/p>\n
fortunes for money<\/p>\n
and the king has allowed all of this to<\/p>\n
happen under his rule<\/p>\n
hindi<\/p>\n
there is no justice in israel only<\/p>\n
corruption and greed<\/p>\n
i'm sure we don't have to look very far<\/p>\n
to see this is still the case today<\/p>\n
injustice and exploitation are rampant<\/p>\n
everywhere we see it in our own country<\/p>\n
and in our neighboring countries the<\/p>\n
problem that<\/p>\n
israel experienced then still exists<\/p>\n
today<\/p>\n
so israel's leaders have failed them and<\/p>\n
now we turn to the source<\/p>\n
of injustice and exploitation<\/p>\n
so verse 5 shows us that the motivations<\/p>\n
of the prophets are self-centered<\/p>\n
they proclaim peace if they have<\/p>\n
something to eat but wage war against<\/p>\n
anyone who refuses to feed them<\/p>\n
they're seeking their own personal gain<\/p>\n
their actions of injustice and<\/p>\n
exploitation come from their posture<\/p>\n
of selfishness and self-centeredness<\/p>\n
and what's more verse 11 tells us that<\/p>\n
they're looking for god's support<\/p>\n
they think that god is on their side<\/p>\n
while they break the very laws that he<\/p>\n
put into place<\/p>\n
like a jannaty said last week they're<\/p>\n
presuming god's grace presuming his<\/p>\n
approval<\/p>\n
in other words they don't really care<\/p>\n
about what god thinks rather they're<\/p>\n
manipulating god<\/p>\n
for their own gain<\/p>\n
they're motivated by their own<\/p>\n
selfishness which is just another way of<\/p>\n
saying that they do not trust<\/p>\n
they're using their own people and even<\/p>\n
using god<\/p>\n
for their own sake<\/p>\n
like<\/p>\n
and martin luther a theologian during<\/p>\n
the 1500s<\/p>\n
in his lectures on romans he says human<\/p>\n
nature is so<\/p>\n
deeply curved in on itself that it<\/p>\n
wickedly curvedly and viciously seeks to<\/p>\n
use<\/p>\n
all things even god for its own sake<\/p>\n
he's saying that self-centeredness is<\/p>\n
the root of sin what<\/p>\n
we can easily see that being the case in<\/p>\n
our text for today<\/p>\n
micah tells us that it is these leaders<\/p>\n
are exceptionally cruel<\/p>\n
and they're motivated out of a concern<\/p>\n
for themselves<\/p>\n
and we may think that us normal people<\/p>\n
would never do anything like that<\/p>\n
we would never allow such injustice to<\/p>\n
happen we would never eat the flesh of<\/p>\n
those who it's our responsibility to<\/p>\n
protect<\/p>\n
we aren't self-centered in that way but<\/p>\n
the essence of self-centeredness<\/p>\n
is not just the leaders being cruel and<\/p>\n
bad martin luther says that it pervades<\/p>\n
everything because it makes you<\/p>\n
use everything<\/p>\n
throughout history we've seen tyrants<\/p>\n
you and we can call them self-centered<\/p>\n
because they're doing things<\/p>\n
bad things for their own gains<\/p>\n
we can conclude self-centeredness is the<\/p>\n
motivation for being bad for doing bad<\/p>\n
things<\/p>\n
but self-centeredness is also the<\/p>\n
motivation for being good<\/p>\n
for being moral for being nice for<\/p>\n
giving your money away<\/p>\n
there's no better way to get control of<\/p>\n
other people than by being nice<\/p>\n
and moral there's no better way to get<\/p>\n
everybody to do what you want<\/p>\n
than by being self-sacrificing and<\/p>\n
loving that gun<\/p>\n
deep down inside what we're doing when<\/p>\n
we're helping people when we're<\/p>\n
helping people we're actually using them<\/p>\n
we're not completely doing it for their<\/p>\n
sake we're doing it for our sake<\/p>\n
and this is what luther is saying<\/p>\n
here to go even further<\/p>\n
religion in general is fueled by<\/p>\n
self-centeredness<\/p>\n
so generally how it works is i obey<\/p>\n
scripture i go to church<\/p>\n
i pray to god i help the poor see i help<\/p>\n
the poor<\/p>\n
and i expect results i expect answers to<\/p>\n
prayer and blessings in my life<\/p>\n
and when our prayers aren't answered<\/p>\n
when life falls about<\/p>\n
apart we may find ourselves saying i'm<\/p>\n
praying i'm reading my bible<\/p>\n
but life is falling apart what use is it<\/p>\n
to be a christian<\/p>\n
what use is it to be a christian if god<\/p>\n
never<\/p>\n
you see what may look like love for god<\/p>\n
and god's people on the outside<\/p>\n
may just be self-centeredness on the<\/p>\n
if you give me this or if you fix my<\/p>\n
marriage or my financial problems<\/p>\n
i'll obey you if you give me this or<\/p>\n
that what is on the other side of that<\/p>\n
if is our real god and the god that<\/p>\n
we're supposedly obeying<\/p>\n
we're actually using him to get what we<\/p>\n
want<\/p>\n
but if you truly love someone why do you<\/p>\n
do the things they want<\/p>\n
you do it just to see the smile on their<\/p>\n
face that's a reward all by itself<\/p>\n
that's love<\/p>\n
but paul in romans 3 says nobody loves<\/p>\n
god for who god is<\/p>\n
nobody obeys god out of love we all use<\/p>\n
god to get what we want because<\/p>\n
we believe that what we want will make<\/p>\n
us okay<\/p>\n
will make us whole will fix us<\/p>\n
and if we use god and other people to<\/p>\n
get what we want<\/p>\n
we're no different to these leaders that<\/p>\n
micah is talking to<\/p>\n
me the selfishness of the heart<\/p>\n
obstructs true justice because just like<\/p>\n
the leaders are exploiting and taking<\/p>\n
advantage of their people and god to get<\/p>\n
what they want<\/p>\n
we're doing the very same thing<\/p>\n
but it just looks different because on<\/p>\n
the outside we may look<\/p>\n
better than these leaders we're not<\/p>\n
killing anyone we're not<\/p>\n
we're not obstructing justice but on the<\/p>\n
inside our motives are the same<\/p>\n
that things<\/p>\n
we're all in the same boat we use god<\/p>\n
and we use people to get what we want<\/p>\n
to and that's contradictory to justice<\/p>\n
because it's contradictory to god's<\/p>\n
character who is the source of justice<\/p>\n
the only way we can truly seek justice<\/p>\n
and righteousness is if we do so out of<\/p>\n
a genuine concern<\/p>\n
for the other<\/p>\n
young people<\/p>\n
so we're left with israel who god<\/p>\n
intended to be a light to the rest of<\/p>\n
the world<\/p>\n
being the furthest thing away from it<\/p>\n
israel who was meant to be an example of<\/p>\n
god's righteousness and justice to the<\/p>\n
rest of the world<\/p>\n
is not a good example<\/p>\n
but the very worst example is<\/p>\n
next slide please thank you<\/p>\n
and because of their exploitation<\/p>\n
because they've ignored<\/p>\n
god's justice and righteousness because<\/p>\n
they have not cared about god's word but<\/p>\n
have used god to get what they want<\/p>\n
as we see in verses four four and seven<\/p>\n
god is going to cut himself<\/p>\n
off from israel<\/p>\n
from<\/p>\n
because of their self-centeredness<\/p>\n
because they've silenced god going as<\/p>\n
god is going to be silent to them<\/p>\n
they're going to cry out to god and he<\/p>\n
will not answer them<\/p>\n
because of the evil that they've done<\/p>\n
that's completely fair and just right if<\/p>\n
because they've refused to hear god<\/p>\n
god is going to refuse to hear them<\/p>\n
and what's more jerusalem god's own city<\/p>\n
because of the leaders exploitation the<\/p>\n
entire city is going to become a heap of<\/p>\n
rubble<\/p>\n
the city is going to be crushed the end<\/p>\n
of micah's pronouncement<\/p>\n
is judgment and destruction and<\/p>\n
alienation from god<\/p>\n
welcome<\/p>\n
and if we're in that same boat because<\/p>\n
of our own self-centeredness<\/p>\n
we deserve the very same treatment if<\/p>\n
we've turned away from god<\/p>\n
then what we deserve is forgot to turn<\/p>\n
away from us<\/p>\n
i'm sure that's happened to us in our<\/p>\n
relationships if someone ignores you<\/p>\n
what do you do<\/p>\n
okay you ignore me fine i'll ignore you<\/p>\n
too somehow<\/p>\n
someone ignores us so we choose to<\/p>\n
ignore them because it feels very just<\/p>\n
right<\/p>\n
as we come to the end of this chapter<\/p>\n
the question is<\/p>\n
has god failed how is god going to keep<\/p>\n
his promises<\/p>\n
of establishing righteousness and<\/p>\n
justice when the leaders of his own<\/p>\n
the prophets the priests the judges the<\/p>\n
king<\/p>\n
when all of them have failed well not<\/p>\n
moral<\/p>\n
so jeremiah 26 18 and 19 tell us<\/p>\n
that when micah preached this and said<\/p>\n
the words in verse 12.<\/p>\n
there was repentance and there was a<\/p>\n
revival.<\/p>\n
whenever<\/p>\n
jeremiah is quoting micah 3 12 in the<\/p>\n
highlighted verses<\/p>\n
that's what it says in micah and what<\/p>\n
happened is<\/p>\n
king hezekiah repented after micah<\/p>\n
brought this judgment he sought god<\/p>\n
again<\/p>\n
and god did not bring the disaster that<\/p>\n
he promised he delayed it<\/p>\n
preaching of judgment worked israel<\/p>\n
repented<\/p>\n
micah coming to the leaders and<\/p>\n
preaching judgment was actually a sign<\/p>\n
of god's mercy<\/p>\n
god did not have to tell israel their<\/p>\n
sin god could have just destroyed them<\/p>\n
and that shows us that through micah god<\/p>\n
was trying to get israel to see her sin<\/p>\n
and wickedness<\/p>\n
so that israel could wake up repent and<\/p>\n
become liberated<\/p>\n
through micah<\/p>\n
m<\/p>\n
if judgment was the end of the story<\/p>\n
there would be no hope only death and<\/p>\n
destruction<\/p>\n
as this chapter shows us<\/p>\n
but the whole bible shows us the lengths<\/p>\n
that god would go<\/p>\n
to seek us in love and to come near and<\/p>\n
we know that he does so in jesus christ<\/p>\n
jesus christ reverses all the failures<\/p>\n
of israel's leaders<\/p>\n
the leaders exploited and oppressed<\/p>\n
their people but jesus has come to save<\/p>\n
and liberate his people<\/p>\n
how<\/p>\n
the leaders hated good and loved evil<\/p>\n
they didn't care about justice or<\/p>\n
righteousness<\/p>\n
but hebrews 1 tells us that jesus christ<\/p>\n
will rule his kingdom<\/p>\n
with a scepter of justice that in<\/p>\n
contrast to the leaders<\/p>\n
who loved evil and hated righteousness<\/p>\n
jesus loves righteousness and hates<\/p>\n
wickedness<\/p>\n
the leaders and the prophets who were<\/p>\n
supposed to declare<\/p>\n
god's word ended up telling fortunes for<\/p>\n
money out of self-centeredness<\/p>\n
but jesus the true prophet the true<\/p>\n
priest the true king was completely<\/p>\n
selfless and obedient to god<\/p>\n
jesus christ is the leader that we're<\/p>\n
all searching for he is the answer to<\/p>\n
our self-centeredness<\/p>\n
he is the only king who will never fail<\/p>\n
his people<\/p>\n
how do we know that jesus will never<\/p>\n
fail his people<\/p>\n
because unlike the leaders who exploited<\/p>\n
and took advantage of their own people<\/p>\n
for their personal gain<\/p>\n
jesus lays down his own life foreign<\/p>\n
and he did so not out of<\/p>\n
self-centeredness but selflessness<\/p>\n
because when jesus was in the garden the<\/p>\n
night before his crucifixion<\/p>\n
he was sweating blood and agony and<\/p>\n
knowing that he was on his way to die he<\/p>\n
prayed<\/p>\n
not my will but yours be done he was not<\/p>\n
looking to himself he was looking to god<\/p>\n
and they both knew that this was the<\/p>\n
only way to save us<\/p>\n
yes<\/p>\n
the judgment spoke of of god turning his<\/p>\n
face away from israel because of the<\/p>\n
evil they done<\/p>\n
well that actually happened<\/p>\n
it happened in 586 bc<\/p>\n
when the babylonians exiled israel and<\/p>\n
jerusalem was crushed<\/p>\n
but that wasn't the only time jerusalem<\/p>\n
was crushed it was crushed again in 1870<\/p>\n
but that wasn't the only time that it<\/p>\n
would be crushed<\/p>\n
the real forsaking and the real rescue<\/p>\n
happened on the cross<\/p>\n
when jesus was on the cross matthew<\/p>\n
tells us that he cried out<\/p>\n
my god my god why have you forsaken me<\/p>\n
and there was nothing<\/p>\n
wrong<\/p>\n
jesus the true israel cried out to god<\/p>\n
but god did not hear him<\/p>\n
on the cross and god hid his face from<\/p>\n
jesus jesus experienced god's silence<\/p>\n
on the cross what happened the father<\/p>\n
turned his face away<\/p>\n
we're going to sing that later<\/p>\n
on<\/p>\n
not only that jesus the true israel was<\/p>\n
also crushed<\/p>\n
the consequences that were rightly meant<\/p>\n
for us because of our self-centeredness<\/p>\n
because we use god and we use people to<\/p>\n
he took that punishment for us for you<\/p>\n
and he did it out of love<\/p>\n
that's only half of it on the cross god<\/p>\n
treated jesus as we deserved<\/p>\n
but that means that god can now treat us<\/p>\n
as jesus deserves<\/p>\n
god gives us his righteousness and now<\/p>\n
we are god's precious possession<\/p>\n
it says in first peter 2 that we are<\/p>\n
god's most we are god's treasured<\/p>\n
possession<\/p>\n
which means that god looks at us and<\/p>\n
says in jesus christ you are more<\/p>\n
precious than all the jewels on the<\/p>\n
earth<\/p>\n
side<\/p>\n
this fills the hole in our hearts that<\/p>\n
we're trying to fill with our<\/p>\n
do you believe that do you believe that<\/p>\n
in your head do you believe that in your<\/p>\n
heart<\/p>\n
only that three days later jesus rose<\/p>\n
from the grave<\/p>\n
and hebrews 1 tells us that after<\/p>\n
providing purification for sins<\/p>\n
jesus sits down at the right hand of god<\/p>\n
jesus the true leader is alive<\/p>\n
and he's ruling with<\/p>\n
when we trust god's love when we behold<\/p>\n
the glory of jesus christ<\/p>\n
the better leader and the true king<\/p>\n
dying on the cross for us<\/p>\n
it will free us from our<\/p>\n
self-centeredness it fills the hole in<\/p>\n
our hearts that we're seeking to fill<\/p>\n
with other things<\/p>\n
in jesus christ we find true contentment<\/p>\n
and peace<\/p>\n
and it's only then that we truly will be<\/p>\n
able to have genuine concern for our<\/p>\n
neighbors<\/p>\n
and truly seek righteousness and justice<\/p>\n
our father we thank you for your word<\/p>\n
today we pray lord god that you would<\/p>\n
help us<\/p>\n
through your spirit to see our emptiness<\/p>\n
and our self-centeredness<\/p>\n
would you help us god to see our need<\/p>\n
for you and then help us to experience<\/p>\n
and to believe and to hold in our hearts<\/p>\n
this truth<\/p>\n
father we pray that you would help us to<\/p>\n
look at jesus the one who is righteous<\/p>\n
and just<\/p>\n
would you give us the same mindset that<\/p>\n
jesus christ has<\/p>\n
help us to rejoice in what your son has<\/p>\n
done for us and allow us<\/p>\n
through the power of your holy spirit to<\/p>\n
live as citizens of your kingdom<\/p>\n
in jesus name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","teacher":null,"original_publish_date":"20210624","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RsjvXmxB-bc","video_id":"RsjvXmxB-bc","video_duration":"38:45","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":986,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions\/986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}