WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.980 --> 00:00:47.260 Well, good morning, everybody. 00:00:47.420 --> 00:00:52.100 If you've got your Bibles with you, and I hope you do, open them up to Micah chapter 6. 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:55.960 We have this week and next week, and then we'll wrap up in our Micah series. 00:00:56.100 --> 00:01:01.620 I know it's really stretched me in my study, in my preaching, and so I hope God's used 00:01:01.620 --> 00:01:04.680 this book greatly in your life as well. 00:01:05.080 --> 00:01:09.000 As you turn there, I want to remind you, hopefully you're able to see our video that we put out 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:14.600 this past week as we are working toward regathering together as a church body coming back together. 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:18.940 Two things I just want to remind and point out to everyone is that our Celebrate Recovery 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:23.840 will be back meeting on our campuses starting on May the 28th. 00:01:24.080 --> 00:01:28.020 And if you've maybe gone through this season of life, and you see where you've got some 00:01:28.020 --> 00:01:32.040 struggles with your hurts, habits, and hangups, and want to see the victory of God in those, 00:01:32.100 --> 00:01:35.820 it'd be a wonderful opportunity for you to engage in that ministry. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.740 And so feel free to email Pastor Dave to get all of the details for that. 00:01:39.800 --> 00:01:43.340 But our Celebrate Recovery ministry will begin back meeting on May 28th. 00:01:43.340 --> 00:01:49.300 And then if you haven't seen yet, we will be back meeting together on June the 7th. 00:01:49.300 --> 00:01:54.300 Now, I'll say we're going to be back meeting together, both in person, live together, but 00:01:54.300 --> 00:01:56.120 as well streaming online. 00:01:56.300 --> 00:02:02.300 And so we'll be meeting live services at 9, 11, and 1, and we will have a live stream for 00:02:02.300 --> 00:02:04.100 the 11 o'clock service as well. 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:05.680 So, hey, there is no pressure. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:11.400 We want you to continue to worship the Lord in the way that best suits for you or for your 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:13.320 family during this time period. 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:17.520 And so if that's joining us at one of those hours, we would love to have you with us. 00:02:17.600 --> 00:02:21.720 If that's for you saying, hey, right now we're going to continue to worship from home, right? 00:02:21.760 --> 00:02:26.160 We trust that God's going to help you make the choice that is best for you and your family. 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:30.900 And if that's the case, you will need to watch the adjustments of the time because we will 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:34.020 start streaming at the 11 o'clock service. 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:36.920 And all of that will start on June the 7th. 00:02:36.920 --> 00:02:40.920 Between now and then, we'll continue to roll at 10, 15 together. 00:02:41.440 --> 00:02:48.100 So as we start off in Micah chapter 6, this passage is broken up into three different sections. 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:53.440 The first section and the last section, God is going to speak to his people, but he's going 00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:55.580 to do so in two different settings. 00:02:55.780 --> 00:03:02.380 The first setting is going to be this courtroom setting where God is going to bring the official 00:03:02.380 --> 00:03:04.500 allegations before the people. 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:08.680 And so all through this, allegations have been made all through this. 00:03:08.760 --> 00:03:15.880 The sin of Israel has been pointed out, but in a formal court styled setting, God is going 00:03:15.880 --> 00:03:21.180 to bring the allegations to his people through the prophet Micah. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:25.360 And so that's where we're going to pick up reading in verses one through five of chapter 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:25.820 six. 00:03:25.820 --> 00:03:29.940 It says this, hear what the Lord says. 00:03:30.180 --> 00:03:35.220 So now this is Micah relaying God's words directly to the people. 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:41.540 Arise, plead your case before the mountains and let the hills hear your voice. 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:48.100 Hear you mountains, the indictment of the Lord and you enduring foundations of the earth. 00:03:48.100 --> 00:03:52.880 For the Lord has an indictment against his people and he will contend with Israel. 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:55.520 Oh, my people, what have I done to you? 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:57.020 How have I wearied you? 00:03:57.400 --> 00:03:58.040 Answer me. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:03.960 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:08.720 And I sent before you Moses and Aaron and Miriam. 00:04:09.320 --> 00:04:15.460 Oh, my people, remember what King Balak of Moab devised and what Balaam, the son of Beor, 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:16.260 answered him. 00:04:16.260 --> 00:04:24.180 And what happened from Shethim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord. 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:30.060 So God comes in this courtroom setting and he asks two questions. 00:04:30.580 --> 00:04:35.340 And what we're going to kind of deal with is the heart of the people of what God begins 00:04:35.340 --> 00:04:38.280 to address in blaming God. 00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:43.320 God comes to them and he says, look, what have I done to you? 00:04:43.940 --> 00:04:45.980 God's appearing before his people. 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:51.420 He's asking them to think back through their lives, to think back through the history of 00:04:51.420 --> 00:04:56.900 their nation and for God to say to them, what have I done to you? 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.920 But then God also asks another question. 00:05:00.280 --> 00:05:03.020 What have I done to cause this? 00:05:03.400 --> 00:05:07.060 How have I wearied you is what scripture says. 00:05:07.060 --> 00:05:14.280 And so what God is doing is God wants to point them to specifically, what has God done? 00:05:14.760 --> 00:05:20.420 So God's saying, think back, because God's going to bring examples of this before them. 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:27.480 So what has God, this is his question, what has God done to cause them to be disobedient? 00:05:28.080 --> 00:05:33.480 So this is a dangerous question as Israel is hearing this from the Lord. 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:40.800 So what God is doing in this is he is bringing into their light, his faithfulness. 00:05:41.180 --> 00:05:47.940 God's pointing out to them by allowing them to have the opportunity to speak negatively about 00:05:47.940 --> 00:05:48.380 him. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:51.740 But God's going to answer his own question. 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:55.540 God says, look, you've taken a part of social injustice. 00:05:55.860 --> 00:05:57.940 You've turned to idolatry. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.480 What have I done to you to deserve this? 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:09.140 What have I done to you to cause this is what God begins to break forward with them. 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:15.660 And so we get this opportunity where we see where it's in the heart of people to blame God. 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:17.160 I want to ask you this question. 00:06:17.820 --> 00:06:22.580 Have you ever blamed God for your situation or for your sin? 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:25.680 I imagine as captivity will happen. 00:06:26.340 --> 00:06:31.640 I imagine as the struggles will come to God's people, that there's going to be these moments 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:38.520 and instances in their life where they begin to feel that the reason of why they are where 00:06:38.520 --> 00:06:41.640 they are is because this is God's fault. 00:06:42.300 --> 00:06:43.960 Not because God caused it. 00:06:44.460 --> 00:06:46.360 Not because God purposed it. 00:06:46.700 --> 00:06:55.820 But it's God's fault and it's God's failure that got them where they are in life. 00:06:56.640 --> 00:06:57.580 And you think, that's crazy. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:06:59.100 Why would people do that? 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:03.100 Obviously, it's their idolatry that's brought them there. 00:07:03.700 --> 00:07:09.260 Obviously, it's their not caring for the widows and the orphans that we see in the very beginning 00:07:09.260 --> 00:07:13.440 of this book that has brought them to this condition of where they are. 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:22.220 And it's easy for us to look back on what happened thousands of years ago and not relate to the blame game 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:25.340 that they would have the tendency to play with God. 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:29.820 Because passively, we do this all the time. 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:36.520 Think about your life in a reference to a sinful tendency that we have in our life. 00:07:36.520 --> 00:07:42.260 And we say that we maybe struggle with it, but the truth is that we oftentimes don't struggle with our sinful tendencies. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:47.160 The truth is that oftentimes we just simply embrace our sinful tendencies. 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:51.340 And we use phrases and maybe they're just cliche to us. 00:07:51.400 --> 00:07:52.880 Maybe they're just catchphrases. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:57.400 But I believe that out of our mouth becomes what we truly believe in our heart. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.360 And so we make statements like, well, God made me this way. 00:08:01.700 --> 00:08:14.180 And we see this with lifestyle excuses that people use often, but we also use it to explain away the sinful tendencies 00:08:14.180 --> 00:08:16.860 and the sinful patterns of our life. 00:08:17.260 --> 00:08:18.180 And we blame God. 00:08:18.900 --> 00:08:21.740 Yeah, I know I got a temper, but God made me this way. 00:08:22.520 --> 00:08:26.660 You know, I know I'm reckless with my words and I don't think before I speak. 00:08:26.660 --> 00:08:30.620 And sometimes my words hurt people, but God just made me this way. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:36.780 I know that I'm foolish with money and I know that I'm reckless with it, but God just made me this way. 00:08:37.260 --> 00:08:43.220 Do you see what we're doing in this is we're not owning our sinful tendencies and our sinful behaviors, 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:45.880 but instead we're blaming God. 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:50.280 Another thing that we do is in the light of a bad decision that we've made, 00:08:50.280 --> 00:08:54.240 we will make statements like, well, I don't understand why I am where I am. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:56.100 You know, I prayed about it. 00:08:56.640 --> 00:08:59.160 And why didn't God stop me from doing it? 00:08:59.560 --> 00:09:07.740 So instead of looking back and seeing all of the cautionary signs that God gave us as we walked into this situation in life, 00:09:07.920 --> 00:09:14.000 instead of seeing in the midst of where we are, what God's trying to teach us in this situation in life, 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:20.020 we begin to set the attitude or the position of the heart that we've done everything correctly 00:09:20.020 --> 00:09:26.680 and who has failed us in these moments is not us, but is God. 00:09:27.300 --> 00:09:34.060 And when we blame God, what we do is we call into question his faithfulness. 00:09:34.060 --> 00:09:40.800 When the truth is, it is not his faithfulness that has failed us or left us. 00:09:40.920 --> 00:09:48.300 It is our disobedience that has failed him in every single instance. 00:09:48.900 --> 00:09:53.620 It's not that God isn't faithful, church, it's that we're not faithful. 00:09:54.540 --> 00:09:55.940 He is always faithful. 00:09:56.220 --> 00:09:57.500 He is always just. 00:09:57.740 --> 00:09:58.820 He is always right. 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:02.020 But it is us who fails him. 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:07.520 And so what God does as he brings these questions before his people, 00:10:08.700 --> 00:10:13.600 God, in a way in which only he can, reminds them of his faithfulness. 00:10:14.180 --> 00:10:18.580 The first way is he reminds them of his loving redemption. 00:10:19.400 --> 00:10:23.860 He reminds them of Egypt, of the saving love of God, 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:30.760 and that through this saving love, through this salvation from what enslaved them, 00:10:30.760 --> 00:10:36.800 God brought them into relationship with his word through Moses and Miriam. 00:10:37.540 --> 00:10:44.060 And God brought them into relationship with worship and sacrifice from the priesthood that would come from Aaron. 00:10:44.780 --> 00:10:45.620 And it's what we see. 00:10:46.020 --> 00:10:52.280 We see God's faithfulness in his redemption, in his saving work as he establishes a relationship. 00:10:52.280 --> 00:10:55.160 But we also see it in God's provision. 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:59.640 As it's referenced in here, a story that happens in Numbers 22, 00:11:00.220 --> 00:11:06.680 where Balaam's curse of God's people is prevented, not by an army or by a man, 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:11.760 but God himself as God provides for his people, 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:18.600 even when his people are oblivious to the provision that he makes. 00:11:18.780 --> 00:11:22.660 And so God reminds his people that this is who he is, 00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:27.760 that this is his faithfulness, that this is what he has done to them, 00:11:27.940 --> 00:11:31.380 that this is what he has done for them. 00:11:31.380 --> 00:11:34.100 And he does all of this, verse 5 tells us, 00:11:34.380 --> 00:11:38.720 so that they may know the righteous acts of the Lord. 00:11:38.780 --> 00:11:43.740 Now this phrase, righteous acts, it does not simply describe what a person does, 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:46.900 but it describes who a person is. 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:50.740 You see, it would normally be associated with a judge, 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:54.160 that a judge is to be a righteous judge, 00:11:54.160 --> 00:11:58.080 meaning that a judge should not just make righteous decisions, 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:03.200 but the only way to make righteous decisions is to be righteous himself. 00:12:04.400 --> 00:12:07.180 So righteousness is not a determination of what you do, 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:09.280 but a determination of who you are. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.060 And so God says, look, when you see all of the things that I've done, 00:12:14.340 --> 00:12:18.900 when you see all of the things that I'm working in and that I'm doing, 00:12:18.900 --> 00:12:23.760 when you see all of the things that I have done for you, 00:12:24.400 --> 00:12:26.560 it doesn't just show you what I've done. 00:12:27.400 --> 00:12:29.060 God says it shows you who I am. 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:30.800 And that's what we see. 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:37.760 As God stands in a court setting and makes the allegations of what's there. 00:12:38.140 --> 00:12:39.980 So let's keep reading in verse 6. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:46.660 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high? 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:52.000 Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 00:12:52.400 --> 00:12:58.020 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with 10,000 of rivers of oil? 00:12:58.520 --> 00:13:01.160 Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, 00:13:01.640 --> 00:13:03.880 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 00:13:04.520 --> 00:13:06.900 He has told you, O man, what is good, 00:13:07.160 --> 00:13:09.380 and what does the Lord require of you, 00:13:09.380 --> 00:13:16.360 but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. 00:13:16.520 --> 00:13:18.260 So here's interesting of what happens. 00:13:18.780 --> 00:13:23.780 God speaks, and in the middle of God speaking, Micah speaks. 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:30.660 So what we see here is a very interesting part that as Micah is relaying to God's people, 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:36.200 the words of God, the weight and the majesty of them hit Micah. 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:41.260 And so now what Micah does is Micah responds back to God. 00:13:41.400 --> 00:13:46.420 It's like God's faithfulness that Micah knows, that Micah has experienced, has hit Micah, 00:13:46.520 --> 00:13:56.460 and now he is reminding everyone else and even reminding himself through his testimony of the goodness and the faithfulness of God. 00:13:56.460 --> 00:14:03.600 And so in doing so, he asks a very important question that he, like God, is going to answer himself. 00:14:03.820 --> 00:14:06.900 He says, what does God require? 00:14:07.380 --> 00:14:10.960 Now this is an interesting piece about true Christianity. 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:19.120 An interesting piece about the true faith is that we come to understand that the gracious love of God, 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:27.820 and who God is, what that brings forth in our life, and what that calls us to is a deep, deep layer of obedience. 00:14:27.820 --> 00:14:30.580 Now, here's what I know about obedience. 00:14:31.180 --> 00:14:38.720 Parenting has taught me a lot, a lot of things about life, about myself, about relationships. 00:14:39.280 --> 00:14:44.100 But parenting, I think, has taught me a lot about human nature. 00:14:44.400 --> 00:14:51.220 And what I've learned in being a parent, I can take and I can apply to my life and apply to the lives of so many. 00:14:51.560 --> 00:14:55.500 And what I found is what I believe there are two types of obedience that I've learned. 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:57.580 The first is a forced obedience. 00:14:58.180 --> 00:15:03.000 And the forced obedience is this, that you obey because of the consequences. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:06.700 And so it's what you have to think and you have to choose to do. 00:15:06.880 --> 00:15:14.540 So you have a young child and you tell them, if you don't clean your room, then you are not going to be allowed to watch TV. 00:15:14.860 --> 00:15:22.980 And so they have to make the choice to clean their room out of the fear of losing the, watching TV. 00:15:23.180 --> 00:15:26.540 If they don't clean the room, then they face the consequences. 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:34.420 And so what you do in that is your kids aren't cleaning their room because they want to, but they're forced into obedience. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:38.760 And so trust me, as parents, I'm like, I'll take any kind of obedience we can get, right? 00:15:39.140 --> 00:15:47.960 But what God's working toward, and us as parents, even what we desire, is a deeper layer of obedience than forced obedience. 00:15:47.960 --> 00:16:00.780 And what we want is we want heart obedience, that you obey because not that you have to, but because you desire to please. 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:03.080 It's what you want to do. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:08.060 And in this level of obedience, it is no longer a choice. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:14.760 It's an instant reaction to what is happening and what is taking place. 00:16:15.400 --> 00:16:18.260 And that's what Micah is pointing the people to. 00:16:18.660 --> 00:16:22.740 That's what God longs for, a heart obedience. 00:16:23.100 --> 00:16:24.440 Not a forced obedience. 00:16:24.940 --> 00:16:27.660 Not an obedience simply because I know that judgment's coming. 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:32.900 But an obedience because of who I am and what my heart longs for. 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:34.620 So what are we to do? 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:39.680 When verse 6 and 7, Micah talks about making sacrifices. 00:16:40.140 --> 00:16:43.240 All different kinds and different depths of sacrifices. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:46.580 Elaborate, costly sacrifices. 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:50.640 And while this is good, Micah says, but it's not good enough. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:52.520 It's not what God desires. 00:16:52.520 --> 00:16:59.520 You see, because anyone can go out and do these things, but it doesn't speak to the nature of who you are. 00:16:59.920 --> 00:17:03.200 It just speaks to the nature of what you've done. 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:06.420 And so Micah says, there's more to that. 00:17:07.060 --> 00:17:11.020 He says, what we're to do is the first thing is we're to act justly. 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:16.260 That we're to respond to God's love in a social way. 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:22.020 Meaning this, that the love of God so penetrates us that it affects every aspect of who we are 00:17:22.020 --> 00:17:26.460 and how we live our life, both with people and away from people. 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:32.340 That in every aspect of my life that I'm to act in what is justly into what is right. 00:17:32.620 --> 00:17:35.440 But then it continues on and to build on that. 00:17:35.540 --> 00:17:42.780 And it's going to cause me to not just act kindly, but to love kindness is what God's word points us to. 00:17:43.020 --> 00:17:45.000 And this is simply how we treat others. 00:17:45.140 --> 00:17:54.020 Not based on who they are and what they've done, but my love of kindness causes me to treat everyone in the same way. 00:17:54.020 --> 00:17:59.240 With the same depth of kindness, regardless of who they are or what they've done for me. 00:17:59.580 --> 00:18:04.400 And then the third way Micah points to of what God longs for us is that we walk humbly. 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:09.360 Now walking humbly does not just simply mean that we live our lives in humility. 00:18:09.360 --> 00:18:14.200 But what we've learned from all the way back to looking at our study in Galatians to this with Micah 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:19.360 is that when we see the word walk, oftentimes it is associated with our relationship with the Lord. 00:18:19.600 --> 00:18:25.160 And so what Micah is saying here is that we are to walk in humble fellowship with God. 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:30.000 So that in there, there's a beauty of the contrast of the relationship that is there. 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:36.800 Yes, I'm in an intimate fellowship with God, that I am his and that he is mine, 00:18:36.980 --> 00:18:42.400 but I do so in a humble, reverent way of great fear for the Lord. 00:18:42.760 --> 00:18:46.440 It's the balance of the loving relationship that is there. 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:54.880 So Micah is not saying in this that your sacrifices do not matter or that your works do not matter. 00:18:55.460 --> 00:19:05.260 He's saying that it begins with who you are and that we must deal with who you are before we deal with what you do. 00:19:05.660 --> 00:19:10.540 You see, because your religious works, none of them matter if you're not his. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:12.640 None of them are going to save you. 00:19:13.100 --> 00:19:16.660 It doesn't matter how many mission trips you've gone on, how much money you've given, 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:20.200 how many times you've read the Bible through, how many prayers you pray, 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:22.220 how many church services you attend. 00:19:22.340 --> 00:19:23.320 It doesn't matter. 00:19:23.320 --> 00:19:24.740 However, you can stack them all up. 00:19:24.860 --> 00:19:27.720 If you're not his, none of it matters. 00:19:28.460 --> 00:19:31.160 And so it begins in who you are. 00:19:31.460 --> 00:19:37.860 I cannot emphasize this enough, that obedience is never just an action, 00:19:38.620 --> 00:19:46.320 that an obedience is who we are first, and then what comes from that is the action. 00:19:46.940 --> 00:19:49.640 That's the process of what we see. 00:19:50.580 --> 00:19:54.020 Hebrews 10, starting in verse 14, it says, 00:19:54.120 --> 00:19:59.500 For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:04.000 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us, for after saying, 00:20:04.380 --> 00:20:08.040 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:13.560 I will put my law on their hearts and write them on their minds. 00:20:13.560 --> 00:20:15.780 Do you see where our obedience comes from? 00:20:16.060 --> 00:20:17.680 God giving it to us. 00:20:17.860 --> 00:20:20.580 And we don't have it if we're not his. 00:20:21.060 --> 00:20:24.340 Let's finish reading chapter 6 in Micah, verse 9. 00:20:24.900 --> 00:20:27.040 And the voice of the Lord cries to the city. 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:30.400 And it is sound wisdom to fear your name. 00:20:31.100 --> 00:20:34.720 Hear of the rod of him who appointed it. 00:20:35.180 --> 00:20:40.800 Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, 00:20:41.140 --> 00:20:43.300 and the scant measure that is accursed? 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:47.880 Shall I equip the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.260 Your rich men are full of violence. 00:20:50.560 --> 00:20:54.540 Your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 00:20:54.940 --> 00:20:59.560 Therefore, I will strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. 00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:02.020 You shall eat, but not be satisfied. 00:21:02.280 --> 00:21:03.940 And there shall be hunger within you. 00:21:03.940 --> 00:21:07.720 And you shall put away, but not preserve. 00:21:08.140 --> 00:21:10.840 And what you preserve, I will give to the sword. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:13.060 You shall sow, but not reap. 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:16.140 You shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil. 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:18.620 You shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:24.880 For you have kept the structures of Amra and all the works of the house of Ahab. 00:21:25.020 --> 00:21:31.340 And you have walked in their councils that I may make you a desolation and your inhabitants a hissing. 00:21:31.340 --> 00:21:35.220 So you shall bear the scorn of my people. 00:21:35.780 --> 00:21:38.120 So God this time doesn't speak in a courtroom setting. 00:21:38.520 --> 00:21:43.080 But this time God speaks to them as an alarm warning of a disaster. 00:21:43.540 --> 00:21:45.220 He says, look, this is what's coming. 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:51.580 So imagine you're out and there's a storm far away and it begins to come closer and closer and closer. 00:21:51.900 --> 00:21:54.100 And there's a siren that begins to blow. 00:21:54.540 --> 00:21:56.560 That says, look, here's what's about to happen. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:00.460 This destruction is about to come into play. 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:05.220 And what we see in here is God describing his judgment. 00:22:06.100 --> 00:22:09.740 Several things that we can understand about God's judgment is this. 00:22:10.220 --> 00:22:12.500 God's judgment is merited and it is certain. 00:22:12.500 --> 00:22:13.840 I want to tell you this. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:16.940 God's judgment, it's coming. 00:22:17.500 --> 00:22:18.560 And we deserve it. 00:22:19.100 --> 00:22:21.420 We don't know when it's coming. 00:22:21.940 --> 00:22:24.340 We don't know how it will come. 00:22:24.780 --> 00:22:32.280 But we can hold for sure that God's judgment is merited and it is certain. 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:34.340 We've caused it. 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:36.740 We've been caught. 00:22:37.380 --> 00:22:38.620 We can't hide it. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:39.980 And it will come. 00:22:40.600 --> 00:22:45.480 Verse 11, God says, shall I quit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:47.060 God says, he's guilty. 00:22:47.560 --> 00:22:48.980 I can't just ignore it. 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:51.680 There has to be punishment for this. 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:58.320 And so my judgment, it is merited, it is deserved, it is righteous, and it is certain. 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:03.500 But God's judgment will also show the foolishness of our actions. 00:23:03.820 --> 00:23:07.440 God gives a list of all of the accomplishments. 00:23:07.840 --> 00:23:10.300 But says they will not leave us satisfied. 00:23:10.840 --> 00:23:13.300 They will not save us. 00:23:13.860 --> 00:23:19.520 That God's judgment will show the foolishness of all that we've tried to hang our hats on, 00:23:19.580 --> 00:23:22.160 of all of the accomplishments that we've tried to have. 00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:28.440 And that God's judgment, the third is that God's judgment is coming because of our sin. 00:23:29.460 --> 00:23:34.900 God gives them a reference to Amari, who was a king and whose son was Ahab, 00:23:35.080 --> 00:23:37.660 and who would marry a woman named Jezebel. 00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:41.960 Jezebel and Ahab would allow the worship of the false god Baal, 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:45.480 and through this sin, idolatry would lay a stronghold, 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:47.440 and from that would become the accountability. 00:23:47.860 --> 00:23:52.120 And so we begin to continue to see the sin pattern of what's there, 00:23:52.360 --> 00:23:57.100 the sin pattern of man, the deceitfulness of his heart, the idolatry that's there. 00:23:58.900 --> 00:24:00.800 And that's why the judgment will come. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.080 But that's not only why judgment will come. 00:24:04.820 --> 00:24:06.660 That's why Jesus came. 00:24:07.780 --> 00:24:10.460 So that Jesus comes to save us. 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:13.660 Jesus comes not to save us from God. 00:24:14.800 --> 00:24:16.480 Jesus comes to save us from ourselves. 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:20.000 Jesus comes to save us from our sin. 00:24:20.820 --> 00:24:24.300 Because we're like the wicked man with the scales. 00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:27.300 We're like Jezebel. 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:32.740 It is our sin that merits God's wrath. 00:24:33.520 --> 00:24:34.580 And we can be certain. 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:43.780 And without Christ, we stand in the full weight of God's judgment. 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:49.680 You know, every religion of the world, every single one of them, says come and do this. 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:52.340 Come and give me your works. 00:24:52.900 --> 00:24:54.400 Come and earn your salvation. 00:24:55.300 --> 00:25:07.000 But Christianity says Jesus came. 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:07.600 Becoming like him. 00:25:07.600 --> 00:25:08.940 Would you pray with me? 00:25:10.520 --> 00:25:12.060 God, we thank you for your word. 00:25:13.060 --> 00:25:15.400 We thank you for your kindness and for your mercy. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:18.800 Lord, I pray as your judgment will come. 00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:28.160 Lord, I pray that we would be a people who in who we are, act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly. 00:25:28.900 --> 00:25:30.680 Lord, be with all of us today. 00:25:31.300 --> 00:25:41.900 Lord, I pray if there's anyone here who does not know you, today would be the day that they find salvation in you and in you alone through the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:43.740 Jesus, we love you. 00:25:44.360 --> 00:25:45.260 We worship you. 00:25:45.660 --> 00:25:46.420 We praise you. 00:25:46.820 --> 00:25:47.700 And it's in your name we pray. 00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:48.440 Amen. 00:25:48.440 --> 00:26:04.920 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:07.540 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:16.600 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:26:16.600 --> 00:26:20.160 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.