Praise God for His faithfulness. Jesus says I will honour those who honour Me. Micah encourages us to remain faithful in our ministries.
Micah 2: Woe to the Oppressors
1 Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the LORD: behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks, and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be a time of disaster.
4 In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you and moan bitterly, and say, "We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people; how he removes it from me! To an apostate he allots our fields."
5 Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the LORD.
6 "Do not preach"---thus they preach--- "one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us."
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob? Has the LORD grown impatient? Are these his deeds? Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately my people have risen up as an enemy; you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly with no thought of war.
9 The women of my people you drive out from their delightful houses; from their young children you take away my splendour forever.
10 Arise and go, for this is no place to rest, because of uncleanness that destroys with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying, "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," he would be the preacher for this people!
12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men.
13 He who opens the breach goes up before them; they break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king passes on before them, the LORD at their head.
Micah 3: Rulers and Prophets Denounced
1 And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?---
2 you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones,
3 who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron.
4 Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry "Peace" when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.
6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;
7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight,
10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be ploughed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
Things to think about…
1. Being a wise businessman is a blessing from the Lord. But gaining money from those who are already poor by devising ways of taking more money from them is a disgrace, especially when there is time given even before sleep to plot and plan to do so, Mic 2:1. This was against the Mosaic Law, not to mention against general conscience. Micah is speaking against the ruler’s desires to even take the land, the inheritance of these poor leaving them with no blessing for their children, Amos 2:1,2. Remember this was the sin of Ahab who desired Naboth’s vineyard, 1Kings 21. Micah is no doubt referring to this part of Israel’s history. Just as judgement came upon Ahab and Jezabel (and Israel) for their wickedness, so it will be for Judah who continue in this same sin. God therefore is plotting against them, vs 2 and He will take away their land, vs 3. It says that after judgement they will also complain by saying that God gave up the land to someone who also rejects Him, vs 4. Do we complain when God disciplines us and seems to show favour to unbelievers even before He shows His grace towards us? If we know God, the issue in the first instance is our own obedience.
2. Look at what was being said of Micah by the people – “Do not preach”…Mic 2:6. They didn’t like hearing Micah’s negative sermons. Sometimes all we want to hear is a positive sermon. But when the nation was rebelling against God it was impossible for Micah to provide their wish. Look at what Micah’s hearers wanted to hear, 2:11. Preach fluffy sermons that exalt wine and strong drink…there is nothing new under the sun folks. In other words, ‘tickle my ears and satisfy my flesh’. Years ago I saw a comment from preacher of a large church speak out against Israel Folau’s post regarding why Australia is experiencing drought and fires. The preacher said “Pray for your Nation, don’t condemn it.” Then quoted John 3:17. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” This is true, but the context of John 3 is that all men everywhere should repent, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” John 3:19, 20. There is “no condemnation for those ‘in Christ Jesus”, Rom 8:1, but for everyone else who does not repent of sin, there is condemnation. Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but he also said to her to “go and sin no more”, John 8:11.
3. Look at Mic 2:12. It refers to Israel being set apart like a flock of sheep. We know this will happen at the end of the age. Could the statement “a noisy multitude of men”, refer to the 144 000 men; the 12 000 that are called out from every tribe. It may well be the case.
4. Micah 2:13 is ultimately a prophesy about Jesus. He is the One who breaks the chains and is the king who passes on before them, “the LORD at their head”. He will break the chains of unbelief and rebellion off Israel. Israel will one day rejoice in their true Messiah. Hallelujah! May He continue to break through the pass of sin over Australia.
5. The rulers in Micah’s day should have known better and led the people in righteousness, Mic 3:1-3. Pray for those who are in leadership in the country and in the churches of Australia. Pray that pastors will be faithful with their callings, while they speak of God’s love and grace, that they do so without leaving off God’s truth.
6. Look at what Micah says of himself and his preaching – he is filled with power, the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and might to declare Jacob’s transgression and Israel’s sin, Mic 3:8. Please keep praying for me that God would continue to give me wisdom, courage and conviction to love you enough to give you the truth, regardless of whether it feels good or not. Micah 3:8 is ultimately fulfilled in Christ who came to Israel, being filled with the Spirit of the Lord proclaiming the good news.
7. You cannot preach peace and prosperity without an understanding that without repentance judgement is more than likely, it is inevitable, Mic 3:11. Pray that we love Australians enough to share the whole counsel of God with them. While Hezekiah would see deliverance from the Assyrians, the Babylonians would eventually come and make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, Mic 3:12 in 586BC.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Prayer points
1. Pray for our elder Doug as he preaches on the book of Amos this Sunday.
2. Pray for the church in Australia that it focuses on Christ, His Word and holiness and away from trying to mould character aside from the cross and repentance.
3. Pray for our leaders in Australia that they press in closer to Christ.
4. Pray for the Liberal party as they wrestle with leadership issues.
5. Pray for the people of Iran that they finally get their freedom from an oppressive regime
6. The Royal Commission that the Jewish people will feel safe in Australia.
7. One for Israel ministry.
8. Conflict zones – especially within Africa (Nigerian Christians murdered this week), Israel, Iran and Ukraine
9. Pray for new people to step into ministries at CBC – eg worship, café, sound/technical, giving, podcast.
10. Reform and Revival over our city and country.
11. Finances to cover our needs
12. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for Doug’s message on Micah and the Lord’s blessing over our service on Sunday
2. Praise God for ministries – Life Groups, Prayer meetings, Kids@Church
3. Café team every week. Thankyou to all those who serve and bring food. Especially Fiona, Maddie and Suzy.
4. Worship, Admin and Technical teams – Nita, Brendon, AJ, Suzy, Maddie, Mathys, Doug.
5. Kids Church teachers – Jacqueline, Maddie, Elise, Anastacia and Fiona
6. The Lord’s faithfulness this year to CBC and all who have served in ministries
7. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Prayer meeting Wed 5:30pm at church
2. All Life Groups are back.
3. Kids@Church has started back
4. Members Meeting – Next Sunday 22nd Feb after the service
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
6. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for February...
Q. 5. Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever sin? A. No; he was holy, blameless, and undefiled.
