Four Lessons From the Controversy

Micah 11

We have spent three months in the rather obscure book of Micah. Allow me to share four final thoughts with you before we go.

First, God's people need shepherding. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. (Micah 7.14)

The concept of God being our shepherd is found most famously in Psalm 23 but it is not found there alone. It is also found in Genesis 49, Numbers 27, I Kings 22, II Chronicles 18, Psalm 74, 78, 79, 80, 95, 100, and 119, in Isaiah 40 and 63, Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 34 and 37, Zechariah 10, 11, and 13, Matthew 9, 25, and 26, Mark 6 and 14, John 10, Hebrews 13, and I Peter 2 and 5. That is a whole heap of a lot of passages. It is drawn most beautifully in Psalm 23, and I expect to devote a blog series some time to unwrapping that for you.

Beloved, we must needs understand we require shepherding. When God's people begin to get the idea that they know best themselves, and that they do not need protected, cared for, shepherded, or lead when they cease to yield or to follow trouble inevitably comes. We need the Good Shepherd, and must needs follow Him.

Second, God's people need to see their God as a big God.

7.15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.
16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.

Doctrinally speaking, I am a cessationist. That means I do not believe in the exercise of the apostolic signs of tongues, prophesies, and miracles. But I do still believe we have a miracle working God. He does things that are flat out impossible for us to do. He does them in answer to prayer, He does them to help us in time of need, and He does them to demonstrate His own power to a lost world. Do not be a timid, thumb-sucking, paranoid, pessimistic, defeated Christian. It is not worthy of the God we serve. He wins, no matter how it currently looks. God wins.

Third, God's people must needs remember God's mercy. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. (Micah 7.18)

It is fairly common for a sinner to think, 'Well, my parents, my wife, my children will not forgive me. God probably won't either.' Yes, it is common, but is also one of the most vicious of the devil's lies. He whispers to you, 'What you did is unforgivable. Even by God.' And you believe him.

Such a lie, when it is believed, leads to depths of depravity that were unthinkable in a former life because now you sin in despair. You forget the wideness of God's mercy. You forget the depth of God's mercy. You forget the longsuffering of God's mercy. And, as in other areas, you create a God in your own image. Since others cannot forgive you and you cannot find a way to forgive yourself you cycle ever deeper into a veritable pit of disastrous sin.

Beloved, never, never, never forget the mercy of God. If you are breathing you can have it.

Fourth, never-ending sin will surely someday end, and God will fulfil all of His promises.

Micah 7.19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

What a comfort the doctrine of the final sanctification of God's people is to me! What a comfort it ought to be to His people, whether the church of God or the Israel of God. There is a very bright future and that very bright future is certainly coming for His people.

I could have called this post 'Hope in the Controversy.' It is remarkable, is it not, how a book of such fierce judgment ends in such great mercy and hope? That is all of a piece with Who God is, beloved.

I hope these few months we have spent together in Micah have been as much of a blessing to you as they have been to me. I hope you have gained not only a better appreciation for this obscure book, but even more than that I hope it has given you a better knowledge of God. I want you to know better Who He is, what He expects, and how He operates.

Let us adjust our actions accordingly. 

Next week I will probably inflict some poetry upon you, as I tend to do between series, but following that a new blog series is coming your way on the subject of reading. Stay tuned... 

Contrition in the Controversy

Micah 10

What was God looking for as a reaction from His people? If we can discover this we can apply it to our own situation here some 2,800 years later, I think. Well, when God comes in public and righteous anger directly at us what does He want? Contrition.

'Contrition' is defined by the dictionary as 'sorrow for and detestation of sin with a true purpose of amendment.' In that sense, I could have titled this 'Repentance in the Controversy.' Follow me through a few verses of Bible study today; I think it will help you.

I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. (Micah 7.9) 

This passage, in my opinion, is speaking of Israel's ultimate restoration from and vengeance on her enemies. But until that time comes, Israel's attitude must be one of sorrowful contrition, willing to bear whatever punishment the Lord chooses to dish out – even if that punishment comes from the very enemies that she will someday permanently triumph over. Around Micah 7.9 is indicated in context sorrow for her sin, acceptance of the justice of the consequences, patience in enduring her consequences, and faith in the ultimate triumph of God's plan.

Micah 7.7 ¶ Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. <patience/faith>
8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. <faith>
9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. <sorrow/contrition/patience/faith>
10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. <faith during the consequences>
11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.
12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. <faith during the consequences>
13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. <contrition/acceptance of the consequences>

We see this same contrition called for repeatedly throughout Scripture when God has a controversy with someone.

Take Cain, for example. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. (Genesis 4.13) In other words, Cain said, 'God, You aren't being fair to me. This punishment is not right or just.' The truth is God is always just and Cain needed to accept that, to embrace God's working in his life.

Take Esau, for another example. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. (Hebrews 12.17) He sorrowed for what he had lost, but not for what he had done. The proof is that he did not change. He never knuckled under, so to speak, and allowed that God was right in what God allowed and did in his life.

On the positive side, we note the wonderful example of the church at Corinth. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul chewed them up one side and down the other. What was their response? Acceptance. Godly sorrow. Repentance. Change. Zeal in the change.

II Corinthians 7. 8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

David is another wonderful example of contrition. He accepted that he was wrong and God was right. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. (II Samuel 12.13) He sorrowed deeply in a godly way, and came back to the Lord in his heart as well as his actions.

Ps 51. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
…
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Peter, who cursed and swore and rejected His Messiah, came in contrition to full repentance. Peter remembered the word of the Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26.75) How do we know his bitter weeping was more spiritual than Esau's? The rest of Peter's long life of service for Christ tells us.

Saint Peter Repentant, Francisco de Goya, 1825

How did God, through Micah, direct Israel to respond to His work in her life? With contrition and repentance. He called on them to accept their guilt, to be sorry for their crimes, to patiently endure whatever He chose to put them through as a result, and then to change.

…and I suspect that is the same requirement He makes of us.

You know what God is looking for in your life? Contrition.

Four Steps to Correcting the Controversy

Micah 8

For several months, we have examined the Lord's controversy with His people as revealed in Micah. Surely Micah has brought, not just a message of Israel's poor condition, but the means to cure that condition. He did, and I think as you will see we may glean some application to our own day and time in this as well.

What was required to cure Israel's controversy with the Lord? A bold, Spirit-filled preacher. But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. (Micah 3.8) This was not arrogance. This was a divinely inspired statement by God of Micah's vital role in making it possible for Israel to come back to her God.

Micah lived in a generation much like our own, indeed like every human generation. We do not like to be told that we are wrong. We do not like to be wrong because it messes with our peace of mind. Humanity rejects living the unreconciled life. What I am doing is thus right, and if what I am doing now I used to think was wrong I change how I think about it.

Very few people live lives they think are wrong. Many, nay, most people live lives full of wrong but very few will admit it. They must find and have found a way to justify that wrong, to rationalize it as being no longer wrong but rather right. We do not like our own conscience or mind accusing us of living or being wrong so we either change to be right or change our concept of right. Statements such as, 'I have forgiven myself,' or, 'I have learned to accept myself,' or, 'Well, I have grown since then' are all indicators of this internal process of self-justification.

Not only is our peace of mind wrapped up in this concept of our own righteousness so is our pride as well. Thus – because humanity rejects living the unreconciled life and is filled with pride – humanity largely rejects those who constantly inform them of their own error.
Compounding this error is our still present hunger for something mystical, something spiritual so long as it does not bring conviction. This is why Paul says people will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. (II Timothy 4.3) Micah said the same thing essentially. If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people. (Micah 2.11)

Because of this constant human failing there is great pressure on preachers of every generation to avoid controversial subjects, to avoid confronting people with their error. Men who preach and teach things that primarily make others feel good about themselves heap up plaudits, praises, and crowds, while the men who preach and teach the opposite often find themselves living a misunderstood, lonely, criticized existence. Take a walk through the Old Testament prophets and this is exactly what you will find. Not coincidentally, you will find the same thing true amongst modern-day prophets, the genuine men of God who vigorously denounce sin and resist the spirit of the age.

Jesus Himself knew just a bit about individual and corporate rejection of His message against sin. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3.20)

Let me illustrate this with jewelry. If a diamond ring is flawed the easiest solution is to say

it is not flawed, and to run with a crowd of other people who say it is not flawed. Further, if I can find a gemologist to tell me it is not flawed I feel even better. How do I begin to solve this problem? I need someone who is bold enough and firm enough to tell me emphatically and without apology that it is flawed. To mix metaphors, we need someone, anyone, even a little child to loudly pipe up that the emperor indeed has no clothes.

This boldness in a preacher is necessary, but it is not in and of itself enough. People who boldly tell you your error are often ignored, laughed at, derided, and avoided. Think of the last guy you saw wearing a sandwich board sign that said, 'The end is near!' He was bold but he was not accomplishing much.

In order for boldness in delivering God's message to be effective it must be delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. (John 16.8) When I preach it is not my volume, my logic, my emotion, or the force of my personality that convicts men; it is the Holy Spirit. Yes, He uses boldness as a tool in so doing, but it is still done in, with, and through Him.

These thoughts lead me to four simple applications for us today.

First, embrace conviction. Seek it. When the Lord graciously brings it do not bristle, do not seek to justify yourself. Draw it deep into yourself, learn from it, and thank God that He is at work in your life.

Second, do not fence your preacher in. If you do not understand something he preaches, by all means, go and ask him to explain it. If you do not think he has adequately made his case from Scripture, and it is important, then respectfully tell him so. But do not quarrel with him. Do not quarrel with him externally around other people; do not quarrel with him internally, in the privacy of your own mind, simply because a particular sermon made you feel badly. If he makes you feel badly on occasion the thing to do is to check your actions and thinking against Scripture, but do not quarrel with the preacher.

People produce great errors in themselves when they put their preachers into a box. Do not demand that he avoid certain topics. Do not complain that his delivery is too loud or too soft, that it is too humorous or too boring, that it is too short or too long. Keep him free to roam where the Lord leads him.

As well, beware the preacher that never tells you something you do not like. If he is always pleasing, always encouraging, always comforting, always uplifting, always fascinating you with new things there is danger there. Often, he should step on your toes. Every once in a while, he should skin your hide or else he is not doing his job. And if he fails at his job you and he will both be the poorer for it.

In line with this, third, recognize the primacy of preaching. This is how God has chosen to work in and on men. (I Corinthians 1.21) Preaching must always and ever have the central place in the church service.

Lastly, pray for God to send our world more bold, Spirit-filled preachers. Ezekiel said it this way:

Ezekiel 22.23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.

When we are in the weeds, personally or corporately, and God raises up one of His men to tell us as much, if we will listen, we are well on our way to correcting the problem.

Do not bristle at this; embrace it.

The Five Consequences of the Controversy

Micah 7

You and I know enough about God to know that if we continuously violate His Law, reject His offer of mercy, and refuse to repent there will be consequences. Understanding this it should not surprise us, then, to discover that of the 105 verses in Micah nearly one third of them deal directly what those consequences will be. In today's post, we are not going to look at all thirty of those but we will examine the primary ones.

The first consequence of disobeying God Micah tells us is perplexity. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. (Micah 7.4)

The idea of this term 'perplexity' is revealed somewhat in the verse itself. It means to be confused by an interwoven complex situation. Think of someone bringing you a tangled-up ball of yarn and asking you to unravel it all. How did it get into such a state? How can it be fixed? Where do you even start?

When sin begins it does so nice and easy. In fact, many people sin precisely because it is the choice of least resistance. As sin progresses, however, it inevitably involves deceit, and with deceit comes perplexity.

Some years ago, I read a biography of the man who popularized the term 'rock and roll.' He was a northeastern Ohio DJ in the 1950s and is now a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. As his life unfolds in those pages his increasing attachment to alcohol and adultery combined with constant schemes to enrich himself complicate his life tremendously. His family relationships become an intricate puzzle he cannot solve. His financial structure becomes a convoluted mess. His career swerves back and forth, bouncing between the margins of huge success and miserable failure. In the end, he lost everything he had in the Payola scandal, and drank himself to death at the age of forty-three. Life had grown too perplexing for him to handle, and that perplexity was a direct result of sin.

The second consequence we see in Micah is ill health. Therefore also I will make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. (Micah 6.13)

In the New Testament, our Saviour makes it crystal clear that physical defects or frailty are not always a consequence of sin. But just because sickness is not always a result of sin does not mean that it never is. Ill health is often the naturally produced consequence of sinful choices. Read enough biographies of rock and roll artists and this becomes painfully clear. For that matter, just reach out to the lost world in ministry, especially to those in the second half of life and you will see it just as plainly. Additionally, ill health can on occasion be not just a consequence, but a direct judgment from God as well. (Numbers 12.10)

The third consequence of the controversy was financial trouble.
Micah 6.14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.
15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.

Again, as with health trouble, financial difficulties are not always a direct indication of sin in a person's life, but they certainly can be. Sin is often expensive, often addicting, and often financially irresponsible at the very least. String the commission of sin over a couple of decades, sometimes even less, and the resulting financial pressure can be quite severe. Not only that, but sometimes God directly places a curse on your finances as a result of disobedience. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. (Haggai 1.6)

The fourth consequence is in my mind worse than the first three put together. It is this awful fact: the absence of the presence of God.

Micah 3.4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
...
6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.


God is omni-present. Additionally, He loves us immeasurably and longs for us to be with Him. For Him to make Himself absent in our lives takes a conscience choice on His part to be silent, and on our part to give Him cause to be silent. We make that choice when we choose to sin. If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. (Psalm 66.18) There may not be a sadder verse in all the Bible than that one.

This great silence, however, is not limited to His refusal to listen to us when we cultivate sin. It can rise to the level of a refusal to speak to us, to admonish us. I am convinced that the lack of Holy Spirit conviction in a person's life is in and of itself a great judgment from God. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. (Amos 8.11)

I think we see this societally in many Muslim countries, for example. They hate God and have set themselves against Him. Consequently, He removes almost all of the mercy toward them that is a genuine sense of Himself and His Son, Jesus Christ. The corresponding absence of belief on a national level is in and of itself a judgment from God. And this can certainly be applied on an individually personal level as well.

The fifth consequence of we find in Micah is national disaster.

Micah 1.6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
8 ¶ Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

One of the great themes in Scripture is God's never-ending quest to call out a people for Himself. He sought this in Adam's children, in Seth's children, in Noah's children, in Abraham's children, and in Jacob's children. At one point, He even offered to Moses the opportunity to birth his own nation to be God's chosen people. This fact is one of the primary reasons I am a dispensationalist – God is not done with Israel yet, He is not finished working with His people.

In this age, the New Testament age, so to speak, the church is His people. But in the ages to come it will be Israel. It was Israel. It is now the Church. It will be Israel again. Consequently, God repeatedly deals with Israel as an entity or a people all through the Old Testament, into the Gospels, through the Epistles, culminating in Revelation. This must be so for as we saw last time while the leaders bear an extra level of responsibility everybody bears some. There must, then, be a corporate consequence not just an individual consequence.

In Israel's case, this national disaster took the form of captivity.

Micah 4.9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

Freedom is the result of obedience. I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. (Psalm 119.45) I attended Hyles-Anderson College, graduating in 1995. During those years if I accumulated too many demerits in a semester I was campused, which simply meant I was not allowed off campus for any purpose that was not work related or ministry related. Nor was I allowed to date my girlfriend. This lasted for three weeks. Why? Well, I accumulated demerits because I broke rules and when I did so the result was a loss of freedom.

This is true individually. We all know entirely too many people who are bound by addiction, chained by links forged in the furnace of rebellion and deceit.

It is also true nationally. When a people abandon their moral integrity the only thing that disciplines them, or restrains them is fear. Consequently, the government must get bigger and bigger, growing ever more intrusive in order to instill that fear. As morality decreases government grows and as government grows freedom disappears. Some of you who are died in the wool big-government types might want to go back and re-read those last couple of sentences. So should some of you libertarians. The problem in the United States is not big government. Big government is the result of the problem. The problem is a metastasizing abandonment of corporate public morality.

This is why so many of our more enlightened English and American forefathers have explicitly linked society's freedom to a church-going, Bible-reading people. Without morality, you cannot have freedom. You end up with no liberty, in captivity, enslaved personally to sin or nationally to a tyrannical government.

Dr. Bob Jones, Sr.
1883-1968

When you stir up a controversy with God there is always a consequence. As Bob Jones, Sr. said years ago, 'Sin will take you further than you want to go; it will cost you more than you want to pay; it will keep you longer than you want to stay.'

This is true of you and me. It is true of my marriage and my family. It is true of the church I lead. It is true of the larger religious movement in which I participate. It is also true of the city in which I labor, and the state that surrounds it. It is true as well of our country and of our world. We cannot mess with God, refuse to get right when He extends His hand in mercy, and expect to get away with it. Period.

There will be consequences.

Blame’s Four Applications

Micah 6

Welcome to our walk through the little-known book of Micah. The basic thrust of the book is that God is upset with His people, Israel, as a result of their sin, and so He sends Micah to preach to them of warning and judgment.

Last time we examined who bore the responsibility for Israel's sinful condition and arrived at three answers – every Jew corporately, bad Jews individually, but especially Israel's political and religious leadership. Having carefully apportioned the blame, let us take a few moments today to draw some applications for us in 21^st century American Christianity.

First, we are all of us somewhat responsible for the spiritual condition of our city and nation.

Naturally, we would prefer to pretend this is not true, yet the case for corporate blame is laid out clearly in Scripture and we cannot avoid it. Conversely, when we stop trying to shift the blame onto the really (we think) guilty people around us, and accept the portion of the liability that is our due it adjusts our behavior. It forces us to begin to take seriously our responsibility to exercise as much influence for right as we possibly can.

I am responsible to live right. I am responsible to teach those within my influence to live right and to influence others to live right. I am responsible for praying for the greater spiritual needs of our country, rather than isolating myself and caring about only what I can see in my immediate vicinity. I am responsible to confess the sins of my nation. I must needs exercise my right and duty to vote in view of Proverbs 14.34. I must be willing to become engaged with the problems in my community. I cannot bury my head in the sand and say, 'Well, I just don't pay much attention to the news. I have no interest in politics.' I had better take an interest; I am partially responsible for it whether I like it or not.

Second, let me counsel those of you who are younger, those of you who are itching for your chance at the tiller, those of you want to lead - don't desire the trappings of leadership, rather desire the responsibility of it.

In my formative years of ministry preparation, I positively itched to lead a church of my own. I wanted to tell other people what to do. I wanted an office. I could see my name on the sign out front, and the respect that comes with the position of pastor. I dreamed of the day when overflowing crowds would come to hear me preach.

Twenty years ago, this summer that dream became a reality. Curiously enough, while the intervening two decades have not diminished my desire for ministry they have radically altered my perspective on it. Things are re-arranged. Now I find myself simply wanting to serve my people. I want to prepare them to face tomorrow. I want to strengthen their faith and their walk with God. I want to help them raise their children to love and serve God. I want to teach them the good and the right way. I want to influence as many people as I can to believe and practice scriptural truth. I want to edify those around me in the faith, and I want to advance the kingdom of God. Most of all, I want my life to be a platform from which God displays Himself.

What kept me awake at night twenty years ago was my dreams of ministerial success. What keeps me awake now is my fear for the sheep on the fringes of my flock who like to wander away from the Shepherd, a passionate desire for my children to grow up to love and serve God, and my concern for the increasingly carnal direction of the American Christianity I love. I used to dream of opportunity; now I eat, sleep, and breathe responsibility. I would have been well advised to have entertained more of this latter perspective in my former days.

Third, as a leader, if I don't like what I see in my group then I had better look in the mirror. I set the agenda and the pace. I possess the bully pulpit, so to speak. The flaws I so casually dismiss in myself are much harder to dismiss when they show up as wider gaps in the organization for which I am responsible. The princes, prophets, and priests in Israel – her leadership – were directly assigned the blame for the bad condition in which God found her. Why? Because that political and spiritual leadership had caused, provoked, or allowed that bad condition to flourish. As a leader, I must understand the short answer to the question, 'Who's fault is it?' is almost always, 'Mine.'

Fourth, as followers, it is absolutely critical that we ensure our leaders are true to God's Word.

When I watch pastors routinely butcher scriptural context, display a towering ego, or embrace a carnal approach to ministry I wonder why no one in the church stands up and says, 'Hey! Hold on a cotton-picking minute here. This isn't right.'

Perhaps the follower doesn't know any better, but for a long time Christian that's a lousy excuse. Maturity involves a depth of understanding of Biblical doctrine and practice that can discern error.

Perhaps the follower doesn't care. If that's the case the church is in sad shape indeed. Apathy never produces sound Christianity.

Perhaps the follower saw something concerning but did not wish to risk their position, their power, or their reputation. Such is nothing but a lack of faith in the God who alone determines our opportunities and advancement.

Perhaps the follower was hoodwinked by the personality of the leader. Yet even here there is responsibility for Scripture is clear that I am to follow my church's leadership based upon their doctrinal adherence to Scripture combined with a life that genuinely lives it out. I cannot plead the force of a persuasive personality as an excuse. I'm not supposed to follow personality, but rather righteousness.

Who is responsible for the condition of my church, my city, and my country? I am. Those directly involved in doing good and evil are. And the leadership is.

…which means I've simply got to stop waiting for someone else to do something. I'm responsible. It's my job. I must act.

The Responsibility for the Controversy

Micah 5

Thus far in our journey through Micah we have discovered that our God is a demanding God, and thus justifiably had a controversy with His people. We have likewise seen that it is unfair of us to cause Him to have a controversy with us. Then in examining the causes of the Lord's controversy we saw that great sin brings one of two responses – great grace or great judgment. Finally, we have seen that the center of the controversy was rooted in Israel's major urban centers, and from that we pulled the application that we must place a priority on reaching cities for Christ.

In today's post I intend to examine just who exactly was responsible for the controversy. Who was at fault? Next week we will chase this with some applications from today's discussion but first today's discussion.

When establishing where the fault lies we begin with the necessary dictum that anytime God has a controversy with man the fault does not lie with Him. After all, He only does wondrous things. (Psalm 72.18) Ergo, we set that possibility aside and then begin our examination.

Scripture teaches us that everyone in a group bears some responsibility for the direction of that group. Let's take Bob, for example. Bob is a member of the Klu Klux Klan. If Bob is personally in favor of the sinful racism of the KKK Bob patently bears some responsibility. But I contend that even if Bob is not in favor of the sinful racism of the KKK he still bears some level of responsibility.

When Joseph's brothers confronted him, beat him up, and sold him into slavery in Egypt, was Reuben for or against it? He plainly sought to minimize any evil done to Joseph but he was still a part of the group that perpetrated it. Years later, upon being confronted by Joseph in Egypt all the brothers – including Reuben – admitted their culpability. And they [the brothers jointly in front of the unknown Joseph] said one to another, We are very guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. (Genesis 42.21) Reuben's personal anguish is clear in the story. That anguish was driven by his sense of guilt even though he was not the primary mover of the wrong actions of the group.

Why? Why is a member of a group who is not necessarily in favor of its wrong actions still partially responsible? I propose there are three reasons. First, because even though Bob isn't racist he failed to change the racism of the group to which he belonged. Second, because even though Bob isn't racist he failed to separate from the KKK when he realized he couldn't change its direction. Third, even though Bob isn't racist he failed to be observant enough so as to notice that what the KKK was doing was wrong. For any combination of those three reasons Bob bears some personal responsibility for the errors of the group to which he belongs.

We see this not only in Reuben but in Daniel as well. Daniel was part of an Israel so wicked God disciplined it savagely with the big stick of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian Empire. Everything we know about Daniel is good, yet in his great chapter of prayer he clearly takes upon himself some responsibility for the actions of his nation.

Daniel 9.4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
...
20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;

Understanding this, lets go back to Micah. Some of the responsibility for the controversy thus rested on every Jewish soul, and Micah implies as much.

Micah 1.2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
...
Micah 6.2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.
3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.

Having established some level of genuine personal responsibility on the part of each Jew corporately lets see if we can build on that. Scripture also teaches that each individual is liable for their own personal actions. So then every one of us shall give account of himself unto God. (Romans 14.12) Was each Jew somewhat responsible for the wrong direction of his country? Yes. But just as clearly, the individual Jews in question who stole, cheated, hurt, abused, bribed, and murdered those around them were fully responsible for their own individual sins. Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. (Micah 7.13) We see, then, both a corporate and an individual responsibility.

There is, however, yet a further responsibility that bears mention. The Word of God also teaches that the leadership of a group bears a special responsibility for the actions of that group. My brethren, be not any masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. (James 3.1) Leadership is influence. If the group I am leading is doing wrong then it obviously has a great deal to do with the influences that are coming to bear on that group. Sure, there may well be outside influences acting upon the group, but even the group's susceptibility to such negative outside influences is in some real way my responsibility.

To put it another way, we rarely find in Scripture a right leader with a bad group. What we most often find is a bad leader who influences the group to go the wrong direction.

Lee Roberson, the longtime pastor of the great Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee said it this way, "Everything rises and falls on leadership." He was right, and this is why we see the leadership of Israel singled out for special attention by God via Micah during this controversy.

Micah 3.1 ¶ And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
…
5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
...
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.


In this third chapter of Micah God deals with a number of grounds for His controversy, but in so doing He singles out three specific groups in leadership: princes (3.1,9), prophets (3.5-7), and the priests (3.11).

In summation, who in Israel bore the responsibility for causing God to have a controversy with His people? Each Jew corporately, bad Jews personally, and Israel's political and religious leadership. In God's eyes all of these bore the responsibility for the coming judgment. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. (Micah 3.12)

The Center of the Lord’s Controversy

Micah 4

Note: I have never repeated a blog post before but I'm going to today. The bulk of this one originally appeared as the opening post in my series on urban ministry. However, I originally prepared it in the context of a sermon series I did on Micah. That sermon series is the foundation for this blog series, and I think it is important to include it here in context in the Micah blog series as well.

The phrase that best sums up the book of Micah is the Lord's controversy. (Micah 6.2) God's people were deeply disobedient, and thus the Lord hath a controversy with his people. (Micah 6.2) But where was the center of that controversy? Every movement has an organizational and motivational center. Every movement has a heart. The great sin that caused the Lord's controversy with Israel was no different. Where was the center of the rebellion against God? Where was its heart? …in the large cities.

Micah 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Micah 1:5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?

Large urban cities are the primary influence in setting the direction of a society.

Scripture shows us this. Every Sunday School child has learned the story of the Tower of Babel. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower. (Genesis 11.4) That city and the culture which flowed from it so influenced society in the wrong direction that God had to break it up. God, who originally put man in a garden, had Israel build His Temple in the highest spot of the greatest city in the land. Why? …because influence flows from cities. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. (Matthew 5.14) When Israel was re-founded as a country after the Babylonian Captivity where did they focus? Jerusalem. It was the center of re-settlement, of government, of religion, of security, and of revival.

Observation shows us this. Wars almost always target the enemy's chief population centers for conquest. A hundred years ago the American economy was driven by the family farm. It has long since transitioned to be driven by the manufacturing and consumption in urban areas. In our day the media which so influences our American culture is driven essentially by three major cities – New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D. C. The large urban centers of America almost entirely set the tone for our country. We are politically liberal because the cities are. (A quick glance at a map of the United States broken down by county vote shows the entire country is Republican. The cities are Democratic and the cities constantly win.) We are ethnically diverse because the cities are. We are culturally filthy because the cities are. Large cities set the tone for America just like they did in Bible times.

This is why there is a clear and continuous pattern in Scripture emphasizing preaching in cities. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Zechariah essentially address God's people by addressing their chief cities. God sent Jonah explicitly to a large city. Arise, go to Ninevah, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. (Jonah 1.2) Have you ever studied the geography of Paul's missionary journeys? All of the places he went were then major cities. Even Paul's epistles, other than Galatians and those to individuals, were all written to churches in major cities: Romans, I and II Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and I and II Thessalonians. John's letters to specific churches in Revelation? Yep, all to what were then major cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

Failing to understand this, sound Christianity has increasingly abandoned large American cities and consequently is struggling.

I think this jumps out at me especially because my perspective is relatively unique. I grew up in a small Midwestern village of 4,000 people. For nearly seven years I pastored my first church in an even smaller town of 1,200 people. Now for over thirteen years I have labored smack dab in the heart of one America's great cities, Chicago. The difference in worldview, parenting, education, entertainment, crime, leisure, and religion is startling.

This difference, however, was not so startling at the turn of the 19^th century. Back then, as fundamentalism was birthed, it was noticeably led almost entirely by strong men who led strong ministries in big cities. R. A. Torrey led the Bible Institute of Los Angeles after years serving at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. James M. Gray pastored Moody Church here in Chicago. A. C. Dixon had pastored in Chicago, Boston, London, and Baltimore. A. T. Pierson pastored Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. W. B. Riley led Minneapolis' grand First Baptist Church. J. Frank Norris pastored just outside of Dallas. T. T. Shields pastored Toronto's Jarvis Street Baptist Church. T. Dewitt Talmage preached at Brooklyn's Central Presbyterian Church. Lewis Sperry Chafer taught at Dallas Theological Seminary. The foundational meetings around which the American fundamental movement was born were held in places like Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D. C., New York City, Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis, Seattle, and Los Angeles.

Now, just over a century later, the largest fundamental meetings take place in country towns in North Carolina, Illinois, or Michigan perhaps, and in mid-size cities such as Lancaster, Lexington, Elgin, and Hammond. There are no more influential fundamentalist Presbyterian churches or leaders, and with a couple exceptions the influential independent Baptist ones are not in major cities. In my city alone – formerly the home of D. L. Moody, R. A. Torrey, James M. Gray, Paul Rader, Harry Ironside, and A. W. Tozer – the largest fundamental church runs maybe 200 in Sunday School. To the best of my knowledge there are no more than five good independent fundamental Baptist churches left in Chicago, one for every 540,000 people, and only two of these churches are growing. No, we are not the only ones preaching the Gospel in this city or in yours, but our doctrinal understanding and practice goes much deeper than the surface religion that represents so much of contemporary American Christianity. We are independent, fundamental Baptists for very good reasons. You can swing a dead cat and hit a dozen such churches in Greenville, South Carolina (population 61,000) but you will search high and low to find them in the inner cities of Houston, New Orleans, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, San Francisco, or St. Louis.

Scripture and observation tell us that a nation is influenced through its large cities. We

My city, Chicago. Our church is off the left edge of the
picture toward the top.

routinely cry and moan about the condition of America these days but if we actually want to change it we must return in large numbers to the cities. We must motivate, finance, educate, promote, and pray young men into the inner cities to plant churches. We cannot change America in any real way absent this.

Micah was specifically sent with his message to the major cities of his day because that is where the decision for national repentance had to be made. It is the same in our day. We must bring our great message back to the great cities of this country if the country at large is to hear and heed it. If we are going to fix what is wrong it will not be done by tinkering around the edges; we must go to the center and attack there. We must go and cry to the city.

The Lord's voice crieth unto the city. (Micah 6.9)

The Grounds of the Lord’s Controversy

Micah 3

God is having a prolonged, public contention with Israel. They are unjust in forcing Him to do so for He has been nothing but good to them for centuries. In this we see applied two truths. First, our God is a demanding God, and second, it is not fair for us to give Him cause for a controversy with us.

In today's post we are going to examine Micah to see if we can establish the grounds of the Lord's controversy with them. What are His reasons? What support does He give to prove their error? What evidence of guilt on their part does He base this controversy on? Just what exactly had they done so wrong so as to cause this contention between them?

As I read Micah I found four basic causes for the Lord's controversy. First, they sinned with great calculation.

2.1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

It is one thing to "fall" into sin at a sudden opportunity, though often there is often a long process here as well. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, "Behind every human tragedy is a long process of wicked thinking." Long before there was a sudden visible fall there was an abandonment of a personal walk with God, and a corresponding and growing internal weakness. But it is an entirely different thing to systematically set about doing as much sin as you are possibly capable of doing. The former is bad; the latter is awful.

In the past six months I have read two lengthy books detailing the history of the Italian mafia and the Irish mob in America. Many of these men began with targets of opportunity but as time progressed they shifted to cold, calculating, pre-meditated crime. They did not evolve – which implies accident – so much as grow their underworld empires. They sinned with great calculation. And when you get to the place that you plan your sin precisely, and plan it in such a way as to maximize it you are in an exceedingly dangerous place.

Second, they sinned with great energy.


2.8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.

7.3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

Some men sin simply because they are lazy. It is easier to sin than it is to do right. They do great harm, personally, to their own character in this manner but comparatively little damage to the rest of society in the great scheme of things. This path of least resistance makes them crooked, yes, but it does not make them criminal masterminds.

There are other men, however, who throw all their passion, ambition, and determination into sin. They dream of sinning bigger and better, and then they diligently labor to build a foundation of actions under the air castles of their sinful dreams. Hugh Hefner began "Playboy Magazine" with $1000 from his mother, mortgaged his furniture to add a few hundred more, and almost single-handedly launched the sexual revolution in America. That, along with growing rich, was his intent, and he gave his life to see it succeed.

This second cause for controversy often follows the first. If you are going to lose sleep studying and planning on how to expand your sin then you are probably going to go at it hammer and tongs when you are awake. Greed, lust, and pride initially are driven by yielding to the sudden urges of our flesh, but given enough time to develop they can harden into truly awful weapons in the devil's arsenal. Show me a world of misery and I will show you behind it men who are driven passionately to pursue their sin.

Third, they sinned with great damage to others.

Last month I finished Martin Meredith's classic work, "The Fate of Africa." It is an 800 page tome detailing the horror of a continent that lies prostrate at the feet of leaders marked deeply by greed and blood. Country after country after country lies in ruins fifty years after achieving independence precisely for the three causes God has laid out thus far in Micah.

2.2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

2.9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.

3.2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

7.2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

Such sinners as I have described are often in a great hurry to accomplish their sinful goals. In the process their ruthless attitude and energetic commission of sin runs people over like a steamroller. They do not care who they hurt. They have no conscience. Though they often have great affection for their own families they never transfer that to any of their victims. To them, society is simply a collection of marks, a herd of prey.

Such men cannot be reasoned with. Such men cannot be shamed. Such men cannot be charmed. They do not care about anything other than their own single-minded pursuit of their carefully crafted and energetically pursued sinful ambition.

Of course, in so doing, they unleash an attitude that devours the only thing left of any value and affection in their own life – their family.

7.5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

Josef Stalin's daughter, Svetlana, was his pride and joy. Amid the horror of blood and misery he unleashed on Russia and Europe she trundled along by his side, an innocent child. But when death took her as an old woman in 2011 it found her in Wisconsin, living a quiet life as far away from her father's memory as she could possibly get. She had run run as far and as fast as she could.

Other men find not only that their families abandon them but that their families turn on them. Herod the Great ended his life in bizarre paranoia, competing with his own sons to see who would manage to snuff out the life of the other first. Herod the Great "won", and so viciously murdered his children that Caesar Augustus said he would rather be Herod's pig than his son for he treated his pigs so much better.

People often seek to justify their sin by saying, "I'm not hurting anybody but myself." Of course, that is not true, by a long shot, for everyone has some influence over others around them. But even if it were true it would not stay true long. Sin is a highly contagious disease that refuses to stay quarantined. Your own sinful pleasure is not enough. Now you must take what someone has or involve others in order to maintain the same level of enjoyment in sin. Sin breaks down your own internal rules, and eventually brings you to the twisted place of enjoying the pain you cause others. It is no coincidence that the evil that is ISIS actively recruits new soldiers from among inner-city Europe's rappers and gang members. Given an opportunity to wreak havoc on a wide scale appeals to many such lost souls.

Fourth, they sinned right through the preaching. I do not mean they sinned during the preaching. I mean they sinned through it as a weapon cuts through a shield put up to stop it.

It is one thing for a remote tribal culture to be steeped in sin that has never seen a Christian missionary. It is quite a different thing for a people who have long had the light of the glorious gospel of Christ to turn from Him to the idols of humanism, paganism, and hedonism. It speaks of a people who have become completely callous to the awfulness of sin.

There are two steps to developing the hardened attitude of this fourth cause. First, the people scorned preaching.

2.6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.

They sought to quieten the God-called preacher, to get him to pipe down, to stop naming sin, to stop preaching righteousness. But they did not stop there. They co-opted the preacher, pulling him into their orbit, getting him to proclaim as good all that was previously preached against as bad.

2.11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

"Drink up! Enjoy yourself and your life to the fullest. I am not here to judge but to love, not to hinder but to condone. Especially when in so doing I stand to profit financially."

3.11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

We can thus see that we are dealing with a people who are calculated in planning their sin, they are energetic in the commission of that sin, they are heedless of the damage they cause in pursuit of their sin, and they are blowing right through the stop sign of preaching that God has put up to slow them down. Truly, God had great grounds for a great controversy with such great sinners.

What is the application for us today? History shows us that great sin brings one of two things: great grace or great judgment. John Newton, the ex-slaver gloriously transformed into a preacher of the Gospel said on his death-bed, "Although my memory is fading I remember two things very clearly. I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Saviour." Such a man it was who gave us the immortal strains of "Amazing Grace."

To the contrary, I bid you notice the book of Revelation. It is filled with judgment and the wrath of God. There is no more room for grace. It has been refused too long, men are too confirmed in their sin, hardened in it. They will not repent so God cannot longer stay His hand.

As I write this my mind and my heart are screaming, "America." Corporately, as a culture, and willingly, as a people, we have furnished God each of these four grounds for controversy just as long ago Israel did. We give ourselves diligently to become better and better at more and more sin. Along the way the misery of violence and suicide and assault and depravity and corruption rise like flood waters. Preaching? Who pays it heed anymore except for those preachers who sell us a lie while the ones who speak the truth are increasingly attacked.

His hand of mercy and grace is yet held out still. But for how much longer?