The Repentance Theory (November 5th, 2006)

The Redeemer Theory (November 12th, 2006)

where nobody stands alone

(November 19th, 2006)

(November 26th, 2006)

(December 3rd, 2006)

(December 10th, 2006)

Week 1:  Micah 1: 2 - Hear, O peoples, all of you; Listen, O earth and all it contains, And let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple. I. The Prophetic Factor (who is this prophet?) a. Micah, a shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah? b. Micah identifies the time of his prophetic calling as being during the "reign of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah". i. This would place him from 742 B.C. until 687 B.C.. ii. Micah was a prophet in the southern kingdom, called Judah. iii. Other prophets of the time were Isaiah and Hosea. iv. Micah, like Amos, was very concerned with justice. 1. He preaches against the wandering ways of Judah and Israel, and promises blessing if there will be spiritual renewal. II. The Listening Factor a. why is there mourning? i. Micah was calling them to repentance because of their malice and thick headedness 1. he summons them to God’s judgments, taking all creatures, and God himself as witness, that the preaching of the Prophets, which they have abused, will be avenged. Roger Staubach who led the Dallas Cowboys to the World Championship in '71 admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn't call his own signals was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play. He told Roger when to pass, when to run and only in emergency situations could he change the play (and he had better be right!). Even though Roger considered coach Landry to have a "genius mind" when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team. Roger later said, "I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory." Source Unknown. 2. Isaiah 1: 2 (NAS) - Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 3. Mark 7: 14 – 15 – Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.  15.  Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him.  Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.” a. It is by the breaking out of the corruption that is in our hearts; b. the mind and conscience are defiled, guilt is contracted, and we become odious in the sight of God by that which comes out of us; c. our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, these defile us, and these only. b. Hear, O peoples i. The people are summoned to draw near and give their attendance to God ii. Where God has a mouth to speak we must have an ear to hear c. O earth i. This seems to be an appeal to the senseless creatures, or a summons to bring them in evidences for God against those kingdoms. ii. The earth shall be made to shake under the stroke and weight of the judgments coming 1. sooner will the earth hear than this stupid senseless people 2. but God will be heard when he pleads. 3. If the church, and those in it, will not hear, the earth, and those in it, shall, and shame them. iii. The earth and its creation will know the judgment of God because it stands in direct obedience to God. 1. The sun rises and falls – it is obedient 2. The wind blows – it is obedient 3. Birds chirp and sing – it is obedient iv. They are all fulfilling their purpose and thus being obedient to God. 1. They will be able to hear God because disobedience will not get in their way. 2. We have an issue. a. We can be disobedient, we may not hear God when he comes to us because we may not be fulfilling our purpose. 3. When we are disobedient, it screams to the world that we do not really believe our convictions, thus producing a world that does not believe 4. Illustration a. A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists." "Why do you say that?" asked the customer. b. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving a God who would allow all of these things." The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and un-kept. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist." "How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked o n you!" "No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside." "Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me." "Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world." v. The point is when God’s people are disobedient, others cannot fathom God’s existence because if He truly existed then wouldn’t we be a people of obedience? III. The Righteousness Factor a. God be witness against you i. namely, that none of you can say, when the time of your punishment shall come, that you were not forewarned. 1. The punishment denounced is stated in Micah 1:3 ii. Jeremiah 29: 23 - For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and in my name have spoken lies, which I did not tell them to do. I know it and am a witness to it," declares the Lord. b. God as a witness i. His omniscience, power, and justice, are vouched in testimony against this people: "Let the Lord God be witness against you 1. a witness that you had fair warning given you 2. that your prophets did their duty faithfully as watchmen, but you would not take the warning; a. Why would we not take the warning? i. Most Christian live in a type of accepted ignorance. ii. What I don’t know won’t hurt me. b. ignorance is bliss – you are more comfortable not knowing that you would be knowing. c. God himself will be a witness, by the judgments of his hand, against those that would not receive his testimony in the judgments of his mouth. i. He will be a witness from his holy temple in heaven, when he comes down to execute judgment (v. 3) against those that turned a deaf ear to his oracles, wherein he witnessed to them, out of his holy temple at Jerusalem. IV. Invitation a. This morning in Iraq – Guilty was the charge i. Sadam Hussein, his half brother and his chief of intelligence were sentenced to death this morning for their crimes ii. Justice carried a death sentence for the disobedient b. God’s judgment is upon us today my friends c. The sins that we know that we accept and the one’s that we do not know are going to be reconciled through His compassionate judgment i. Like a doctor giving a shot, He will give a shot of healing to us. 1. First the pain of the shot, then the joy of healing.

November 12  - International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church        “If we ignore our pasts and try to create a Godless society where things like money or ambition or property are worshipped, then the society loses. ... It is a battle we are fighting at the current time.”   Rocco Buttiglione quotes Micah 5: 2 – The Redeemer Theory What will happen if the Redeemer makes an appearance in your life or the life of a friend that is not close to God? - I had an opportunity to invite someone to church and to a relationship with Christ this past weekend on the golf course. I. He is from long ago a. His going forth are from long ago, form the days of eternity i. The terms convey the strongest assertion of infinite duration of which the Hebrew language is capable (compare Psalms 90:2, Proverbs 8:22,23, John 1:1). ii. Compare to John 1 1. 1 In R1 the beginning was the R2 Word, and the Word was with R3 God, and the R4 Word was God. 2 He F1 was in the beginning with God. 3 All R5 things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In R6 Him was life, and the life was the R7 Light of men. iii. The Redeemer has existed form the beginning of eternity 1. Jesus was not created for a purpose to live forever at the right hand of God. 2. Jesus has existed from the beginning of eternity. 3. Why is this important? a. He could not be there personal redeemer if his existence began within this spanse of time b. For Him to be able to redeem a people he would not need to be a created being with limited power, but an eternal being (past, present and future) with infinite power of redemption. c. This sets Jesus apart from all other worldviews iv. The Promise of the Redeemer 1. General a. The promise of the Redeemer at first was vaguely general (Genesis 3:15). 2. Shemitic Division declared a. Then the Shemitic division of mankind is declared as the quarter in which He was to be looked for (Genesis 9:26,27) 3. More Clarity a. then it grows clearer, defining the race and nation whence the Deliverer should come, namely, the seed of Abraham, the Jews (Genesis 12:3) 4. Particular Tribe named a. then the particular tribe, Judah (Genesis 49:10) 5. Particular Family named a. then the family, that of David (Psalms 89:19,20) 6. Birthplace declared a. then the very town of His birth… Micah 5: 2 7. Parents declared a. And as His coming drew nigh, the very parentage (Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 1:26-35, 2:1-7) 8. The Focus of Prophecy a. and then all the scattered rays of prophecy concentrate in Jesus, as their focus (Hebrews 1:1,2). II. They shall call him a ruler a. In 2 Samuel 23:3, "He that ruleth over men must be just," b. unto God the Father (Luke 1:32) i. to fulfil all the Father's will and purpose from eternity. ii. So the Son declares (Psalms 2:7, 40:7,8, John 4:34); 1. and the Father confirms it (Matthew 3:17, 12:18, compare with Isaiah 42:1). iii. God's glory is hereby made the ultimate end of redemption. c. Go forth from Me to be ruler in Israel i. This is where most Christians make the mistake ii. He has come to rule not simply guide or suggest iii. Many live in such a way that suggests He is a friend alone iv. He has come to rule. 1. That means that there are rules to live by a. We are to spread His message        “If Christians want us to believe in a Redeemer, let them act redeemed”   Voltaire quotes (French Philosopher and Writer. One of the greatest of all French authors, 1694-1778) b. III. Who is this message for? a. He is preaching to a people that have yet to receive their king b. Bethlehem i. Prediction of Jesus’ birthplace ii. This prediction is hundreds of years before the actual birth iii. He calls it little 1. For so the Jews divided their country that for every thousand there was a chief captain: and because Bethlehem was not able to make a thousand, he calls it little. But yet God will raise up his captain and governor in it: and thus it is not the least by reason of this benefit. Refer to Matthew 2: 6 2. The songs goes – O little town of Bethlehem … a. Though you are a small town, yet you will be very famous and notable through the birth of the Messiah, who will be born in you. 3. God chooses the little things of the world to eclipse in glory its greatest things (Judges 6:15, John 1:46, 1 Corinthians 1:27,28). iv. This town of Bethlehem was small, in comparison to the other cities, but it was going to birth the King 1. What would happen if you allowed yourself to help “birth the King” in someone’s life? IV. Invitation a. What will happen if the Redeemer makes an appearance in your life or the life or a friend that is not close to God?        “To welcome the Redeemer in his life is for man a source of profound joy, a joy that can give peace even in times of trial. Be, therefore, servants of Truth to take the joy that God wants to give every man.”   Benedict XVI quotes b. c. What makes Him the perfect redeemer? i. Isaiah 53 -  "He was despised and forsaken…"He was pierced for our transgression…"He was oppressed and afflicted …"Like a lamb led to slaughter…"By His stripes we are healed…”