Amen all right well it's great to be here today thank you all so much for coming
out to church and thank you for all the hospitality over the weekend for me and
my wife for the furs for having us over feeding us really good food kicking our
butts in some board games and some trivia games so a little upset about that
but everything else is perfect so I really appreciate it it's great to be
down here and thank you always pastor Shelley for giving me the opportunity
to come and preach for you guys so we're here in Micah chapter number six and
let's start reading in verse number one the Bible says here you now what the
Lord saith arise contend thou before the mountains and let the hills hear thy
voice hear ye O mountains the Lord's controversy any strong foundations of
the earth for the Lord hath a controversy with his people and he will
plead with Israel so the context of Micah chapter six is God is addressing
his people he's angry with his people this isn't just a chapter that's written
to the whole world he has a specific issue he has a specific controversy and
he's mad at his people Israel verse number three it says oh my people what
have I done unto thee and wherein have I weary thee testify against me he's
God's like demanding an answer from them as if he's saying you know why are you
treating me so poorly why are you acting the way that you're acting what
have I done to you basically is what God is saying verse four for I brought thee
up out of the land of Egypt and redeemed thee out of the house of servants and I
sent before thee Moses Aaron and Miriam oh my people remember now what Balak
king of Moab consulted and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim
unto Gilgal that you may know the righteousness of the Lord and so he's
saying why are you guys acting like this why are you guys being this way
towards me do you not remember all the good things that I've done to you and
he's reminding them of some of the prophets he sent to them he's reminding
them of Balaam which you know Balak wanted Balaam to curse the children of
Israel but he wasn't able to you know God said that these people were blessed
and so God just kind of reminding them of all the good things that he's done to
them verse 6 now Micah is speaking he says wherewithal or she says wherewith
shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God shall I come
before him with burnt offerings with calves of a year old will the Lord be
pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of silver or of rivers of
oil shall I give my firstborn for my transgression the fruit of my body for
the sin of my soul Micah is just basically asking are all these things
gonna make God happy are all these things gonna make God please and pacify
his anger that he has right now in verse 8 he says he hath showed thee O man what
is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with thy God the title my sermon is what doth the
Lord require of thee what doth the Lord require of thee you know here we have
God and he's very angry at his people at Israel and Micah is saying well if I
give him an offering will he will he be happy if I give him rams if I give him
oil will this pacify the situation and basically tells us what God requires
from us and I think every once in a while as God's people we just need to be
reminded the big picture of what God requires from our life I want to know
what God expects from me what God wants from me so that I could be pleasing in
his sight so I could live a life that's pleasing to God so that he's not looking
down from heaven and saying what have I done unto thee you know wherein have I
weary thee testify against me I'd rather have a life where he looks down and he
sees that I'm doing what the Lord has required of me and so my first point is
to do justly this verse tells us exactly what God has required of us the first
thing that God wants us to do as God's people what he expects of us what he
absolutely requires of us is to do justly now what is justice just being
just it just means right it means being guided by truth reason justice and
fairness so let's read that verse again it says verse number eight he hath showed
the old man what is good and what did the Lord require of thee but to do
justly so it's one of the things that God absolutely requires of God's people
is to be guided by truth to have reason to have justice and to have fairness and
to that be something that characterizes God's people now he's gonna continue his
rebuke in verse 9 it says this the Lord's voice cryeth unto the city and
the man of wisdom shall see thy name hear ye the rod and who hath appointed
it so the rod is often a picture of correction so he's telling them that
he's mad at them he's telling him what he's required of them and now he's
saying you know hear ye the rod I'm gonna correct some things that you're
doing wrong some reasons why I'm angry at you some reasons that I can tell
you're not doing justly look at verse 10 it says are there yet the treasures of
wickedness I want you to remember that phrase treasures of wickedness in the
house of the wicked in the scant measure that is abominable shall I count them
pure with the wicked balances and the bag of deceitful weights for the rich
men thereof are full of violence and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies and
their tongue is deceitful in their mouth and when I think of doing justly if we
just look at the context of what this chapter is talking about as soon as
he's done telling us you know that he requires us to do justly he gives them
a correction of one of the things they're not doing justly and what is
that they're not doing justly with their finances if you look at verses 10
through 12 he says treasures of wickedness scant measure wicked
balances deceitful weights these are all sins and problems that have to do with
finances and because we live in America and we live in a place that loves money
so much the love of money has caused many people in the United States to no
longer do justly because they're sinning with their finances because
they're not doing that which is right that which is just and that which is
fair with their finances now go to Proverbs chapter number 10 if you want
to get your finger in Proverbs 10 and in first Thessalonians for Proverbs 10 so
we just saw in Micah he says that there's treasures of wickedness in the
house of the wicked and he's upset about that look at Proverbs chapter 10 verse
number 2 it says treasures of wickedness profit nothing but righteousness
deliver it from death the wicked have the wrong mentality about finances they
want money at any cost they want to skirt around any of God's commandments
if as long as at the end of the day it's best for their bottom dollar but the
Bible says this is not the mentality we should have we should realize that
treasures of wickedness which is just money that's gotten by a wicked way it
actually profits you nothing it doesn't help you at all in fact it actually
hurts you but it says but righteousness deliver it from death and so as God's
people we have to realize that if we're making money if we're getting financial
gain by doing something wicked that that is not pleasing in the sight of God
that's not doing justly and that's something that's gonna cause God to look
down and be angry at you if you have treasures of wickedness in your life
according to the Bible there is right ways and wrong ways to make money
there's nothing wrong in the world with making money with having even a lot of
money but there is right ways and wrong ways to do it and our country today
needs to be reminded that God expects us to do justly with our finances and not
to just have treasures of wickedness in our houses and have a scant measure or
wicked balance or anything like that you know what would be an example of
treasures of wickedness I would say if you're profiting from selling drugs and
alcohol you know if you own a bar if you own a dispensary and that's how you
make your living that is wicked that is the treasures of wickedness and God is
not pleased with any Christian that makes their money by breaking God's
commandments when God obviously teaches us to be sober to not even look upon the
wine when it's red to not be it not among wine bibbers and riotous eaters you
know we're not supposed to be around alcohol and drugs and so if you make
your whole living selling alcohol selling marijuana that's wicked in the
sight of God and so I don't even think that Christians should be you know
serving alcohol at like a restaurant or something like that I think that you
should try to get a job where you don't have to make any profit off of selling
something that is inherently sinful it's not right you know obviously there's
there's huge examples of this like prostitution now it obviously be a huge
example of a way that would be wicked to make money off of prostitution why
because the Bible condemns fornication the Bible condemns adultery so when
you're making money off of something that the Bible condemns that is treasures
of wickedness here's another one that Americans really do a lot and American
companies do a lot is they lie about their products if you sell someone
something even if it's a water bottle but you're lying about that product in
my opinion now you have received treasures of wickedness because you're
breaking one of God's commandments in order to make money this is why there's
things that exist like the Better Business Bureau where they basically
rate businesses on their practices because there's so many businesses out
there that just completely lie about their products lie about their service
you know contractors will show up at your house and say alright I'm gonna get
this amount of work done for this amount of money and they're just planning on
ripping you off the whole time they're complaining on completely lying you
know they'll get you to sign the retainer check and never show up again
basically and just ditch your place lying about your products is treasures
of wickedness you know here's one that I've seen even in places I've worked
lying to your employer about how many hours you work you know clocking in
when you're not supposed to be clocking in having your buddy clock out for you
after you've already left hey I'm gonna I'm gonna leave work early today can you
clock me out in a few hours you know your buddy that's staying late at work
I've seen that kind of stuff happen and look that's treasures of wickedness
making money by lying to your employer making money by lying to your customers
is not right and it's gonna cause God to curse your finances and to curse your
life remember what Proverbs 10 to said treasures of wickedness profit nothing
but righteousness deliver it from death we should be more focused with the fact
that we're being righteous than the fact that we're getting riches that we're
getting money and obviously as men we need to go out and work we need to go
out and make money for our houses but we need to make sure that above the bottom
dollar above the bottom line we're a steaming God and we're steaming God's
commandments and we're putting that above all else you know here's another
way people do this is bribery bribing a judge bribing a police officer bribing
you know all sorts of different people in order to do a favor for them if
you're receiving that type of money if you're receiving bribery money that is
treasures of wickedness and it doesn't matter how much you receive the Bible
says it's gonna profit you nothing and so if you're ever tempted to sin for the
sake of making money you just have to remind yourself that the Bible says it's
gonna profit you nothing all it is is pieces of paper in your pocket but you
know what's worth a lot more than that is the blessing of God on your life it's
worth in any number of dollars that you could possibly have what's the right way
to make money according to the Bible 1st Thessalonians chapter number 4 1st
Thessalonians chapter number 4 look what it says in verse 11 it says and that you
study to be quiet and to do your own business and to work with your own hands
as we commanded you that you may walk honestly toward them that are without
and that you may have lack of nothing so Bible talks about the right way to work
is to be quiet to work hard to work with your hands and when you do that when
you're walking honestly like the Bible teaches you're not gonna have lack of
anything God's not gonna let you starve when you're a God-fearing soul-witting
Christian that goes to church that reads his Bible and that works hard with their
hands God's not gonna forsake you God's not gonna let you and your family you
know famished rather he's going to bless you and notice the language of this
chapter out says you're working with your hands you're doing your own
business you know we got to remind people that there's nothing wrong with
working a blue-collar job there's nothing in the world wrong with it our
culture elevates college to such a high level and some of the things I've heard
my teachers say when I was in high school is you really want to make sure
you go to college so that you don't end up you know doing a really dirty job
like a plumber or being a garbage man or being an electrician but what's funny
is a lot of these blue-collar jobs since so many people are not doing them anymore
they're actually making a lot of money these days anyways you know and there's
we should not demonize people that work hard we should not demonize people that
have a dirty job that go out and work by the sweat of their face that get a
little dirty in their job you know we should not demonize that whatsoever and
act like the only legitimate job you could have is a white-collar job you
know working at some financial Institute that's not right the Bible says that we
should work with our own hands and so I have the utmost respect for a man that
works a very hard blue-collar job rather than someone who's receiving the
treasures of wickedness rather than the banker that's receiving the usury and
breaking God's commandments oh but he drives a really nice car he has a really
nice house his family's really well taken care of yeah but you know what he
doesn't have the blessing of God and God is looking down saying what have I done
to you how have I worried you you know why are you acting this way rather we
should do what the Lord has required of us by doing justly with our finances go
to second Thessalonians chapter number three good verse number seven says for
you set for yourselves know how you ought to follow us for we behaved not
ourselves disorderly among you Paul and the Apostle neither did we eat any man's
bread for not but wrought with labor and travail night and day that we not
that we might not be chargeable to any of you not because we have not power
but to make ourselves and then sample unto you to follow us so Paul he was not
a lazy man he was not someone that was making money by treasures of wickedness
rather he was working he was laboring with his hands night and day so that he
could do two full-time jobs so that he could be a tent maker and make money to
support himself and whoever else he may have been supporting and to be doing
the ministry full-time he even had the power to take a paycheck from the
ministry but he says I didn't do this to be an example to you and so Paul is an
example to us of someone that worked really really hard and someone that did
things right and they and someone that did justly in the sight of God look at
verse number 10 for even when we were with you this we commanded you that if
any would not work neither should he eat for we hear that there are some which
walk among you disorderly working not at all but are busy bodies now them that
are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness
they work and eat their own bread so according to the Bible if someone's
able-bodied and they're just refusing to work they're not working they're being
lazy and not doing anything the Bible calls that walking
disorderly and the Bible says that if you are walking disorderly meaning
you're just refusing to work you're an able-bodied man and you're refusing to
work the Bible says that you should not even eat the Bible says that you should
literally starve as to incentivize you to go out and work and do something with
your life and so here's here's the treasures of wickedness living off of
welfare if you are living your whole life off of welfare that is wicked it's
not right because the Bible says that you need to be working with your hands
and look I understand that there's plenty of programs in the US where you
pay into your whole life and like Social Security and when you turn 65 you reap
some of that back that makes sense to me that's not wicked to take something back
that you've already paid into and obviously if the government's just
writing you coronavirus checks out of nowhere that you didn't even ask for you
know every couple months or however many checks they've written us now it's not
like that's wrong to accept that you didn't ask for that right but if you are
just saying huh do I get a job or do I apply at the welfare office and you
decide not to get a job when you can and you just receive welfare that's wicked
that's treasures of wickedness and God's not gonna bless that that is not
walking justly that's not doing justly with your finances go to Malachi chapter
number three last book of the Old Testament Malachi you know this just
came to me too I forgot about this I saw this video on Facebook a few weeks ago
where this idiot was going into a grocery store and he was looking at all
the steaks and he was taking off of he was taking the stickers off of the like
the sirloins or the chop steak and he was putting it on the rib eyes and he
was going out and checking out and stealing you know that's treasures of
wickedness right there that's that's not a you know that's not an honest way of
living and God is not gonna bless doing stupid things like that it makes me sick
how people share those videos and has all these likes and comments like it's
funny and cool no it's stupid it shows me you're a complete moron like you're
so lazy that you can't even afford the steak you want to buy you got to steal
it from the grocery store it's retarded Malachi Malachi chapter number three
another way that you could have treasures of wickedness that you could
be sinning with your finances is by not tithing what is tithing tithing is
giving 10% of your income 10% of your increase back to the Lord look at
Malachi 3 verse 8 it says will a man rob God yet ye have robbed me but ye say
wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings so the Bible says that if
you're not tithing you're actually robbing God now I don't know how people
could say that tithing is not something that's required of us if you don't do
it it's called robbing God sounds like it's required I mean you can't rob
someone from something that's not required it doesn't make any sense look
at verse 9 you're cursed with a curse for you have robbed me even this whole
nation so the result of these people not paying their tithe not giving to God
what is his the result is a curse just like that's the result with any type of
sin financially God is gonna curse your finances rather than bless your
finances for you've robbed me even this whole nation verse 10 bringing all the
tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me
now herewith saith the Lord of hosts if I will not open you the windows of heaven
and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it
and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the
fruits of your ground neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in
the field saith the Lord of hosts and you know what this teaches us is that no
matter how much money you make if you're doing wickedly God can curse all of it
it doesn't matter if you are making just a huge and just ridiculous amount of
money if you are not pleasing in the sight of the Lord God can just take it
all the way like that God can just curse your finances you know if you if you tithe
the Bible says that he can rebuke the devourer for your sakes well conversely
if you don't tithe he's just gonna let the devourer destroy your life and
sometimes you see people and it's just like car bill after medical bill after
car bill after medical bill and it's like it seems like possibly the
devourer is wrecking your life now you can't only look at the circumstances of
someone's finances to judge whether or not they're right with God but it is a
possibility that your finances are cursed because you're not right with God
and that's something you at least should consider and wonder am I doing
justly with my finances am I making money from a wicked way am I selling you
know something that's a sin am I providing a service that's a sin am I
withholding from God the tithe that he's do am I robbing from God look at verse
go back to Micah Micah chapter number 6 and keep your place there throughout the
sermon Micah chapter number 6 so he just got done talking about the way the
treasures of wickedness look at verse 13 it says therefore so because of all
these things also I will make thee sick in smiting thee in making thee desolate
because of thy sins and he's saying so because of therefore because you're
sitting with your finances because you're not being just with your finances
he says I'm going to make you sick now we should ask ourselves would I rather
be sick would I rather have all these chronic illnesses would I rather just
do the right thing with my finances and just honor God by my finances it's a
lot easier just to obey God than it is to deal with the consequences of not
obeying God it's a lot easier to have the blessing of the Lord look at verse
14 says thou shalt eat but not be satisfied and thy casting down shall be
in the midst of thee and thou shalt take hold but shall not deliver and that
which thou deliver us will I give up to the sword thou shalt so 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 so basically this is just saying that God
is just gonna be against everything you do he's gonna make you sick he's gonna
make you know he's gonna wreck your finances he's gonna wreck your life God
is just gonna be against you at every corner of your life if you don't do
justly if you don't do just with your finances and so conversely like I said
no matter how much money you make God can curse it but conversely no matter
how little money you make if you're doing that which is right God will bless
that and God will cause things to last longer God can cause things in your life
to go right why if you're doing that which is justly just I'll read for you
Proverbs 10 3 it says the Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to
famish but he casteth away the substance of the wicked so God sees a wicked
person he's casting away their substance and and I think this could even be
talking about a saved person that's wicked because obviously in the Bible
talks about you know in Psalm 73 how the wicked they have you know riches and
they have health and they live really long lives but here it's saying that God
will cast away the substance of the wicked I think that's talking about a
saved person that's wicked but a righteous person that's saved it says
the Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish and you just think
about being in this church you know have you ever seen someone that loves the
Lord that goes soul-winning that shows up to church it does you know right by
their finances that honors God with their life have you ever seen them
famish have you ever seen them hunger have you ever seen them like these bums
on the side of the road asking for money no you haven't why because of the
blessing of the Lord that's why but go back to Micah and look at Micah chapter
number two you know not only should we do justly in our finances but when God
says that he requires us to do justly that applies to all areas of life and
look at Micah chapter number two look at verse number one it says woe to them
that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds when the morning is light
they practice it because it is in the power of their hand 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 and it's kind of crazy
to think but this is actually what the world is really like today they're
devising iniquity they're thinking about clever ways on how to sin they're
thinking of clever ways on how to harm people they're coveting fields in their
heart and they're coming up with schemes to take them by violence and then they
go and execute that violence and they do all sort of manner of wickedness this is
just what the world is like today but as God's people we should be just and
realize that no matter how crazy the world gets no matter how wicked the
world gets no matter if the whole world is laying in their bed at night devising
iniquity you know we should be steadfast in standing for that which is right and
it doesn't matter if the whole world thinks one way about a certain topic or
you know we're the only ones where it seems like we're standing on an issue
you know we should do that which is just that which is right and continue to
stand on that issue. I'll read for you 2nd Timothy 4 verse 2 it says preach the
word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long
suffering and doctrine for the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall
be turned unto fables and when you think about the world the world always at all
times throughout history they have not wanted to endure sound doctrine because
they're unsaved you know they don't have the Spirit of God they don't hear the
voice of the shepherd but we're even at a point where God's people do not want
to endure sound doctrine it makes sense that the world doesn't want to endure
sound doctrine that's why we got to get them saved we got to get the Spirit of
God in them and we got to teach them the statutes of the Lord but we're actually
at a point Bible says that the time will come and it kind of seems like today
where even Christians will not want to endure sound doctrine even Christians
won't want justice according to the Word of God they don't want they're gonna
have itching ears and they're gonna turn away their ears from the truth so we
have the truth here which is the Word of God we have the devil which is the
father of lies and the world walks according to the counsel of this world
the world is completely blind but have you noticed that nowadays a lot of
Christians are standing on the exact same side as the world on a lot of
issues it's just bizarre you say okay I understand why the world you know
thinks this way about modesty I understand why the world thinks this way
about the sodomites I understand why the world has all of these opinions that are
not according to the Word of God but when we see Christians that are saved
that had the exact same opinions as the world it's like wow they're not wanting
to endure sound doctrine wow they're not wanting to they're turning their ears
from the truth that's the day that we're living in but as Christians if we're
gonna do justly we don't change with the times we don't take a Gallup poll to see
if most people agree with us we don't ask you know the world's opinion to
believe the things that we do we just look at what the Bible says and we say
that's just that's right and we stand on that issue and we don't change. I'll read
for you Micah 4.1 or if you're there Micah chapter 4 verse 1 says this and I
said here I pray you oh heads of Jacob and you princes of the house of Israel is
it not for you to know judgment so the heads the princes it makes me think of
people that are like government leaders judges and also makes me think of like
spiritual leaders people that are heads over the people he's like isn't it for
you to know judgment shouldn't it be just obvious that someone that's in
leadership in our nation would want to do judgment would want to have justice
you know when I was watching this Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the evidence was
just so obvious that Kyle Rittenhouse did not commit first degree homicide and
I see this prosecutor and I see the this team of prosecutors just trying to lie
trying to twist themes I'm saying like isn't it for them to do justice like
wouldn't you want to go into law enforcement and be a prosecutor because
you want to convict the wicked and exonerate the just and that just makes
sense why you'd want to go into the justice system is because you care
about justice you know I would think that if I was a prosecutor and I was
prosecuting someone and it came out like wow they're actually innocent I would be
happy that I'm not about to convict someone of a crime they didn't commit
right you wouldn't just dig in and be like well I I just want our team to win
I just want team prosecution to win regardless of the truth regardless of
this person's actually innocent or not you know that's wicked isn't it for the
heads and the princes of the house of Israel isn't it for them to know
judgment but notice what they're like verse 2 it says who hate the good and
love the evil who pluck off their skin from off them and their flesh from off
their bones 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 cauldron and so instead of these leaders rather loving justice
rather loving doing what's right instead they hate the good and they love the
evil and that is a lot like our nation today you look at the CNN's you look at
the Joe Biden's you look at the MSNBC's you look at just about every single
celebrity in our nation and what do they do they all hate Kyle Rittenhouse they
all hate righteously defending yourself they all hate the Second Amendment they
all hate someone defending their life but you know what they love Joseph
Rosenbaum the pedophile that Kyle Rittenhouse killed you know what they
love they love to take the family members of these pedophiles and put
them on the TV and call them family member of victim speaks out what do you
mean a victim the victim are the pens or scores of children that Joseph Rosenbaum
molested and attacked those are the victims Kyle Rittenhouse was the victim
he defended himself you know but instead people they love the evil and they hate
the good that's what we see in our nation today from our political leaders
from our people that should be judges and prosecutors and people that should
be bringing us the news everything's backwards today and and and spiritually
you know many media outlets and many churches they hate you know pastor
Shelley they hate pastor Anderson they hate pastor Jimenez why because they say
mean things about pedophiles but yet they love the pedophiles they love the
sodomites you know I could think of a so-called Baptist preacher that walked
up to the protesters in front of Steadfast Baptist Church and he went up
to them and he said I love you Jesus loves you please don't burn this
building down that's what this Baptist preacher said at Steadfast Baptist
Church to all these homos and he's saying you know man I hope that we can
just all have a party together someday if Steadfast is out of here with all
these people that are holding up signs saying hey we're Satanists hey we're
witches you know they're riding all over the sidewalk calling Pastor Shelley a
pedophile putting inverted pentagrams all over the place that's who this so
called Baptist preacher this minister of God is standing with what is it that's
someone that hates the good and loves the evil that's someone that is not
doing what God has required of us in Micah by by what by doing justly you
cannot tell me that you love justice that you are a just person when you
stand on the side of literal pedophiles against a man of God against pastor
Shelley and against said fast Baptist Church that's doing what preaching the
gospel getting people saved preaching the whole counsel of God warning people
saying hey protect your children against these pedophiles that's that's the
crime that pastor Shelley committed but yet we could stand with the literal
pedophiles the literal witches it's wicked I'll read for you Romans 12 9 it
says let love be without dissimulation abhor that which is evil leave to that
which is good amos 515 says hate the evil and love the good and establish
judgment in the gate it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto
the remnant of Joseph so if we want God to be gracious with us we want God to
be merciful to our nation to be gracious on our nation you know we're
gonna have to do we're gonna have to hate the evil and love the good and
establish judgment in the gate and you know I know we talk about this a lot but
this bell has to constantly be rung because our nation is lacking this
today our nation is lacking judgment and justice and us as God's people we have
to be the people that's staying steadfast on this that no matter how
much the world wants to lay in their bed and devise iniquity and try to you know
schedule the next drag queen story our time at the next public school we have
to stand up and say no it's wicked no actually the Bible says that child
predators that homosexuals should be put to death that should be executed by the
government that's what we should stand up and continue to say no matter how
much people want to accuse us of being a cult or accuse us of being hateful no
it's very loving to execute people that would molest children it's very loving
go back to Micah chapter number six so we talked about number one what does God
require of us he requires of us to do justly number two he requires of us to
love mercy Micah 6:8 it says he hath showed the old man what is good and what
did the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and you know
thank God that God is not only just he's not only wanting to execute justice
but he also is merciful and us as God's people we have to constantly remind
ourselves to have this same balance in our lives that we don't want to be only
just ringing that justice bell but also we should be people that love mercy that
show mercy and that appreciate the mercy that God showed to what to us I'll read
for you Romans 5 8 it says but God commended his love toward us in that
while we were yet sinners Christ died for us you know what justice says about
us and what justice says about our sin what justice teaches me is that I
deserve to go to hell and if every single person in this room got what was
just and what was fair and what was right every single one of us would spend
eternity in hell but thank God that's not the only attribute that God has is
justice he also has mercy he also committed his love toward us in that
while we were yet sinners while we were still wicked while we were still
breaking God's commandments and while we still do that every single day Christ
died for us and God extends that mercy to us by us putting our faith in his son
and him forgiving our sins go to 1st Timothy chapter 1 and I'll read for you
Hebrews 12 Hebrews 12 - it says looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of
our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising
the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider
him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest he be
wearied and faint in your minds when you think about Jesus Christ perfect holy
just the Son of God never sinning the King of Kings the Lord of Lords when you
think about him dying for me dying for you dying for people that are wicked and
sinners the Bible says it's a contradiction he endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself but you know what that that is mercy
right there that is mercy when we didn't deserve it we didn't deserve Jesus
Christ to die for us but he chose to he chose to endure the sufferings of the
cross why because he wanted to show mercy on us because he wanted to love
us we should always be thankful to God about how much mercy he has showed us
and realize that how much mercy really has been bestowed upon us because a lot
of people you out so winning you ask them you know do you think that you
deserve to go to hell a lot of people say oh no of course not I'm a pretty
good person and they're not really realizing how much mercy God has really
bestowed upon them because every person deserves to go to hell all of sin to
come short of the glory of God all of us have you know at least told a lie or
committed a sin and one sin is all it takes to condemn you to hell 1st Timothy
chapter number one 1st Timothy chapter number one this is this and I thank
Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful
putting me into the ministry and before I go further Paul's talking about how
God put him into the ministry Jesus Christ had a very specific mission for
the Apostle Paul but every single person in this room man woman boy and girl has
been put into the ministry God has a great commission for us you know the
great commission to go into all the world preach the gospel to every creature
that is something that he has commissioned for all people all ages it
doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman so really all of us have been put
into the ministry okay and then it says in verse 13 who is before a blasphemer
and a persecutor and injurious but I obtained mercy because I did it
ignorantly and in unbelief so Paul he's acknowledging the mercy that he received
he realized that before Paul was super wicked he was persecuting the church he
did a lot of evil things but he's acknowledging the fact that yes I've
been put into the ministry yes God has counted me faithful but I also realized
that I have obtained mercy Paul knew and Paul is a superstar Christian is he not
I mean he turned the world upside down for the gospel of Jesus Christ but even
Paul possibly the greatest soul winner of all time he acknowledged that I have
received mercy and so can we not also acknowledge that we've received mercy
can we not also appreciate the fact that God has given us mercy first number 14
and the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus this is a faithful saying and worthy of all
acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief how be it for this cause I obtained mercy she's gonna tell us why
did I receive mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long
suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting so Paul he says look I've been put into the ministry God's counted
me faithful but I have received mercy why have I received mercy he says for a
pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting so
we're supposed to as Christians see the mercy that God bestowed on Paul
realized yeah Paul did a lot of wicked things in his past but we're supposed to
look at Paul's life and say the mercy that God shed on Paul's life is a
pattern that after those that believe would also have and we realized that as
God gave mercy to Paul God also gave mercy to us but what did Paul do with
that mercy did he just take the mercy and faintly thank God for it and just
live his life however he wanted no he actually acknowledged the mercy that he
got from God and he dedicated his entire life to sharing that mercy with other
people and so God in Micah chapter 6 says that it's a requirement of us to
love mercy it's something that he expects of it of us it's not optional
how do we love mercy we get we get God's mercy to be shed on other people
and how do we do that by soul winning by preaching people the gospel if you
truly love mercy if you truly are thankful to the fact that God showed you
mercy and forgave you of your sins and saved you from an eternal hell the only
logical conclusion if you love mercy is to help someone else get that same mercy
and to share that with other people and look a Christian that does not preach
the gospel does not love mercy period a Christian that is not loving mercy that
is not preaching the gospel they are failing to do what the Lord has
required of them and so I don't care if you're a man I don't care if you're a
woman I don't care if you're a child I don't say this to offend you I say this
to help you to get inside of the will of God if you do not go soul winning I
didn't say if your husband goes so I didn't say if your mom and dad go soul
winning I said if you do not go soul winning you do not love mercy and you
are failing to do what the Lord has required of you if you fail in life as a
soul winner you failed as a Christian if you fail in life to love mercy and to
help other people get the mercy of God on their life you have failed to do what
God is requiring you to do I didn't say that that's what the Bible says and look
there's a lot of people today that have this mentality where oh you know as long
as my husband goes soul winning then that's fine but you know the Bible is
very clear that soul winning is something for ladies too and in a lot of
churches you know there's a culture that's kind of imposed by the leadership
that soul winning is just for the men and we don't want to have that culture
at Steadfast Baptist Church you know sometimes ladies put that culture upon
themselves which is wrong where they think it's not their job they think that
that's not for them but let it not be said that Steadfast Baptist Church is
just generating a culture that says oh soul winning is only for the guys you
know the ladies shouldn't be doing that that's why one thing I really like at
Fort Worth is they have the ladies soul winning time every
Tuesday and it's a soul winning time that's just dedicated for the ladies and
look I understand it's harder for ladies to get out soul winning than the guys
especially if you have kids if you have kids it's a lot harder but guess what
it's what the Lord has required of you and if you love mercy and if you realize
the mercy that God has showed you and has bestowed upon you you're gonna want
to do something maybe a little hard and maybe gather up some kids at someone's
doorstep in a rough part of town so that you can open up your Bible and show
them hey there's a God that loves them there's a God that could show mercy to
them it's a God that showed mercy on me and I'm here to show you that he can
show mercy on you too that's what you would do if you love mercy now I want to
prove this I'll read for you Philippians 4 verse 3 this is Paul
speaking and he said and I entreat thee also true yoke yoke fellow help those
women which labored with me in the gospel with Clement also and with other
my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life Paul is acknowledging
and he's he's talking about the fact that there's women that labored in the
gospel with Paul and that's pretty amazing to think of right you know we
read the Bible and a lot of times the characters the preachers because God has
given the role of preaching the word of God to men a lot of times we're reading
about men in the Bible but Paul's ministry was not only men there was lady
soul winners that were preaching the gospel with the Apostle Paul and ladies
I want you to think about this if the Apostle Paul walked into said fast
Baptist Church today and said hey would you like to go so winning with me today
would you be ready to do that would you have a gospel presentation ready to go
would you be ready to go so winning with the Apostle Paul because there was
literally women that went so winning with the Apostle Paul and so it's not
just a ministry for men it's not something that oh just the guys go so
winning no the women labored in the gospel with Paul go to 2nd Corinthians
chapter number 4 we'll talk a little bit more about mercy here look at 2nd
Corinthians 4 verse 1 it says therefore seeing we have this ministry as we have
received mercy we faint not and so what's going to cause us to not faint
in the ministry what's going to cause us to not quit because there will be a time
and I'm sure there's already been a time in every Christians life where they
will want to quit the ministry they will want to quit serving God they will want
to quit soul winning but look at what Paul said he says because we've received
this ministry as we have received mercy we faint not it's the love that Paul
has for mercy and wanting other people to receive mercy that causes him not to
quit he says but have not but have renounced the hidden things of
dishonesty not walking in craftiness or handling the Word of God deceitfully but
by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's
conscience in the sight of God but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that
are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the
image of God should shine unto them and so we have the gospel we have the light
of the gospel but if our Gospels hid it's hid to them that are lost and the
only thing that's between Joe Blow going to heaven or hell is you the only thing
between your loved ones that are unsaved of going to heaven and hell is
whether or not you actually want to do what God has required you and to love
mercy because if you love the mercy you've received you're gonna love
bestowing that mercy on other people and getting God to show mercy on other
people how by preaching them the gospel and so many Christians today most
Christians will live their entire life and will never preach the gospel to one
person they will never get one single person saved and they will die not doing
what the Lord has required of them and so if you have never been soulening if
you've never won someone to Christ I would just implore you to just go out in
faith that one time take that step of faith you go out as a silent partner you
don't have to do the talking it doesn't have to be awkward or embarrassing you
can go with someone that knows what to do but look if you have not taken that
step you're not doing what God's requiring of you you're not loving mercy
and your gospel you're hiding your gospel to people they're gonna spend
eternity in hell and you just have to ask yourself do I actually even care
about that do I even care do I even love mercy am I even thankful for the mercy
that God's bestowed me because I submit to you that if you don't go soul winning
you don't love mercy and you're not thankful for the mercy that God has
given you I'll skip some of this for time here but go back to Micah Micah
chapter number six what does God require of this and remember this sermon is
just so that we can just have a check on our lives and wonder am I doing what
God requires me to do am I in the will of God am I doing that which is pleasing
in His sight we talked about number one do justly number two love mercy
number three walk humbly Micah 6 8 the Bible says he hath show the old man what
is good and what that the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with thy God the Bible says in Proverbs 30 13 there is
a generation oh how lofty are their eyes and their eyelids are lifted up and you
know today in 2021 America we live in a very prideful generation we live in a
prideful generation that is completely self-obsessed with you know the selfies
and the social media and look at me look at my life we live in an entitled
society that thinks that everything is owed to us that the society that doesn't
want to give honor to God a society where church attendance is decreasing
people are not reading the Bible like they used to in this country people are
not soul winning like they used to in this country people are walking in their
own ways they're doing that which is right in their own eyes and they're not
walking humbly in our nation today Proverbs 16 5 says everyone that is
proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord though hand join in hand he shall
not be unpunished we gotta realize that when it comes to the Christian life
humility is the foundation of the Christian life humility is what it takes
to get saved and humility is what it takes to serve God and to take you all
the way through the rest of your life I mean someone that is prideful will never
get saved because in order to be saved you have to admit that you're sinner you
have to realize that you deserve to go to hell you have to realize that there's
nothing you could do to earn your way to heaven there's no amount of works you
could do to climb the ladder and hopefully you're good will outweigh
your bad at the end of the day no you have to realize that hey all I can do is
put all my trust on Jesus Christ only what he did for me is going to save me
I can't trust on any of my works and once I'm saved I'm always saved because
it's not depending on me to begin with that's humility and in order to accept
the gospel every single person that gets saved must have a moment in their life
where they're humble because to accept Christ you must be humble but you know
if you want to fail as a Christian the most sure way to fail as a
Christian is to become prideful is to become lifted up and become what God
says is an abomination to him everyone that's proud and hard he says that's an
abomination to me this is something that God requires of us remember the whole
essence of the sermon is what does God require of us this is not a suggestion
from God this is not something that's like well that'd be nice to see in your
life no this is something that if you don't want him to be angry at you it's
required that you're a humble person go to Philippians chapter number two
Philippians chapter number two Philippians chapter 2 look at verse 3
let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mine let
each esteem other better than themselves look not every man on his own things but
every man also on the things of others and one thing that you and I just have
to get sunk deep into our hearts and just fully understand is that the
Christian life is all about other people the Christian life is not about you the
Christian life is not about you racking up how many times you've read the Bible
and you racking up how many times you've memorized scripture and you
racking up how many soul winning mission strips you've been on so that
you can have vain glory everything that we do should be for the Lord and for
other people and yes sometimes you're gonna be doing things where you're kind
of in the spotlight and people can see your works it's not like when you go
out soul winning you can do that privately right it's not like when
you're preaching a sermon you can do that privately but if you're doing
things the right way it must be coming from a heart of wanting to do things
for other people not wanting to have this vain glory not wanting to lift
yourselves up why because this is the mind that Christ had look at verse 5 let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of
God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no
reputation and took upon him the form of a servant that was made in the likeness
of men I've always liked this phrase how Jesus Christ he made himself of no
reputation he wasn't trying to go around and make a name for himself now even
though he wasn't trying to do that God gave him a name above all names and you
know every single tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father someday but Jesus Christ he didn't walk around this earth
saying I'm gonna go make a name for myself I'm gonna go get a following and
try to become popular that's not the heart that he had that was the result of
what happened but that's not the heart that he had and sometimes I look at
people and I just feel like they're trying to make a reputation for
themselves you know I've seen people on YouTube where they literally videotape
themselves memorizing Scripture and they're literally like videotaping
themselves just reciting a scripture from heart that they have in memory and
I'm just like how does that edify anybody how is that doing something for
others thank you for telling us that you're doing everything that you do for
you and for your vainglory and it looks like you just want to make a big
reputation for yourself oh look at the guy that can quote a bunch of Scripture
from memory congratulations you have your reward you know that's not God
requires us to be humble and he says and took upon him the form of a servant
every single person in this church should see themselves as a servant of
God I love it when you're reading in the Bible and these great men of God these
really famous men of God are praying to the Lord and he reminds the people
remind the Lord that they are his servant you know have mercy upon thy
servant and it's like wow you're the king of Israel but yet the king of
Israel had a mentality of himself that he was God's servant that he was God's
low and what does a servant it's someone that serves other people that does
things humbly that's lowly that doesn't exalt himself that's not on their
agenda they're on other people's agenda they're helping other people get things
done and that is what the Christian life should be based on verse 8 and being
found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death
even the death of the cross wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and
given him a name which is above every name now I like how it says that he
humbled himself because Jesus Christ was in glory with the Father in heaven as
King of Kings Lord of Lords you know it's John 17 Jesus is talking about the
glory that he shared with the Father before the world even began and so
Jesus Christ to come down to this earth as a lowly man as a servant to be beaten
to be spit upon to be mocked to be lied about what is that that's humbling
himself because he had to bring himself down from the glory and from the honor
that he had into the form of a man like you and me that's truly humble and Jesus
Christ is the best example of humility you can find in the entire world I'll
read for you Luke 14 11 it says this for whosoever exalted himself shall be
abased and he that humble it himself shall be exalted now if you pay
attention to this verse I love that when it says humble it himself that's not an
adjective that's not something that's describing this person that's a verb
meaning that in order to humble yourself it's an action that you purposely
knowingly perform on yourself it's not like oh I can adjective oh like oh that
person is just naturally humble and that's just like a characteristic about
them no mankind is naturally prideful that's what we're like every single
person in this room struggles with pride and so what we have to do is we have to
perform an action a verb called humbling ourself meaning it's something we have
to actually take effort and try to do well how do we do that I think there's a
couple good examples of that go to Luke 18 Luke 18 Luke 18 verse 10 two men went
up into the temple to pray the one a Pharisee and the other a publican the
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself God I thank thee that I'm not
as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this publican I
fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possess so this person
prideful or humble persons very prideful because he's saying I I I mean me look
at me look at all these things that I do and he's saying I'm thankful then I'm
not as other people are so this person is very prideful but now we're gonna
look at a humble person says in the publican standing afar off would not
lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven but smote upon his breasts saying God be
merciful to me sinner I tell you this man went down to his house justified
rather than the other for everyone that humble exalted himself shall be abased
and he that humble with himself shall be exalted so notice the publican humbled
himself and what was one of the characteristics of what he did his eyes
were down humble means to lower to make small to lower yourself and his eyes
were down and I want to prove to you that bowing or getting small or lowering
yourself is one way to humble yourself look at Isaiah chapter number two Isaiah
chapter number two as you're turning there but you know if you think what is
one way that I can humble myself you know a great way to do that is to pray
on your hands and knees to pray low to get down on the ground I'm not saying
please don't misunderstand me I'm not saying the only way you could pray if
you want to be right with God is on your hands and knees look you could pray to
God anytime anywhere as you're driving to work as you're in the shower you
know we should always have the communication of prayer open in our
hearts and be ready to pray in a moment's notice but there's something to
be said about humbling yourself about bowing before a mighty God getting on
your hands and knees and acknowledging your place in this world and asking God
for your needs and for thanking God for all the things that he's done for you
look at Isaiah chapter 2 verse 8 says their land also was full of idols they
worship the work of their own hands that which their own fingers have made and
the mean man boweth down and the great man humble at himself therefore forgive
them not so this is a an example of someone that's humbling themselves so
the wrong thing right they're bowing down to idols but notice how the Bible
says that a person that's bowing down what are they doing they're humbling
themselves now they're doing it's the wrong thing they're doing it to false
idols but it would be a good thing for us to do to bow ourselves to humble
ourselves before God and that's one way to stay humble is to literally bow
yourself to the ground look at verse 10 enter into the rock and hide thee in the
dust for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty the lofty looks of
man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down and the Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day so notice the opposite of humble is lofty
what's a loft is something that's high it's on the second or third story right
having a high look is looking around with your head up you know your
shoulders back looking like you're just hot stuff like you're real important
we've all seen people that walk around like that years like wow you have a
really prideful look on your face but the opposite of that is being humbled he
says the lofty looks of man shall be humbled God will humble every proud look
some day and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down and you know it's
it's a good idea to humble yourself before God humbles you it'd be a lot
easier for you to go through life not having a haughty look not having a
haughty heart not having lofty looks not walking around like everyone should be
serving you it's a lot easier to start at the bottom be very humble be very
lowly about yourself and then the only thing God can do is either keep you
there or exalt you but if you want to come off as being prideful and bring
being high and lofty then God will knock you down a place and every single lofty
look of man will be humbled someday what to God that it wouldn't be said that way
of God of God's people well shouldn't we just humble ourselves and not make God
do it for us we'll live a lot easier life a lot more of a blessed life if we
just do that ourselves almost done here go to Luke chapter 14 Luke 14 another
way to humble yourself is not just to literally physically lower yourself but
also just to lower your status lower how you think about yourself look at Luke
14 8 says when thou art bitten of any man to a wedding sit not down in the
highest room lest a more honorable man than thou be bitten of him and he that
bathed thee and him come and say to thee give this man place and now begin with
shame to take the lowest room but when thou art bitten go and sit down in the
lowest room and when he that bathed thee cometh he may say unto thee friend go up
higher then shall thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meet
with thee for whosoever exalted himself shall be abased and he that humble with
himself shall be exalted you know you're at a you're at a wedding or you're at
court or you're at some sort of nice place you don't want to just sit at the
best seat in the house and just the nicest area with all the coolest people
with all the most important people you know what I mean you want to be humble
and place yourself at the lowest table you know and just lower your status as a
person when someone comes into this church and they're a visitor don't be
like oh well you know I've been coming to this church since the beginning and
this person's been here for a day so I'm not gonna go talk to them maybe one of
the new guys can go talk to them and you know have this haughty aura about
yourself no rather we should humble ourselves and realize hey all of us are
servants all of us are God's children here there's no status higher than
another in the house of God we're all God's children and we should act that
way we should realize all of us are our servants no one's more important you
know just because I'm preaching the sermon this morning doesn't make me more
important than any person in this room and if you get a preacher sermon doesn't
make you any more important than any person in this room we all have our
roles but our roles should be coming from a heart of wanting to serve other
people there's nothing wrong with being the person that preaches the sermon or
the person that leads the song or the person that leads the sowning time as
long as you're doing that with the heart of wanting to serve others not wanting
to serve yourself not wanting to make a reputation for yourself not wanting to
make a name for yourself but rather wanting to please God by serving other
people and you know America needs humility today America used to be you
know I feel like a lot of people used to be more God fearing in this country and
more humble and you know you go you go to other countries and you ask them to
show them the gospel and they're just ears immediately because they have
respect to the Word of God because they're humble before God and if his
word is about to be preached they want to listen to that and sadly a lot of
places in America you know you show up with a Bible in hand and they laugh at
you they want to mock the Word of God they don't want to listen they think
going to church is a waste of time but you know what those people are they're
prideful and God will abase them someday so it's a lot better for us to just
humble ourselves have the blessing of God on our life so in conclusion here
I'll read for you again Micah 6 8 it says he hath showed the old man what is good
and what did the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy to
walk humbly with that God you know it's a really simple sermon but it's a every
once in a while we just need to calibrate our lives and look at ourselves
and saying hey am I doing what God has required of me do I care about justice
am I being honest in my financial dealings am I standing for that which is
right do I love mercy do I thank God for the mercy that he bestowed upon me and
am I showing my thankfulness of God's mercy by going out and preaching the
gospel to others and my person that's humble or my person that's constantly
just lifting myself up trying to make a reputation for myself no rather we need
to just look into our own lives look into our own hearts and look at these
three areas of our life and see if there's a way that we could be more
pleasing and doing what God has required of us let's have a word of
prayer Lord thank you so much for all that you do for us thank you so much
for the Word of God and thank you just for making your expectations to us clear
so we don't have to wonder what it is that you require of us I pray that
you'd help every single person in here just to look into their hearts and to
look at an area of their life that they could change to be more pleasing and
honoring to you in Jesus name we pray amen