THE LORD'S CONTROVERSY

MICAH 6:1

A. "HEAR YE, 0 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" 1. The words of our text are as startling is they are pathetic:
  1. God has a controversy with the nations which oppress His people - Jer. 25:31; Hosea 4:1
  2. There has been a controversy between Christ and Satan, originating in heaven - Rev. 12: 7-12
  • But, our text states:
    1. That God has a controversy with His own children
    2. With them that He has brought up, cared for and nurtured - Jer. 31:1-3 B. THE LORD'S CONTROVERSY WITH HIS PEOPLE
  • "O My People, What have I done unto Thee?"
    1. What is it that I did to you that wearied you?
    2. You have wearied me with your sins - Is. 43:24
    3. "You have wearied the Lord with your words" Mal. 3:17
    4. "When ye say, everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them; or, where is the God of judgment?" Mal. 3:17
    5. Do we get wearied with the many calls for means to do the work of the Lord? Has the work of the Lord become burdensome to us?
  • Mercies recalled:
    1. "O my people, remember" (v.5) How grievous it must be to our heavenly Father when we grow weary of Him through forgetfulness of His benefits Ps. 25:5-6
    2. That "I brought thee up out of Egypt;" - (v.4). Remember that I broke the power of your oppressors, and led you forth into joyful freedom - Ps. 72:4; Is. 63:8-15
    3. That "I redeemed Thee" - Is. 43:3-7. Our Saviour gave Himself to ransom us - I Tim. 2:6 Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45. What a price He paid to redeem us from the bondage of sin - I Cor. 6:19
    4. "I sent before thee Moses, Aaron and Miriam" (v.4,5). These three leaders are typical of a threefold blessing God bestowed upon His people
    5. That "I turned Balaam's intended curse into a blessing" (v.5) see Num. 23:11-12; What a wonderful proof this is of the over-ruling power of God on behalf of His people - "He careth for you" - I Pet. 5:7 C. PERSONAL PERPLEXITIES
  • "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord? (V. 6)
    1. This is a crucial question for God's people to ponder
    2. They were bringing sacrifices of their animals until the Lord wearied of them and told them, I do not care for them - Isa. 1:11, 13-23
    3. A study of the worship of ancient Israel shows clearly that Israel had a total erroneous conception of the sacrifices they brought to the Lord; they sought to establish their own righteousness - Rom. 10:1-3
    4. The point they missed was that all those rituals were but a shadow of the infinite sacrifice heaven made to save us from sin - Heb. 10:1-9; Col. 2:14-17
  • The way revealed: "He hath showed thee, O man, what doth the Lord require of thee" - Micah 6:8
    1. "To do justly," This requirement points to character, to our daily life, to our conduct, to our attitude toward God and man
    2. To do justly means that we do what is right before God and just to men
    3. Here is the Divine formula for justice; "just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just him shall ye have" - Lev. 19:36; Deut. 25: 15; Ex. 45:10
    4. To be just means to be righteous before God - Gen. 6:9; exact, accurate; Lev.19:36; honest upright - Luke 23:50
    5. "To love mercy" - mercy is a quality of a sanctified heart, enlightened by the word of truth; it is one of the virtues valued by the Lord; compare Matt. 5:7 with Matt. 23:23; James 3:17
    6. To be merciful means to be companioned having pity for the undeserving and the guilty. This is the quality of character that ancient Israel was lacking and of which they were needful
    7. "To walk humbly with thy God"; this divine stipulation sums up the implication of true worship; it points to the heart of our relationship to God; when my life is a walk with God my relationship with God has reached its great objective.


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