“O my people, what
have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up
from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you
Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
O my people, remember
what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered
him,
and what happened from
Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the
Lord.”
Micah 6:3-5 ESV
God is talking to his rebellious people like a man or a
woman might talk to his or her wayward and adulterous spouse. And, he is
reminding them of all that he had done for them, and how he had been faithful,
and how he had provided for them, and had delivered them, and had protected
them. And, he is appealing to reason and to common sense. He had done them no
wrong, so why were they cheating on him with “other lovers”?
And, I believe our Lord is giving the same message today to
his adulterous church who has forsaken her Lord to go after other lovers and to
return to her sinful lifestyles she lived in before she believed in Jesus
Christ. For, she is taking pleasure in sin once again, and she is partnered
with the ungodly. She is no longer living separate (unlike, different) from the
world, but she has now become one with the world again in an unholy union.
The fruit she is now bearing is not the fruit of
righteousness, but she is bearing the fruit of wickedness and idolatry. And,
she has largely rejected the gospel of salvation as taught by Jesus and his NT
apostles to go after a feelings-based gospel that does not deny the flesh, but
which upholds it. It does not put sin to death, but it coddles it, and it
pacifies it. For it requires no death to sin or living to righteousness, but it
gives free license to continue in sinful practices without guilt and without
remorse.
Even though Jesus Christ died a horrible death on a cross so
that we could be delivered (set free) from our slavery to sin, many of his
people who were once walking in holiness have returned to their sinful ways,
and they are even celebrating their newfound freedom, but it is no freedom at
all, for they have returned to slavery. Although they had once tasted true freedom
in Christ, they have chosen to be in bondage once again.
They are no longer living self-controlled lives, but out of
control lives, not under the control of the Spirit of God. And, they are living
by their feelings instead of by faith. If it feels good they do it, even if it
is wrong. It is like they are drunk on sin, losing all sense of propriety,
purity and holiness. Instead of being wise, they have become foolish. Instead of
using common sense, they are senseless. And, they have crossed over God’s
boundary lines, which he put in place for our protection, in order to do what
ought not to be done.
“With what shall I
come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before
him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be
pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my
firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my
soul?”
He has told you, O
man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and
to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:6-8 ESV
But, they are still claiming faith in Jesus Christ. They are
still calling themselves Christians and followers of Christ. But, they have
made up their own faith and their own gospel that pleases the flesh rather than
pleases God. They have decided in their own flesh what they will or will not do
for God. So, they go through religious performances of some kind, but of their
own choosing, i.e. which fits with their chosen lifestyles.
So, they go through the motions of worship of God, going to
religious gatherings where they sing praise and worship songs and where they
listen to talks, where the Bible may or may not be used as the basis for the
talks. And, they “stay in their own lane” as they are instructed, and they don’t
say anything which might offend anyone, but they just smile and shake people’s
hands and laugh and joke around and they call that Christian fellowship.
But, that isn’t what God wants. It isn’t what he requires.
What he requires is our lives on the altar in surrender to him, forsaking our
lives of sin to follow him in obedience to his will and to his ways. What he
requires is that we live lives which are separate from the world of sin and
holy unto God and dedicated to him and to his purposes. For, this is why he
died (Rom. 12:1-2; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Pet.
2:24).
He requires that we do what is right in his eyes, not what
is wrong, and that we exercise the kind of kindness that he has shown to us,
which does not coddle or placate sin, but which confronts sin and which calls
for repentance and walks of obedience to Christ. And, he requires that we walk
humbly with him, not in pride and in self-pleasure, but in submission to his
Lordship, in the forsaking of our sins and our idols, and in obedience to his commands.
The voice of the Lord
cries to the city—
and it is sound wisdom to fear your name:
“Hear of the rod and
of him who appointed it!
Can I forget any longer the treasures of
wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is accursed?
Shall I acquit the man
with wicked scales
and with a bag of deceitful weights?
Your rich men are full
of violence;
your inhabitants speak lies,
and their tongue is deceitful in their
mouth.
Therefore I strike you
with a grievous blow,
making you desolate because of your sins.
You shall eat, but not
be satisfied,
and there shall be hunger within you;
you shall put away,
but not preserve,
and what you preserve I will give to the
sword.
You shall sow, but not
reap;
you shall tread olives, but not anoint
yourselves with oil;
you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
For you have kept the
statutes of Omri,
and all the works of the house of Ahab;
and you have walked in their counsels,
that I may make you a
desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing;
so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”
Micah 6:9-16 ESV
The Word of God teaches us that God disciplines those he
loves, that he chastises and rebukes, and he prunes, and it is painful, but the
purpose is that it will yield a harvest of righteousness, and that we might
share in his holiness. So, don’t get the notion that just because God hasn’t
disciplined you yet for your sinful rebellion that he will remain silent
forever.
Remember with me if you will his letters to the seven
churches in the book of Revelation where he chastised five of those churches
for their waywardness in various ways, and where he warned of divine judgment
if they did not repent of their wicked ways. And, yet he promised rewards and
blessings for those who did repent and who overcame sin’s deceit. And, these
warnings to the church are what preceded the declarations of judgment
throughout the rest of the book of Revelation.
We also read in scripture, which warnings were given to the
church, that if we walk (in lifestyle) in sin, we don’t have eternal life with
God but a fearful expectation of hell’s fury. It is only those who walk (in
practice) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God who have the
promise of eternal life with God. And, this walk of faith must continue to the
end of time, too.
So don’t get cocky and think that you are good to go and
that nothing can separate you from God and that heaven is guaranteed you no
matter how much you sin. For the scriptures teach that we are all going to reap
what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap
destruction. But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap
eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6).
Living
Water
An
Original Work / November 21, 2013
Based
off Various Scriptures
My people have forsaken Me,
Their Savior, who died on a tree;
Made idols, and they worshipped them;
So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.
Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.
Those who turn away from You will be shamed;
The Spring of Living Water left behind.
Living Water satisfies.
The thirsty, let them come and drink;
Believe in Jesus as their King;
The gift of Jesus given them,
So they will never thirst again.
Indeed, the Living Water flows within.
It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.
Eternal life in heaven promised them.
Living Water glorifies.
Oh people, won’t you come to Him?
Obey Him and repent of sin.
Let Jesus come and live within.
Surrender all your life to Him.
My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?
Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.
Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?
Living Water sanctifies.
No comments:
Post a Comment