Den of Thieves

Micah 2:1-13

Good morning.  I hope you all are rested and ready this morning for a full strength dose of truth from God’s Word.  We’re going to continue our series through the book of Micah.  We’re in chapter 2.  God is going to deal with some specific sin areas today, especially coveting and stealing, hence today’s title, “Den of Thieves.”

A lot of the time when someone tells us they are going to tell us what they really think or they’re going to tell us the whole truth, we get a sense that bad news is on the way.  It is interesting that this week, in the How People Grow class that meets at 9:45, the chapter we discussed was on the topic of truth.  And honestly, sometimes, the truth is hard for us to hear.  Sometimes the truth can be painful to us.

However, God is the true God.  In Him, there is no darkness at all.  He is holy and righteous.  His Word is truth.  His Son, Jesus is the truth.  His Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.  But then, contrast that with the fact that God is love.  God’s love sent His Son, Jesus to the cross to suffer and die for our sins.  He has cast our iniquities into the sea.  He has separated us from our sins as far as the east is from the west.

Plague of Idolatry

Micah 1:3-16

Last week Carl set the stage for our study of Micah, putting this prophet in his historical context of the good and evil kings of Israel and Judah, the unfaithfulness of the Hebrew people in following the Lord, and the looming menace of foreign invaders. Carl noted that Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, with a special focus on the southern kingdom of Judah – though he began his ministry before the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722-721 BC. In fact, he prophesies the destruction of Samaria in the section that we will be looking at today.

In the Biblical record, the book of Micah comes right after Jonah, which we looked at earlier this year. The main threat against Israel was the Assyrian empire, and you will recall that Jonah was sent by God to speak out against the sin of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, which led to the temporary repentance of the king and the people there. However, that didn’t last, and by the time of Micah, the Assyrians were back to their former ways and the brutal conquest of the nations around them. God intended to use them bring his judgment on the apostasy of Israel, and he provides a warning of this through his prophets.

Introduction to Micah

Micah 1:1-2

Welcome! Today we begin a new series on the book of Micah. Micah is called one of the Minor Prophets. The terms Major Prophets and Minor Prophets do not describe importance, but are simply a way to divide the Old Testament prophetic books roughly on length. The books called the Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The books called the Minor Prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Today my goal is simply to put Micah in the context of the history of Israel. As a people, the history of Israel really begins with Abraham, whom God led to a new land. God covenantally promised to bless Abraham’s descendants. The promise continued through Abraham’s son, Isaac, and then through Isaac’s son, Jacob who also was given the name Israel, and the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons became known as the twelve tribes of Israel. One of these sons, Joseph, was hated by the others and was sold by them as a slave to Egypt. However, God raised Joseph up and Joseph saved his family in a terrible famine.

True God and Eternal Life

I John 5:20

Welcome! He is risen!

I want to start today with a poem called “Jesus and the Fish” by Jude Simpson. Because it is Easter and our focus is on the resurrection of Christ, I have taken the liberty of reordering some of the stanzas. Hopefully Jude Simpson can forgive me. Anyway, here is the poem:

Jesus always knew where to find the fish.

He had fish in His diet; He had fish on His dish.

He had fish in the sea; He had fish on the shore;

He came to disestablish the rule of law.

Really Knowing

1 John 5:13-21

Just imagine that you’re sitting in a jury box and the verdict is about to be delivered by the foreman.  You have heard all the evidence and testimonies and now it’s time to give the verdict. As you wait for the judge to enter, your mind wanders back over the trial.  You and the rest of the jury had to come up with a decision that made sense beyond a reasonable doubt.  You think to yourself, “Did he kill her?”  You saw the pictures of the body and the blood.  His DNA was on the weapon.  Neighbors testified of screaming coming from the apartment.  Her blood was on his hands.  The evidence and testimonies weighed in the favor of guilt but you still have some doubts.  “How did it happen exactly?” you wonder.   “Did he shove her first, then hit her with the weapon, or did he hit her with the weapon first, then shove her?  Why did he do it?  Was it a jealous rage.  Was it from paranoia?”  

These are questions you’re not able to answer.  But you know that you have no doubts large enough to convince you that he didn’t do it.  And you don’t have the option of not giving a verdict.  It’s not like the event never happened.  You can’t just ignore it so that it will somehow go away.  You would not be a just and good person if you walked away.  So, you’re glad you made a decision.  You’re conscience is clear.  You’re brought back to the reality of the moment as the Judge enters and everyone stands.   

Having Life

1 John 4:20-5:12

Carl has titled this section, “Having Life,” and it turns out to be a very relevant topic for my family right now as we have watched the life of Lisa’s brother gradually ebb away over the last week and a half. The circumstances have made us all stop and think, What is life? What is death? What is eternal life? What does it mean to pass from death to life? These are deep and important questions – and some things we won’t completely understand on this side of eternity. It is good to stop and ponder sometimes: What does our life mean? It goes to the heart of who we are.

But first we need to talk about love once again. 

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.  ~I John 4:20-21

We Love Because...

I John 4:16-19

Welcome! Today is the last Sunday of the month, and in addition to a shorter message, we will spend time remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup, and we will also have a time of sharing with one another what the Lord has been teaching us and doing among us.

Last week John Farmer began by talking about the theme of light in I John, and he gave a personal illustration involving stumbling around in the darkness. I have an illustration as well – this past summer we visited the Stumphouse Tunnel along with Issaqueena Falls. If you’ve never been there, bring flashlights. The purpose of the tunnel was to provide a shorter railway path from South Carolina to Tennessee. Excavation on the tunnel began in the 1850s but it was not completed because of excessive cost. The tunnel was used to grow Clemson blue cheese from the 1950s through the 1970s; the moist, dark environment made it perfect for this. 

Relying on His Love

I John 4:1-16

Good morning and welcome everyone!  We continue today with the I John series: "In the Light."  I don't know about you, but there is something appealing about the thought of walking in the light.  And yet, if we are used to walking in darkness, we can continue to do it sometimes without even realizing it.

We were redoing our boys bedroom (for several months), and they were sleeping in the basement.  They were happy to move back upstairs, but honestly, sleeping downstairs was no big strain for them.  They were a lot closer to the playroom.  It was much easier for the Legos to happen to migrate to where their mattresses were.

In the morning, I would come down to ride on my exercise bike.  Since it was before the time change, there would be enough light that I could just barely find my way safely past the corner of David's mattress and around to the work room where I could close the door and turn on the light.

Lay Down Your Life

I John 3:11-24

How would you sum up the message of 1 John in one word? Love, light, truth, life – these are all themes that we have been looking at over the past weeks, and we will continue to encounter them over and over as we move through the second half of this book. John especially emphasizes love: God’s love for us (the foundation of the gospel), our love for God, and our love for each other. 

^"For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another."  --I John 3:11

Remain in Him

1 John 2:15-27

This morning I want to talk with you about remaining in Christ. This book is black and white. There is no middle ground. But the overall spirit of the letter is affirmation for John's Christian readers and condemnation for the pretenders. Even those things seem to be true I’m still convicted by things that John says like, “Don’t love the world or the things in the world.” There are a variety of tests that John gives for who’s a Christian and who isn’t, but as you dig deeper, you’ll find that God is inviting us into a relationship where He is more at home with us and we are more at home with Him.

Before I jump into our passage I would like to define some important words. Maybe if I explain what these words mean, then, you might have a better understanding of what John is trying to explain.