 Take a chapter 2. We're going to be looking at the chapter. It's only 13 verses. So what we'll do is we'll begin reading verses 1 through 5 and get into our study. Micah chapter 2, beginning at verse 1, What are those who devise iniquity and work out evil on their bed? At morning light, they practice it because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses and seize them, so they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. And therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks, nor shall you walk hodlily, for this is an evil time. In that day one shall take up a proverb against you and lament with bitter lamentation and say, we are utterly destroyed. He has changed the heritage of my people, how he has removed it from me, to a turncoat he has divided our fields. Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot in the congregation of the Lord. Now in this chapter here, Micah chapter 2, Micah begins to list various sins of the people. Now God has pronounced judgment on the nation because of their many sins, especially the sin of idolatry. They had been mingling idolatry with their worship of God, and as they have done that, they have placed themselves in a position to be judged. And God had been exercising divine patience on their behalf, and he had been calling them to repentance as well as calling them to return to him, but they refused to do so. And so as he said in chapter 1, they had come to the point where their wounds are incurable. They've sinned against God, and he's going to bring judgment against them. We saw that in chapter 1. So in chapter 2, Micah addresses the sins that they have sinned against mankind, the sins that they have sinned against one another. Chapter 1, he speaks concerning the sins that they have sinned against him. In chapter 2, they began, he begins to speak to them concerning the sins that they have sinned against other people. So as we look at this, the reality of our faith is that when we are not right with God, we will inevitably not be right with other people. This is so basic, and yet this is something that I think is lost on this generation. I really do. They think that they can have, many people think that they can have a relationship with God while they still are having problems with human beings. They think that they can have a pure faith in God, but not act that faith out in relation to other people. So when you look at the Bible, the Bible says that's not possible because your relationships with people are actually built on your relationship to your God. Your relationship with other people is actually built on your walk with the Lord, because all your relationships are based on one primary thing, and that is who you are and who you are in him. And that is so basic, and yet a lot of people don't understand that. When you look in the Bible, when you look into Exodus, for example, in chapter 20, when God begins to give to the nation of Israel what has been called the Ten Words, the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. When you look at the Ten Commandments found in the book of Exodus chapter 20 verses 2 through 17, you see that the Lord gives to us what has become the foundation of relationship with God as well as with man. And what is interesting is when you look in those Ten Commandments that God gave, the first commands he gives are related to our relationship with him. That's the foundation. He doesn't begin with our relationship with other people in his commands. The first commands that he gives relates to how we relate to him. So when you look at those Ten Commandments, let me remind you, he says things like, you are to have no other gods before him. You are not to make idols. You are not to bow down or serve them. You are not to take the name of the Lord in vain because God, he says, will not hold us guiltless if we do so. We are to have a relationship with him. He is the Lord our God in him alone, and everything from there moves towards relationships with men. But it first begins with our relationship with him. And so after saying I am the Lord God, and after teaching us to have relationships with him and all, and to keep the Sabbath day holy and all, he moves in to the second table. And when he goes into the second table of the law, that speaks concerning our relationship with other people. So we're to honor our father and our mother. We are not to murder. We're not to commit adultery. We're not to steal. We're not to bear false witness. It's interesting when he says, thou shalt not bear false witness. False witness is it's a prohibition against gossiping. It's a prohibition against slandering. It's a prohibition against lying about somebody else in order to injure them. It's a prohibition to be on Facebook. But no, what it is, it's a call by God for us not to be slanderous people. It relates to relationships. He says you're not to covet anything that belongs to someone else. You're not to lust after someone's property. You're not to lust after somebody's wife, somebody's servants, or the possessions that that person owns. So the first four commands relate to our obligations to God. The next six commands is how they work themselves out in our relationship to other people. So a person's relationship with God can clearly be seen by how they view and how they treat other people. On one occasion, Jesus was approached by a young man and this man had a very, very important question. This young man asked Jesus, what good thing must I do to get eternal life? So Jesus answered and his answer to this seemingly sincere question is very enlightening. He begins to respond by saying, if you want to enter life, he said, obey the commandments. And so at that point, the young man says, well, which ones? Which commandments am I supposed to obey that I might enter into eternal life? And at that point, Jesus gives a very basic list. It's found in Matthew 19, 18 and 19, where he says, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother. And then he sums it up really by saying, love your neighbor as yourself. Love your neighbor as yourself. On this command, love your neighbor as yourself, well on that hangs all the law and the prophets. To love God with everything, to love your neighbor as yourself is to sum up everything. Because love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is a fulfillment of the law, Paul would say in the book of Romans. And that's how that works. You love God. And as you love the Lord, it's worked out practically in your relationships of other people. You see, true faith in God is always revealed by our relationship with others. In 1 John chapter four, verse 20, John said in a very, I'd say, very non politically correct way. In 1 John 4 20, he said this, he said, if anyone says, I love God, yet hates his brother, he's a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. So there's so many people say, oh, I love the unseen God, but I hate my next door neighbor. John would say, that's not possible. That's not possible. Like that person who told me, you know, I love ministry. I just, it's just people I hate that it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way because people are ministry. And so the Bible teaches us love the Lord and love others. And when you love others, love does no harm to a neighbor. So love intends to benefit the neighbor. That's Christianity. And so as God has been laying this out in terms of judgment in the book of Micah, in chapter one, he began by saying, these are your obligations to God. And this is for you have violated your relationship with God. And because you have been mixing idolatry with true worship, you have created a hybrid that I do not recognize. And the result has been the mistreatment of other people. And so when you get into chapter two, that's what you see as he brings a word, a prophetic word against the people who are not loving their neighbors as themselves. And that's what we see in this particular chapter. When you're right with God, you will be right with other people. And so I was speaking to somebody. I just thought about that. This is indeed my notes. Let me write it down. No. And recently, I was speaking to somebody. They were having a bit of a problem in their marriage. And so they know us well enough to make this observation. And he said this to me. He said, Why don't you and Marie have the kind of problems that I'm having? And that's a good question. And so Marie began to answer, but I said, Shut up woman. No, she I will hear you not co make me food. No. He said, he said to me, Why don't you have the kind of problems I'm having? It's not as if we haven't. You know, it's not as if we haven't. Of course, we've had problems. You know, we've had, we've had our problems. She repented and it's okay now. She's doing better. Of course, we've had our problems. Everybody does. Who doesn't? Everybody does. But the answer I gave was a simple one. I said, We try to obey the Lord. That's the bottom line. We've put into practice what we're learning. That's the bottom line. For us, Bible study isn't just accumulating information or making notes in my Bible or on a piece of paper. For us, Bible study is a study by the Bible study in me. And then me responding to what it says to me about me. And then me saying, God, would you please make notes on the tablets of my heart so that my heart changes so my behavior does? It's that simple. It's not the heart. It's not that complicated. And yet it's where a lot of people seem to miss the point. We accumulate information, but it doesn't produce transformation because it hasn't come through assimilation, meaning information that I have remains just information until it's assimilated, until it comes into me. When it comes into me and becomes part of me, it produces a transformation, a new way of living. And I've been saying this a lot lately. I'll say it again because it's very important, especially in this time that we're living. There are many Christians who are substituting information for transformation. There are many Christians who can talk the talk, but who do not really walk the walk. And so what they say doesn't match what they do. And that's why John would say, if a man says, I love God, yet hates his brother, he cannot be telling the truth because how can a man love that whom he has not seen, God, the invisible God, and yet not be able to love the one whom he has seen? So my love for this invisible God is manifested by my love for other people. And that's why love is the birthmark of the believer. And love comes because, well, like John again says, we first love him because he first loved us. When God demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners and Christ died for us, that showed us how deeply God loves and how far God would go to rescue people who don't deserve being rescued, who have had a hostile opposition to him, a constant aggressive disobedience, a rejection of his rule. And yet he has shown us mercy and compassion and sent his son to take upon himself the penalty that I deserve that he might rescue me from the quagmire of sin. And so as we look at Micah, what we have is we have God saying, this is what you have sinned against me. And this is how it's working out against men. And so in verses one and two, he began by saying, woe to those who devise iniquity and work out evil on their beds. At morning light, they practice it because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses and seize them. So they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. So when they're in bed, they're thinking of ways to fulfill evil desires. He says their hearts are so full of evil that their constant habit is meditating on how they can accomplish this evil. That's where their mind, their imagination is filled with evil all the time. Even when they're in bed, they're not resting. They're still awake saying, how can I get more money? And they're scheming and devising and planning to use brutality in order to get what they want. When he speaks concerning them, notice verse one, those who devise, the word devise, it speaks of inventing, thinking about imagining. So instead of sleeping, they're imagining things. He says they're going to work this out. They're going to plan out how they can do physical as well as moral wrong. He speaks concerning them at morning light. He says they practice it. The word practice simply means to act it out, to act out with effect. In other words, they're going to execute their plans that they've been meditating and devising all night. And they can do this because it says it is in the power of their hand to do it. They have the authority. They have the strength. They take the opportunity and they have that position and they're able to do the things that they've been devising. They are inventors of evil. And he says, and they lay in bed saying, how can I get that property from that poor person? How can I get that thing that I want so much? How can I do that? And they scheme and devise and they work on it and they don't rest until they're able to take it. They strategize a plan and execute it. They do this because they're able to do it. They have the power and they have the position to make it happen. The fact is, very often the ungodly are also very successful. They have the finances. They can push their plans. They can see their plans succeed. We know that money means power and they can push their plans to fulfill their evil desires. The scripture says that money is the answer for everything because it supplies these people with luxury, with food, with entertainment, and they are so addicted to it. That's what they think about 24-7. See, this is in my notes and I'm trying to be more disciplined. I have discovered, and so have you, that God is a great God and God is given to man and woman, humankind, the ability to do so many things, to invent so many things. One of the things that I've grown accustomed to and I enjoy it called food, and I've had the opportunity because of travels over the years, traveled to many countries. I've had the opportunity to taste foods in various countries and I have to tell you, some of the food that we've eaten has been just remarkable. It is, you know, it is. I just go, my goodness, this is delicious. But I've never been completely satisfied with a meal. I just never have. Not because meals aren't satisfying. It's because meals are temporary. So you might eat something and say, boy, that is really good. And it is. There's nothing wrong with enjoying it. But I discovered, as you have long time ago, that food from my stomach doesn't produce satisfaction in my soul. It simply gives me a moment of enjoyment, which is fine. Things can be enjoyed and why not? But the problem is, is sometimes we have made the acquisition of possessions the standard of when we are satisfied, when we are content. And when that happens, you will never be satisfied because the eyes of man are never satisfied. Because when you have this, it's only a step so that you can finally get this. And when you finally get this, then it's another step until you get that. And it's that proverbial carrot on a stick. You're always just one step away from getting that thing that you know is the thing that will really make you happy. And when you do that, you can do that with any goal in life. And you know this, you can say, I need to get my bachelor's because if I get my bachelor's degree, then I get more opportunities on the job. You get your bachelor's and then they say, well, you go a little further if you had your master's. So you get your master's. When you get your master's degree three years, four years, five years, however long it takes you, you get your master's. And now you've got more education than you can use really. But they say, well, you know, if you want to take another step up that ladder, you need a doctorate. And you just continue to chase after and chase after. And it can be anything you want to talk about. You can say it's the same thing. Relationships, you chased, you got, you have, and then you look around. Because that relationship didn't satisfy you. Never will. Because the relationship in and of itself, if it's not based on something deeper than the flesh, will never satisfy. It has to go deeper than that. There has to be something more. It has to be a deep calling into deep something. There's a commitment and a fulfillment in that relationship that is permanent because it's based on something deeper than you. And that's why Christian marriage is so important because it is based on a mutual love for a God who puts you together and keeps you together. So you can see that you, you know, you're a high schooler will say, and, and there's a car that you'd always want. You like that car so much, you're going to save until you get that car and you finally get that car. Whatever it may be. It doesn't really matter. It could be a little, little piece of junk that you think is wonderful. My first, my first car was that I actually drove was a 57 and a bull vole. It was a four cylinder that ran on two. And it was, and it was kind of like, it was like I blew smoke signals wherever I went in that car. I've told you this before. It didn't even have a passenger seat. It didn't have a, it had a driver's seat, but no passenger seat. We had to go out and buy a passenger seat. But until we bought that, we put my sister's little, she had a little table where she and her dolls would have tea and we took that little table and we put the chair and put it as a passenger seat. And so it wasn't bolted down. I just had it there. My friends would hold on to the car and off we'd go. That's how it worked. I took my mother for rides. It was a stick ship and I would shift from first to second and I popped the clutch just to watch mom fall in the back seat. That's the car. But you can do that. And you know what, I was happy. I was happy with that car. I had seven cars before I was 18. One car after another after another. And I discovered a long time ago, material things do not satisfy. Physical things never will. Human relationships never do. They're, they're, they're intended to complete us in Christ, but they never completely satisfy. If you're not satisfied in God, you'll never be satisfied with the person. And so these are the things that the Lord teaches are very basic things and these are the things that he's speaking about. You guys lie in your bed at night devising ways. You can't even sleep. You're, you're planning. How are you going to get this thing? You're going to find a way to get whatever it is you want. You can't even sleep until you've come up with a plan. You've strategized it. Now, because you have power and authority, because you have position, you're able to take advantage of those who are weak and you take from them the things that they have because you think that you'll be satisfied when you have what they possess. That's what they were doing. They didn't love the Lord first and therefore they're going to misuse people. And that's what he's doing here in chapter two. You covered fields verse two, take them by violence, houses, seize them. They oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. The land was a birthright of a Jew, but the rich were forcing them off of their land. They saw the land, coveted the land and simply took the land. Even as I mentioned to you in Exodus 20 in verse 17, God had said, you shall not covet your neighbor's house nor anything that is your neighbors. And yet that's what they were doing, violating the law of God. Therefore, verse three, thus says the Lord, behold, against this family I am devising disaster from which you cannot remove your next, nor shall you walk hodlily, for this is an evil time. In that day one shall take up a proverb against you and lament with bitter lamentation and say, you are utterly destroyed. He has changed the heritage of my people. Now how he has removed it from me? To a turncoat, he has divided our fields. Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by light in the congregation of the Lord. And so he says, thus says the Lord, behold, against this family I am devising disaster. You've devised against your neighbors, but I'm devising judgment against you. And the disaster is that it's so severe you won't be able to remove your next from it. This disaster speaks of a captivity that they're about to go through as the Assyrians come and take them captive. He says in verse three, neither shall you walk hodlily, for this is an evil time. You will not go in an arrogant and proud manner. As you are taken captive, you will be completely humiliated. In verse four, he said, in that day one shall take up a proverb against you and lament with bitter lamentation. Your punishment will become part of what is spoken of by people in general. There's going to be a funeral song written for you. They're going to sing it as if you had died. When it says in verse four, he has changed the heritage of my people. In other words, he has taken our land even as it was stolen from its rightful owners. And now an apostate owns it. Now when it speaks concerning this, by the way, when it says turncoat, that word turncoat literally is apostate. Somebody who's turned away from faith, all you need to do is remember that Micah was written about 30 years after the book of Jonah. And Jonah had gone into Assyria and Jonah had spoken to the king of Assyria, had spoken in Nineveh and the king had repented along with everybody else in that mighty city. So at one point it seemed as if the Lord was moving there, but that change was only temporary. So in verse five, therefore, you will have no one to determine the boundaries. Though God will restore Israel, there will be those who are going through judgment who will not be part of that restoration. Now, verse six and seven. This is interesting. This is so practical. Let me let me try and develop this with you. Verse six. Do not prattle, you say, to those who prophesy. So they shall not prophesy to you. They shall not return insult for insult. You who are named the house of Jacob is the spirit of the Lord restricted. Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him who walks upright? I want to take a moment to look at that with you. Do not prattle. The word prattle. Did you use that word today? It's not a word that we use, is it? I mean, it's a biblical word. It's used in the Bible several times. The word prattle literally speaks of dripping, a dripping, a dripping of words in this context. And so what they're saying here, and I want to develop this, is they're saying to the prophet. They're saying, do not prattle. They're saying, stop your constant dripping of your prophecies. They're saying, shut up. Stop telling us this. We don't want to hear this. The people had gotten tired of hearing prophetic messages, and they're simply saying, would you please stop this? I don't want to hear it anymore. Just a few years earlier, they had said a similar thing to Amos. In Amos 7, 12 and 13, Amaziah said to Amos, go you seer, flee to the land of Judah, there eat bread and there prophesy, but never again prophesy at Bethel. Shut up. We don't want to hear it. You're not qualified to bring this message to us. You're not qualified to enter into the king's chapel, nor the king's palace. You don't have what it takes. If you want to speak your word, go someplace that people will listen. This attitude of don't tell me what I don't want to hear, isn't a new attitude. I'll show you something in our day, but in a moment. But this attitude, don't tell me I don't want to hear it, is found in the history of Israel. It's approached more than once. In Jeremiah, in chapter 6 verses 16 and 17, thus says the Lord, stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk in it. Also, I said Watchman over you saying, listen to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, we will not listen. Stand and seek the old paths. And they said, no, we like the current. We like what's going on right now. We don't want to hear messages about repentance. We don't want to hear messages about God bringing judgment. We don't want to hear messages about our unfaithfulness. Say something that appeals to my carnal spirit. Say something to me that makes me feel good about myself. Guarantee to me that God is blessing my life, even though I habitually walk in sin and reject his counsel. I don't want to hear this nonsense. Listen, and this can sound harsh, forgive me, but it's true. You can look in some of the larger known quote unquote churches in this nation. And if you don't exercise discernment, may think that they are mighty works of God. When in reality, what is being proclaimed from their pulpits is nonsense. It's not even biblical. It's just not. Now somebody says, what gives you the right to make that judgment? 43 years of teaching experience. This month I celebrate my 43rd anniversary of learning to open the word and teach the word. I think I have some credibility in this and I can tell you, I can tell you that. I can tell you that I will listen to what is popular and broadcast today with thousands of people going and I will scratch my head and my wife sitting right here. She will tell you this is true and I will turn to her and I will say that's absolute nonsense. That scripture didn't say that, but listen to them cheer. Listen to how excited they are and it's nonsense. God didn't say that. That is so out of context. And sometimes people say, oh, you're just a grumpy old man. They said those things to Amos. They said those things to Micah. They said those things to Jeremiah. They said those things to Ezekiel, the nation of Israel said those things habitually. And yet God would send prophets rising up early, proclaiming the same message to them, repent so I can bless you. If you don't repent, I'll judge you. And they ignored it. They did it in the old. And what's interesting is it continued on into the new. In the New Testament, there's a story. I could give you many. I'll give you just one of a crippled man. You see him in the book of Acts in chapter three. And this man was at the gate there in the temple area called the gate that was called the beautiful gate. And he was there daily and he would beg alms from those who were coming in because he had a real great spot because religious people are also very generous people. And so he would be there begging alms from people as they entered in. And this one day Peter and John were walking in through this beautiful gate when the man said to him, said to them, would you give me an alm? And you all know the story. I'll paraphrase it where Peter looking down at him says, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, I say into your right to your feet and walk. And he reaches down and he takes the man by the hand and he begins to lift him up. And as the man is being lifted, this is a man who hasn't walked and there is strength in his ankle. And then he's got balance in his knees and his thighs in his back. And he walks and he leaps and he praises God and he's holding on to them. What an amazing miracle. And the people come and they surround him. And then as this happens, this man, everybody knew him. He'd been there for so long. Peter looks and sees this crowd is assembled and he says, men of Israel, why do you look at us as if it's through our own name, our own power that we've made this man to be able to walk. It's in the name of Jesus and he preaches the gospel to them. And people are astounded by this incredible message and they see the work and they can't deny it. But as a result of that, the Jewish authorities come and take Peter and John and they begin to question them. They begin to tell them things about this and they're having a real problem with it. And ultimately what they do is it says in Acts 4, 18 that they called Peter and John and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. They did it in the Old Testament. Don't speak to us. We don't want to hear it. May I be real with you? Yes, pastor, please do. Okay. Someone understand. Someone understand. Some will. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. When the word of God is taught, those are the words of eternal life. Do you believe that? I hope you do. I hope you do. That's what safeguards you. Oh, that's his opinion. That's what he thinks. He doesn't really know. There are others who say differently. That's usually said by those who love sin. They enjoy their sin. They don't want the conviction. So that guy's harsh, he's judgmental, he's unloving. It's easy to kind of just say that. Just put them in that box so I don't have to deal with the sin that I enjoy that. I keep in like a pet, my pet sin. When I first started teaching Bible studies, first Bible study I ever taught. I've shared this before, but the first Bible study I ever taught, 23 years old, started the Gospel of Matthew. We were in my parents den. My mom walks in with a tray. She had cookies and a pot of coffee and she was bringing in because my mom was a great hostess. She was going to serve the people. She comes and she brings this tray and I say, mama, I say, and I'm 23 years old. You have to keep that in context. Mama's 43. Daddy's 47. I'm 23. I've been a Christian for less than three years, but I'm serious about some things already. And I say to mama, mama, we'll have the fellowship and the food and the snacks after, but we will not be eating cookies and drinking coffee while we study God's word. We're not going to do that. I want our attention on the word of God. From the very first Bible study, I have tried to encourage, if you can, if you can confront your mama, you can confront anybody. That's a fact. And my mama said, you're right. You're right. This is God's word. This sounds like a complaint. It's an observation. There aren't very many people who think that way today. I cannot tell you the number of people who have left our church because we won't let them drink coffee in the church services. I can't tell you how many people. Oh, no, it's too restrictive, man. I have to have my donut, my coffee. See, so what we have gotten to today is sometimes we can be spoiled. It's not the word we're hungry for. It's our own things that satisfy us. I am telling you that's the truth. Why has my life been blessed? Because I really want to do what God says. Oh, that's because you're a pastor. I don't pastors who don't. That's a fact. But I do because it is in the receiving, acting on God's word that my life has been transformed and I've been changed. And it's in that that my wife can see me as her husband and say, I respect that man because he's sincere. It's that fact that allows me to teach in front of my own wife things that she could be saying, you don't do that at home, which she's never been able to do because that's how I live at home. That's a fact. We have to take God's word seriously, but we are living in a time when people will see the value of God's word. What are you going to teach this Sunday? I'll come and listen. Oh, I don't feel like hearing that. I'll go over here to hear this. I want to know who to vote for or I want to know about this proposition or I want to know this prophetic this or I want to know and we just go out and we chase things that don't transform our lives. They don't transform our lives. What will transform your life? What will make you a better person? The word of God. The word of God. That's what caused me to step away from drugs. That's what caused me to step away from alcohol. That's what caused me to step away from sexual sins. That's what caused me to begin to honor my mother and my father. That's what caused me to be a faithful husband to this woman. That's what caused me to be a good father to my children. That's what made me the man I am. It isn't because one day I just said, I'm going to be a good man. It's because the word of God transforms lives and we need to understand that and we don't and we don't and that's the problem. This attitude. Don't tell me. Don't prattle on which we're looking at by the way in verse six. This attitude continues to this day. To this day even this nation is saying, don't prophesy. Our nation, this beloved nation that I love, I served in the military in this nation. I love this nation. But they're saying pastors, you cannot preach against sin. They're saying there are laws. There are hate speech laws that are being enacted so that you can't say they're trying to stifle truth. All you need to do, this is interesting. I looked this up today, Facebook, Google, Apple, and MySpace. I'll promise a world filled with much more free speech and democracy. But the national religious broadcasters conducted a study of the social networking websites that showed even and it showed that even the largest of the largest of the sites, only Twitter, only Twitter has not censored Christians. Only Twitter, Facebook, Google, Apple, MySpace, all censored Christians. I'll do. They all do. If you put something in Facebook, you know this and it's something they don't like. It can be removed and they censor Christian thought. YouTube has censored Christian videos as well as Christian messages and hate speech legislation can have the effect of silencing the gospel. There is a very real threat that if pastors like myself and so many of my friends, if we continue to teach the word of God and actually divide it correctly that they will take away our tax-exempt status and as a penalty because they say we will be violating the hate speech laws, anti-hate speech laws. There is a chance. There is a chance and you need to understand this too that this nation can move in the direction where they will take people who preach the gospel and they will incarcerate them. They will definitely find them and they will incarcerate them. There are nations right now that do that. Already, there are nations that do that. Canada, European nations, that censor Christian thought and Christian speech and tell pastors what they can and cannot say. I've been in China. I delivered Bibles there. We smuggled Bibles into China years ago and there is what they call the three-self church which is the government church and then they have the underground church. We brought the Bibles to the underground church because the three-self church, the government church is told by the government what to preach. That mentality is filtering in right now. Some of you may be aware of that. Some of you are not. Some of you say, oh, don't make a big deal about it. You can go to jail for preaching pastor and that's what could happen. But if I go to jail for preaching, I'm going to give your name too. You can be my celly. One of the voices attempting to silence teaching, one of the voices that are saying do not prattle on, is the voice of Christians. Is the voice of Christians. Read your Facebook. If I write something, I get letters all the time. I just had answer one yesterday. I can't understand somebody writes to me. I can't understand how you. I was listening to you on K wave and you said this. I can't understand how you and I had made a statement they didn't like. It comes from Christians. Listen, I expect the world to have a knee jerk response to the Bible. I expect it. What grieves me is when fellow believers do. When fellow believers do. Oh, that's not loving brother. You need to, you need. Should I smile when I say sin? I mean, what is loving? You know, like that prophet once said, what's love got to do with it? You know, I mean, come on. Tina Turner, just for those are. Listen, in the time of Amos, God had stated what would happen because of this attitude. Amos 8 11 said, Behold the days are coming says the Lord God that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of God. If you're not going to listen, he says, I will not speak. That ultimately led to what we call the 600 years, the 400 years of silence. Now, as he's speaking here, don't prattle. He says they shall not return insult for insult. Verse seven, you who are named the house of Jacob is the spirit of the Lord restricted. Are these are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him who walks up brightly? Is God's spirit on a leash? Is God restricted from moving? Is his power limited? Do not the judgments that you are now and will experience in the future? Are they not demonstrating my power? Do I not want to do good to you? Do I not bless the one who walks up brightly? But at the same time, you're resisting me and thus I'm going to have to bring judgment. Verse eight, lately my people have risen up as an enemy. You pull off the robe with the garment from those who trust you as they pass by like men returned from war. The women of my people, you cast out from their pleasant houses, from their children, you've taken away my glory forever. So the people who should be my friends are actually becoming my enemies. The people that should be doing what is right are the ones who are resisting. And so he's saying you need to listen to what I'm saying to me. Though I have stated you belong to me, you're treating me as if I'm your enemy. You're being unjust to the poor. You take from them even their garments that they're wearing. It's like when men who return from war and they're tired and all, they finally live securely and they're at peace. But they're being surprised by the way that you're doing the things that you're doing. When he says in verse nine, the women of my people, you cast out, you're the cause of women being uprooted with their children and taking captive. Now they should have been taught to give glory to God, but now they're going to be unable to do that because they're going into captivity. They're going to be deprived, he says, of my presence and I'm not going to receive their praise because they haven't been raised properly and they're not going to be able to worship in the temple. Verse 10, a rising depart for this is not your rest because it is defiled. He shall destroy you even with utter destruction. If a man should walk in a false spirit and speak a lie saying, I will prophesy to you of wine and drink. Even he would be prattler of this people. Prepare for your captivity because you will not have a place to rest here. As you have done to others, so shall it be done to you. As long as you are rebellious towards me, rest will not be what you experience. This land will not be a place that you rest in. You will be cast out. Now when he says, if a man verse 11, if a man should walk in false spirit and speak a lie, the kinds of prophets you want are the ones who encourage you to sin and will approve of it. You want someone to tell you that everything's fine and to not disturb you in your sinful slumber. Like it says in Jeremiah 14, 14, the Lord said to me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name. I have not sent them commanded them nor spoken to them. They prophesy to you of false vision, divination, a worthless thing, the deceit of their heart. Be very careful, my family, my church family. Be very careful that you have discernment. Be very careful. I don't know what it is, and I'll say this quickly. I don't know what it is in my heart, but for the last year, I have had such a burden for the church, for our fellowship, of course, but for the church. I believe that God wants to do a revival. I believe that. But there are many voices right now telling you peace, peace when there is no peace. There is no peace. Maybe it's the pressure we live under. Maybe it's the threat of terrorism. Maybe people are just tired. I don't know. But I hear that word, do not prattle. Don't be dripping constantly. Give us something that is smooth and help us to make it through this day. And what I'm trying to do with you is give you the whole counsel of God so that you'll know what truth is and that you will love God and love His Word and raise your babies to do the same. To take Him seriously, to take your walk with God seriously, to see how valuable faith is and to understand how wonderful He is. To be able to say, you know, without Him I could do nothing, but with Him I can do all things. And to know that you will walk through that valley, you will be in the shadow of death. But you can actually say, I fear no evil, for He is with me. That's what my desire as a pastor for you is, not to tickle your ears and to make you feel good about yourself and not to make you feel bad about yourself, because I don't want to do that either. Just to think balanced about ourselves and to learn who He is and how great He is and how merciful He's been to a sinner like me. And His love for me that has poured into my heart has transformed the way I am with other people. So that I can learn to say, I love you, and it doesn't matter if you love me, because I don't love you, to be loved by you, I love you because He loved me first and He changed my life. And that's why I want you to do too, is to love other people for the sake of Jesus Christ. That's the bottom line. And this nation of Israel had walked away from God, and the result of walking away from God and mixing the truth with error had created an inappropriate relationship with other people. So they were taking land and coveting things, and they were going to be the ones who were responsible for the judgment that was coming on this nation. And God was saying, no, I don't want to bring judgment, but this is what's going to take place. And finally, in verse 12, I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep of the fold, like a flock in the midst of their pasture. They shall make a loud noise because of so many men. The one who breaks open will come up before them. They will break out, pass through the gate, go out, buy it. Their king will pass before them with the Lord at their head. Now, this promise was not fulfilled after the Assyrians had come. It wasn't fulfilled after the Babylonian captivity. He's speaking of them coming to a deep relationship with them, and that has yet to be completely fulfilled. He refers to them, notice, as the remnant. And so this remnant, this is going to take place at the end of days. And they will, the nation, and he's looking into the future, they will as a nation worship God. They will ultimately be gathered. They will be united, and they will rejoice at their salvation. And ultimately the nation of Israel, those who are believers in Christ. And this is again a prophetic picture of what will take place in the distant future. They will enter into what is called the millennial kingdom. And Jesus is the one who will lead them and they will worship him. It says their king will pass before them with the Lord at their head. They will bring, they will break out. They will pass by the gate. They will be rejoicing. The noise will be loud because, yes, I'm bringing judgment on you, but my judgment is going to be replaced through after the correction, through relationship. You will repent and the nation will go through the fire and the nation ultimately will worship me. So even though God is bringing judgment here, their future is still bright because they will, there will be those in the future yet that will come to faith in the Messiah and will enter into the gate singing and praising him. Now we the church have the opportunity to do that right now. I do pray that we the church will not fall into this this attitude do not prattle because God said, if you're saying don't speak, then I can't speak to you. We need to stay true to God and stay true to his word.