 Well, anyway, here we are in chapter 3 of the book of Micah. We're going to be looking at these verses. I'll be honest with you, man, as we're looking at this, I was thinking, well, there's only 12 verses. I can go through that and maybe even do, you know, chapter 4 or 2. That's not going to happen. So, you'll see why in just a moment. Beginning at verse 1, Micah, chapter 3. Looking at verse 1 and reading to verse 3, Micah writes, and I said, here now, O heads of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel, is it not for you to know justice? You who hate good and love evil, who strip the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones, who also eat the flesh of my people, flay their skin from them, break their bones, chop them in pieces like meat for the pot, like flesh in the cauldron. And so, once again, we have a very cheery introduction to a chapter. As we look at this passage, this would be the third message Micah brings. And notice with me here that he is speaking against the leaders of Israel, and he's speaking concerning their sins. So he's speaking against the leadership of Israel, and the leadership of Israel actually consists of the princes and the prophets and the priests. And there's a religious theocracy is what it's called. The nation of Israel was a theocratic nation. And so we need to remember that a theocracy, for those of you who perhaps aren't familiar with the term, a theocracy is a system of government where God is recognized as the ruler. And he has priests who govern underneath them. It's a system that derives all of its authority from the God that it serves. And so Israel in its Old Testament form is a theocracy, a nation under God. And so the king and the priests and the prophets were all rulers. They were all intended by God to wield authority in that nation. And so the kings of Israel, the kings of Judah, were to serve under God as his agent as he ruled the nation. And they were expected to observe his covenant and his laws. You see, princes, prophets, and priests were all subject to the word of God. There was no such thing in a theocracy. There was no such thing as a doctrine of separation of church and state. There was just a theocratic rulership, God ruling through the prophets and the priests and the king. So when you look at the way that the kings would rule, for example, the king was to have a copy of the law and he was to keep the law himself and actually govern according to the law of Moses. Deuteronomy 17 verse 18 says, when he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law taken from that of the Levitical priests. In 1 Kings chapter 2 verse 3 it says, keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn. And he was saying that to the king. So the king was to keep the law. He was to have a scroll and he was to rule by that, a theocracy. The prophets who were genuine were subject to God's word and they were to declare it to the people. So when you look in the role of the prophets, the prophets of the Old Testament were called by God to speak for him and often would lead on his behalf, especially during a chaotic and often violent period in Israel's history. So the prophet was to speak God's word to man, even as we have seen here in Micah and we recently saw in Amos. The priests were also subject to the word of God and they were to serve under its declarations. They had various duties in the tabernacle, temple, as well as in their duties to worship the Lord. But they had the responsibility of teaching the people the word of God. In the Old Testament book Leviticus chapter 10 verse 11 it says that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses. He was speaking to the priests. In Deuteronomy 3310 he said they shall teach Jacob your judgments and Israel your law. And so the law, the law of Moses was to rule, was to govern. And God through the king, through the prophet and the priest was communicating his ways to them by the word and they were subject to the word of God. Now all of this would show that they were thoroughly acquainted with God's word and they were to lead by it. But when you are, here's something for you, when you are thoroughly acquainted with the word of God, you are also under stricter accountability. The more that you know, the more you're responsible for. That's just a fact. The Bible tells us, for example, speaking in a New Testament sense to teachers, James says it like this in chapter 3 verse 1. He says, Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness. So the more that you know, the more you're responsible for. So the king who was to have a scroll of the law, the prophet who was to know the law and declare the mind of God to man, the priest who was to do his duties, his priestly duties under the law in regards to the law and holding fast to the law, etc. All of them had tremendous responsibility and thus God would speak to them when he was bringing judgment. You see, in this passage, Micah brings a word to the leaders of Israel and Judah and he says here that he is calling them to hear. That's how he begins, which is an interesting phrase. He said, Here now, O heads of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice? Here now is what he's saying to them, listen up, listen to what I have to say. So he's bringing a word to the leaders of Israel and Judah. He's calling them to hear. It's a call for them not only to hear with the ears, but to obey the word of correction as well as to heed the warning. Now this term here is something that you find very often, especially in the New Testament. For example, remember how Jesus in Mark 716 says it like this. He says, If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear. Or you see in James 1.22 where it says, Be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. So when God calls them to hear, it's not simply so that they can say that they have heard something said. It goes much deeper than that. It's to hear and to obey. It's a putting to practice what I'm saying. So it's not enough for me to be able to repeat what's been said. It is that I, in my change of behavior, demonstrate that I believe what's been said. So you will always demonstrate your genuine faith by the life that you live. So there, you know, because a lot of people say, Oh yeah, I'm a believer in Christ. Talk is cheap. There's this old saying that we used to use practice what you preach. It's what you are. Speak so loudly. I can't hear a word you're saying. And so you preach the gospel at all times and whenever it's necessary, you use words. Because my children, for example, in my home will worship the God that I serve, not that the God that I say. Because they watch the way I live and that helps them to determine what is truth. And so if I say you shouldn't lie, but then the phone rings and they say, It's Grandma. And I say, Tell her I'm not here. Right. They see it. If they see me at the store and they give me more change than I'm supposed to get. I gave them a 10, but they give me a change for a 20. And I put it in the pocket and walk out with the extra money and my kids see that. And I say, Isn't God good? He just blessed the family. They think dad's a liar and dad's a thief. And rightly so, because that's what I am. So I can say all day long, love the Lord, love one another. But if I'm unkind to them. The only way they'll define love is how I treated them and treated their mom. And for them in their mind, that is love. That's how it's done, right? Daddy said he loved and this is what he did. Mama said she loved and this is what mama did. And that's how you learn. And so in Christianity, it's always transformation. That God says, I will put my spirit within you. I will give to you a new heart. I will move from you that that heart of stone. I'll replace it with a heart of flesh. I will write on the tablets of your heart, my law. So from the inside, you'll be transformed, you'll change. And so that's what it's all about. And that's why when Micah's bringing a word of judgment, he begins with the leaders. A theocratic nation, a nation of priests, a nation of kings, a nation of prophets. That was under the law of Moses. And he's saying to them, you need to hear. You need to hear what I'm saying because you're not listening and you're not obeying. Listen how he says this in verse one. He says, is it not for you to know justice? Again, it's not like you go to law school, you learn the laws and all. This is, this is a justice that you're thoroughly acquainted with. It's a justice that flows from you. To know justice is more than simply to be able to cite a certain section or a certain coat. To know justice is to have a personal acquaintance, to know it from the inside. So you're to be judging according to the law. But the problem is, you are violators of the law, is what he is saying. You're not administering judgment impartially. Because you do not live by it yourself. You are above the law. The law is for other people. Now, I don't have any current illustrations to use as it relates to that. I want you to think about that for a minute. So you have found people guilty. But in fact, you are guilty also. You are making a judgment. Like Paul says in the book of Romans when he says to the Jews, do you say to someone, don't steal, but you steal yourself? You're saying one thing and doing another. And so what he's doing is he's saying this is pointing out your sin. This is why you are guilty. Look at what he says in verse two when he says, you who hate good and love evil, who strip the skin from my people, the flesh from their bones, isn't that gross? That sounds, that is such a powerful picture of causing pain to others. You see, he says the leaders of the day, they loved evil. And because they love evil, they don't judge righteously. You see, you're supposed to love righteousness to judge righteously. In Deuteronomy 16, verses 18 and 19, it says, you shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you according to your tribes. And they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe. For a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Again, it is difficult to judge righteously when your standard is unrighteous. He speaks of stripping, stripping the skin from my people, flesh from their bones and all. That would speak of robbing the people of everything that they have. It speaks of basically devouring them. He says in verse three, who also eat the flesh of my people. It's all a portrait of devouring people, of robbing them of everything that they have. Psalm 14, verse four says it like this, do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though they're eating bread. They never call on the Lord. If he was to be saying something in a way that maybe we would say it, he'd say a good leader is to share the sheep, not skin them. And that's what you're doing, you're ripping them off. Jesus, and for this I will bring judgment. See, the judge was to judge impartially. They were to render true justice, but instead they were using their positions to devour the poor. It reminds me of what we saw in Amos in chapter eight, verse four, where there it said, hear this, you who swallow up the needy and make the poor of the land fail. So they were devouring the people. They were taking advantage of them. They were becoming rich off of the poor. And he says, this is why I'm bringing judgment. Now in verse four, then they will cry to the Lord, but notice what he says, but he will not hear them. He will even hide his face from them all that time because they have been evil in their deeds. Well, in the Old Testament, you also say, God also says they will cry out to me and I will hear them and I will deliver them. But in this case, I want you to notice, he says they will cry to the Lord, but he will not hear them. These people are going to be judged. See, the land is going to be invaded and God is not going to intervene on their behalf. It's interesting how he says he will not hear them. He will even hide his face from them. Isaiah 45, 15 says, truly you are a God who hide yourself, oh God of Israel, the Savior. He will not be found by them. In Isaiah 1, 15, when you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Why? Your hands are full of blood. Ezekiel 8, 18, I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them. I'm not going to act on their behalf. I'm not going to respond. Psalm 66, 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. And so he's saying, because you are unrepentant and you're crying out in your time of pressure and pain, does not mean that I will deliver you because I will not. Someone said, just as those oppressed by them had cried for mercy and they would not hear, so shall their prayer be rejected. It's rejected because it is the cry for deliverance from pain, not that of repentance for deliverance from sin. There are people, I've had more than one conversation over the years with people who got caught doing something and before you know it they become very spiritual. Can you pray for me? For what? Well, and then they tell me, and of course I'm always ready to pray for somebody. Of course, and I want God to move in your behalf. But is it because you want to be relieved from some pain so that you can go back to it again? Or is it because you're repenting and you want to turn away from it forever? That matters. That matters a lot. Because sometimes people, simply because they got caught or they're gonna go before a judge or because they have some problem that they're having to deal with. They want to be delivered right now. It's just another way of saying, take me out of my pressure so I can go back immediately to what it is I used to do. It reminds me of that thief on the cross. There were two thieves on the cross next to Jesus. You know the story? You have the one who is saying to him, Lord, remember me when you enter into your kingdom. But you have the other, and they're both actually saying this at one point. He was saying, if you're really the Lord, take us down off this cross, save yourself and save us with you. And when I go through that passage, I often will say this, that that was a cry to be delivered from pain. They wanted off that cross because they're about to die and enter into eternity. And who wants to die in a cross? And so if you're the Son of God, take us off this cross. Well, yeah, if you have the power, take us off. But for what? So that I can continue doing what I did before. I'm an unrepentant sinner. And I want to go right back to what it is that I used to do. I've spoken to many people over the years. Many people, I've prayed with many people. That's how you learn these things in a practical way. Who will say, I really need to be delivered from such and so. And we pray with great sincerity. And there have been times when we've seen what appears to be the mercy of God on their behalf. And three months, four months, five months later, they're back in the same sin they were in before. Because they never repented. They just got caught or they were afraid. And sometimes people can become real models of Christianity until that court date. Then they hear the, OK, you're getting probation. Then they go back. Because they didn't repent. They regret it. They were concerned. They were afraid. There are some very strong Christians in jail. But when they get out, that's a test of whether they're really free in Christ or not. Because when you don't have anybody locking you up and you're out there doing what you want, that's when you really demonstrate who you serve. We call them J House Christians. And I'm not knocking them, to be honest with you. I'm glad that they go to ministry there in jail. I'm glad that we have a prison ministry here. They go to various prisons. And I thank God for it. But they can tell you firsthand that a lot of the fellows who are going to chapel just want to have a good appearance before those who are in charge so that they can have a little less pain, will say, in prison. That's just the fact. And so it's not just regret that they're supposed to have. It was repentance. And God is saying, you can cry all that you want. But he's not going to hear. He will even hide his face from them at that time. Why? They have been evil in their deeds because they're unrepentant. And they're going to continue in such a way. Verse 5, thus says the Lord concerning the prophets, who make my people stray, who chant peace, while they chew with their teeth, but who prepare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. Therefore, you shall have night without vision. You shall have darkness without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets. And the day shall be dark for them. So the seers shall be ashamed. And the diviners abashed. Indeed, they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. So let's look at that for a minute, shall we? Notice in verse 5 how he says, thus says the Lord concerning the prophets, who make my people stray. When you get into the New Testament, one of my more favorite portions of scripture, and we'll be there. It's in Matthew 24. We're in Matthew 19 right now. It's not Sunday mornings. So when we get to Matthew 24 in two years, you'll see this. If I rush, Jesus in Matthew 24 says, take heed that no one deceives you. Take heed that no one deceives you. He repeats that three times, maybe up to four times, in one chapter. If he says something once, listen. If he says it twice, three times, four times, there's an emphasis. He says, take heed. And he speaks about deception. Because when he says, take heed, he is putting responsibility on my shoulders to make sure I'm not deceived. That's a real problem today in the 21st century church, because many Christians are not taking personal responsibility for their own spiritual well-being. And they're not listening with discernment. They're not listening to Bible studies with the intent of understanding the ways of God. Many Christians today, sadly, but this is true, go to church for the entertainment factor, for the enjoyment factor, for the self-satisfaction, it's all about themselves. They're not going to be equipped with the word of God because the word of God isn't really rightly divided. What they're getting is the personality of the proclamer, or the methodology, or the environment. This is a fact, and you know this to be true. That's what's happening. And so somebody who is entertaining can cause people to be led astray because the people are not in the word studying, praying over, meditating, they're not growing. See, Christianity is not school. Sometimes people say, you know, I feel like when I go to church, I'm going to school. It's not school. What Christianity and what Christian teaching is is equipping the saints for works of service. When you get into the word, you actually find the ways of God. So each one in this room, starting with me and all of us here, and any who will listen to this study right now, every one of us has a personal responsibility to spend time in the word in order to be able to be equipped for works of service, to be able to give an answer concerning the hope that lies within you with meekness. And there are those who will question you, why do you believe in Christ? And some of you know what I'm speaking about, where they'll knock on your door, perhaps, or speak to you in a college class, or be on a campus, or be on the job site, or whatever, and they encounter you, and they'll bring a false doctrine to you, and they'll say, well, did you know that Mary is the wife of God, or they'll say something to you, and the Trinity is really Father, Son, and Mary, and they'll say things like that, cause there's doctrines like that out there right now, or they'll say Jesus is the first creation of God, that He was an ascended master. There are so many different doctrines that are out there right now, saying that they're giving you the truth, and then you get confused, and I understand that, because there are some things I've never heard myself, and they'll say something, and you go, I've never heard that before, that's a new one on me, though it's never really new, it's just repeated error from a different time, that's what it is, always. And so the bottom line is, these people were not well trained, they're not getting the word of God, the priests were not teaching properly, the children of Israel are not equipped, they're not discerning, and so he says, these people, Israel, are being led astray by you. You are giving them false doctrines, and because you are teaching false doctrines, they cannot live holy lives, they cannot live righteous lives, because you, he's saying to them, you are not calling them to repentance, you are not correcting their sins, and you are not confronting unholiness. It's like what it says in Isaiah 3, 12, oh my people, those who lead you cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths, they're not calling you to repent. I had someone write me one time, and he was upset at me one time, but this one time. And Christians don't need to repent. And why do you say that we need to repent? Christians don't need to repent. We repented, we're saved, and everything's covered by the blood of Christ, and our lives just proceed, and I said, no, repentance is a daily thing. Repentance is an ongoing lifestyle. The word repent is that Greek word metanoia, it speaks of changing your mind, because it's the change of your mind that results in the change of your behavior. So in a daily walk with the Lord, you are constantly rethinking the things that you do, and you're placing them in the hands of the Lord, you're studying the word of God, and you're saying, God help me to live a life that is pleasing to you. Your life is a life of repentance, it's not a one time only, but it's a habit of it. That's how it works. And it isn't bad, by the way, to wake up in the morning and say to God, God be merciful to me, I am a sinner, because I already have sinned the minute I opened my eyes. And I will go through the day dealing with my flesh. So it's an ongoing thing. And then finally one day you're gonna say, I've arrived and you die. That's how it's gonna work. You see the false prophets were like vicious animals who destroyed, but they destroyed using deceit and lies. They calm people by telling them that good times are on the horizon. And what they did is they produced a false hope and a false peace. In Jeremiah 8, 11 it says they have healed the hurt of my daughter, the daughter of my people, slightly saying peace, peace, when there is no peace. Lamentations 2, 14, your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions. They have not uncovered your iniquity to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions. They haven't said to you and cried out to you, get right with God, get right with God. And he says, because they're not, you have a false peace. These false prophets were actually making the people stray instead of repent. You see, as Syria was preparing to invade from the north, but the people were being lulled into a false peace through these false prophets. Now they have a longing for peace, but not the heart to repent from the evil he practiced. And that would keep them from experiencing any true peace. Isaiah 57, 21 says, there's no peace there, my God, to the wicked. There is no peace to the wicked. You see, peace cannot be experienced as long as man is at war with God. Peace can only come when man is reconciled to God. And then when he's reconciled to God, he's reconciled with other people. So you can't have peace with man until you at first have peace with God. In Romans 5, 1 it says, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so do you wanna have peace with others? You come to peace first with God. And that's how it works. He says in verse five, while they chew with their teeth, but who prepare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. The false prophets were biting. It's interesting the word chew there is also the word bite and the word bite speaks of a serpent. The serpent, a snake that would latch onto you and inject poison. And so the false prophets bite with their teeth. What they're trying to do is they're trying to take out the true prophets. You see the true prophets were at war with the false in the sense of the messages were combating. And so they didn't give in, cater to them and didn't cater to their lies. And that's what they're upset about that you're not giving us honor. Therefore, he says in verse six, you shall have night without vision. You shall have darkness without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets and the day shall be dark for them. So the seer shall be ashamed and diviners abashed. When's the last time you used the word abashed? Did you say it today? No, I was really abashed. The word abashed means confounded or confused, abashed. I don't use that word, but I actually had to look it up because I don't know what the word abashed means. I shouldn't have told you that. I should have pretended I'm a genius, but I'm not. Indeed, they shall all cover their lips. When it speaks of covering their lips, that's a demonstration of mourning or sorrow and he's speaking concerning the judgment that will come upon them. They're gonna make fools of themselves is what he's saying. Now, when he says in verse six, they shall have night without vision, they're gonna have judgment. They're gonna be dealt with. When it says without vision, they have no prophetic revelation that's gonna come to them. So these false prophets will be judged and God is not communicating to them. They're not gonna receive light from God. They will be kept in the dark because God withholds revelation. When he says in verse seven, the seer shall be ashamed and the diviner's abashed. The word seer speaks of... The word seer is a word that is very often used as a synonym for a prophet. So you can have them called seers in scripture and they're also referred to as prophets. But one of the things about a seer and what would designate them as seer is that they saw visions and that's why the word seer is used here instead of the word prophet. They were ones who saw visions. Diviners. Now diviner's speaks to us of false prophets because they're divining or trying to find the will of God when God is the one who freely gives his will to his true prophets. So a diviner using the practice of what is called divination, trying to divine is a false prophet because God is the one who reveals to the true prophets his word. So he's saying the false prophets will make fools of themselves as they go about making their false prophecies. They're going to become ashamed in front of the people instead of being prospered by them. In verse eight, this is very powerful here. This to me is, well, I'll just share with you. Micah says, But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord and of justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression into Israel his sin. What an affirmation of the call of God in this man's life. He's contrasting a true prophet with a false prophet. False prophets have no light. False prophets have no truth. False prophets have no revelation from God. False prophets have no power from God. So what he's doing here is he's contrasting the true with the false. And his declaration to me is extremely powerful. Listen, his message was not popular and his message was not welcomed but he knew that it was a true message from God. There was a time, and I'm going to spend a moment you might want to relax. This is one of those places where I kind of like wax for a while. There was a time years ago, years ago that you didn't have Christian television programs. You had occasionally Christian television programs. But they were usually maybe on a Sunday and they were usually something like just a denominational program you may have, you may have something on the radio. When I first got saved there was nothing like what you have today at all when I first got saved. You didn't have one. You didn't have what is called contemporary Christian music. That did not exist. We didn't have that. What you had was old time radio programs with what we used to call a dollar a holler preacher. You know what a dollar a holler preacher is? You pay the dollar, you can holler. That's a dollar a holler preacher. They paid for radio time and they'd holler for a half hour and that's what they did. So we call them dollar a holler. And so you could drive and you could look all you wanted on the radio dial because nobody listened to FM. There's no such thing as satellite. And so I'm speaking ancient history now for a moment but I'll get to the point in a second. There just was not a lot for you to find. And some of you are old enough to remember going through the hunting through that. You're AM single speaker radio trying to find something. And you just couldn't. But on Sunday nights, you might be able to find some program. And when you listen to that program, you would say, oh, I'm getting studied. But every once in a while, you'd have somebody like an old Roberts or somebody like that yelling out about healings and things. And he might be on a Sunday afternoon or whatever. And that was pretty much it. You didn't have a lot of selections. You didn't have a lot of opportunities to get a lot of things. And I can remember when I first got saved that I was a brand new Christian and I was driving in my car. It was an evening. And I said, you know, God, I just want to sing. Because I was taught you sing to the Lord. You know, I got saved and was going to Calvary. And there's a lot of worship and praise. And I just wanted to sing. It was just me and Jesus. It was night. Nobody was watching. And I said, Jesus, I want to sing to you. But there's nothing. And I was going through the radio trying to find a program that I could stop and hear songs about the Lord. And there was no contemporary Christians. So you would hear an organ and this and that, a 90-year-old woman warbling, you know. And that was about it. I mean, so there was nothing there. And so you know what I landed on? I landed on George Harrison's song, My Sweet Lord. That was it. So I just sang along with him. And when he said, Hare Krishna, I said, hallelujah. I just kept on, hallelujah. And no, Krishna, we don't need Krishna. It's just hallelujah, Jesus. That's how it was. What has happened in our day? And I've been watching this as a minister of the gospel. I've been watching this. And hopefully, this will make some sense to you that. And I tried to share this with people recently. What happened is I got saved. And I was brought into the Word of God. I actually believed that God actually could speak. I actually believed it. I believed it to this day. Of course, the Bible's God's Word. I was brought into a place that taught me the Bible. That was Pastor Chuck Smith. And that was a guy named Lonnie Frisbee. And they would speak about the Bible. And I would listen to what God's Word said. And I was equipped for works of service. I began to believe that God's Word is truth. So the things that I didn't find in scripture, I just no longer held fast to. My religious background, there was never something that I stood up and was angry about in front of people. I just said, well, if it's not in the Bible, I'm not going to believe it. And that's kind of my journey. That's what my journey has been up to this point. But it had to be found in scripture. To this day, if I don't find it in scripture, I'll put it on kind of like a shelf to be discovered later. And I go with the things that I know. That's how I am today. With that said, things have changed. And this is not a complaint. This is an observation. This is the truth. And some of you understand, and others perhaps won't. Some care, some don't. But it's truth. You don't go to church to be entertained. You go to church to be equipped. You don't sing songs because they're cool and all, though I do like contemporary music. You look at the words of the songs, and you determine whether those actually bring honor to God or not. You're discerning in all things. And what we have today is popular preaching by those who give 40% of the message about themselves, and then the last 60% don't actually even handle the word of God. That's what's big today. It's the look. It's what I personally get out of it. And what happens is you lose Jesus in the mix. When Micah says in verse 8, truly, I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, that's a strong declaration. It reminds me of what we had earlier read in Amos when it says, Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet. I was a sheep reader, a tender of sycamore fruit. The Lord took me as I followed the flock. The Lord said to me, go prophesy to my people Israel. You want to be used by the Lord? You need to know who you are in him. You need to know who you are in him. You who don't know me don't know that I was a 23-year-old preacher. I was 23 years old. And I'm teaching my dad who's 47. And I'm teaching my mom who's 43. And I'm teaching a group of adults when I'm just a young boy myself. And so I didn't know a whole lot, but I knew this. I knew God's word is truth. And I knew I was called by God. And I taught and preached with a confidence not in myself, but in him. And that's what's really important. And that is missing today in many pulpits. There needs to be a sense that what is being said is not that person's testimony every time you hear them. And it's not the joke, and it's not the fun or the fun facts. It is Jesus Christ. And that's why when you walk into our main sanctuary, that's why you see we would see Jesus. Because that's what sets you free, and that's what keeps you strong. That's what does it. And we don't understand that today. I am telling this to you, but you know it, and yet some of you don't. If it isn't fun, it isn't worth the effort. If it isn't in a 15-second soundbite, my concentration only lasts eight minutes. Those things are true. That's what's going on right now. Because of the usage of so many technological devices, the average attention span for people today is down to eight minutes. Did you, that's a fact. Did you know that in seminaries today, they're teaching the new preachers who are going to take the church into the further on in the 20th, that they're teaching them to give 12-minute to 15-minute messages? Did you know that? 12 to 15 minutes. Because they're saying that you can't listen for more than 12 to 15 minutes. Now some of you can't. I catch you sleeping all the time. Or texting somebody. How hungry are you? How hungry are you? And how important is God to you? That's the question. And you've got Micah saying, I'm full of the power of the Spirit. These false prophets are liars. They walk in darkness, and they want me to change my message. Do you think that John the Baptist, if he were alive today, would be invited on some of these TV programs to preach? Think about it. Do you think Joel Osteen would ask Paul to come and speak? I'm not kidding. I'm serious. I'm serious. Do you think they would be asked? They wouldn't. They wouldn't. Why? Because expounding a passage of Scripture is not entertaining. And if you give the whole counsel, there are blessings and there are buffettings. There are God saying I'm going to give you this, but I will also deal with you in this way. That's why I am so grateful to the ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith because he taught us to go from A to Z, give the whole counsel of God. Because that way, I can be one day like Paul, I'll tell you this. When I finished this book, I can say what Paul said when he said, I have not shunned to declare unto you the entire counsel of God. This is the last book of the Bible I've never taught. And I can finally go like this and say, I did it. I kept the faith. I did it. Jesus, I taught the whole counsel of God. And to me, that was the most important thing for me as a young pastor, teach the word of God from cover to cover. And that's what we do here, to know the Lord. That's the bottom line. That's the bottom line I am telling you. And that's what he is saying here. He's basically simply saying that, I know who I am filled by the power of the Spirit of God and of justice and might. And what does he do to declare to Jacob his transgression in Israel, his sin? And he's saying, and I am not shunning to declare to you that there is sin in the camp and it has to be dealt with. Now hear this finally. You heads of the house of Jacob, rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity, who build up Zion with bloodshed, Jerusalem with iniquity, her heads judged for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, her prophets divine for money, yet they lean on the Lord and say, is not the Lord among us? No harm can come upon us. Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins in the mountain of the temple like the bare hills of the forest. What a powerful thing to say. He said, you abhor justice, you pervert equity. In other words, you should love justice, you should judge with impartiality, but you don't, instead of doing what was right, you perverted justice and you condemned the innocent. Under you, the guilty have been declared innocent. The innocent have been mistreated. In verse 10, he says, who build up Zion with bloodshed, this speaks of the southern kingdom, Jerusalem. And he's condemning them for their greed. These people built mansions on the wealth obtained through the condemnation of the innocent. In verse 11, when he says, our heads judge for a bribe, every class was corrupted by greed from the rulers to the priests. They were all doing everything they could for personal profit. This existed during the time of Christ, by the way, the Pharisees were guilty of profiting from their positions. In Mark 1240, it says they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then to cover up the kind of people they really are, they make long prayers in public. Because of this, their punishment will be the greater. That has continued, by the way, to this day in the church. In 2 Peter 2, the apostles said in verses one through three, there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their master who bought them. There's will be a swift and terrible end. Many will follow their evil teaching in shameful immorality because of them Christ in his true way will be slandered. In their greed, they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money, but God condemned them long ago and they're destructing us on the way. There was a guy who was caught in his quote unquote healing services. His wife was reading prayer requests from people and they had descriptions of the people and she would say this person is seated in a certain row. This is their problem and he had a little earpiece and he'd look around the room and say, there's somebody here and he's just repeating what his wife is saying, who has this wrong with them and I sense that you're on this side of the room and then you get this person over there going, oh, I think it's right here and then he'd come to that person. Is your name Beverly? Yes, do you have leukemia? Yes, and then he would say, well, God, this is your moment and he would take the money and he was exposed by the amazing Randy. That was his name, the amazing Randy. He exposed this guy and you know what that guy did? He's back at it right now. He's back at it right now. You can see him on TV, I won't tell you his name but I will tell you he's not far from where we are right now. Yeah, doing it to this day. They make merchandise of you. They will use your money. That's what he's saying. That took place then, it take place now. Paul gives us insight into his ministry. What is a genuine minister? 2 Corinthians 2.17, Paul said it like this, we're not as so many peddling the word of God that as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ. He said in Acts 20 verse 33, I have coveted no one silver or gold or apparel. You see the false prophets claim to be relying on the Lord. This meant that they didn't believe that Micah's promise of judgment would harm them. But according to verse 12, destruction will take place and it did. He said Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall be plowed. The destruction took place under Nebuchadnezzar. It was completed by Rome. The Roman army reportedly plowed up the foundation of the temple with a plowshare. Complete judgment fell upon them even as God had declared. He said it would happen. Jesus said, do you not see all these things? I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. And that's what happened. And it was all he says because of you, you false prophets, because of you, because you led my people astray, Zion shall be plowed like a field. There is a tremendous responsibility on the part of teachers. We stand before God to receive stricter judgment. The one whom God says I will look at is the one who trembles at my word. This is the one I will regard. This is the one I will look to. You want to be used by the Lord? Love his word, spend time in it and determine to do it.