Micah
Major Lessons From the Minor Prophets • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The prophet spoke to the people (Micah 6:8) and told them exactly what the Lord wanted each of them to do. It was a personal matter that each individual sinner had to consider. His reply emphasized moral and ethical conduct, not religious ceremonies.
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Act Justly
Justice is giving someone what they deserve.
Of course, we can’t “do justly” unless we’ve been justified by faith and are right with God.
25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Justification: the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God.
1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
Justifies the ungodly - credited as righteousness
(1) You are “to do justly”—that is, you must have a righteousness to present to God, you must be a righteous person.
You are to be just in your dealings with your fellow man; you are to be honest and true.
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Love Mercy
And how can we “love mercy” if we’ve not personally experienced God’s mercy? (Eph. 2:4; Titus 3:5).
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
Mercy
5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
Mercy
(2) You are “to love mercy.” You are not only to love the mercy of God but also to be merciful in your own dealings with others.
Forgiven ppl should be forgiving ppl.
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Walk Humbly
If we want to “walk humbly with [our] God,” we must first bow humbly before Him, confess our sins, and claim His promise of forgiveness (Luke 14:11; James 4:10).
(3) you are “to walk humbly with our God.”
11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Our Lord’s parable about the Pharisee and publican in the temple (Luke 18:9–14) illustrates all three points. The tax collector was justified by faith, not by doing the kind of good works that the Pharisee boasted about. Since the tax collector depended on God’s mercy to save him, he humbled himself before the Lord. The Pharisee, on the other hand, informed God (and whoever was listening in the temple) how good he was and therefore how much he deserved eternal life.
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Mercy / Justified / humble themselves
To make Micah 6:8 a salvation text is to misunderstand what the prophet was saying to God’s disobedient covenant people. None of us can do what God requires until first we come to God as broken sinners who need to be saved.
Unsaved people who think they are doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God are only fooling themselves, no matter how moral their lives may be.
5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
The people to whom Micah ministered simply didn’t get the point of his messages. The very fact that they were so guilty before God should have motivated them to turn from their shallow religion, humble themselves, and seek God’s mercy.
The only people God can save are lost people; the only people God can forgive are guilty people.
If we see ourselves as God sees us, then we can by faith become what He wants us to become.
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
3 Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.
The major lesson from the minor prophet:
A man in our church found out that one of our church members was illegal.
Justice said turn her in. Jesus’ justice was help make it right.
Remember love mercy. Show mercy as we have been shown mercy.
Because we have been shown mercy we should live and act humbly.
