Micah 3&4

I don't know about you, but if you look around you at the world we live in, it's very easy to ask the question, is God not concerned for his own glory?

! Where exactly is God in the world that we live in?

I mean, it's wars and rumors of wars and climate change and political upheaval and all kinds of things.

And as Paul prayed just now, the most horrific atrocities that we see in the world.

And I think it's a quite legitimate question to ask ourselves, is God not concerned for his glory that these things are happening in the world?

Sometimes we joke about it.

One of the other things that make me wonder about that is Arsenal's form over the last couple of years.

But, you know, sometimes humor is all we've got.

But these things we do to each other are bad enough, aren't they?

What's fundamentally even worse than that, I think, is that the world seems to be turning its back on God.

And that was true for Israel in their days and it's true for us today.

We see it in the UK that we live in now, don't we?

Just a couple of things that happened over the last couple of weeks and months that made me wonder,

is God concerned for his glory in our time, in our country?

Last year, the Church of England said regular Sunday attendance fell 3% to 756,000.

Now that might sound a lot, but that's about 1% of the population.

People's lives are too busy, they said.

That's why that number fell.

There's a vicar of a church in Blackpool who spends her Sunday mornings at a prayer tent at a nearby car boot sale to address worshippers there.

I wonder what they're worshipping exactly.

And she also holds her Sunday service at 4.30 in the afternoon, so people can attend after taking their children to sports or doing their shopping.

That's more like the Lord's half day, it sounds.

Norwich Cathedral recently put in a helter-skelter, so people can see the roof more clearly.

And Rochester Cathedral put in a mini-golf course.

The Reverend Cannon there said,

We hope while playing adventure golf, visitors will reflect on the bridges that need to be built in their own lives and in our world today.

Because, of course, that's what happens when you play mini-golf.

The Daily Mail was a bit more tongue-in-cheek about that.

They said, Holy in one, worshippers at a medieval cathedral are being asked to put their faith in God on a crazy golf course in the nave.

And, I mean, we laugh, but it's actually quite sad.

Now, just in case you get the wrong idea, this isn't to bash the Church of England.

Less than 5% of the whole nation goes to church regularly.

And many churches do much worse than that.

I mean, don't get me started on the prosperity gospel and what people get told there.

And what it comes down to for those priests, vicars, ministers, is,

Are people going to come?

Are our numbers up?

How does it look?

Are they looking at our beautiful roof?

People are more concerned about their own glory than about God's glory, it seems.

And Micah warns us about this, and he tells us about a time in Israel's history when it was basically just the same, isn't it?

Now, he's the last of the first six of these minor or shorter prophets at the end of the Old Testament.

And the first half of them is just all about the sin of Israel and the nations.

And it's filed up, and this is the height of it.

And he brings together all those themes, and he says, you know, Israel's sin is like prostitution.

Turning away from God after something else, after other gods.

And they're spiritually lethargic.

They can't be bothered.

And they're weak.

And it's about wealth and amassing wealth.

And they're mistreating refugees and committing social injustice all over the place.

And they're cold towards nations who need to hear about the Lord.

But the priests cry peace when they've got something to eat, and declare war against people who put nothing in their mouths.

That's what they're concerned about.

And we read there, don't we, at the end of chapter 3, about how corrupt these leaders are.

How they actually tell people what they want to hear.

They give them the message they want to hear, and the price is right.

Basically telling them their horoscopes.

Making up the kind of prophecies that it sells.

And they're super, super confident they've got God on their side.

Because look at verse 11.

Yet they lean on the Lord and say, is not the Lord in the midst of us?

No disaster shall come upon us.

But God doesn't let things stand.

I mean, basically they think God needs them more than they need Him.

But God doesn't depend on us, and that's really what they were counting on.

They were counting on the fact that if His temple is with them, if His temple is among them,

if they were going through the motions of serving God,

then He wouldn't desert them because He needs their worship.

And because they've earned His favor that way.

Now, it's, you know, again, easy, you know, we can read that and think, well, that sounds ridiculous.

But, you know, do we sometimes hear people say things like,

I think I've done enough, that God won't be too cross with me?

Or something along those lines?

I think if we're brutally honest, we've probably all thought along those lines to some extent at some point.

And God is telling us here, and Israel is telling us, no, He doesn't need us to be God.

To be utterly perfect and utterly holy and utterly complete in Himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Glory be to Him forever and ever.

And that's a sobering thought to realize that, that God doesn't need us.

That He can't be manipulated.

And especially not by people who should be leading God's people spiritually.

These priests and prophets who were telling people what they wanted to hear.

That is such a warning in our time as well.

And God sent other nations to destroy this temple they relied on.

This temple, it was their security blanket, wasn't it?

The end of chapter 3 there, verse 12.

Because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooden height.

God sent other nations to come and destroy the temple in Jerusalem.

Now, if you're an Israelite, and you hear that this is going to happen,

that is like the gut punch that makes you want to curl up in a fetal position under the table and cry for your mommy.

Because the temple is what made them.

It's what made them different to all the other nations.

Where God was meant to be with them.

But they've gone from being more in awe of God's glory, to being more concerned with their own glory.

And this is the turning point that we come to in this chapter here, at the end of chapter 3 and chapter 4.

That is God's judgment on them.

And for an Israelite, that is the worst thing that could possibly happen.

The worst message you could probably hear.

And then, here at the beginning of chapter 4,

we see that you don't have to be in a car crash to get whiplash.

Because if you read Micah, and you read through chapters 1 and 2 and 3,

and you go into these depths, and you get to this height of God's judgment on them,

your temple will be destroyed, and the symbol of me living with you won't be there anymore.

Then chapter 4 starts, doesn't it?

It shall come to pass in the latter days,

that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established,

as the highest of the mountains.

And it shall be lifted up above the hills, and people shall float to it.

And you hear that, and you think, well, wait, wait just a minute.

Didn't we just, like, literally in the previous verse,

hear how the mountain Zion shall be like a field,

and Jerusalem ruins, and the mountain of the house,

nothing more than a wooded hike?

And now suddenly, it shall be established as the highest of the mountains.

And lift it up above the hills, and people shall float to it.

Now that is just phenomenal.

That reversal in those, from verse 12 to verse 1 there,

it is an incredible, complete about turn, isn't it?

It's really quite breathtaking.

It is an earthly Jerusalem that meant everything to Israel will be destroyed,

and yet somehow, a new Jerusalem,

the mountain of the house of the Lord, will be established.

What's going on?

Well, today I want us to see one thing, really.

It's a bank holiday, and it's hot.

It's one thing, about God's desire for his own glory,

and it's this.

What God was showing Israel through this vision that Micah has right here.

And it is this.

God's desire for his own glory is greater than the problem of our sin.

And it means he's more gracious than our sin deserves.

God's desire for his glory is greater than the problem of our sin.

And it means he's more gracious than our sin deserves.

No three points, no alliteration.

Just this one thing.

And God's glory is greater than we think,

because God is greater than we can imagine.

I think it's the one thing we see here, isn't it?

See, when the temple was destroyed,

it seemed like God's glory had been lost.

Israel's not a people anymore.

They're going into exile.

The temple's no more.

The temple that was the symbol of God being with them,

of them being special, God's chosen people.

But here's what God tells to these people who are about to go into exile.

It's not a logistical message of,

this is how it's going to work,

and this is how long it's going to be,

and you're going to return,

and this is how it's going to be,

a functional message of,

I will restore you to this land of something.

God gives this incredible vision of this total about turn of what he's done,

and even more, isn't it?

He tells them,

my glory is heavenly.

My glory is not earthly.

You have it all wrong.

My glory is not limited to this temple that's here with you,

to these things that you do,

the worship that you give me here at this temple.

My glory is so much greater than that.

And they're symbols of much, much greater things.

And I think,

with it unplanned,

I think it ties in with something that Paul said this morning as well.

We can think things through so much to the nth degree

that we lose the feeling of what it is meant to give us

when we read a vision like this in the Bible.

So I'm not going to go through each of the little images and dig into them,

but I want us to feel this weight of this glory that God gives them in this vision.

And he tells the people who are about to go into exile,

the people who look at the world around them and say,

where is God and what is happening?

He tells them,

look at what I am doing for my glory.

Not what you can see in front of your own eyes now.

And he does what is impossible.

I don't know if you've noticed,

but Micah describes something that actually sounds like it's impossible, isn't it?

Things flow downhill, generally speaking.

And since we've worked out gravity,

we understand why that is.

Things flow downhill,

not up a mountain.

So when they tried to determine the origin of the River Nile,

and with David Livingston,

and John Hannity Spake,

and Richard Burton,

and those guys,

the whole point was,

they tried to work out

the highest point at which water flows into that system

must be where the system starts.

That's how they thought about it.

Because they know things flow downhill,

not uphill.

You know,

it's a fascinating story,

that if you've never kind of looked into it,

about all the adventure and misadventure,

and human drama,

and all the jealousy,

and survival,

and tribes that want to kill them,

and malaria,

and all kinds of things.

But they had this right.

Things flow downhill,

not uphill.

Water doesn't flow uphill.

And just like water doesn't flow uphill,

people don't naturally

come to God.

It's impossible

for us to just do that on our own.

People don't naturally come to God saying,

yeah,

let's learn from His Word.

Let's learn from God

how He wants us to live.

How He wants us to direct our lives.

In fact,

from the Garden of Eden,

isn't it,

we've done the exact opposite.

But God's glory is greater than our sin,

because He does the impossible.

people who rejected Him.

Peter says in Acts 2,

he says,

this man was handed over to you

by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge,

and you,

with the help of wicked men,

put Him to death

by nailing Him to the cross.

And just for the avoidance of doubt,

that's you and me too included in there

before we were saved.

And our sin wasn't to break down

a physical building

where God had dwelled with His people.

We killed God dwelling with His people.

And despite that,

because God's concern for His glory

is greater than our sin,

He turns our hearts back to Him.

We forget when we read about the nations

in the Bible,

we are those nations.

Flowing uphill to this heaven is I.

And that started at Pentecost,

when this vision of Micah started to come true,

isn't it?

And we don't see all the wars ended yet,

and we don't see a world

where everyone has enough from their own labour,

and enough to eat,

and enough to,

a place to sleep,

and all these things that Micah describes here.

And we don't see those swords and spears

having become flowershares,

and pruning hooks,

and the peace that He looks forward to.

But the real peace we need,

peace with God,

is available now when we come to Him,

when we come to this heavenly Zion

that Micah describes.

When we have that,

the rest starts to follow.

But here's the question,

how is God doing this?

How is God making the nations

flow to Him,

to this heavenly Zion that He describes,

to come and ask to be instructed by the Lord?

And we have this strange reason given,

at the end of verse 2,

don't we?

For out of Zion shall go forth the Lord,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Because God's word is going out

to these nations.

God's law,

God's instruction,

God's word.

And when God's word goes out to the world,

the miraculous happens.

We shouldn't lose confidence

in God's word going out into the world

and doing the impossible.

Nations coming to God

in the most spectacular way.

And the effect is astounding.

The gospel has gone out to places

that were unimaginable

when Micah gave these prophecies.

Places they didn't even know existed.

And it continues to go out to them.

And the nations continue to come

to God

after his heavenly Zion.

You might know,

you might have heard

the kind of statistic

that more Muslims

have converted to Christianity

in the last, say,

20 years

than in

4,200 years before that.

since the start of Islam.

Astounding.

China may already be

the most Christian nation

in the world

in terms of

the number of believers.

We don't think about it that way.

Whole communities

in places like the Middle East

are coming to God.

And turning to God

and repenting of their sins

and putting their trust in Jesus

because the word of the God

is going out

in incredible ways

to these corners of the world

that Micah didn't even know about.

And it's incredible.

But,

I want to tell you a story

about the nations

coming to God

where

it looks

like exactly the opposite.

some of you might know

that I spent some time

this summer

in China

and North Korea.

Pyongyang

was called

the Jerusalem of the East

kind of early

20th century.

There was revival.

Welsh missionaries

had gone there

and others.

And,

there were so many churches there

that it was called

the Jerusalem of the East.

And now the government

has been stamping out

any trace of Christianity

there for 70 years.

It is,

it is really incredible

to see how totally

they've

imposed this ideology

on a country

in just 70 years.

You'd think that kind of thing

would take 300 years

but

70 years.

Indoctrinating people

and forcing people

to report on each other

and inform on each other.

You don't know

who you can trust.

You can't trust your neighbor.

Limiting people's access

to anything outside

of North Korea.

I kid you not,

when you go in,

your bags are searched,

every piece of printed

material you have

is catalogued

and it's got to go out again.

Every electronic device

is searched

and catalogued

and it's got to go out again.

You can take the Bible

in English

but it's got to go out again.

They go to

the most extreme lengths

you can imagine

to stop anybody

from finding out

about Christianity.

But here's the thing.

Despite that

total control

that they're

exerting over

people's thinking

from the moment

they can put

two words together

and despite the fact

that people can go

to prison camps

if they're caught out

if they're fortunate

there are Christians

in North Korea

and people are coming

to faith

as we speak.

Christians who go there

have to find other reasons

to go in.

You can't go in

as a missionary.

I'm not going to get

a missionary visa

to go to North Korea.

So,

some places in the country

allow foreign investment

like in the north

there's a zone

where people can invest.

So,

that's what missionaries do.

You find yourself

running

a factory.

you know,

you go to seminary

and you end up

running a shoe factory

or something like that.

But that's how you

get in long term

and have sustained

contact

with North Korean people.

And if they get to

know you well enough

and you can build up

and have trust with them

that they know

you're not going

to report them

and they're not going

to report you

if you have a gospel

conversation,

those conversations

happen.

And people are

coming to faith.

Even though it looks

like this is a country,

this is the country

where God's glory

is nowhere to be seen.

And someone I spoke to

who works there

finally managed to

speak to one of their

employees alone

after many years

outside

because the buildings

are bugged

and the government

listens in to everything.

And it's an employee

who was terminally ill

and she told him

well it's important now,

you have to make

a decision.

Jesus is the only way

to get to heaven.

You have to make a choice

and there is no other way.

And he looked at her

and he smiled

and he said,

don't worry,

Jane or whatever

her name is,

I'm already on that train.

Now that sounds odd

but it turns out

there's an old

Korean hymn about

being on the train

to heaven.

And where did he

hear the gospel?

I don't know.

Some people

have reports

from Muslim countries

about people

seeing visions

of Jesus,

the word

coming to them.

They could be

having dreams

or visions.

but I think

in many cases

more likely

it is that people

are literally

risking their lives

to tell their children

about God.

To tell their children

about Jesus.

Anybody who knows

children,

you don't have to have

your own,

even though children

can say

unfortunate things

at unfortunate times.

It is a risk

to tell your child

about Jesus there.

And it's just

incredible to me

that here

people don't want

to take their

children to church

because they don't

want to risk

them being upset

and they want them

to discover it

for themselves.

Psalm 48

that we read

at the beginning

talks about how

we tell our

children about

the faith.

And these people

are risking their

lives to do that.

And I dare say

there might be

more glory given

to God

on that last day

for people

from places

like North Korea

who have come

to that heavenly

Zion with us

than we can think.

Here's the point.

God is never

going to allow

His glory

to be limited

or diminished

or destroyed

by our human sin

or even just

our inability

to see past

our limited

circumstances.

Not Israel's sin.

Not the North

Korean regime's sin.

Not your sin

or my sin.

The Westminster

Shorter

Catechism starts

with

what's the chief

end of man?

And the answer

is

glorify God

and enjoy Him

forever.

Isn't it?

The world we live

in don't think so.

You ask someone

on the street

what's our main

reason for

existing.

You might get

some strange

looks first.

And if you get

an answer it

might be

something like

make money

enjoy yourself

or even

be a good

person.

But it's not

going to be

to glorify God

and enjoy Him

forever.

But God's

concern for His

glory means

He's so gracious

that He involves

you and me

and calls us

His people

so we can

bring glory

to Him.

It's certainly

incredible.

It really is.

But God is

asking you and me

tonight,

do you believe

that?

How often

have you and

I this week

thought to

give glory

to God?

From the

most mundane

things in

our life

everything we

have is from

Him

to praying

that He's

glorified by

doing the

impossible

that He's

glorified by

the nations

coming to

faith and

streaming to

Him like

we have.

Tonight

after the

service when

we pray for

Holiday Bible

Club we can

pray that

God's

glorified by

bringing

people to

us next

week who

otherwise might

never have

come to Him.

Do we

realize that

we need

nothing more

than for

God to be

glorified?

I think we

can be so

easily

complacent.

We can be

so focused

on the

state of

affairs in

the here and

now that we

settle for

less than we

could.

God, it's

good and

right to

be praying

for the

world we

live in and

for big

things like

peace and

the people

we love and

for our

daily needs

and everything

that is

happening in

our week to

come.

But we

can become so

used, I

think, to

God having

done this

incredible

miracle in

our own

lives and

what He's

doing all

over the

world right

now, even

in places

like North

Korea, but

we think it's

all about us

and not all

about Him.

And in

some ways

it's a bit

like C.S.

Lewis who

said about

us being

satisfied with

building mud

pies because

we can't

imagine what

a holiday

by the sea

looks like.

And I

think we

should all

be more

permanently

like deer

caught in

the headlights,

astonished at

God's glory

and what He's

doing in the

world to

glorify Himself.

God's answer

to Israel

at this

absolute

low point

in their

history, when

the temple

is about to

be destroyed

and they're

about to

go into

exile is

when I

am glorified

by doing

more than

you're asking

for and

more than

you can

imagine and

more than

you can

conceive of,

then you

will be

strong and

restored.

Just look

up and see

what I'm

doing.

God's glory

is greater

than the

predicament of

our sin

and it

means He's

more gracious

than our

sin

deserves.

For Israel

it was

hard to

take this

message on

board in

some ways.

They had

the exile to

look forward

to and hope

was a distant

promise.

But here's

what we

have.

We've seen

that glory

of God

lifted up.

We've seen

that glory of

God lifted up

on the cross,

haven't we?

And Hebrews

12 tells us

how this vision

that Micah

has was

fulfilled even

more in

these latter

days in

our time.

Hebrews 12

22 says

But you've

come to

Mount Zion

and to the

city of

the living

God, the

heavenly

Jerusalem, and

to innumerable

angels in

festal gathering,

and to the

assembly of

the firstborn

who are

enrolled in

heaven, and

to God, the

judge of all, and

to the spirits

of the righteous,

made perfect.

You have

come to

Mount Zion.

That's where

we are when

we come to

God in

worship.

And it

gets even

better than

that.

We won't

say that

way, that

the Mount

Zion is a

heavenly place

while we're

on earth, the

heavenly

Jerusalem.

See, just

like heaven

came to

earth when

Jesus was

born, this

heavenly

Jerusalem will

come to

earth again.

Revelation 21

tells us there

will be a new

heaven and a

new earth and

the holy

city, the

new Jerusalem,

and it

will come

down out of

heaven from

God, and

God's dwelling

place will be

with his

people, and

he'll be with

us himself, and

we, all

these nations,

will be his

people.

I think

Micah 4 calls

us to pray

for what Paul

prays for the

Ephesians in

his letter.

I'll end

with that in

Ephesians 1.

See, I pray

that the eyes

of your heart

may be

enlightened in

order that you

may know the

hope to which

he has called

you.

Christ from

the dead, and

seated him at

his right hand

in the heavenly

realms, far

above all rule

and authority,

power and

dominion, and

every name that

is invoked, not

only in the

present age, but

also in the

one to come.

Amen.

Thank you.