Micah: A Message For Morally Depraved Rulers and Manipulative Ministers

Welcome to the Caribbean Grace Chapel podcast, where we value the expository preaching and teaching of the Word of God for the purpose of life transformation.

As you're turning to Micah chapter 3, I'm gonna kind of get our bearing straight here.

Micah 3 · chapter mention

The book of Micah is organized into three cycles.

So the prophet Micah gave prophetic oracles, and those oracles are organized into three cycles.

So cycle one covers chapters one and two, cycle two covers chapters three, four, and five, and then cycle three covers chapters five, I'm sorry, chapters six and seven.

Each cycle begins with a pronouncement of judgment and ends with a promise of hope.

Today we begin the second cycle.

So we're in Micah chapter three, begins the second cycle, and I'm gonna warn you up front, man, it is a hard hitter.

He comes out swinging.

And so we need to read, read about it.

Here we go.

We're in Micah chapter three.

We're gonna read verses one through eight, and this is from the English Standard Version.

And I said, Hear you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, is it not for you to know justice?

You who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off of them, and break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron.

Then they will cry to the Lord, but they will, but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry peace when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.

Therefore it shall be night to you without vision, darkness to you without divination.

The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.

The seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame.

They shall all cover their lips, for there's no answer from God.

But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

And that is the reading of God's word.

Micah pronounce judgment on morally depraved rulers and manipulative ministers, while at the same time confirming true prophetic ministry.

So Micah pronounced judgment on morally depraved rulers and manipulative ministers, but at the same time he confirmed that there is a true prophetic ministry.

Well, how did he do that?

How did Micah condemn morally depraved rulers and manipulative ministers while at the same time confirming true prophetic ministry?

Micah condemned morally depraved rulers and manipulative ministers while confirming true prophetic ministry and a three-part message.

The first part of his message condemned morally depraved rulers.

Look, if you will, in Micah chapter 3, verses 1 through 4.

Micah 3:1–4

And I said, Hear you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, is it not for you to know justice?

You who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron.

Again, we see that the first part of Micah's message condemns morally depraved rulers.

And he condemned the morally depraved rulers for two reasons.

First, he condemned morally depraved rulers because they were corrupt.

They should have known justice.

That's why the rhetorical question is it not for you to know justice?

Like they should have known justice.

A part of knowing justice was to know the law word of God.

And then to execute or to carry out the law of God without prejudice.

They were not to look at people's socioeconomic status.

Instead, they were to carry out justice simply because God's word had told them how to do so, what is right, what is just, what is pure, how a nation should govern itself, and so on.

A part of knowing justice was not only knowing how or what the law was and how to execute it, but it is also knowing that the law of God is good.

This is something extremely important.

The law of God is good.

It promotes life and health and blessing and prosperity for all people.

And so, if we want to see a church prosper, if we want to see a nation prosper, one of the things that must be done is that the law of the Lord must be the law of the land.

But they would not know justice.

Or we would word it this way: they would not do justice.

The reason?

Because they hated the good and they loved the evil.

They knew what justice was, they just refused to do it.

And the reason is because they hated the good and they loved the evil.

And so their legislation, their rules, was a reflection of their heart that hated righteousness and loved evil.

The second reason why Micah condemned morally depraved rulers is because they were cannibalistic.

Now, obviously, Micah was using metaphorical language, right?

The language of the prophets.

He was using metaphor.

And thus he said something like, you know, these rulers, they they fillet the skin, they tear the skin off of my people, they break their bowls and they chop them up in a pot.

They're gonna eat them like meat.

Obviously, it's metaphorical language, but it aptly describes what was taking place.

The rulers viewed the people as commodities to be consumed, and so we see that morally depraved rulers were condemned.

Well, how were they condemned?

The pike, the prophet Micah said that there would come a time that another nation would come in and take over that land, and that other nation would consume the rulers, would tear their skin off and treat them like meat, throw them in a pot, consume them, and whenever they cry out to the Lord, the Lord would ignore them, they would suffer the divine consequences of their actions, unless, of course, they repented.

Now, we know that the people in you know Micah's day repented because Hezekiah repented and the Lord spared them from Assyria.

However, over time they went right back to their wickedness, right back to their evil, and Babylon eventually came in and took them captive.

And that's known as the exile.

So, what do we do with this?

Like, how does this apply to us today?

Well, I submit to you that it doesn't take a theological degree to understand how this applies to us today.

First of all, our country is governed by morally depraved rulers.

Now, does that mean every single one?

No, of course not.

But it does mean as a whole, we are governed by morally depraved rulers.

They are corrupt.

They hate what is good and they love what is evil.

And you may ask, well, how can you say that, preacher?

Is that judgmental?

No, it's not judgmental, it's looking at the facts.

And by the way, John chapter 7 says, hey, um, if you're gonna judge, just judge righteously because things aren't always as they appear.

John 7 · chapter mention

Right?

So we can look at our nation, and even though we have a veneer of Christianity over it, we see if you pull back the layers, you you get to a country that is no longer centered, rooted, and grounded in biblical Christianity.

And the reason why you begin to see wickedness in our land is because the laws of the land are a reflection of the legislators.

Listen to me, there's no such thing as neutrality.

You're either for Christ or you are against Christ.

There's no middle ground, and every law of the land is a reflection of somebody's version of morality, and so when you come to a nation whose laws are wicked, that is a reflection of the moral direction of the rulers.

And this is why the scripture tells us that you know, man, the people groan when the wicked are in power.

Yes, yes, because what ends up happening is their inward desire, their inward inclination to hate what is good and to love what is evil is manifested and reflected in the laws and legislation that they cram and force upon the people.

Secondly, this would apply because our country is consumed by cannibalistic rulers.

You might ask, how?

They treat us like commodities to be consumed.

They take and take and take and take by unjust and unbiblical taxation.

It's oppressive of the people.

It's no different than flaying your skin or dumping you in a pot and eating you like gumbo.

Or I guess I should say these two in Tennessee.

What will happen if there's no repentance is that the United States of America as we know it will cease to exist.

Because when there's no repentance and the leadership and rulers of a land are morally corrupt and cannibalistic, they will suffer the consequences of their actions, and what that means is the people will suffer the consequences of their actions.

A nation is not a nebulous thing out there floating around.

It's made up of people who live in a geographic boundary and a land who share a common language and law and so on.

And when that nation suffers, every one of us suffers.

Surely, surely, whether you have an R behind your name or a D behind your name when you go to the voting box, you can understand that what I'm saying is true.

Neither side is exempt.

They have become morally corrupt and they must be brought to repentance.

They're lining their pockets, and you're struggling to put gas in your tank and food on the table.

But they're not hopeless.

Right?

There are some things that we can do.

I don't have time to expound all of these.

Hopefully, the Holy Spirit you'll spend time with the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will reveal how this could play out in everyday life.

But there are some things we could do.

Number one, seek good.

Right?

You overcome evil, you overcome wickedness with good.

Right?

So seek good.

Amos chapter 5, verse 14.

Amos 5:14

Another prophet of the Lord, he said this seek good and not evil, that you may live, and so that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you.

As you have said, seek good and not evil.

Listen, the people, we we need to seek good.

And your sphere of influence, promote righteousness.

Hate evil.

Number two, hate evil.

Again, Amos 5 in verse 15 says, Hate evil.

Love good.

Establish justice in the gate.

It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

So, so you seek good, you hate evil.

How about this one?

Oppose immoral leaders and laws.

I know this is a bit unusual to hear in church.

I get it.

But, you know, if we were sitting in Reformation times, this would be normal preaching.

See, here's what the scripture tells us in Proverbs 28, verse 4.

Proverbs 28:4

Those who forsake the law praise the wicked.

Just stop and think about that for a second.

Have we seen that carried out just in our generation?

Yes.

Those who forsake the law of God all of a sudden call the wicked good.

They praise the wicked.

Oh, they're so bold.

They're so courageous for coming out, standing up for what they believe in.

They're so bold, they're so courageous.

No, bro, they're wicked.

They're evil.

But see, when you forsake the law of God, you get so discombobulated, you get so confused that you can't tell up from down.

Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them.

It is our God-given calling and responsibility to oppose wickedness.

Which at times means we oppose the wicked who's carrying out the wickedness.

Wickedness doesn't happen on its own, somebody does it.

And so, therefore, you have to oppose the one who's promoting wickedness.

And if you were seeking good, you were hating evil, then we need to raise up Christians who will run for various offices to promote the law of God in the land.

That's how you establish justice, that's how you seek good.

That's how you hate evil.

And above all, pray.

Right?

Pray.

We all know this verse.

2 Chronicles 7, verse 14.

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Pray.

That's what Hezekiah did when he received that letter from the king of Assyria, from Sennacherib.

He goes and he lays out the letter and he begins to pray and he seeks God.

And of course, the Lord sends an angel and kills 185,000 Assyrian soldiers that night, and he spared Judah.

He spared Jerusalem.

So the number one thing that we need to do is pray.

In fact, we pray before we do all the other steps, we pray while we're doing the other steps, and we pray after the other steps.

Like prayer.

So many times Christians have this thought.

Well, I've done everything.

I guess I got to pray.

Man, you got it backwards.

Like pray first and then do everything.

Like seek the face of God.

We need the Holy Spirit to empower us to carry out what this prophet is saying.

We need wisdom and we need discernment to know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

And so pray.

And by the way, I realize that this is the dedication of the temple, the text that we're reading in 2 Chronicles.

I get the context.

But the principle is true.

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, right?

Turf in their wicked ways, seek this face.

Then God will forgive, he will heal.

And of course, he means he hurt.

Listen to me.

Listen to me.

If we want a revival in our nation, and by the way, when I when I use the term revival, I'm not talking about an extended number of services and a local church.

Even though that's good, I have no problem with that.

When I say revival, I mean where people are actually getting saved, where lives are actually changing.

Like the bars are emptying out, people quit visiting prostitutes, the drug business crashes because people are actually getting saved and they're filling up the house of God and reformation begins to start.

That's what we need.

If we want that type of revival in our nation, it is dependent upon the people of God to pray.

As great as it is to have prayer coming from the state house, and as great as it is to have prayer coming from the courthouse, the best place for prayer to be pouring into the heavenlies is from the church house.

This is where we need to pray and seek the face of God.

It needs to be God's people, it needs to be the church that is calling out to God, asking him to send a revival to our nation, that wickedness can be averted, and that righteousness can rule in the land so that all the people can prosper and be blessed under the law of the living God.

The law of God is not oppressive, it brings freedom and healing and prosperity to all who live under it.

And so we see that the first part of Micah's message condemned morally depraved rulers.

The second part of Micah's message condemned manipulative ministers.

Now, look back in our text, it's Micah chapter 3, verses 5 through 7.

Micah 3:5–7

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry peace when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.

Therefore it shall be night to you without vision, and darkness to you without divination.

The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.

The seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame.

They shall all cover Lips, for there's no answer from God.

Again, the second part of Micah's message condemned manipulative ministers.

And so Micah addressed the prophets, the preachers of the land.

And he called them out for their manipulation.

In that sense, he said, I see what you see are doing.

You prophesy peace.

You prophesy good things.

As long as the church is full, and more importantly, the offering buckets are full.

But the moment attendance, you know, dips or they quit giving all their money, all of a sudden it's war.

They go to war against you.

Why?

Because they're manipulating the people to give them money.

In other words, the prophet in Micah's time manipulated the people, they manipulated the text, they manipulated the word of the Lord, and they used it as a tactic to keep people in this thought, this mentality that they have to make the preacher rich.

Obviously, we know nothing wrong with paying your ministers, and that's biblical.

But it's another thing for a preacher to manipulate the text in an attempt to manipulate your emotions, just to give them money and money and money and money and money and money.

But it will build the kingdom of God.

You see, the second part of Micah's message condemned the manipulative ministers.

And he made it very clear to them that they would come under condemnation.

Of course, if they don't repent, of course they don't, you know, turn coarse and actually start preaching the word of God and treat it as it is, the word of the living God.

They would be condemned.

And their condemnation would come in two ways.

First, their sight would become murky, dark, dim.

It's exactly what he said, right?

He said, because of that, they're not gonna be able to see, it's gonna be night, you know, the sun's gonna go down, um, they won't be able to see.

You see, in the Old Testament, prophets were referred to as seers because the Lord would allow them to see visions, or the Lord would allow them to see into the heavenly courtroom.

And so that's why a lot of the prophets that you read in the Old Testament used courtroom language.

So you would see like God on the throne, and he would call heaven and earth, um, all of creation to be witnesses, and the Lord would bring a charge against the people, you know, and so on.

It was very it was courtroom language, and so the prophet would see this, and then he would go back and prophesy to the people of what he saw.

That's why they're called seers.

Well, one of the condemnations would be, one of the judgments upon the prophets would be they would no longer see.

The Lord wouldn't show them anything, become dark.

And then the second phase of their condemnation would take place.

Not only would they not be able to see, and things would become dark, they would become mute, they wouldn't have anything to say.

And then everything that they begin to prophesy, everything that they're preaching over time will be proven false.

And they would be ashamed, is what the text says.

Again, it doesn't take a theological degree to understand how this applies to us in today's world.

Unfortunately, our nation is plagued with manipulative ministers.

Many of the pastors in America, not all of them, many, but but there are a lot of pastors in America.

And let me say this before I start this, okay?

For every one bad pastor, there's probably like hundreds that are doing right.

You know, I don't have any exact numbers on this.

I've never done a survey or a poll, but it's it's like everything else, right?

We tend to highlight that one bad apple, you know, and then and then we use that to say everybody's evil.

And that's that's not true.

But at the same time, if we're going by the word of God, we're going by the text, there are false prophets among us, and there are false teachers in the pulpits.

That is clearly revealed to us in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

And so we see that our nation, unfortunately, at this present time is plagued with manipulative ministers.

They will pre-man, they will manipulate the text, the word of God, to preach the message and to make you feel good.

Man, and and and and to keep the you know the attendance high and and offering buckets full.

How can you tell the difference?

Let me let me explain something to you.

There's a big difference between preaching from the Bible and preaching the Bible.

There are people who preach from the Bible.

Here's how that goes they read a text and they never talk about it again.

Instead, they start telling you all kinds of stories, stuff they did.

Basically, they give you a report of what they did that week and how great they are.

Or they tell you how great you are.

And every now and then they'll bring it to the end and close, and they might somehow mention the text somehow.

That's preaching from the Bible.

That's not preaching the Bible.

Preaching the Bible is you actually deal with the text at hand.

You don't pull out one particular verse and just preach it.

Like you have to understand it's in context and the time period of what was being communicated.

Big difference.

But false preachers, false teachers don't care about that.

They don't care about treating the Word of God as it is.

The Word of the Living God.

Who inspired the scripture for us and preserved it for us so that we can have it.

To them, they just play fast and loose because it doesn't matter.

It's a means to an end to keep you coming and to keep the offerings coming.

And so our nation is plagued with manipulative ministers.

And here's the other way this is going to come to pass in our day.

Their condemnation is coming.

Manipulative ministers will be muted.

You see, the reason why there's so many pastors like that in our nation is because the people put up with it.

Jeremiah chapter 5, verses 30 through 31.

Jeremiah 5:30–31

An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their discretion.

My people love to have it.

But what will you do when the end comes?

The reason why is because people love it.

Yeah, man.

Who doesn't love going to church and being told how great you are?

That Jesus is actually blessed, that you're in the kingdom.

You know what I mean?

Like, whoo! You're God's gift to the kingdom of God.

Jesus sure is blessed.

What would he do without you?

And the truth is, what does Jesus do in spite of you?

Amen.

Right?

Like, what does Jesus do in spite of me?

That's the thing.

Like, all right, I better stop.

I mean, there's nothing to say.

Jeremiah said it.

The people love it.

But what are you going to do when the end comes?

See, here's the thing: God has already determined that the false prophets will be judged.

Their condemnation is sure.

As sure as I'm standing here, they will be judged.

Jeremiah chapter 14, verses 14 through 15.

Jeremiah 14:14–15

And the Lord said to me, The prophets are prophesying lies in my name.

I did not send them, nor did I command them to speak to them.

They're prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, although I did not send them, and who say, Sword and famine shall not come upon this land.

By sword and famine, those prophets shall be consumed.

Second Peter chapter 2, verse 1.

2 Peter 2:1

But false prophets also rose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even deny the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

It is clear as day, and that's only two of numerous passages we could go through in the scripture, that false prophets, false teachers will be judged.

So what do we do?

What do we do?

First, learn to identify a false teacher, a false prophet.

I'm not going to read all the text.

Basically tells us this don't believe every spirit.

Just because somebody comes to you and says, Oh, I got a word from the Lord and the Holy Ghost.

Doesn't mean anything.

It means nothing.

If it doesn't line up to the word of God.

Test of spirits.

Matthew chapter 7, verses 15 through 19.

Matthew 7:15–19

It tells us, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them by their fruit.

Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

It's not what they say, it's how they live.

This is why you should become very familiar with 2 Peter chapter 2.

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

I'm not going to read the entire chapter.

You do the study.

But in 2 Peter chapter 2, Peter nails, he lays out this is what a false prophet looks like.

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

And this, I mean, among other things, they're blasphemous, they're rebellious, they're greedy, they're full of sexual sin.

Um they flatter you with their words.

I mean, I go on and on.

You need to read 2 Peter 2.

That's how you tell a false prophet.

Think about this for a second.

When Paul was writing Titus and to Timothy, when he wrote to Titus and when he wrote to Timothy, Paul was telling the church, this is what you look for in a pastor.

When it comes to looking for elders in a church, and when it comes to looking for the teaching elder of the church, this is what you look for.

And when you read through those, you know what you discover?

None of them have to do with talent whatsoever.

None of them have to do with how well they speak.

None of them have to do with is he charismatic?

Does he make good eye contact?

Now that mattered when I went to seminary, I got graded on all that.

But when it comes to actually pastoring and preaching the word of God, none of that matters.

What matters?

How do they live?

It was their character that mattered.

This is how you can tell the difference between a false teacher and a true teacher.

It's how do they live.

It's not what they say, it's how do they live.

And the more you get to know somebody, the more you can discern if they are false or true.

So the first thing that we need to do is to identify them.

And that's incumbent upon all of us to do so.

And then the second thing is this reject them.

Reject them.

Romans chapter 16, verses 17 through 18.

Romans 16:17–18

It says, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles, contrary to doctrine that you have been taught.

And avoid them.

For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.

And by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Avoid them, reject them.

Don't listen to their podcast.

If you still watch the TV, don't watch them on TV.

Don't listen to them.

Well, I thought they're on radio.

But if they are, don't listen to them on radio.

I mean, avoid them.

And by all means, don't send them money.

Starve the beast.

Find good soil.

There are plenty of good churches.

There are plenty of good ministries out there that you could give to and support.

You don't have to support false teachers and false prophets.

Avoid them.

And listen to this, Galatians chapter 1, verses 8 through 9.

Galatians 1:8–9

Even if we, Paul's, think about this.

The Apostle Paul wrote this.

But even if we are an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed.

As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

You think, what does that apply today?

Mormonism?

Islam.

Muhammad claimed to receive a message from an angel.

Joseph Smith received a receipt uh claimed to receive a message from an angel.

On and on we could go.

If an angel, if a if a being comes to you and preaches something other than what's in the word of God, let them be accursed.

And so you have biblical grounds and biblical authority to reject false teaching and false teachers.

You're under no obligation to be nice to them.

Let's see, politicians, preachers, who else can I fan today?

Is there a crowd I'm forgetting?

This is a shameless plug for expository preaching.

But this is the beauty of it.

Because you can't gloss over anything, you can't skip it.

You know I'm preaching through Micah, so if I skip some verses, you're gonna be like, uh-huh, you sissy.

You didn't want to deal with it.

The second part of Micah's message condemned manipulative ministers.

And the third part of Micah's message confirmed true prophetic ministry.

So we'll close on the positive, only because Micah did.

The third part of Micah's message confirmed true prophetic ministry.

Look at it, it's Micah chapter 3 and verse number 8.

Micah 3 · chapter mention

But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

You see, the third part of Micah's message did indeed confirm true prophetic ministry.

He said, You can tell a true prophetic minister because they're filled with the Holy Spirit who empowers them to confront sin and to promote justice in the land.

You see, some of these so-called ministers around is high-profile ministers around, and everybody claims, oh, look at look at the anointing, you know, that the building is full, and people fall down when they pray for them and all that stuff.

They ain't full of the Holy Spirit because they never talk about sin.

They don't confront sin.

At least not in a way that gets in your cage and rattles it a little bit and says, hey, you might want to repent.

You see, according to the prophet, you can tell a person who is filled with the Spirit of God because they confront sin.

And they promote the law of God and justice in the land.

When I think about this, I think about John the Baptist.

You ever read that guy about him in the New Testament?

Man.

Said he can't, yeah.

He said he, you know, he was out in the Judean wilderness man.

He didn't get to preach in a nice building like this.

He was outside, had a big granite rock for a pulpit.

I don't know if he did or not, but that sounds good, doesn't it?

And there he was preaching, and they came to him by the multitudes.

You know what his sermon was so soft and so elegant.

It went something like this.

You brood of vipers! You know, you better repent.

Already the axes to the tree.

I mean, everything they tell you not how to preach is how John the Baptist preached.

Camel's hair, man, dudes eating locusts and wild honey.

I and I know what that means, but still, it conjures up a good image.

You know what I mean?

Just whoa.

I mean to the wall, preaching, calling people to repentance.

It didn't matter if they were a Pharisee or a Roman soldier, he was preaching.

Then Herod committed adultery, took his brother's wife.

Guess what happened?

John the Baptist didn't say anything because Herod, you know, he was doing, he was ruling so good.

Nope.

That's not how the New Testament records it, right?

It is not lawful for you to have her.

You can hear him thundering from the Jordan River.

It's sin! Repent.

It cost him his head.

He was full of the Holy Spirit.

And all the other fancy preachers in the area wouldn't say anything about it.

How about Jesus?

See, if you were raised in church, you have an image of Jesus.

Of this wimpy white boy with golden locks and like this incubescent glow about him.

He walks around almost effeminate.

You know what I mean?

And he always his message was something like this.

God loves you.

You're so good.

I know you got a good heart.

God loves you.

That was like not his message.

And he was not afraid to confront sin and call people to repentance.

And it didn't matter if it was a religious crowd or the political crowd.

And we missed this point in scripture.

Just read Matthew chapter 23.

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

I don't have time to go through that, but it's called the seven woes.

He would say something like, Woe is you, because you do this and that.

Woe is you, because you do this and that.

And it's the strongest condemnation that he can make.

And a lot of times when he was speaking to the Phariseeal crowd, they held a degree of political authority.

Yes, it was in a religious sway, but they also swayed Rome to make decisions because of their clout and power and authority.

So, in essence, Jesus was calling everyone to repentance.

And he was calling out their hypocrisy, and he was calling out their sin.

And he called people to obey the law, word of God.

A prime example would be Matthew chapter 22 or Matthew 21.

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

Let's talk about Matthew 21.

Jesus cleanses the temple.

You know what I mean?

It is written, My father's house shall be called a house of prayer.

But you've made it a den of thieves.

He cleansed the church.

Matthew 23 said this in verse number 23.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe meant and dill and common and have neglected the weightier matters of the law.

Listen to this of the law.

Justice, mercy, faithfulness.

These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.

When he talked about the weightier matters of the law, justice.

He was talking about love your neighbor as yourself, which he had just said in Matthew chapter 22.

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

What's the greatest commandment, preacher, teacher, talking to Jesus?

Well, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

And the other one is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.

Upon these two, hang the law of the prophets.

Hang the law of the prophets.

The law of God is summed up in this love God, love your neighbor as yourself.

And if you want to love your neighbor, then you promote the law of God in the land.

If you love your neighbor, you don't steal from them.

If you love your neighbor, you don't commit adultery on them.

You love your neighbor, you don't murder their baby and eat it.

Where'd that come from?

That's the law of God.

It's righteousness in the land that benefits everyone.

Notice, I'm not talking about denominationalism.

Notice I'm not talking about the Baptists need to be in charge, the Presbyterians need to be in charge, this script, that script.

No, no, no.

I'm saying we need to follow the law of God.

And that first starts in our hearts, and it's first taught in the home.

So that people are raised up with an understanding of what the law of God is all about, and they live life submitted to the Lordship of Christ, to King Jesus, and they promote righteousness in the land.

Now, how does this apply to us today?

Real quickly, I'll make one observation, and it would be this true prophetic ministry is still confirmed today.

But there's a qualifying statement here.

There are no more prophets today, such as Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Isaiah.

That has ceased.

There are no more prophets, but the people of God carry on the prophetic ministry.

That's what being filled with the Holy Spirit is all about.

Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Verses 17 and 18.

And in the last days it shall be, God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even on my male servants and female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Prophesy, speaking forth the things of God, speaking forth the word of God, promoting the law of God in the land.

That's what it means.

It's not walking around telling everybody, ha ha, you do this, man, you're gonna get a thousand dollars tomorrow.

That's not what it's about.

It's about preaching the word of God.

And we all have that prophetic ministry to walk into our area of influence, wherever that is, and we proclaim righteousness through the word of God.

And of course, the marching orders, Matthew 28.

I'm not gonna read that, you know it.

The Great Commission, Matthew 28, 18 through 20.

He says to, you know, go forth, baptize.

Teaching them all that I have commanded you.

All that I've commanded you, not just John 3, 16 and how to get saved.

It's what to do after salvation, it's the application of the law of God, the word of God, in society.

By the way, the apostle Paul, if you're having a hard time with this, the apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy chapter 1, that the law is good when used lawfully, and that there's no contradiction between the law and the gospel, they go together.

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

And so, even though there are no prophets today, as in Jeremiah and Micah and Ezekiel and Daniel and so on, the church is still given the prophetic ministry to the power of the Holy Spirit to preach the word of God.

And if you're if you're an elder, if you're a teaching elder and you stand behind the pulpit, it is your calling, it is your God-given calling.

It's what's required of you to be able to preach against sin.

And it doesn't matter if you're preaching against sin that's happening in the church or in the political arena.

Sin is sin, and it must be repented of, and it must come under the dominion of Jesus Christ.

Not because we're mean, but because that's the only way to find salvation and healing and deliverance is through Jesus Christ.

That's the only hope we have as a nation.

That's the only hope you have as an individual.

You must repent of your sin and come to faith in Christ.

Amen.

And God is at war with you.

If you are not a Christian, you have a sinful nature that is inclined to hate what is good and to love what is evil.

But it doesn't have to remain that way.

The great thing about the gospel is that he changes people and he brings you from an enemy to a friend of God.

He translates you and transforms you from a kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How does that happen?

By repenting of your sin and placing your faith in Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to place your faith in Christ?

Well, the best explanation I have is very similar to when you walked in this morning and you sat down in that chair.

None of you picked up that chair and shook it and turned it upside down and shook it and expected it.

No, you just sat down in it trusting that it was going to do what it was designed to do.

Hold you up.

That's what it means to place your faith in Christ.

It is to trust that the cross will do what the cross was designed to do.

Forgive you of your sin and grant you eternal life.

And the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you.

You are now saved and you are filled with the Holy Spirit.

You're no longer an enemy of God.

You are a friend of God, you're a child of God, and the Holy Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are saved.

So I call upon you, if you are not saved, if you're not a child of God, to repent of your sin and come to faith in Christ.

Right now, there's no formula, there's no like religious, you know, service that we have to do.

It is simply you believe in your heart this gospel and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you will be saved.

Romans 10, 9 and 10.

But now that word confess, when you say Jesus is Lord, here's what it means: Jesus is Lord, and I'm gonna live like it too.

Like he'll change you.

So I call upon you now.

Repent of your sin and come to faith in Christ.

If you are a child of God, if you are a Christian, then hopefully this message hit your heart.

This message was not designed to be judgmental or um purposely offensive, even though it was offensive, that was not my intent.

My intent was to confront sin just as the prophets of old did.

And here's the thing if you're a child of God, maybe you haven't been guilty of the things that I talked about today.

It's still incumbent upon you to repent for the sin of our nation.

Think about this.

When Daniel was in Babylon, he prayed three times a day and he asked for forgiveness for the sins of his people.

That he was a young man when he was carried into captivity.

He really wasn't um, he wasn't in leadership at that point carrying out the ungodly laws that caused him to go into Babylon, but he was still repentant for the sins of the nation.

Here's the point: you may not be sitting on the bench, you may not be a senator, you may not be a congressman, you may not be an alderman, you may not be a mayor, but still, you are a citizen in this nation.

Most importantly, you're a child of the Most High God, and it is incumbent upon you to repent for the sin of our nation and ask God to spare us, to not bring judgment upon us, and give us ample time to preach the word of God so that many more people can come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Thank you for listening to the Caribbean Grace Japel podcast.

Make sure that you like, share, follow us on socials.

I'm Dr.

Jason Murphy, proclaiming grace, transforming culture.