What Doth God Require? (Full) Series

INTRODUCTION

Outline.

1. That We Do Justly

2. That We Love Mercy

3. That We Walk Humbly

Introductory Remarks.

1. Today's lesson will discuss the theme: "What doth God Require?" Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, and both ministered in the Southern Kingdom (Judah). The name Micah means, "Who is like Jehovah?" The theme of Micah is: “To hear.” A recurring theme unto God's people: “The first of all commandments is to: Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord...There are no other commandments greater than these,” Mark 12:29-31. Isaiah prophesied in the king's court, while Micah humbly spoke unto the ordinary people. Micah, like Amos, prophesied strongly against immorality, social injustices, and the oppression of the poor by the rich and powerful. These seem to be similar sins that now plague our Nation, along with the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Micah was answering the question of the people: “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD?” Micah responded: “He hath shown thee, O man, what is good (righteous), and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:6-8. These are qualities of faith and obedience that God delights in His people. We will notice what God requires and how this Nation has: “fallen short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23.

2. First, we will observe that God requires that: “we do justly” before Him, our brethren, and our fellow man, regardless of their religious, racial, or economic standing. God has somewhat against Judah and America as well. They were dealing treacherously, dishonestly, and without integrity among each other and with their fellow man. The rich set out to oppress the poor. The merchants defrauded and deceived their customers. And their religious establishment permitted their immorality, injustices, and corrupt practices to go unchecked. Micah was crying out within the land against the people, while Isaiah was accusing: "That the leaders of this people have caused them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed,” Isaiah 9:16. Is there one crying out in this land, to do justly unto all men, that God might be well pleased?

3. Second, we will consider that God requires that: “we love mercy” and show compassion and goodwill unto all men. We are witnessing a time of sickness and death in America; none have seen it since the "flu pandemic of the early 19th century." What is missing during this pandemic is love, mercy, and compassion for those who are sick and dying. This Nation has suffered the loss of over 1.5 million people to the coronavirus, yet not one religious leader has offered a prayer for this Nation. Instead of working together, we had an Administration thwarting the health and welfare of this Nation. The former President was golfing while the Nation was burying its dead in mass graves. He had no national policy, plan, or response to this terrible pandemic. Where was the mercy and compassion for the American people? Why don't our religious leaders speak out against what seems to be a terrible injustice to portions of America's population? Micah cries: “Who is a God like unto thee?” There is none just as the King of Kings, and none so merciful, who pardons “the remnant of His heritage.” And His: “hand is stretch out still to pardon and forgive Judah, and America of all her iniquities,” Isaiah 9:17. For if this Nation: "Should seek the Lord if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though he is not far from every one of us,” Acts 17:27; Isaiah 55:6-11.

4. Lastly, we will investigate what God requires: “We walk humbly before Him.” If there is one sin that magnifies all others in this Nation, it is a sin of pride. One person thinks it is superior to another. When we lift ourselves over others, this is not walking humbly before God. This Nation no longer walks humbly. We once trusted and reverenced God. But now, we walk in arrogance, pride, and divisiveness before God and the world. It is a pride and a haughty spirit that brings all nations to ruins, Proverbs 16:18; Isaiah 2:11-12. Other people no longer envy our prosperity and freedom but see us as "a people to be pitied." Like Judah, we have become “an abomination before God,” Proverbs 16:5; Proverbs 16:12. This Nation must repent and turn back unto God, or perish and suffer ruins like Samaria and Jerusalem, in Micah's prophecy. With this brief introduction, let’s consider our first point of what God requires: “To do justly.”

BODY OF LESSON

I THAT WE DO JUSTLY

A. Micah, the prophet. The name Micah means “who is like Jehovah?” There is none so just as the King of Kings: And yet none so merciful, who pardons, “the remnant of His heritage,” Isaiah 9:17. There is a similarity between the message of Micah and Isaiah. His preaching is vital to America's problems today. Observe--