Micah chapter 6 verses 3 to 5, O my people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against me, for I brought you up from the land of Egypt. I redeemed you from the house of bondage, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Bala king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam the son of Boer answered him. From Acacia grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord. Imagine the situation Israel is surrounded by their enemies. Their arch enemy at this time in their history was Assyria in the north. They are poised just at the border of Israel. They are all ready to invade the land of Israel. One commentator has compared it to when he was a young boy in 1940 He remembered when Hitler and his huge army were just across the channel, all ready to invade England. He remembers as a young boy how a heavy, a huge black cloud hung over everything. How the news each day seemed to be darker and darker as every new bulletin was issued out. The heavy terrible gloom that hung over everything just would not go away. Had it been threatening for a long while and there it was just hanging over waiting for the invasion. That's the situation Israel are in at the moment. And then God speaks. And what does He say? He says, listen to me, hear now what the Lord has to say at this urgent time of crisis. Listen to me, and not one word does He mention about the enemy. No mention whatsoever of the imminent danger just about to break into their borders. God doesn't speak about it. He doesn't mention it. He says, listen to me. Just listen to me. And all God talks about is the condition of their hearts. At this juncture in history, at this very moment, just for their Just waiting for the enemy to come in. God talks about the condition of your heart. You see, it is real. God wants to get to the root of the problem. And He is really saying to Israel, even at this moment, get your priorities right. God wants to talk about the cause for this crisis. He wants to talk about the reason why they are in such great danger at this moment. Because God is effectively saying to him, look, I'm behind all this invasion. I have raised up these enemies against you. I predicted for years and years this is the way it would end up if you didn't sort out things out. I'm behind all this. And I can soon put it away. I can soon solve the problem. But things have to be done first. You've got to get your priorities right. Which could get to the root of the problem, Israel. Get your priorities right first. God has a complaint against Israel. Or as some verses have it, He has a controversy. with His people. You see, Israel are not ignorant pagans. Israel are God's people. Listen to the cry, Oh my people! Oh my people! It's not as if you didn't know me. It's not as if you don't belong to me. It's not as if you're ignorant pagans. You're my people and therefore your sin is much more heinous, much more serious than that of any pagan. Why is the sin of God's people more serious than the sin of he that apart from the very obvious reasons. There is this very important thing that God is trying to get through to them. God's name is dishonoured. You see, God was glorified when he took Israel into the land of Canaan. God got the glory. It's God's name that went round all the nations and said, hey, see what Israel's God did for them. What a great God Israel has. And all these other pagan nations were remaining faithful to their useless God. But Israel who had such a great God were not remaining faithful. They were giving up the worship of God. They were turning over to Baal. They were turning to worship the Ashtoreths. They were turning to worship idols. They were losing interest in the great God that they had. His name was dishonored and God was not honored as he should be. And what Ezra was doing was dishonoring to God. And you might wonder why God pleads with you so much. It's not just that you suffer. It's that His name is involved. His name is on so many. Every child that has been baptized Christ's name is on them. And it's not just to remain a name, but at least the name of God is on them. And God says, if that's not important to you, that's very important to me. And God says, this has to be sorted out, this has to be attended to. God has a complaint, He's got a controversy with His people. And isn't it good that God contends and discusses and pleads with those He has a complaint with. He doesn't, as it were, give them the cold shoulder and say, I'm not speaking to you anymore. He engages them. And here He is, here, He's saying, O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Testify against me. Do you know what God is saying? He is saying, let's talk about this. Let's discuss it. Don't say, oh, let's forget about it. No, no, He says, I want to talk about it. I want to discuss with you. What made you behave the way you are behaving? Oh my people, what have I done to you? that you should behave in this way. Let's talk about it. Let's discuss it. Let's see if I've done anything to provoke you to treat me with the contempt you're treating me with. And do you notice how God begins this chapter? He pleads his case before the mountains and he calls upon the hills to hear him. Hear, O ye mountains, the Lord's complaint, and ye strong foundations of the earth. In verse 1, plead your case before the mountains, let the hills hear your voice. God, as it were, is calling upon the mountains to bear witness. These mountains, these hills and valleys that witnessed The good things God did for them. How God was good to them. The hills and the mountains. The rock from which the water flowed from. These things could testify against Israel. How good God was to them. And he said, O my people, what have I done to you so that you ignore me? so that you treat me with such contempt." Well, what did God do for them? You know one of the first things you hear about what God did for Israel in the land of Egypt? He heard their groaning. This is what I find amazing. In Egypt, called the house of bondage. You saw it in the chapter, the house of bondage. They were so oppressed by the Egyptians that they groaned. But you don't read in the Bible that they groaned to God. You don't hear that they cried to God in their oppression. But God heard their groaning. That's what God, that's the first thing you, And I would mention that God had done for Israel in Egypt. And He says, I delivered you from bondage. I redeemed you. And that just simply means, I paid a price for your deliverance. I didn't just snap my fingers and let it be. I paid a price. That's what redemption means. When God came to redeem sinners, he paid the price of putting his own son to death. You see, someone has to pay for sin. And if you are not to pay for your own sin, someone else has to pay for it. And God said, I gave my son for that purpose. Let him pay for your sin. Redemption means a price has had to be paid for your release. And God says, who were your leaders when you were in Egypt there? Who was there that was going to take up the cudgels as we say and say, right, I'm going to lead you out of Egypt. Was there any? Any leaders? Who were your leaders? You were leaderless. But I gave you Moses and Aaron. I provided a leader for you. I equipped them to lead you out. That's what God did. What have I done that makes you treat me with this contempt? And this reference he makes here to Acacia Grove to Gilgal, Acacia Grove was the last place on the east of Jordan where Israel then camped before they went into Canaan. And after crossing the Jordan, the first place they camped in was Gilgal. So, that reference at the end of verse 5 there, the references from Acacia Grove or from Shittim to Gilgal, it's just a reference to crossing the Jordan. It wasn't just the Red Sea I took you through. I took you through the River Jordan, and remember the publicity you got for it. Remember Rahab the harlot on the wall, and Jericho. Oh, she's heard about your God. I heard what great things He did for you. I heard how He overcame awe and ovation. I remember how He conquered your enemies. What a tremendous God you have! And we began to fear and be afraid. But you know one of the most interesting things that God reminds them of and he says to them, O my people what have I done to you? And then you see in verse 5 he says, O my people remember, remember this. What does he ask them to remember? Remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam the son of Boah ransomed them. Do you remember When God gave so many victories over Israel's enemies then publicity went around and all the surrounding kings were terrified and Balak said there's only one thing we can do. The King of Moab said there's only one thing we can do against them. And he hired a professional soothsayer called Balaam. And he hired him and he said you can have as much as you like just curse Israel. That's all I'm asking you to do. Put a curse on the people, the children of Israel. God says, remember what I showed to Balaam the soothsayer when he was hired to curse you. Do you remember what came out of his mouth? Remember the vision I gave him? Remember what I put in his mouth? Oh, blessed art thou was like to him. And the professional soothsayer Balaam that was meant to curse Israel ended up by saying, Oh, what a blessed people are the people of Israel. May my last end be like Israel. The protection, the safety that God put around his people when their enemies were Engaging and hiring professional soothsayers to curse them. God says, what have I done to you Israel to deserve this treatment from you? How I protected you against your enemies when you didn't even know what was going on. There was Balak and Balam and Balak offering Balam more money and more money and more money on top of the mountain. Curse them he says. I just can't! God has protected them! God has blessed them! And I just have no power to undo what God has blessed. Wouldn't you like to be a Christian and have that God surround you, protect you and bless you? All the security of God's people How he protects his people from real danger and how oblivious they may be to that protection. How about you in the beginning of 2008? Are you any different from Israel? Are you saying, you see Ezra could have said there what God said to them at that point. Now look, let's start talking about the cause of all this. Let's start, get our priorities right. You have sinned, you need to repent, you need to be forgiven. But you can hear them say, this is not a time to talk about this. Look at the enemies. They have no time. Their priority is solving, getting rid of the Assyrians. God said no, no, that's not the priority. Maybe you at the beginning of 2008 say, look, I've got things to sort out in 2008. I have to sort out my career. I have to sort out my mortgage. I have to sort out my marriage. I have to sort out, there's hundreds of things to do first. God says to you at the beginning of 2008, get your priorities right first. Let's talk about your sin. Let's talk about the forgiveness of your sin. Let's talk about how you can repent and how you can be forgiven. Get your priorities right at the beginning. What have I done to you to deserve this treatment? What has God done to you? Just think about your own life. I think we could say this is true of every person here tonight. You look over your life. God's ensured that you are at a comfortable home with loving parents or loving people to look after you now. Hasn't he? He's put you in the hands and under the household of people who seek your good and especially your spiritual welfare. God has ensured that you've a reasonable measure of health and strength. So here tonight you've peace and quietness and health and a little time to get things right with God. God has ensured that you were born in a part of the world where there's plenty food, where there's good housing, where you can have a job. God has ensured that you were born in a time of history where there's little pain, Yes, there's pain, but well, there's hospitals, there's medication, there's painkillers, there's treatment, there's surgeons. God has ensured that you know little of war. Oh, there's plenty war on the television, plenty war in Iraq, plenty war in Afghanistan, but here in Bluis, we know little about real war. God has ordered it that you would be put in a place in the world, in geography, and in a time of history where you have the Gospel. You are not like the pagan heathens, where you can have the Bible, you can buy as many Bibles as you want, where you are allowed to worship, where you are allowed to possess as many scriptures as you wish. That's not the case everywhere throughout the world. Supposing they were available. They're not available everywhere. Not every part of the world has these things. And here you are, here you are tonight. A little peace. An opportunity to put God first. To seek first the Kingdom of God. God is saying, Oh my people. How have I waited you? What have I done to bore you? What a solemn thing it is to say we're bored. In this time of history, in this part of the world, when countless of millions are starving with hunger and perishing daily. In a year when, I think we mentioned it recently, when Remember that news skit, two boys steal, wait for it, steal food from a rat. Remember it was in the news? They found a rat stealing that food. The boys found what it was and stole it from the rat. And you're bored. You're bored. What an indictment that is against us. God has been so favourable, so kind to us. Have you got a computer? You are 1% of the world. You know the population of the percentage of the world that's got a computer? We say everyone's got a computer today, haven't we? What a small view we have. We think our circle is the world. 1% of the world's population have a computer. 1%. Do you know how many people sleep in a bed at night? What's the percentage of the world's population that sleep in a bed? I read it a few months ago. 25%. Only 1 in 4 of the world's population sleep in a bed. Now I'm not saying 75% are out in the cold, but they use hammocks, they use the floor, sleeping bags, Only 25% of the world's population sleep in a bed. You own a house? Congratulations. You're one of the top 5% of the wealthiest people in the world. If you own a house, you're in the top 5% of the wealthiest people in the world. So the statistics say. You're bored. If you want something, nowadays you don't need to wait for it, do you? Just use a credit card. Any of them. You don't have to wait, should you? Those of us who are older remember what it was like to save up for something. When did you last hear somebody saying, I'm saving up for... I'm doing without this because I'm saving up for... You don't save up nowadays. You just can't have a credit card. And you're bored. We're bored because we're so comfortable. We're so well off. You know, you may be bored. And you may be weary. But you know, you're not bored. And you're not weary with God. Do you know what you're bored with? Do you know what you're weary with? You're weary with yourself. Where's the problem? And God's saying to Israel here, get yourself fixed right first. Looking into 2008, hear God saying to you, get your priorities right. I have a controversy with you. I have a complaint with you. And see how God says testify against me. Come on. I'm listening. I'm prepared. If you've got a grudge against me, God said, spell it out. I want to hear it. Let's talk. And you see Christians ought to talk about the differences. We're not going to agree. Let's talk about what we don't agree about. That's the example of God. Let's talk. Do you notice Israel's reply? Well, let me know if you find it. Israel doesn't reply. Israel can't reply. Israel knows God's been so good. And Israel knows that Israel's been so neglectful. Israel can't answer. And here is God, in a time of extreme crisis you might say, and He is saying get your priorities right. Sort out your relationship with Me first. God can easily handle the Assyrians, no problem. God was sending the Assyrians to Israel. God was behind them. You look it up in the scriptures, God quite often says, the Bible often points out, God raised up Israel's enemies against them. God raised them up. God is behind everything. God says get your priorities right first in 2,000 and day. At the top of your priority put, getting right with God. Now, as we close this last sentence or clause of verse 5. That you may know the righteousness of the Lord. Or, I want you to know the righteous acts I did for you. I want you to know what there is for you. I want you, the word know in the Hebrew and the Old Testament is full of, it's got so many dimensions to it. I want you to experience my righteousness. You haven't got it! But I can give it to you in one moment. I can make you righteous. I can constitute you righteous. Do you know, that's the gospel. Jesus comes in the gospel and he says to you, I know exactly how unrighteous you are. But in one moment, I can constitute you absolutely perfectly righteous. Just believe in Christ. Just trust Christ. Just commit yourself to Christ. Christ, in one moment, make you righteous perfectly. God says, I want you to know that. I want you to know my righteousness. I want you to know how in one moment I can make you a righteous person just by believing the gospel. I want you to know it. That's how he concludes these first five verses. All that has proceeded is in order that in order that you may know. And as I said, the word know there is such a huge word. In order that you might experience, not just mentally, but that you might have this whole experience of being righteous before Me. Always say, I know your past. I know your character. But I can change all that in one moment. I want you to know that. I want you to know what has been done for sinners in the Gospel. I want you to know the provision in the Gospel. I want you to know the protection of the Gospel. We spoke about the protection of Israel there, when Balaam and Balak were determined to curse them, but they were protected by God. I want you to know there is protection, there is security in the Gospel. You may be vulnerable, but yet totally safe. That's the paradox of the Gospel. You become a Christian and you'll be vulnerable, but you'll be totally safe. You'll be eternally secure. Isn't that amazing? The Gospel. vulnerable but secure. I want you to know that. I want you to experience it. I want you to know the promise of the Gospel. I want you to experience it. I want you to trust Me. I want you to know the utter impossibility of perishing if you trust Me. I want you to take a leap Not in the dark, but a leap with your eyes wide open, straight to me. The one you've rejected, the one you've delayed in dealing with throughout 2007, I want you to look me straight in the face. To look straight at me and take a leap. In this First Lord Day of 2008, take a leap of faith. with your eyes wide open looking at me. Experience my love. Experience my security. Experience my blessing. Look straight at me and leap toward me for 2008 and every year of your life. All can be forgiven. A new life can begin. What have I done to you? O my people, how have I reared you? O my people, I want you to know my blessing, my favour. May God the Holy Spirit make His Word effectual to every one of us. Let's pray.