True North Church

Prosecution:

1. There is a solid case against you.

Micah 6:1-3 NLT
Listen to what the LORD is saying: "Stand up and state your case against me. Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints. And now, O mountains, listen to the LORD's complaint! He has a case against his people. He will bring charges against Israel. "O my people, what have I done to you? What have I done to make you tired of me? Answer me!

2. You have forgotten your salvation and freedom.

Micah 6:4 NLT
For I brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you.


3. Don’t blame God for your own mistakes.

Micah 6:5 NLT
Don't you remember, my people, how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead? And remember your journey from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, when I, the LORD, did everything I could to teach you about my faithfulness."

Defendants:

Micah 6:6-7 NLT
What can we bring to the LORD? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?

1. You are an unfair God!
2. We can’t possibly please 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.” (NIV)

Prosecution:

Here is what 6:8 looks like in your daily life:

Micah 6:9-16 NIV
Listen! The Lord is calling to the city---and to fear your name is wisdom---“Heed the rod and the One who appointed it. Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house, and the short ephah, which is accursed?

Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights? Your rich people are violent; your inhabitants are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully. [13] Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins. You will eat but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store up but save nothing, because what you save I will give to the sword.

You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine. You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab's house; you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”

You are being prosecuted because:

1. You are dishonest in business
2. You are violent
3. You are liars
4. Your religion is a sham.

Defendants:

Don’t blame us because:

Our government is messed up

Micah 7:3
Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil! Officials and judges alike demand bribes. The people with influence get what they want, and together they scheme to twist justice. Even the best of them is like a brier; the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns.

Our neighborhoods are messed up

Micah 7:2
The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers

vs. 5 — you can’t trust anyone — even your best friend.

Our homes are all messed up.

Micah 7:5-6
Don't trust anyone- not your best friend or even your wife! For the son despises his father. The daughter defies her mother. The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law. Your enemies are right in your own household!

VERDICT:

Start with a personal commitment, regardless of the mess.

Micah 7:7 NIV
But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Micah 7:9 NIV
Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord's wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.

Micah 7:14 NIV
Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago.

2. The Judge delights in mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

Micah 7:18-19 NIV
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

What the Judge requires:

Micah 6:8 NIV
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.

Justice = To use our power in a fair and just way.
Mercy = Love to be loving, especially to the hard-to-love.
Faithfulness = A consistent, unwavering, firm belief.
Humility = A proper view of self.