All right. So we're there in Micah chapter three.
We've been going chapter by chapter.
And if you look at verse number two,
it begins by saying who hate the good and love the evil.
What a horrible thing to hate the good and to love the evil.
So the title of the sermon tonight is Love Good Hates Evil.
Love Good Hates Evil.
Now as Micah, we've been seeing the last two chapters.
He's a prophet that God is using to preach
against both the northern kingdom of Israel
and the southern kingdom of Judah.
And so when you begin there in verse number one,
it seems to me once again
that this chapter is toward both those nations.
In verse number one it says,
and I said, here I pray you,
oh heads of Jacob.
So he mentions there, right, the heads of Jacob.
And then he says this,
and ye princes of the house of Israel.
So once again, he seems to be identifying two nations.
Now when he says the princes of the house of Israel,
obviously that's all about the northern kingdom of Israel.
Okay.
So when he says the heads of Jacob,
he's speaking about the southern kingdom.
Okay, Jacob is also Israel.
And of course, the children of Israel
became the 12 tribes of Israel
and then divided into these two kingdoms.
And then he says at the end of that in verse number one,
is it not for you to know judgments?
So verse number one, who is he directing it to?
Well both nations, but who of both nations?
Well he said there, the heads of Jacob,
the princes of the house of Israel.
So he's speaking to the politicians.
He's speaking to the governors.
He's speaking to the kings.
He's speaking to the heads of the nations.
The first few verses of this chapter
is directed to the politicians.
And then Micah begins to preach against the prophets.
Because one thing that you'll start to notice,
and you probably noticed this in Australia,
is that when a nation is going backwards,
when a nation hates the Lord,
when a nation is turning its back against the laws of God,
there are two primary groups at fault,
the kings and the prophets.
Okay.
And so as we continue to see in Australia,
turn its back against the Lord,
you're going to start to notice more corrupt politicians
and more corrupt prophets.
Okay.
This is just a general trajectory
of a nation going backward.
Now, you see there, what are they to know?
What are the heads of Jacob?
What are the princes of Israel supposed to know?
At the end of verse number one it says,
is it not for you to know judgment?
Micah is saying, you need to know judgment.
You need to know how to make decisions.
So, in other words,
you're not making the right decisions for the nations.
Why don't you know judgment is the question.
Now, keep your finger there,
and come with me to Proverbs, please.
Proverbs chapter two.
Proverbs, of course, the book of wisdom.
Proverbs chapter two, please.
Proverbs chapter two.
Now, you know, I get asked this question sometimes,
and I don't really know the full answer.
Do politicians and prophets become corrupt
because the people are corrupt?
Or do people become corrupt
because the politicians and the prophets become corrupt?
Like, I don't know.
I must feel like it's a chicken and egg situation.
Because sometimes in the Bible,
I see it's the prophets,
it's the politicians causing problems.
But then sometimes I'd say
it's just the people of the land
that are excessively wicked.
So then God gives them just horrible princes.
God gives them horrible prophets
because that's what they deserve
just being wicked people on the land.
I don't know exactly.
But one thing that we definitely pick up here
is that people in power,
people like prophets and people like princes,
they just want to appease the mass.
They just want to look good in the sight of the populace.
And so the populace are evil.
If the populace is seeking to move away from the Lord,
so too eventually will the princes and the prophets.
And so Micah says, don't you know judgment?
Like, it doesn't matter what direction the nation is headed in.
It doesn't matter what the populace wants.
Judgment remains the same.
Princes and people of authority and judges
are true to the judgments that God has laid out in His Word.
And so when we see Proverbs 2 verse number 6,
Proverbs 2 verse number 6 says,
For the Lord giveth wisdom,
out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
We know that to be the case.
It continues, He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous.
He's a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
Look at this, He keepeth the paths of judgments
and preserveth the way of His saints.
What I love about verse number 8 there,
we're talking about the paths of judgment.
You know, the princes, the heads that have been asked,
don't you know judgment?
You might say, well, judgment might change.
Society changes, so our decisions change.
You know, there was once when the people were generally against abortion
and so the politicians are against abortions.
But society changes and then mothers want to be able to murder
their own children in their womb.
And they believe that's their right.
And so we as politicians, we're just going to cave into that
and now our judgment's different.
Now we're going to allow abortions up to a certain limit,
or what have you.
And you know, I remember growing up, you know,
in the 80s and the 90s,
and politicians were being asked about homosexuals
and the politicians would say,
yeah, we would never allow homosexual marriage.
And you know, because that's what the populace generally wants.
And then what happens a few decades later,
the populace changes and the politicians' judgment changes.
And now, look, why not?
Love is love and let people get married
regardless of what their sexual desires are.
Like how horrible.
But you see, when it comes to judgment,
when it comes to using judgment in terms of society,
because society changes, people change,
so will judgment change.
But one thing we see here in verse number 8,
he, speaking of God, keepeth the path of judgment.
You see, once God creates a path of judgment,
he keeps it.
It's preserved.
God's judgment never changes.
Abortion will always be wicked.
Homosexual marriage will always be an abomination.
God's judgment never changes.
God keepeth the paths of judgment.
And so when the politicians are changing their minds
and Mike is like,
don't you guys know judgment?
I mean, you might say,
it must be difficult to pass judgment.
Well, not really, because it never changes.
If we could just stay true to God's word,
judgment would be one of the easiest things to do.
Because there'd be a situation that develops in society.
And then the question is, what do we do?
How do we pass judgment?
What decision do we make?
Well, let's open God's word, which never changes,
and then we can pass judgment according to God's word.
That ought to be how nations are run.
That ought to be how the Northern Kingdom of Israel
was to be run, or the Southern Kingdom of Judah was to run.
Look at verse number nine.
Then shall thou understand righteousness and judgment.
Look, then thou shalt understand righteousness
and judgment and equity, yea, every good path.
So we'll understand righteousness, judgment,
that's the point, right?
We'll understand judgment, why?
Because we go to God for his judgment.
And when you don't go to God for his judgment,
guess what?
You're not going to know judgment.
And so as Micah's preaching against these princes
and these people in authority and these judges,
he says, you guys don't know judgment meaning.
You can see that they've turned their hearts away from the Word of God.
They're no longer passing judgment
according to God's principles and laws and decisions
and his way past of righteousness.
Now they're just passing judgment according to society's desires.
Come back with me to Micah chapter three, please, verse number two.
Micah chapter three, verse number two.
And brethren, if you're ever going to take a position of leadership,
you need to pass judgment.
You need to understand that you can't just appease the people
that are under your authority.
As fathers, you can't just make decisions
because that's going to make your wife happy.
Look, I hope the decision you make makes your wife happy.
In the long run, if you're a leader,
if you're putting your foot down
and you're doing the best decisions for your family,
it will make your wife happy.
It will make your children happy.
But as leaders, whether you're a pastor
or, you know, whether you're a boss in the workplace,
you've got to make sure the decisions are the best and right decisions.
It's not always about appeasing people.
And it's very difficult, you know, in positions of authority.
I've already been in that place where I have to make a decision,
do I do what is right or do I just make the people happy?
Because if I make the people happy, it's going to be more peaceful.
It's going to be easier.
But no, you've got to decide, especially as a church pastor,
we just have to make the right decision according to God's judgments.
And sometimes that's going to make you unpopular.
And in many times it will make you unpopular.
And fathers who want to raise their children in the nurture and admission of the Lord,
sometimes it's going to make you unpopular even in the eyes of your own children.
Because you're not giving them all the liberties and the freedoms
they see that the worldly kids might have.
Kids that do not live under the same laws, God's laws that your children do.
And so look, we get to verse number two where we get the title from.
About these politicians who hate the good.
Man, what a bad place to be when you hate the good.
And love the evil who pluck off their skin from off them
and their flesh from off their bones.
We'll talk about the skin and bones there in a moment.
But you see the problem here is that the politicians now love the good,
hate the good and they love the evil.
Now I want to show you a few references.
If you can come with me to the book of Amos.
Keep your finger there.
Come with me to Amos chapter five.
Amos was a prophet for the mainly the northern kingdom of Israel.
Okay, Amos was a prophet for the northern kingdom of Israel.
And he preached, his ministry was roughly 20 to 30 years before Micah.
Okay, so Amos was preaching before Micah.
All right.
So if Micah is saying to the politicians, you hate the good and you love the evil.
I want you to see the preaching 20 to 30 years before Micah preach that.
Okay, in Amos chapter five, Amos chapter five and verse number 14.
God using the prophet Amos is preaching to the northern kingdom of Israel
because they were faring much worse than their southern neighbors.
All right, but in Amos 5 14, God says to the Israelites to the northern kingdom,
seek good and not evil that ye may live.
And so the Lord the God of hosts shall be with you as you have spoken.
You see that 20 30 years before we what we read in Micah.
God is some of the people say good don't seek evil and the Lord of hosts.
Be with you like they still have this opportunity to to be made right with God, right?
God is telling them look just do what is right.
Look at verse number 15, hate the evil and love the good.
Right, you can see 20 30 years ago God saying look hate the evil, love the good.
And establish, look at this, establish judgment in the gates.
Pass right judgment guys.
It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
God is saying boy you get this right.
You know just fix these things, pass the right judgments, love good, hate evil.
God says you know then I'm going to show, I'm going to be gracious towards you.
You've got a chance, God's always given these people chances and chances and chances.
20 30 years go by and they haven't fixed it.
You notice that? We get to Amos and they haven't fixed it.
They're worse now instead of God telling them to love the good.
He said you actually love the evil like they've done the complete opposite.
Can you believe it? Now, you know, we can turn around and blame Amos.
Amos you weren't just you weren't a great preacher.
You told them to love the good and guess what they love the evil.
No, that's not the case. The preacher's job is to preach the truth.
And this actually helps me a lot as a pastor. My job is just to preach the truth.
And at the end of the day guys, it's up to you. Which is a because I've got enough to deal with.
Like I've got my own life to get right,
you know, I've got my own life to be holy and to live,
you know, according to God's ways and then to instruct my family in the ways of the Lord.
I feel like that's like enough. Imagine if I had to be in charge of everybody's life individually.
What we see here, Reverend, is that Amos preaches. He's preaching what is true.
I guess you could say Amos failed as a preacher. No, he didn't fail.
He succeeded because he succeeded preaching God's Word.
God holds each person accountable for their own walk with God.
God does not hold someone's life accountable like,
you know, brother Oliver's life and I've got to be accountable for his life or something.
If I'm preaching the truth and brother Oliver says, I'm not going to do that.
I'll do the opposite. I'm going to go love the evil.
Well, that's on you, brother. That's on you, sis. That's on you, you know.
And if I do, like, if I preach the truth and I do the opposite,
God's going to hold me accountable for my life and my life's decisions,
not somebody else. And again, that gives me a lot of relief.
You know, look, as long as I just be true to God's Word,
at the end of the day, I've done all I can as a pastor.
I've done all I can as a preacher. And then it just comes down to the individual.
You know, I hope 20 to 30 years, we're all a little more righteous.
I hope after six years or seven years as your pastor,
I hope you're a little more holy.
I hope you love the Lord a little more.
I hope you know your Bible's a little bit more.
I'd hate to think, man, seven years of the past and we've just gone backwards.
I feel sorry for Amos because that's what happened.
It didn't get any better for him, right? But hey, he was still successful.
He preached the truth of God's Word.
Come with me to another book now. Come with me to Isaiah.
Okay, so Amos was 20 to 30 years before Micah,
but Isaiah preached around the same time as Micah.
Okay, so they're contemporaries. All right?
So come with me to Isaiah chapter 5, please.
Isaiah chapter 5 and verse number 20.
And I just want to show you the, you know, the pattern or the connections of the scriptures.
So you can see that, you know, I called this sermon love good and hate evil for a reason
because when you compare Amos and Micah and Isaiah,
you can definitely see what the problem is of the people of the land,
especially those in authority.
And in Isaiah chapter 5 verse number 20, it says,
Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil
and put darkness for light and light for darkness
that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
So you can see there, there are, you know, the reason they love evil
is because they're calling the evil good.
So they turn around to society. We do love what is good.
We love equity, diversity. Love is love.
Right? What they do is they take what is evil and they make it seem like it's good.
And so instead of, you know, they'll say that we love what is good.
No, but they've turned what is good to evil and they've turned what is evil to good.
And I feel like we live in that world today right now.
I feel like Australia is on a downward spiral.
I feel like God's got to do something.
God's got to step in and judge this nation.
I don't know how he will to turn the hearts of the people back to him.
A fear of God.
You know, we're doing what we can as New Life of the Church
to preach the gospel, to preach God's word faithfully,
to put it out there on YouTube or other social media platforms
for people to hear the truth of God's word.
But at the end of the day, brethren, what more can we do?
We're focused on living holy lives.
We're focused on letting people know about the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
But people are going to call even what we do evil.
Going soul winning. People are going to call that evil.
You know, it's just this is the world that we live in.
And I want you to notice why they do that.
Why they call what is evil good and what is good evil.
Because look at verse number 21.
It continues.
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes.
Okay.
And prudent in their own sight.
Again, it's the pride.
I know better than God.
I know God's word says that, but let me tell you what I think.
Let me tell you my wisdom.
Boy, the wisdom of man will always fail in comparison to God's truth.
It's just how it is.
People lift themselves up.
They think they know better than the Bible.
Look at verse number 22.
Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine,
and men of strength to mingle strong drink,
which justify the wicked for reward.
See, it says here that drinking alcohol is a wicked thing.
But it's like you reward it.
It's like you're manly to drink the beer.
All right.
You've got to be a man, you know.
You've got to, I don't know, people talk.
I can drink.
I don't know what it's like because I've been so out of,
like I've not been ever really in that scene.
I can drink five beers and I'm still sober or something like that.
Like the manliness, like you know,
what I can sustain these alcohol levels in my blood or something like that.
No, it's wicked.
Drinking alcohol is wicked.
There's no justification.
We can't call that good.
At the end of verse number 23,
and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him.
So someone that does it righteously,
you take away their righteousness from him
because they're calling what is good evil.
Remember that?
Reverend, when we go soul winning, that's righteous.
And if someone mocks our soul winning efforts,
they're trying to take the righteousness away from the righteous.
That's the world we live in.
That's the world of Isaiah.
That's the world of Micah.
That's the world that Amos was trying to stop 20 to 30 years ago.
Wouldn't we say Australia was quite different 20 to 30 years ago?
I know Australia was different.
There was a fear of God.
People went to church.
People don't really want to go to church today.
And going back even before I was born,
I think I mentioned this before,
but in Fiji, what do we notice on Sundays guys?
We went to Fiji.
People have a fear of God.
There were no shops open.
We were like, where do we eat?
Everything's closed.
And as you're driving on Sundays,
you're going through the streets,
you're hearing singing over here,
you're singing hymns, singing praises to God.
Look, they're not saved.
Many of them obviously.
They still need to hear God's word.
But there's a fear of God.
And you know, Australia was once like that.
I heard stories when I was a kid
that not long before I was a child,
they were talking about how all the stores used to be closed on Sundays
and people just went to church.
Now all the stores are open,
and then instead of church,
people are going to their sporting events on a Sunday.
It's all changed in just a matter of decades.
And the preachers were preaching well back then.
I'm sure some of them were.
But society just continues to deteriorate
and deteriorate and deteriorate.
And as we keep going through this chapter,
the only solution God has for them is captivity, judgment.
And I feel like that's where we're headed.
Now whether that's going to be judgment and captivity
and tribulation of the end times
or whether there's still a cycle to go,
a few more cycles to go in world history, I don't know.
But what we see here is we continue on this trajectory as a nation.
There's going to be judgment.
God's going to bring great judgment upon Australia
and other wicked nations like ours.
Go back with me to Micah chapter 3, please.
Micah chapter 3 and verse number...
Well, let's look at verse number 2 again.
Because those that hate good and love the evil,
it continues saying,
who pluck off their skin from off them
and their flesh from off their bones.
So what is that about?
Look, I'll just say this very quickly.
The Bible's been taken literally
until it's obviously not literally.
Okay, let's keep reading there.
Verse number 3.
Who also eats the flesh of my people
and flay their skin from off them.
So they're being skinned alive, as it were, right?
And they break their bones
and chop them in pieces
as for the pot
and as flesh within the cauldron.
Okay, so this isn't literally happening, okay?
This is symbolism, I guess.
This is cannibalism, okay?
God is using the description
or the illustration of cannibalism
to describe how the politicians,
how the governors
treat the people of the land, okay?
Instead of seeing people
as precious life,
instead of seeing themselves
as ministers of society,
they look at human beings as an asset.
What can I gain from this person, okay?
Like, for example,
instead of our governments today
thinking how do we reduce our expenses,
how do we reduce costs,
how do we have smaller governments,
how do we run more efficiently, more productively,
how do we become less of a burden
on the average Australian?
They don't think like that, okay?
They look at the average Australian,
they look at you and I, and you know what they see?
Dollar signs.
How do we charge them more tax?
And, you know, when it comes to
times to vote for a new government,
or whatever it is, you know, when it comes to voting,
then that's when the pollsters come out,
we're gonna cut taxes, and we're gonna make it easier.
But, yeah, they cut here,
but then they add over here.
You're always doing worse off.
Like, they look at the average human being
as a dollar sign, right?
When the economy is coming,
apparently the economy is slowing down.
So instead of saying, hmm, the economy is slowing down,
that must mean the average Australian has less to spend.
No, we need the economy to continue,
because we need to continue collecting our taxes.
What do we do?
Oh, let's bring in a great number of immigrants.
You know, let's increase the immigrants.
I'm not against immigration.
But that's how they think.
Let's increase immigration. Why?
Because you're trying to help those people have a better life?
No, no, no.
Because the economy is slowing down,
we need more people, more workers,
more tax revenue, and more expenditures
going on in the shops with more people,
but then what happens?
Then there's less houses, okay?
So the quality of life decreases.
But this is how the politicians work.
They're not thinking about the quality of life
of their, you know, citizens.
They're not looking for the best of the people.
They just say dollar signs, how can I be elected,
how do we increase taxes, how do I increase my pocket?
You know, the wallet in my pocket.
You know, I feel like, yeah, there we go.
You know, whoever gets voted in,
I think there's elections this year for Australia,
they're just going to be thinking,
how do I line my pockets?
They're going to look at you as cattle, as assets,
not as a genuine, precious life that God has created.
It's unfortunate that we live in such a wicked world.
We ought to be praying for our politicians.
We ought to be praying that God would just bring in
people who fear the Lord.
It's hard, it's hard to get into that system
if you fear the Lord.
I think, you know, if you're someone
who has a genuine heart, man, I want to do the best for Australia.
You know, I've been blessed here.
There's so many opportunities.
I want to do what is right for the people.
That person usually is just not going to rise to the top, unfortunately.
Okay, they get eaten alive and spat out, usually.
But hey, it doesn't matter.
As God's people, we are instructed to pray for our kings
and our politicians and our governors.
Let's continue verse number four.
Then shall they cry unto the Lord.
So at some point, the politicians are going to cry to the Lord.
But He will not hear them.
He will even hide His face from them at that time
as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
Okay, so what this is telling us is before a nation collapses,
just completely collapses,
or a nation is about to be taken over by a foreign nation
or something like that, right?
Some great warfare.
At some point, the politicians go, like they've ignored God all this time.
At some point, they're like, God help us.
Because every man knows God exists.
We've all got that knowledge within us.
We know God exists.
We think we can ignore God, but when things get difficult
and the nation's about to collapse
and the people are asking for blood on the politicians' heads
or whatever it is, God help us.
God says it's too late.
I'm not going to hear what you have to say.
I'm not going to answer your prayers.
That's how God responds to these wicked people.
It's like you're interested in cannibalism.
You just want to destroy the people.
I'm not going to hear what you have to say.
Verse number five.
Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets.
Now God turns His attention to the prophets.
Okay, you'll often find these are the main two, you know,
groups of leaders that God is always criticizing
when a nation's going backward.
You know, it's scary because I'm one of those prophets,
a preacher of God's word, right?
I want to be one of these guys that we read about here.
It's the last thing.
I want to be a Micah.
I want to be an Amos.
That's what I want to be.
I want to be an Isaiah or something like that, right?
But God speaks of these other prophets.
Verse number five.
Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets.
That make my people err.
Err means error.
You cause people to make mistakes, to do the wrong things.
Look at these prophets.
They bite with their teeth and cry peace.
So these false prophets, what are they known for?
Their hypocrisy.
They'll go on the attack, okay?
They'll go on the attack, they'll mock, they'll criticize.
All right, they go, you know, like a soldier who sincerely,
like, you know, causing war against people.
But then when people react to it,
oh peace, oh, I don't know.
It's like if you're going to go on the attack,
you know what's going to happen?
There's going to be a response.
If you go and mock, people are going to react.
But the false prophets are known for the hypocrisy.
Oh, peace.
I'm being victimized.
I didn't plan to preach those.
We're up to Micah 3.
I'm being attacked.
I'm being victimized.
No, you went on the attack.
You bite with your teeth.
The hypocrisy of false prophets.
And then he continues.
And here that putteth not into their mouths,
even they prepare war against him.
So the prophet, so here that,
he is the person listening to the preacher.
So here that putteth not into their mouths.
So again, like the politicians,
prophets look at their congregation.
How can I consume you?
You know, how can I take in your resources?
Brother, did you tithe this week?
You know, you better chuck it in there.
Or you just sold your house.
Hey, you know, consider this pastor, guys, come on.
Start to consume.
They see people in the church
as a way they can grow, you know,
and consume upon their lusts.
So when here that putteth not into their mouths,
so if there's someone that can't be a help,
if there's someone they look at
that is no longer someone that they can use and abuse,
it says even they prepare war against him.
Oh, while I can use you,
we're friends,
but now that I don't need you anymore,
I'm going to go to war against you.
I'm not making this up.
That's what the Bible says.
That's what false prophets do.
This is a telltale sign of a false prophet.
If I can't,
if you're not a benefit to me anymore,
I hate you.
I'm going to war against you.
Wow, it's crazy how true the Bible is.
Verse number six,
now God's speaking to the false prophets again,
Therefore night shall be upon you,
and ye shall not have a vision,
and it shall be dark unto you,
that ye shall not divine,
and the sun shall go down over the prophets,
and the day shall be dark over them.
You know what I'm reminded of here?
Actually, I'll keep that to verse number seven.
Let's read verse number seven quickly.
Then shall the seers be ashamed.
The seers are prophets,
just another name for it, okay?
And the diviners confounded.
Yea, they shall all cover their lips,
for there is no answer of God.
God is saying that
when a false prophet begins to abuse people,
that God will remove all the visions,
all the knowledge,
all the wisdom from their minds and their hearts.
It'll become dark.
You know, they won't know what,
because it says in verse number seven,
but there is no answer of God.
And again, you go to the average church these days,
and they've got a Bible,
and they'll read a Bible verse.
They'll read a verse,
and then all of a sudden,
the preaching is not God's word.
Look, I'm not saying I'm this perfect preacher.
I'm not saying that every single verse
I've ever used
was exactly God's intention,
because I know I'm a human being,
and I can make mistakes.
But you'll find,
as things continue to get darker within our society,
that preachers are going to be able to open God's word,
and they'll be able to quote some verse,
and then as they preach and teach from that verse,
you'll start to notice
that's got nothing to do with the context
that it's found in.
That is just out of context.
That verse is not saying what the preacher is saying,
because their understanding has gone dark.
God has removed that word.
Their understanding has gone dark.
God has removed that wisdom from them.
And that's why it says,
yea, they shall cover their lips.
It's like they can't preach God's word anymore.
Okay?
So there is no answer of God.
Now, this is God's answer,
and they can.
They can open it and read it,
but what they're preaching
is not what God actually says.
That's a scary place to be.
You know, I'm not trying to
sound charismatic or anything like this here,
but when I was ordained as a pastor,
and I started a new life at this church,
like, this is the truth.
I can't explain.
That God's word all of a sudden
was even clearer to me
than it's ever been.
Like, my understanding of God's word multiplied
after being ordained and sent out.
Like, it's like, wow,
I really get the Bible even more.
Like, I thought I got it before,
but like, I read it,
and I was like, wow, even more so.
Because God enables the man
to be able to be used by him.
You know, we're weak,
but God is strong,
and we are preaching God's wisdom,
God's knowledge,
and it's always going to be better
than my wisdom and my knowledge.
But these prophets,
they're going to lose that ability.
Their understanding is going to go dark.
Their preaching is going to become worse.
Their preaching is going to be less.
It's not going to resemble
what God's word truly says.
Now, look at verse number seven.
It says, then shall the seers be ashamed.
Now, come with me to Psalm 49, please.
Come with me to Psalm 49.
I'm just reminded of something
that I've come across.
Maybe you've seen this
on YouTube or whatever,
on Facebook or something like that.
But there's this TV evangelist in America.
His name is Jesse DePlantis.
Does anyone know who that is?
Okay.
I've never really grown up
knowing all these false prophets,
but anyway,
this guy is a multi-billionaire, right?
He's got the private jets.
He's got the huge mansions.
And anyway, he's on this television program
with his wife.
And he's trying to tell the people on the TV
why God's just blessed him
and there's nothing wrong
with this excessive wealth.
And in fact, he says,
look, let's turn to Psalm 49
and verse number 16.
And I don't know what version
he's reading from,
but he reads this.
He goes, Psalm 49, 16.
He goes, the Bible reads,
be not thou afraid
when one is made rich.
And something like, amen, see,
I'm one that's been made rich.
Don't worry about it.
Don't concern yourself
because he's getting the criticism, right,
about being just chasing money and all this.
And then he says,
when the glory of his house is increased.
And so he reads that
from a positive perspective,
speaking of himself.
You know, that God,
that he's the glory of his house.
God's increased his house.
So don't be afraid.
Don't worry about it, guys.
You know, this is the hand of the Lord
upon my, the blessings of my ministry
and what have you, right?
And then he gets his wife
to read it from another version.
I know what version she reads it from.
But it says in verse number 16,
something like,
be not thou afraid of the wicked
when one is made rich,
or something like that.
When the wicked is made rich
or something like that.
And he's like, oh.
Have you guys seen that?
I don't know if you've seen it.
It's so funny, okay?
But anyway, look at verse number 17
because he continues,
like who is this one being made rich?
It says, for when he dieeth,
he shall carry nothing away.
His glory shall not descend after him.
So this rich guy, like this Psalm says,
look, he's not going to be able to take anything with him anyway.
It doesn't matter for eternity.
And drop down to verse number 19.
He shall go to the generation of his fathers.
They shall never see light.
So this wicked be made rich is who?
Someone when they die,
they'll never see light.
This is not a believer.
This is not one of God's people, okay,
who's going to live in the new heavens
and the new earth
and live in the light of Christ
and the light of new Jerusalem.
No, this is a wicked man being made rich.
And so you got this TV billionaire evangelist
going, you know, like speaking,
trying to make this a positive, okay?
Speaking of himself.
And I just find that funny
because verse number seven says there,
then shall the seers be ashamed,
is what we saw in Micah 3.
And here's the shame.
It's so embarrassing on live TV
and then people made a clip of it
and they're all laughing at him,
mocking at him.
And it's true.
This is what happens.
Eventually with false prophets,
they go too far
and they're just made ashamed.
Everyone just laughs at their stupidity,
at their foolishness.
Back to Micah 3, verse number 8.
Micah 3, verse number 8.
And boy, this is what I want in my life, brethren.
Please pray for me as a preacher.
What does Micah say?
But truly, he compares himself to the false prophets.
But truly, I am full of power
by the spirit of the Lord.
That's right, man.
Micah says, look, I'm full of the power
of the spirit of the Lord.
Look at this.
And of judgment.
He goes, oh preach what is right
and of might to declare unto Jacob
his transgression and to Israel his sin.
Again, there's Jacob and Israel,
probably Israel and the northern kingdom,
Jacob and the southern kingdom, right?
He goes, look, I'm so full of the spirit of the Lord,
I have to preach against your sin.
Remember, these leaders,
they're saying what is evil is good.
And what is good is evil.
This is not, I'll tell you the truth.
I'll pass right judgments
by the spirit of the power of the Lord.
I'll tell you about your sin.
And brethren, as God's, you know,
people as preachers, sorry, I should say,
we need to preach against sin.
I need to preach against sin.
It's important
that we hear from the spirit of the Lord.
When I preach, I want to say,
what is evil is evil
and what is good is good
and not mix it up.
Keep me in prayers, brethren,
because you know I'm a human being.
And I need to be fueled
by the power of the spirit of the Lord
as I get up to preach.
I don't want to go down the paths
of the false prophets
that simply look for gain
and look at, you know, their church members
as what I can benefit from
and when I can't benefit from them anymore,
then I don't care about them.
It's horrible, horrible.
So I love that how Micah says
that I'm not like those false prophets.
And it's still the nations going backwards,
even with great preachers like Micah,
even great preachers like Isaiah.
All these men can do is preach the truth
and then everybody has to be accountable
for their own walk with the Lord.
Verse number nine.
Hear this, I pray you,
ye heads of the house of Jacob
and princes of the house of Israel
that abhor judgments
and perverts all equality.
They build up Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
What he's speaking about here,
about building up Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity
is what he preached in chapter two.
Just as a reminder,
come back with me to Micah two
just very quickly.
Verse number one.
Micah chapter two, verse number one.
Woe to them that devise iniquity
and work evil upon their beds
when the morning is light
they practice it because
it is in the power of their hand
and they covet fields
and take them by violence
and houses and take them away
so they oppress a man in his house
even a man and his heritage.
And so there we see in chapter two
how they're stealing people's properties
and houses and lands
and we saw the example of King Ahab
who caused, he had his wife Jezebel,
what was the man's name
that they took the vineyard from?
Sorry?
Neighbor, that's right.
And they murdered him,
they took his land,
they took his vineyard,
and they took his vineyard
and so once again Micah's just kind of
repeating the same thing
that you know you've built Jerusalem,
you've built yourselves up
by the blood of others.
You know you're so violent,
you're so, you just destroy.
Again that view of cannibalism,
you're just eating people up,
you don't care about it.
Verse number 11.
The heads thereof judge for reward.
So people pass judgment for money.
They're being bribed.
The politicians are being bribed.
You know the judges,
they're being bribed.
It says and the priests thereof
teach for hire.
So they're not teaching
simply for God's truth.
They're like who's gonna pay me the most?
Are you gonna pay me the most?
Okay what do you want me to preach?
So I can make you happy.
So I can earn my paycheck.
It says and the prophets
thereof divine for money.
Yet will they lean upon the Lord
and say is not the Lord among us?
None evil can come upon us.
So they speak like believers.
They act like they're leaning upon the Lord.
They say to the people
is not the Lord among us?
But you can see that
all they care about is money.
All they care about is hire.
They preach, they judge
according to who's gonna give them the money.
Now very quickly,
can you keep your finger there?
Can you keep your finger there?
Come with me to 1 Corinthians 9 please.
1 Corinthians 9.
Because we have these passages in the Bible
and you know I do earn an income
you know from the church
and things like that.
You say pastor did you you know for hire?
And I feel like
when people ask me those questions
I always have to remind people
I started this church.
I went 15 years, 15 months
without getting paid.
This is the lowest paying job
I've ever had in my life.
It is.
But look, I just want to show you this
because some people believe
pastors should not be paid.
And so people might use a verse
like verse 11 and say see
you're doing it for hire
therefore you're doing it for wrong reasons.
But look at 1 Corinthians 9 and 11.
1 Corinthians 9 and 11.
If we have sown unto you spiritual things
is it a great thing
if we shall reap your carnal things?
If others be partakers
of this power over you
are not we rather?
Nevertheless we have not used this power
but suffer all things that we should not
sorry, lest we should hinder
the gospel of Christ.
Do you not know that they which minister
about holy things
live of the things of the temple
and they which wait at the altar
are partakers with the altar?
Even so.
So he's saying about an Old Testament principle.
Those that are served in the temple
they lived off the things of the temple.
Okay?
But the temple has changed right?
We're now in the New Testament times.
That practice no longer applies
the Levitical priesthood and the old temple
but then he uses that principle
in verse number 14 to say this.
Even so hath the Lord ordained
that they which preach the gospel
should live off the gospel.
There's nothing wrong with a pastor
living off the work of the ministry.
Okay?
There's nothing wrong with that.
In fact that is biblical
because the Lord has ordained
that to be the case.
Okay?
So when we think about
what we're reading about there in Micah
what are we talking about?
Because we can't
obviously they're both true.
They're not contradictive one or the other.
This tells me
when we talk about these people
that the
like I said
they will preach
what the people want
we see that's the issue here in this chapter
and they'll preach who pays the most.
You want this topic preached?
You want this to be right?
Even though the Bible says it's wrong
how much are you willing to pay for it?
And I'll make you feel better.
You know I'll make what is evil good
and I'll make what is good evil.
Or this might be a situation where
you know someone might ring me
pastor can you can you
can we catch up together over coffee
I need to talk to you about a few things
and I'm like yes brother I'll be there
but how much are you going to pay me though?
Because that's an hour of my time
you know that's two hours of my time.
Are there preachers like that?
There are preachers like that.
Okay
pastor my loved ones passed away
and need you to come and preach at my
at the funeral.
Yeah I'll do that but you know
what are you guys paying for that?
You know oh man that's
that would be such a bad place to be.
And you know the Roman Catholic Church is like that.
My wife would tell me that
because she grew up Roman Catholic
that people at the church would give
their finances to the church
but then if you needed the pastor
the priest to do just one thing
conduct a wedding.
It's like yeah but you got to pay for that separately.
Oh I need you to do this
I need you to do that
yeah but how much are you going to pay for that?
That's the Roman Catholic Church.
Just taking advantage of people.
You know I went last month
to New Zealand for example
to be part of a documentary.
Say pastor how much did you get paid?
Zero.
You know I've preached at a conference in the past.
Pastor how much did you get paid?
Zero.
I don't care.
Am I going to make decisions to serve the Lord
to preach a truth based on who's going to pay me
and who's not going to pay me?
That's garbage.
But the false prophets are like that.
And they'll pervert judgment
they'll pervert God's word
if it means more money.
Let's finish there in Micah 3 verse number 12.
So God just pronounces judgment upon them
because they're so wicked.
He goes therefore shall Zion
for your sakes be plowed as a field
and Jerusalem shall become heaps
and the mountain of the house
as the high places of the forest.
So God says man you guys are so wicked.
Politicians wicked.
Preachers you're wicked.
Therefore I'm just going to destroy Zion.
I'm going to destroy Jerusalem.
And he does that by the hand of the Babylonians.
So God's judgment will eventually fall upon a nation.
I don't know how much time Australia has left.
I have no idea.
But if we want to stop the hand of God's judgment
we can't be people that hate the good and love the evil.
No we need to be people that love good and hate evil.
And the goal of New Life Baptist Church is always to preach
to hate what is evil.
To love that which is good.
You know the reason we go so winning
because it's a good thing to do
and we ought to love that.
And when it comes to sin
and harmful things that displease the Lord
we ought to hate those things.
Reverend love good hate evil.
You know what I don't know how much time Australia's got left.
But you know what we are people that love good.
We are people that hate evil.
God's going to be able to use us.
We can be the Amos's.
We can be the Micah's.
We can be the Isaiah's of Australia.
Hopefully we can turn this nation around.
I don't know. What do you guys think?
I'm going to try my best.
I'm trying my best.
We've got two churches.
We're out there weekly soul winning both churches.
We've got 60 anniversary coming up for Blessed Hope Baptist Church.
People faithfully serving the Lord.
New Life Baptist Church faithfully serving the Lord.
Reverend let's just continue soldiering on for the Lord.
And hey you know in your own personal life
learn to love what is good and hate which is evil.
Don't worry about what society is doing.
Don't worry about the false prophets.
Don't worry about the corrupt politicians.
We need to be people that love good and hate the evil.
Let's pray.