Walk humbly with thy God

… Now we turn please to the minor prophet Micah. Now chapter 6 and verse 6. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good. And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? The minor prophets definitely relate to the nation of Israel, or it may be, in the case of Obadiah, to one of the other nations, the nation of Edom for instance, in that particular case, but generally they refer to a future day when God will deal with his chosen people and with the nations. Having said that, we can also use them as we find the New Testament writers use them for teaching bearing upon us in our day. I think it will be obvious from the scriptures that we have read that we want to speak about walking. In all the scriptures that I have quoted from the book of Micah, you find this emphasized. A desire on the part of some to walk, an exhortation from God that his people in that day are to walk in a certain way pleasing to him. Before we speak about it as applying to ourselves, it's interesting to trace when this man Micah was the servant of the Lord. He served at a time when there were good kings, kings mentioned here in verse 1 of chapter 1, days of Jotham, a good king, and Hezekiah, a good king, and sandwiched in between Ahaz, a bad king. Now if kings speak about anything, they speak about delegated authority, persons who are responsible directly to God to rule in such a way as to be beneficial to his people. So kings speak about delegated authority. They were responsible to give a lead to the people of God. When the end of the period came, the end of the judges, God established a king. He first of all gave them Saul, and he turned out a failure, and then God gave David a man after his own heart. And we find that when kings were good, they could lead the people in the right direction, and things really worked for the pleasure of God. When kings were bad, things were allowed to lapse, and many things came amongst the people of God because of this that were obnoxious to him. Now this prophet, he had the unfortunate experience of witnessing in the time of good kings, and having also to witness in the time of a bad king. As far as we can understand, he never deviated from the pathway of the Lord. He was a prophet. The proof that he was a prophet was that he received words directly from God, and acting in accordance with his responsibility, he passed those words on. Now it's very, very easy, or should I say comparatively easy, to move along in the things of God when things are going well, when a good direction is being given. For instance, in the days of Jotham, and in the days of Hezekiah, the king laying down emphatically that certain things were to be done, and exercising his authority and power to see that they were being done. Well, that was a fine time for Micah to minister the Word of God. He had all the power and authority of the king behind him. Then the atmosphere changes. Ahaz comes along. He's not concerned about the things of the Lord. He's not concerned about giving directions. He's not concerned about using his authority. He's overthrowing. He's casting down. He's bringing in principles that are obnoxious to God. Ah, then, far more difficult to minister the Word of God. In fact, the prophet's in danger. He's in reproach, and he has to be careful what he says and how he puts his feet. Micah was a man who seemed to do what was right before God. He was true to his name. I think it means who is like Jive, I remember. I may be wrong, but anyway, he was a man who was true to his name, served his God in a way that was pleasing to him. If we read this book carefully, we'll find, particularly at the end of the book, how God is described as a God who forgives, plenteous in pardon, compassionate. This is what he will be towards his people Israel in spite of all their failures. What a God he is. That is the way he acts towards us too. Don't we find him always the same as we come to him in our failure and our weakness? What a compassionate God he is. Not that that would make us condone failure, not for one minute. Indeed, it should encourage us to be more faithful, that we have a God who receives us and is kind to us and blesses us in spite of our weakness and our failure. But what a marvelous demonstration it will be in the day to come when this compassionate, wonderful God expresses himself towards his people in forgiveness, in casting their sins behind his back and forgiving them forever. Then we find in chapter 5-2 a wonderful description of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We find this mentioned in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 2. You remember when the Lord Jesus was a little child and the king wanted to discover where he was born, that he might go and destroy him, not that he might go and worship him. He went to the religious people of the day and he asked them, where is this king to be born? And they looked up the scriptures and they could give the correct answer, Bethlehem Ephrathah. Here it is in the book of Micah and I want to read it in chapter 5. But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Wonderful testimony to the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wonderful testimony to the lion that would spring out of Judah and who would be the ruler for God in relation to his people Israel. Sad to say these cold religionists that knew where to turn in the Old Testament scriptures had no heart to go and discover where the Messiah, the king was born. It required those wise men from the east to come with their gifts and to fall down and worship him. So we can find in this book one wonderful unfolding of the greatness of God in his heart of compassion. Wonderful unfolding of the person and deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and these Old Testament scriptures will repay any careful study. But now in the midst of them we find these references to walking and we just want to bring them home to ourselves to see what kind of lesson they will bring to us. So we find in chapter 2 verse 7, O thou that are named the house of Jacob is the spirit of the Lord straightened? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? Now there's the first thing, that God by his word encourages those who walk uprightly. If I understand the expression walking uprightly it simply means walking in accordance with his revealed word, that we are obedient to that word as it bears upon us. Let me give a negative illustration of this, an illustration where a person was not walking uprightly and a very small thing indicated that he wasn't walking uprightly. You remember in the epistle to the Galatians Paul spoke about Peter the Apostle and he said Peter was one time walking with the Jews, another time walking with the Gentiles and acting in a dissimulating kind of way, in such a way that people were being upset by his behavior. He was saying one thing one time and another thing another time and Paul withstood him to the face because he said he saw that Peter was not walking uprightly according to the gospel. That is his behavior was not in keeping with what had been revealed. What was it that had been revealed? That there was no difference between Jew and Gentile. They were all sinners and they were all blessed on exactly the same basis, no difference whatsoever. That the Jew had advantage was beyond all doubt. They had the scriptures, they had the covenants, they had the promises and they had tremendous advantages. But when it came to a question of blessing then the Jew acquired it in exactly the same way as the Gentile. Repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And for Peter a servant of the Lord to be treating some people on one basis and another people on another basis was absolutely wrong. He was not walking uprightly. Well that's a word for us. The Bible speaks about a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. We have a common expression, haven't we, about someone who is two-faced. He can speak to persons in a one way and speak to others in another way. He wants to have friends on both sides. He doesn't want to lose popularity. He wants to be very well thought of. So he agrees with everybody but he's not walking uprightly. Truth is the truth and you must stand by the truth. And the truth is the same everywhere and bearing upon everyone. So to walk uprightly means to walk according to the Word of God. Peter did not walk uprightly. Now that was all the more solemn when he was a servant of the Lord and a very valuable servant of the Lord indeed and a very honored servant of the Lord. So the failure was all the more serious in his case when he wasn't walking uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel. I find a delightful couple in the beginning of the Gospel by Luke. The parents of John the Baptist. What a tremendous testimony the Word of God gives to them. They were blameless and walking in all the ordinances of the Lord. I'm not quoting it correctly but that's the gist of it. Look it up for yourself. Here was a husband and wife walking uprightly. The Word of God was power in their life. The Word of God was authority in their life and they did what was right. Most remarkable family. The only family that I know of in the Bible that was filled with the Holy Spirit. Each one. Zacharias was filled with the Spirit. Elizabeth was filled with the Spirit. The boy that was born was filled with the Spirit. What a remarkable family and perhaps the reason is that father and mother walked uprightly. They honored the Lord in their lives. The Word of God was not simply a collection of beautiful expressions and platitudes and nice things to be said and spoken about. The Word of God to them was a governing power. If the Word of God said do this they did it. If the Word of God said that they did it. They obeyed the Word of God. They walked uprightly. You remember what the scripture says? No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Those who walk according to the Word of God. My dear friends look at this nation of ours that once held the Word of God in some measure of esteem. Look at the awful things that are legalized now. Look at the awful things that are condoned now. Look how justice is going awry. All sorts of things creeping into our nation that are being accepted and we believe because the Word of God that was once revered is now given up and men's ideas and imaginations and do-good kind of expressions have more power with men and women than the Word of God. But that ought not to be with the believer. The Word of God ought to be the governing power in a believer's life. The prevailing sentiments of the age ought not to be governing principles for the believer. He ought to be taking a stand against those wrong ideas, those erroneous ideas and walk uprightly for God. Micah had to do that in the day of Ahaz. Danger to his life, to his possessions, to all that he was. Are we prepared for that? Is this our desire? Or do we go along with the stream, find our satisfaction in things that are mundane and earthly and passing? The Word of God says, do not my words do good, to him that walketh uprightly. Show me the Christian who accepts the Word of God as the rule for his life and you'll show me a happy man. That doesn't mean he won't have difficulties. That doesn't mean that he won't have trials and oppositions. The Lord had and he was perfect and all his servants have had in all their desires to be true to him. We can be sure of this, that where the Word of God has its place in our lives, although we face the difficulties that are involved, we will be assured of joy and happiness and power in our lives. Didn't the psalmist say that the Word of God was a lamp to his feet, a light to his path? Why the Word of God showed him the proper way to walk. He didn't stumble. I remember many years ago when we were in Jerusalem, we visited a place called the Tomb of the Kings and we burrowed into a chamber about, well, half the size of this room and then out from the room went many passages and in those passages were little niches carved in the rock where the bodies were deposited. It's called the Tomb of the Kings. And after a few minutes wandering here, there and everywhere by a taper light, we soon came to the conclusion that it might be very, very difficult to get back to that room from where we began. So we said to the guide, would it be possible for us to get back to where we started by ourselves? He said, no, not if you haven't a light and he held up the taper. So we took the opportunity to speak to him about what a wonderful thing it was to have light. And he very quickly understood what we meant. And so in darkness and when the pathway isn't very clear, it's very wonderful to have light, to have direction. And that we very definitely have in the Word of God to guide us in our individual lives, to guide us in our whole lives, to guide us in the assembly, to guide us in our businesses, in the school room, wherever we are, the Word of God is quite able to supply all the direction that we need that we might be able to walk uprightly. I think it's a great thing for God to look down and see people who are walking uprightly. You remember that Bunyan's character, the pilgrim, he couldn't walk uprightly. His face was bowed down to the ground because of the burdens that were upon his shoulder. Oh, how he found difficulty to look up or to walk uprightly. But he got that burden removed when he came to the cross. That's where we all have to go, every one of us, to get those burdens removed and then look up a little higher to see that man who is at the right hand of God, who meets the other needs of the soul, the needs that we have day by day. Oh, how great he is and how wonderful the provision he gives to those who walk uprightly. The matter of walking in Scripture is extremely important. It simply means the manner of life. We use the expression in our own language, in a loose way, what is his walk in life, his manner of life. So my dear friends, the Christian, he has a walk, he has a kind of life to live, a manner of life that is pleasing to heaven. We find in the epistles that walk is governed by the truth that is presented. In the epistle to the Romans, the great truth presented is salvation and people whose feet were once swift to shed blood, they are now moving in a way that's pleasing to God. They're walking so as they please him. How are they walking? They're walking in newness of life, in uprightness according to the truth that was revealed. When we come to the epistle to the Colossians, what is presented? Why the greatness of Christ? And so we are told that we're to walk worthy of the Lord and to all well-pleasing. When we come to the epistle to the Thessalonians, God had entered into their lives in wondrous blessing and they're exhorted to walk worthy of God who had called them to his kingdom and glory. And so we could go on that every positive truth that is presented to the people of God demands a corresponding behavior. It's not simply you receive blessing and you can forget about your life. No, if God gives blessing, he desires the kind of life that's consistent with it. And so my dear friends, this is a matter that touches my life. It touches your life to walk uprightly. Now we come to chapter four and it's a very, very precious passage indeed. It looks on to the last days. Verse one, in the last days looks on to a time when the children of Israel will be restored to their place in the thoughts of God under their Messiah and all the aspirations that they have to go up to the temple, the place where God's name is placed and walk according to the truth that he teaches and to walk in such a way as to please him. But tonight we want to use those expressions in relation to ourselves. Look what it says in the middle of verse two, and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. I don't think we can possibly miss the import of these expressions. They cover what we've already said, that the word of the Lord is absolutely essential for a correct walk for the believer today, as it was in the past, as it will be in the future, the word of the Lord. We were saying somewhere recently that we need to have this desire, back to the Bible, that I understand is the name of some radio program where this kind of expression is used, back to the Bible. We could well adopt it. Back to the Bible. My dear friends, spend more time reading your Bible than you do books, however important books are. Books are extremely valuable, at least the good ones. Very, very valuable indeed. A heritage of truth and exposition that we can't afford to ignore. But make sure that you spend more time in your Bible, because there every word is divinely inspired. The Holy Spirit will make it real to your soul. And oh, what wondrous things we find in the word of God. You read it, and you read it, and you read it, you say, well, I've never seen that before. I've read that passage many, many times, and that's the first time I've noticed that. Why is that? Because when you read it at a particular time, the Spirit of God impressed you with what was necessary for you at that time. He was not concerned about other details. And then later on, a few years afterwards, you read the same passage, you need something more. So the Spirit of God impresses something else upon your soul, and that's the way it goes. And the more you read, the more blessing you acquire. I thought I was doing well once and telling the saints about some dear man who read the scriptures 57 times in his lifetime, through from beginning to end. Then I discovered another brother who had done it over a hundred times. Well, there you are, there's someone who valued his Bible, read it over a hundred times from cover to cover. What did he find in it? Everything that was pure, that was holy, that was calculated to ennoble the mind, to bring substance into the soul in relation to Christ, His glories, His greatness, wonderful things concerning the church, wonderful blessings in Christ Jesus, all these things and many more found in the Word of God. Beautiful statements, challenging statements. I was reading in the mind of prophets, I'm not sure which one it was, and I came across a sentence and it brought me up very sharp. And the Lord was saying to someone, doest thou well to be angry? Well, did you ever hear an address on a statement like that? Doest thou well to be angry? Do you get angry? I get angry, maybe sometimes when I shouldn't. Do you? The Bible says be angry and sin not. That's a very difficult thing to do. You see the Word of God, it brings you up short, touches your conscience, makes you think. Doest thou well to be angry? Well, it's not a very nice thing for a Christian to be angry without cause. Yes, Moses was angry. He went out from the presence of Pharaoh in a glowing anger. He was very, very angry when Pharaoh opposed God. He wasn't angry because of anything that was done to himself, indeed the opposite. When he was opposed, he was very humble about it and God drew attention to it and said, the man Moses was very meek. Meek when it was something about himself. Angry when it touched the rights of God. That's the right order. Doest thou well to be angry? That's only one thing that the Word of God says. Says it to me, says it to you. Anger can be a sin. Anger can dishonor the Lord. And so we have to face this. And so here we find the Lord, or rather people saying, he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths. For the law shall go forth of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Paths, even today, we can easily understand it in the meaning of the term, they're directions for us. If we're crossing a field, we don't trudge through the plowed part or perhaps high grass or through stubble. If we see a path, we follow the path. It defines a certain way for us. So it is in the Christian life. There are well-defined paths for us. We can see clearly that this is the way that the Lord wants us to walk. Indeed, that's an expression that comes to mind. This is the way, walk ye in it. The Lord makes that way plain. He says, I don't want you to go that way. I want you to go this way. And oh, it's, what shall I say, it's disastrous for us if we pursue a certain way when the Lord Jesus is directing us into another direction. The outstanding case of disaster in that is Balaam. You remember that the angel of the Lord, he withstood him as Balaam went in a certain way. What governed that man was greed. The angel of the Lord was seeking to withstand him. And he pressed on and he pressed on and he pressed on until eventually the angel had to take drastic measures to stop the madness of the prophet in the way that he was going. Didn't make any difference to him in the end. He lost his life in opposition to God and to the people of God. We find a happier thing in the case of Paul, servant of the Lord. He wanted to go to a certain direction or go in a certain direction to preach the word of God. The spirit says, no, Paul, you can't go there. All right, he says, if I can't go there, I'll go here. And the spirit says, no, Paul, you can't go there either. And then the time came when in a vision it was revealed to Paul that he was to go in a certain direction. The man in Macedonia saying, come over and help us. Then he felt, yes, this is it. This is the Lord directing our paths. And he went. What did he find? Found a few women praying at the riverside. That was a good beginning. It wasn't long before people were converted. It wasn't long before an assembly was formed. People with no natural affinities, a business woman and a jailer. And their families are brought to the Lord and they're brought together in the name of the Lord. An assembly has begun at Philippi and there's perfect evidence in the letter that Paul wrote to them that that assembly was going on well. They had very little to correct and he was able to unfold to them some of the choices statements that he ever made. He was a man under the direction of the Lord and he was blessed. I don't know if I've told this story before, pardon me if I have, but it's certainly worth repeating. In Port Seton, many, many years ago, there was an old fisherman called John Thompson. He was a preacher of the gospel. He was connected with a little mission called the Fisherman's Bethel. He was a godly man, the man who delighted in serving the Lord. One day when he was fishing with his colleagues, he received a definite call from the Lord to go to a certain place to preach the gospel. He'd never been there in his life and he didn't know a single person there. So he told his colleagues that he wouldn't be fishing with them. Got home the next day, his wife prepared his bag and some food and off he set. He got the train and went to this particular place and stepped out of the train onto the platform. He didn't know a soul there and he's walking along the platform and a little boy came to him. He said, Sir, are you the preacher? And he said, Yes, I am a preacher. He said, You're to come with me. And he went with the boy. Meetings were arranged and souls were saved. My, if we only saw this today. Servants of the Lord near enough to be understanding his mind, near enough to hear his voice saying, go here, go there. And the Lord to arrange things for the blessing of precious souls. And we might humbly ask, why is it not so? Why doesn't the Lord direct us in such a way? Are we so far down in spiritual worth? Are we so far away from him that he's unable to confide in us, unable to direct us, that we don't understand his will as we ought to? I feel it very humbly. I hope you do too. So walking in his paths is a question of receiving direction from him, being directed into the way that is pleasing to him. And you can be sure of this. No way that he directs you will be contrary to his written revealed word. Everything will be consistent with that word. Now we go down further and we come to verse five. For all people will walk every one in the name of his God. And we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. Here's a very definite contrast. Here are people saying there are those who will walk according to their gods, but we will walk in the name of our God. In the midst of idolatrous conditions, in the midst of much that's a direct opposition to God, we will walk in his name. We profess, rightly profess, to gather to the name of the Lord Jesus in accord with Matthew 18, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. It's correct to claim that. But I think we are always to remember that the emphasis is not upon the two or the three, the emphasis is upon the name of the Lord. That is the governing part of the verse. That if we do profess to gather to his name, then our lives, our behavior ought to be consistent with that name. It seems to me that the Lord will not grant his presence, and I must be extremely careful what I say when I say that the Lord will not do this or not do that. But it seems to me incongruous that the Lord will grant his unqualified presence and support to those who profess to gather to his name and yet do so in situations and behaviors that are inconsistent with his name. We find many scriptures that would indicate that certain power and blessing would be withheld where consistency is not in action. People who professedly were living in the name of the Lord and yet their lives were obnoxious, the conditions were such that the glory of the Lord was withdrawn, reluctantly and yet nevertheless definitely withdrawn. So far it has never returned to Israel and will not return until Israel is thoroughly and completely repentant. I feel, dear brethren, that there is always a danger of thinking that things are automatic without recognizing the moral requirements that are necessary for us as we gather to the name of the Lord. He knows our hearts, let us be clear about that. We can live a sham life, we can build up a facade round about us and think that all is well, but we cannot fool the Lord. He looks into our hearts, he knows us through and through, our thoughts, our motives, our desires and he alone can act as is befitting to his name. This is his glory. We cannot and we must not think that we can force the Lord to do what he doesn't want to do, what he will not do if things are not consistent with his precious name. So in the midst of all this confusion and idolatry, praise God for those who want to walk true to the name of the Lord. This is the teaching in 2 Timothy 2 where they speak about the name, those who name the name of Christ are to depart from iniquity, iniquity in every shape and form. I just want to digress here for a moment. There seems to be some confusion in the minds of many as to certain features that govern the reception of other believers. I think most believers are quite happy to accept that anyone who holds wrong doctrine should not be received at the breaking of bread. Anyone who lives a life that is dishonouring to the Lord should not be received at the breaking of bread. Then there comes this third reason which always seems to hang in the air as an airy-fairy kind of definition, association with evil defiles and any who are guilty of this are also deprived of the opportunity of remembering the Lord. What does this expression association with evil defiles mean? It simply means that persons who are quite happy to acquiesce and associate with those other persons who are deprived of remembering the Lord are guilty, morally guilty of these things. Let me explain myself. In second epistle of John, a man comes along and knocks at the door who holds wrong doctrine. The person in the home does not hold wrong doctrine. The person in the home is absolutely clear, but the person wants to come into the home. No, says the other person outside, you can't come in and I'm not prepared even to bid you Godspeed because if I do I will become a partaker of your evil deeds. I'm not personally guilty of holding this doctrine, but if I acquiesce with you as if to say God bless you, rejoice with you, on you go all your way with my blessing, I become a partaker of your evil deeds. Now there is a person who immediately becomes morally guilty, defiled if you like, by this evil association. Similarly, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5 that persons who were put away because of wrong behavior were not even to be treated on the grounds of social courtesy. Persons were not to eat with them, the discipline was so severe, deprived of the opportunity of remembering the Lord because of their disgusting behavior, they were put out from the company of believers and no one was to associate with them. I would say with this proviso from other scriptures that those who can discern spiritually as to what progress is being made can go without socializing to see if there is any repentance so that the person can be recovered. Now the other persons were not guilty of this disgusting behavior, but if they socialized with them they became contaminated, morally guilty also. So there is this third principle of association with evil, defiling, acquiescing with bad behavior and with bad doctrine although not personally responsible for these things. I hope that's made clear, if it isn't please tell me. This is what it means then in walking in the name of the Lord, being true to that name. You see it's not a question of persons being nice or persons being influential, what governs the situation is the name of the Lord. Is despise being done to his name? Is dishonor being done to his name? Is what my thoughts are more important than his name? This is the governing principle and so this person says we will walk in the name of the Lord. Now lastly, and it's really the finest verse of all, not that one would try and discriminate as to which is the best verse, but it seems to be the one that is extremely dignified and appealing. From verses 6 and 7 we are shown clearly that to have an outward form in ceremony and bringing offerings of different kinds, look what it says, will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Well that's asking a great deal. No, the prophet says he hath showed the old man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God. What a dignified position for anyone to be in, to walk humbly with thy God. I'm not going to refer to the passages that speak of persons walking with God, there are five of them, you can search them out, it's a good search. These persons walked with God and God doesn't walk with anybody. God is holy and righteous and great and glorious and if we are going to walk with God, as far as this passage is concerned, we've got to be humble. God will be pleased to walk with those who are humble. Pride, pride, arrogance, self-assertiveness have no place in God's mind and I believe if we reduced it to Christian terms it means God is delighted to walk with those who are like Christ. Oh how humble he was. The second chapter of Paul's epistle to the Philippians is emphasizing the need on the part of Christians to be humble and to be obedient. To be like Christ. If we have the mind of Christ we'll be marked by those two features, humility and obedience and you can't be humble without obedience because disobedience is self-will which is equivalent in the scriptures to idolatry and so humility is the features of Christ being expressed in us as we accept for ourselves unquestioningly the will of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit put it into expression for God's glory and praise. Time's gone. I don't want to say any more but I think you will agree with me that this is a precious passage. It's open for you, it's open for me to walk humbly with our God. There is another quotation from the mind of prophets that can be used in this connection. Can two walk together except they be agreed? I believe that that is principally a mind God in Israel but unless Israel bows itself to God's will God's not prepared to walk with them. We can apply it in this case. How can we walk with God if we do the things that are contrary to his will? Impossible but to walk humbly with our God means to accept his will for us and that means for the Christian to be like Christ. May we be encouraged for his name's sake. …