The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1939-09-14

LESSON TEXT-Micah 3:1-12; 6:6-8
GOLDEN TEXT-What doth the Lord re-
quire of thee. but to do justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Micah So.
We demand human rights, social
justice, and economic security. Cor
rupt judges and bribe-taking Off
Gals must be put out of office. Land
lords must not squeeze every penny
out of their tenants; loan sharks
must be put out of business; the
rich must not Cypress the poor. The
Church must have ministers with
real message and must share in the
solution of the problems of human
ity.
No, we did not copy that para
graph out of today's newspaper. 1t
is the message that the prophet Mi
cab preached more than $500 years
ago. And what's more, he not only
presented theories, but he knew how
to accomplish his purpose of real
social justice. 1t is time some of
those who talk about this subject
got back to the Bible and really
learned how it can be done.
|. Social Injustice (3:1-10).
The inhumanity of man toward
man is not something that just hap
pened. There are fundamental rea-
sons for such conditions, and they
are the same in our time as in Mi
cabs day. The responsibility rests
squarely on the failure of our ma
tional and spiritual leaders to per-
form their God-given tasks.
l. Rulers without Judgment Ola,
9-10).
The obligation of anyone who is
given or who seeks public office is
to know judgment. This does not
mean only that he is to have a gen
eral knowledge of the law and its
technicalities; he is to know justice
in his very heart, to love it, and to
see that it is always rightly admin
istered.
The leaders of Israel had woefully
failed, in fact had deliberately de-
parted from the standards of God,
and Micah exposed them in plain,
dramatic, Well-spoken words. While
verses 2 and 3 are not to be taken
literally, they do in striking fgura-
tive speech describe just what I'M
scrupulous politicians do to an I'M
suspecting people.
2. Prophets with a False Message
$3.50.
In such a day might one not ex-
pect Gods messengers to have a
word of condemnation for the lead
ers and of comfort for the people?
Not only did they keep quiet about
the sin and corruption which they
saw about them, but they actually
encouraged their prominent and
wealthy Church members" in their
sin by saying, "All is we'll" Such
religious leaders have not altogether
persisted from the earth.
Let ministers of God be like Mi
cab, who is described in verse 8 as
a man of judgment and justice, be-
cause he was "full of power by the
Spirit of the Lord"
II. Social Security GIL, 70; 6:
6-9).
No, that idea was not discovered
by the politicians of the 1905. It
has been in the plan of God from
the beginning; in fact only in Him
is there any real national, personal,
or social security. Micah skillfully
unmasked false security and re-
vealed the way of true security.
l. False Security and Divine Judg-
ment OIL, 12).
When the heads of a nation "iudge
for reward" and its religious leaders
"teach for hire" and its prophets
"divine for money" ". 1D, there is
no use to talk piously about God
being with us.
The prophecy of verse IL was full
filled three times-by the Chaldeans
in $50 B. c., by Titus in A. D. 70,
and under Hadrian in A. D. 1876.
God always keeps His promises,
even if the promise be a promise
of judgment
2. True Security and Divine Bless
ing (6;6-8).
God is not to be propitiated by
the offerings of material things as a
Sacrlf1ce or by any outward profess
sion of piety He looks at the heart.
Verse 8 is a remarkable and beau
tiful epitome of Gods requirement
of man, namely, justice, kindness,
and humility; but note that this is
the requirement of the law, and
one which no man can possibly full
fill apart from Christ. 1t is evil
dent folly for men to quote this verse
as did the agnostic Thomas Hux-
ley and others, to justify themselves
for not responding to the claims of
the gospel of Christ. Only Christ
can make any man capable of true
justice, constant kindness, and gen.
uine humility. Only thus can we
meet the demands of the law of God
Real social justice and security
will come only as there is a recog-
milton of Jesus Christ as Saviour and
Lord by the leaders, by the prophets
and by the people.