TRUE TO THE WORD

Some fifty years ago, I heard the old evangelist, Vance Havner, warn that the church had become a “non-prophet” organization. If he were still living, what would he say ?  Paul wrote, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2 Tim.‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭4‬‬). While the number of smooth talking, ear tickling preachers has increased, there are few prophetic voices being raised—men like Micah. 

His audience response was one of hostility as he confronted them for their sin and spoke of the judgment to come. They demanded, “Do not preach…one should not preach such things; disgrace will not overtake us,” (Micah 2:9). Yet, Micah would be faithful to the truth.   Will God’s men be true to His message today, when people set their faces against us and raise their voices to oppose us?

Consider that we have a DIVINE CALLING. It was not that Micah sought to be a prophet, but that God sought him. We do not choose to be a preacher as a vocation among other options, but because it is thrust upon us by God’s sovereign decree.  If you look on preaching as merely a job to draw a paycheck, you are a hireling and not a true shepherd!

This means we have a DIVINE COMPULSION. God put a fire in Micah’s heart. The Lord ignites this fire in our bones that cannot be quenched by those trying to silence us. We are as a volcano with the pressure to preach building up inside us,  until we must erupt with the message. Jeremiah, when facing intense opposition, put it this way, “Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.’ But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.” (Jer. ‬20‬:‭9‬‬). 

The Lord has given us a DIVINE COMMUNICATION. God put a Word in Micah’s mouth. It was the word of the Lord that came to Micah. As he did not choose his occupation, he did not choose his proclamation. Our mandate is to, “Preach the Word!”  That is what Paul told Timothy, and by extension the Spirit demands of every preacher. People do not need our opinions crafted in oratorical splendor. They need the plain truth of Holy Scripture! Our words must be informed by His Word. 

The end of this is always a DIVINE CONSIDERATION. God put the truth in Micah’s mind. Micah’s name meant, “Who is like the Lord?”  His life was about seeking the answer to that question and setting forth insights that would bring people to consider more and more the person of God. The Word of God unleashed was to end in the God of the Word unveiled. The subject is inexhaustible for God is incomparable. Only as we know Him can we make Him known. 

The situation in which we are called and the station where we are set is a DIVINE CONTEXT. God put the place for Micah’s feet. He was, “of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.”  Moresheth was southwest of Jerusalem, near the Philistine border. It was farmland—rural and not metropolitan. He was a country preacher who was sent to the city. He was not a man of culture, like his contemporary Isaiah, but a man of agriculture!  Yet, in both cases, God set aside different men from different places to be used as His vessels.  The Sovereign God sets the context for our preparation. The experiences of life mold us into the man He wants us to be. The world needs city preachers like Isaiah, but also country preachers like Micah. Their backgrounds were different, but their message was the same (even identical, cf. Micah 4:1-3; Is. 2:2-4). 

The days in which Micah served were days of spiritual decline—with the exception being a time of revival in Hezekiah’s reign. Yet, even that would dramatically end with Hezekiah’s death and his degenerate son, Manasseh, coming to power. There have been few eras when preaching the truth was in favor. In our present context, we see that respect for Biblical preaching has dropped precipitously and we will likely see even church members moving from previous receptivity, to increasing apathy, and ending in outright hostility toward our message.  The world, of course, hates us already.

Preach the Word anyway!