In the book of Micah, we'll be
looking in chapter 7 this morning. Micah prophesied the same time
Isaiah and Hosea prophesied and preached in Israel. Micah's name
means poor and humble. And this poor, humble man spoke
of Christ as clearly as any of the Old Testament prophets did. prophesied the exact city where
Christ would be born. You know, when Herod wanted to
know where this one who's born King of the Jews, where is he?
The scholars could tell Herod, well, he's supposed to be born
in Bethlehem because they read that from Micah. The Lord gave
Micah that prophecy. And the primary subject of Micah's
writings is God's abounding grace, his abundant mercy to his people
in the face of such rebellion and sin from his people. Even
though God does not, even though God's elect do not deserve any
mercy from him, God is rich in mercy to his people. God is merciful
to his people in Christ our Savior. It's very appropriate we sang
that chorus before we began. Oh, how merciful. That's the
subject of Micah's writings. Now, like every one of God's
preachers, Micah warns of God's coming judgment against sin.
God is coming to judge this world in righteousness. And that's
a real problem for man, because man's so sinful. Man is anything
but righteous. And Micah was affected. He cared
about the people of his town, of his country. He was very troubled
by the state of the nation in his day. And it was just like
our day. Nothing's changed. Israel was
an absolute mess. False prophets, false religion
flourished. People flocked to false religion
and completely rejected the truth. Micah could see, just like we
can see in our day, the world's going to hell in a handbasket.
And you can't trust anybody, just like you can't trust anybody
now. You can't trust anybody except the Lord Jesus Christ
and his mercy to his people. And just like in Micah's day,
in our day, it seems like idolatry reigns, doesn't it? Seems like
it. But there's no God like our God. What Hannah said in her
prayer is still true today because God doesn't change, neither is
there any rock like our God. Idols all require something from
man. They all require man to be doing
things all the time. God requires nothing from man.
He requires nothing. And that's a good thing because
we can't do anything for God. We can't do anything good. Idols
require something from man. God gives freely to his people. He gives mercy to his people
freely. The character that distinguishes
God the most from idols is his mercy. Idols always require work
from man. God gives mercy to sinners. God requires nothing from man.
God, as a matter of fact, delights to show mercy to sinners. What
a comfort to sinners were mercy beggars that God delights to
show mercy. Look here at verse 18 of Micah
chapter seven. Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity, that passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage, that retaineth not his anger forever because
he delighteth in mercy. That word delight means that
God has pleasure. He finds pleasure in showing
mercy to sinners. God doesn't say that he finds
pleasure in sending men and women to hell. He delights, he finds
pleasure in showing mercy to sinners. You know, God is more
ready to show mercy than you are to receive it. God is more
ready to forgive sin than you are to be forgiven. Now that
says a whole lot about God's nature and our nature, doesn't
it? That the God who we have sinned against is more ready
to show mercy than we are to receive it. There's a whole lot
about the character of God and the character of man. But Micah
tells us, you rest assured of this, God delights to show mercy. And because God delights in mercy,
there are several things he'll do. First of all, because God
delights in mercy, God pardons iniquity. See that verse 18?
That pardoneth iniquity. Now, when we think of pardon,
we think of the president, how he pardons a criminal. The president,
because he's president, he can issue a pardon and set a person
free from prison and from the sentence of the law. But normally
when he does that, he overlooks the fact that That prisoner's
guilty. Justice is not satisfied when
the president issues a pardon. Well, that's not the way God
pardons sin. God never overlooks sin. Whatever God does, he always
satisfies his justice in doing it. Well, then how can God pardon
sin and still satisfy his justice? Well, the answer is in the meaning
of this word, pardoneth. The word actually means to lift
up and to carry away. And God gave us a picture of
that, how he pardons sin on the day of atonement in the scapegoat.
Remember how the high priest would lay his hands, he'd press
his hands down on the head of that scapegoat and he confessed
the sin of Israel. And when the high priest did
that, he symbolically transferred the sin of Israel to the head
of that goat. The sins were lifted off Israel
and placed on that goat. Then a fit man took that scapegoat
out into the wilderness and he walked and he walked and he walked
and he walked until he got to a land that was uninhabited and
he left that goat there. And that goat and the sins that
were lifted off Israel and placed on that goat were never seen
again. And that fit man walked back
and they watched for him. And he came back and when they
saw him, they knew that symbolically in a picture, their sins had
been lifted off them and carried away. What Calvary, that picture
was fulfilled. God pardoned the sin of his people,
literally, actually lifting their sins off of them and placing
them on the Lord Jesus Christ, our sacrifice. And that transfer
of sin, when God lifted it off his people, put it on his son. That transfer was so real, scripture
says Christ was made sin. And then Christ our scapegoat,
he bore those sins away by putting those sins away under his blood,
under the blood of his sacrifice. And God's people were pardoned.
They were made righteous in Christ. That's how God pardons sin. But
there's something really good here. says here that God pardoneth
iniquity. Now we think that's in the present
tense when we read pardoneth. Well, it is sort of in the present
tense, but I don't normally do this, but I did look this up
this week. The verb tense of this word pardoneth. We don't
have a verb tense like it in English. In the Hebrew, the tense
of this verb means something that's unbroken. It means whatever
has happened is still happening. This verb tense means past, present,
and future. It's all rolled into one. And
so what it tells us is this, God has pardoned his people.
He is pardoning his people, and he will pardon. He'll always
pardon his people. This is one long, unbroken string
of pardon for his elect. And I tell you why that's important.
Because every day a believer comes before God with a fresh
sense of guilt. Now your sin, if you believe
Christ, your sin's been pardoned. It's been put away. Have you felt guilty this morning?
Felt the guilt of your sin? Well, when a believer with a
fresh sense of guilt comes before our God, we find out fresh every
day. But Bob, he delights in mercy.
Oh, his mercies are new every morning. He gives a fresh sense
of pardon by showing us Christ fresh. And we see our pardon
in Christ, our sacrifice. God delights in mercy, so he
pardoneth iniquity. Second, because God delights
in mercy, he passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage.
Now notice this. God doesn't pass by the transgression
of everybody. He doesn't say He passes by transgression,
does He? He passes by the transgression
of somebody in specific. God passes by the transgression
of His elect, who are called a remnant in God's heritage.
Well, how does God, who's holy and just, how does He pass by
the transgression of His people? Well, not by ignoring it. No,
God never ignores sin, never. He passes by the transgression
of his people because that transgression has been put under the blood
of his son. So there's no sin for God to see. So he can pass
by it because the sin's not there. And again, we have the picture
of that in the Old Testament, in the Passover. You remember
that first Passover? Every home in Egypt, there was
to be death, wasn't there? Either the firstborn was gonna
die or the substitute, the lamb was gonna die. Well, in every
home in Egypt, there was a firstborn, both in the Egyptians and in
the Israelite homes. Well, that Israelite firstborn,
he's just as guilty as the firstborn of the Egyptian, wasn't he? He's
got the same nature, he's got the same guilt, he's got the
same sin. Then why did the Israelite firstborn live and the Egyptian
firstborn die? Why? Because the Israelite was
under the blood and the Egyptian was not. God said, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. I'll pass by your transgression
because your transgression has been put under the blood. So
if Christ died for you, your sin's been put away. There's
no sin for God to see. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. And he delights to do it. He
delights in mercy to his people because their sin's been blotted
out under the blood. Thirdly, because God delights
in mercy, Micah says he'll not retain his anger forever. Look at Psalm 7. Again, we have to understand
how wonderful each of these statements are by being reminded God's holy. And God can only be satisfied
when His holy anger against sin has been poured out on that sin.
Look at Psalm 7 verse 11. God judges the righteous, and
God's angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he'll wet
his sword. He'll bend his bow. He hath bent
his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him
the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against
the persecutors. He's got his bow bent. He's got
that arrow, and he's ready to let it fly. If he doesn't turn,
he's going to wet his sword in the blood of somebody. His anger
against sin must be satisfied. Justice must be satisfied. Well,
all I am is sin. How can God not be angry with
me, the sinner? How can He not retain His anger
against me? Because of Christ, our substitute.
God delights in mercy. Look at Isaiah 53. I'll show
you something else God delights in. Something else that pleases
God. It gives Him pleasure to show
mercy to His people. I'll show you something else
that gave God pleasure to do. Isaiah 53 verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord. It pleased the father to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. The
father put his son to grief and it pleased him to do it. and
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. Why did it please the father
to bruise his son? He said he's well pleased with
him. Why did it please the father to crush his son? Because the
son was made sin. And the justice of the father
was satisfied when he put his son to death. It pleased him.
It pleased his holy justice. And all of the father's anger,
all of it, every drop against the sin of his elect was poured
out on Christ our substitute. And now there's no anger left.
God does not retain his anger against me because there's no
anger left. He already poured out all of
his anger against my sin on my substitute. And since there's
no anger left to show against my sin, God delights. to show
mercy to me. He doesn't retain his anger because
he delights in mercy. Fourthly, look back in our text
here, Micah 7 verse 19. Because God delights to show
mercy, he'll turn to his people. Verse 19, he will turn again. Now man has turned from God. We've sinned against God, we've
run from God, And God has thrust man out of his presence so that
we cannot come back to him. But scripture says God will turn
to his people and he'll turn to his people in mercy because
he's already turned his wrath against our sin upon our substitute. So now there's peace. God's reconciled
through the death of his son. There's peace. But you know,
this peace is not a one way street. Peace with God is a two-way street.
And when God turns to His people in mercy, you know what He does?
He turns us to Him. Look at Psalm 80. Three times
in this Psalm. Psalm 80. This is what David's
asking for. Lord, turn me to You. I know
that in Christ, in the sacrifice, God's satisfied. He's turned
to His people. Now turn me to You. Psalm 80 verse 3. He says, turn us again, O God,
and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Verse
seven, turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to
shine, and we shall be saved. Verse 19, turn us again, O Lord,
your Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine, and we shall
be saved. Lord, if you turn me to you,
There'll be peace. We'll have salvation. Look at
Lamentations chapter 5. When God turns to His people,
He always turns them to Him. Lamentations 5 verse 21. This is something the Lord must
do for us. Look what Jeremiah says here.
Verse 21. Turn thou us unto Thee, O Lord,
and we shall be turned. If you turn us, we shall be turned. And because God delights to show
mercy, he's going to turn to his people and he's going to
turn them to him. Fifthly, look back in our text,
verse 19, because God delights in mercy, he will have compassion
on his people. Verse 19, he will turn again.
He will have compassion. He will have compassion upon
us. I don't even have the words to
say how comforting that is. This is not Frank telling you
this. This is God telling you this in His Word. He promises
to have compassion. Compassion on a needy sinner. I don't know anything that feels
better than compassion. Even if you can't, Jan says,
if you're sick, it just makes you feel better if somebody's
sorry, somebody cares, you know, even if you can't heal me, you
can't do anything to alleviate my pain, it just feels better
if somebody cares. Somebody will show compassion.
Look at Mark chapter one. I want to show you what happens
when the Lord shows compassion. when the Savior shows compassion
on a poor and needy sinner. Mark chapter 1. This is immediately after our
Lord has preached what we call the Sermon on the Mount. In verse
40, there came a leper to him, beseeching
him, begging him, kneeling down to him and saying unto him, if
thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. Now you ever wonder what
prompted this leper to come to the Lord at this time? This is
in violation of the law. He can't come to the Lord. He
can't come where people are. He's a leper. He has to stay
away from everyone. Cry unclean, unclean and keep
everybody away from him. What prompted this miserable
leper to come to the Savior at this time? He just heard the
Lord preach. He just heard the Lord preach
this great sermon we call the Sermon on the Mount. Now you
think about the condition of this leper. He was full of leprosy,
Scripture says. That means he was covered with
leprosy. You couldn't put your pinky finger
on a healthy spot of skin anywhere on this man. His body, because
of leprosy, raged with fever. He was so hot with fever. His
eyes were just bloodshot slits. His eyes had been so bloodshot,
his fingers and toes, his extremities had already fallen off. That's
the way the disease progresses. And in this horrible, miserable,
needy condition, Matthew says, this leper came to the Lord and
worshipped Him. Worshipped That flies in the
face of modern religion, doesn't it? You know, that they worship
because the Lord gives them all these material blessings. Brethren,
worship of the Lord has nothing to do with the state of these
bodies or our physical possessions whatsoever. The Lord's to be
worshiped, period. No matter what he does with me,
the Lord is to be worshiped. And this leper came and worshiped. And this helpless, miserable
leper, what did he come pleading for? He came pleading for sovereign
mercy. Lord, if you will, this is up
to you. This is your choice. Lord, if
you will, you can make me clean. Now, what was the Savior's response
to a miserable, dying sinner pleading for sovereign mercy?
He didn't ask for what he deserved. He said, Lord, I got this sickness.
I didn't deserve it. I got it, you know, because my
neighbor gave it to me. My neighbor was contagious. I
don't deserve. No, he didn't plead that, did
he? Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. What's the Savior's
response? Compassion. Verse 41. And Jesus moved with compassion. put forth his hand and touched
him. Can you imagine what that touch felt like? Nobody had touched
this leper in years. And the Savior reached out and
moved with compassion and touched him and saith unto him, I will
be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken,
immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was cleansed. Immediately he was made clean.
That's the result of the compassion of the Savior. Now you come to
Christ in that very condition, helpless, hopeless, dying, dead
sinner, pleading for sovereign mercy. Lord, would you have mercy
on me? If you will, you don't have to,
but if you will, would you have mercy on me? You come like that,
and the Savior will have compassion. I guarantee it. And you know
this compassion for His people is never-ending. When we're in
times of trial, and it seems like the Lord's turned away from
us. He promised, I'll turn to you. But it seems to us like
He's turned from us. The heavens seem as brash, you
cry and get no answer. You take comfort. The Savior
who cannot lie has promised he'll turn to you and have compassion. His compassions fail not. He'll have compassion because
he delights in mercy. He delights to show mercy to
his children. Do you delight to give something
to your kids? He delights to show mercy to his children. His
compassions will not fail. Sixth, because God delights in
mercy. Look here in our text, verse
19. He will subdue our iniquities. He will turn again. He will have
compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities
and thou will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Now Christ subdued the iniquity of his people by putting it away
at Calvary. He removed the condemning power
of sin by paying for it with his blood. But in our experience,
sin reigns, doesn't it? I mean, that's all we see, it's
all we are, it's all we know. And when we're born again, there's
a new man born, a new man who's never existed before, a new nature,
a new heart. And that new man and that old
man are gonna fight until that old man's laid in the grave.
But you rest assured of this, that new man's gonna reign because
Christ reigns. Look at Romans chapter 6. Romans 6 verse 12. Let not sin, therefore, reign
in your mortal body, that you should obey it and the lust thereof.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. All right, sin shall not have
dominion over you. But yet every believer, let's
be honest, every believer still wants to sin. Every believer
still enjoys sin. I wish I didn't, I don't want
to sin, but yet, I do. I don't want to have pleasure
in sin, but yet I do. And the reason for that is I
still have that old nature. But now don't give into it. I
mean, just because I got an old nature, there's no excuse to
give in to sin. It's your sin that nailed your
Savior to the cross. It's your sin that caused the
Savior to suffer and die. So don't give into it. Well,
somebody says, Makes me feel like I'm fighting
a losing battle then, you know? If I have to fight against my
sin, my sin's gonna damn me and I'm gonna... That's true. That's why we look to Christ.
Since God delights to show mercy, he will cast all of the sin of
his people into the depths of the sea. Now in Micah's day,
And no such thing as a submarine or one of these remote control,
you know, submersible things that goes down and finds shipwrecks
and things. In Micah's day, if something
sunk in the ocean, that was it. You never saw it again. And maybe,
I don't even know if this is true in our day, if we're still
able to send something down to the very bottoms of the sea.
I read in places the sea is seven miles deep. I don't know if they
can get in that deep or not. If my sin was down there, I don't
know why you'd want to go looking for it. I'd just leave it down
there. Here's why this statement's made. The Titanic sank and we
thought we'd never see it again. Well, somebody did, didn't they?
Somebody went down there and found it. This statement is not made
of something that's actual like that. It's made as a picture.
It's a picture of what Christ accomplished for his people.
The blood of Christ doesn't hide sin that still exists and it's
just hidden so you can't find it. The blood of Christ makes
the sin of God's people to not exist anymore. Now that's mercy. The mercy and power together,
the blood of Christ makes the sin of His elect to not exist. Now if something was thrown into
the bottom of the ocean at that time, you'd never see it again. That's what this means in picture.
But I'll tell you another thing this means. If something was
thrown into the bottom of the ocean, it never hurts you again
either. Remember when Israel was trapped
at the Red Sea? And God parted the water. Israel walked through
on dry ground, didn't they? God made the bottom of that Red
Sea a four-lane highway, and they just walked right through
it. And they got to the other side, and they turned around,
and Pharaoh said, I'm going after them the same way. And God caused
that ocean to come in, and what happened to Pharaoh's army? Cast
into the bottom of the sea. That army, that people that had
been so oppressive and so cruel and so hurtful, who'd been beating
God's people, who'd been taking their children and killing them,
just had them under their boot and grinding them into the ground.
Never hurt Israel again. That's your sin. Cast into the
bottom of the ocean, never to hurt you again. Never to condemn
you because Christ has already stood condemned in your place. Now, all of this is given to
us as a picture of the character of God. God delights in mercy,
and He delights in mercy because His mercies are covenant mercies.
God's a covenant God, and He always keeps His promise. His mercies are sure because
His covenant is sure. Look at verse 20 here in our
text. You delight to show mercy, and you will perform the truth
to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which thou has sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old. God made a promise to Abraham
that his seed would be as the stars of the sky. Can't count. And that happened, didn't it?
Christ came as the surety of that covenant. And he saved all
of Abraham's seed. Everyone who has the faith of
Abraham, he saved a number which no man can number. Now, they
didn't do anything to deserve it. Just like Abraham didn't
do anything to deserve it. Where was Abraham when God found
him? He was worshiping an idol. That's where he was. He didn't
do anything to deserve God's mercy, but God delighted in mercy
to him, in covenant mercy to Abraham. And God delights to
show that mercy. He promised it and He delights
to show it to His people. Now, God delights in mercy. Then
you and I ought to come and beg Him for it, shouldn't we? If
He delights to show it, why wouldn't I ask Him to give it to me? Well,
how can I do that? How can a sinner like me come
before God begging for mercy and be heard? I'm glad you asked. Because in
a few minutes, that's what we're going to look at. How can I come
to God and be heard and be accepted? Alright, I hope the Lord will
bless that to you.