Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Micah. Now, start flipping through, and you
see Daniel and Hosea, and if you come across Jonah, one more
book. Micah chapter 7. The prophet Micah verse 1 to 4 says, Woe is me,
for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape
gleanings of the vintage. There is no cluster to eat. My soul desires the first ripe
fruit. The good man is perished out
of the earth. He says, are there any left?
Are there any honorable men? Is the Lord raising up any faithful
preachers, men? There's none upright among men.
They all lie and wait for blood. They hunt every man his brother
with a net, that they may do evil with both hands earnestly. The prince asketh, and the judge
asketh for a reward." Is it just, I mean, robbery and this unjust,
what a mess! What a mess. That's what he's
saying. This is the prophet Micah. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
of years ago. And the great man, he uttereth
his mischievous desires. So they just wrap it up. The
best of them is as a briar. They're just born to hurt you. You know, get close to them,
they'll stick you. The most upright is sharper than
a thorn hedge. Ah, but he said, the day of thy
watchman and thy visitation cometh. And now shall be their perplexity. He said, oh, there's coming a
time. God always has a witness. This is the thing. Listen, I
know, I know. You look around Trying to find
a place where you can go and worship, worship God. If you had to go somewhere, you're
going to go on vacation, you think, well, you know, we'll
just go to church, you know, wherever we are. Where? Unless
you know where you're going. Verse 5, trust ye not in a friend,
put ye not confidence in a guide, Keep the doors of thy mouth from
her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoreth the father,
the daughter riseth up against her mother." You know, think
how disrespectful that is. Honor your father and your mother. But, oh, the disrespect. The daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of
his own house. You know, you think you got blood,
Ken, and you think, you know, we're close. Your own household. Now, there's
not a believer in this. congregation this morning that
can't say something or agree with it. I mean, you know, just
your own household, somewhere along the line, you know, what
should be such a tight knit, but for so many of us, this is
our family right here. This is our family. You feel
closer to people that are your brethren than you do many of
your own blood kin. Is that not so? But look at verse
7. Therefore, the prophet says,
I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. Isn't that so comforting? Micah says, you can't even trust
a friend. Why? Because they're frail. They
may mean well, but he said, by the grace of
God, I'm going to look to the Lord. I mean, that's like a breath
of fresh air. If God gives a man or woman eyes
to see, I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait for the God
of my salvation. It's so hard to wait. It is so trying. That's so trying. That's the
hardest work. I told you, man, I'm telling
you, that was my dad's byword. Boy, we're going to do something
today if it's wrong. Ain't that right? We're going to do something
today if it's wrong. Wait for the God of my salvation. I'm going to wait on God. I'm going to stay at His door
until He's pleased to open it. Or what are you going to do if
He doesn't open it? Well, I'm going to just stay right there. Where
else am I going to go? Where am I going to go? If I can't wait on Him, where
do I go from there? My God will hear me. We try to
pray and struggle, try to lift our hearts up to the Lord, just
as you began, And you think, Lord, but for your grace, you
wouldn't even hear me. But Lord, based on your Word,
you give me a heart to pray, and I don't know what to ask
for. And I'm struggling here. The cries of my heart are just
so, in my mind, mixed up, and I don't know what I should ask
for. But Lord, you said, that you
take with the censure of your merit. You take the prayers of
the saints and you present them before the throne of God. And
God hears for Christ's sake. And then the prophet says in
verse 8, Rejoice not against me, O mine enemies. When I fall,
I shall arise. I'm going to stumble. I know
I do. I know I do. I stumble in my heart. I stumble
in my words. I stumble in my intents. But
I can tell you this, I'm going to get up. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be light unto me. I may not know what's going on. I may look around and it just,
oh, this is so confusing to me. I'm thinking, I don't see any
good in this. But those that are waiting for
the God of their salvation, the God that hears, He said, when
I sit in darkness waiting on God, He's my light. Because I can tell you this,
concerning His people, He worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will. He said, I'll bear, verse 9,
the indignation, the chastisement of the Lord because I've sinned
against Him. Until He pleads my cause and
executes judgment for me, He'll bring me forth to the light and
I shall behold His righteousness. Micah is saying, I deserve whatever
I get. I know that. I know that. Why? Because I've sinned against God.
And I don't find any pleasure in it. But I can tell you this,
He's going to execute judgment for me. He's going to bring it
about for my good. Even sin, in the lives of God's
people, even their sin, that's going to incur the chastisement
of God. It's going to be for their good.
David said, that's good that I've been afflicted. He's going
to bring me forth as a light. I'll behold His righteousness.
Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover
her. Which said unto me, Where is
the Lord thy God? Go ahead and mock me. Make fun
of me. Laugh at me if you will. But I can tell you this. God's
going to answer for me. The Lord is my strength. The
Lord is my life. The Lord is my light. And I'm
not going to be afraid. Even in my fear, you know, I
find myself. Lord, am I doing the right thing? Where is the Lord? That's what
they ask. Mine eyes shall behold her. Now shall she be trodden
down as the mire of the streets. In the day that the walls be
built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. In that
day also He shall come even to thee from Assyria, from the fortified
cities, from the fortress even to the river, from sea to sea,
from mountain to mountain, wherever God puts His people, wherever
they are, the Lord's there. The Lord knows. Notwithstanding,
the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein for
the fruit of their doings." We're in a world, we're not of
it, but we're in it. And the wicked, the wicked, they're
everywhere, everywhere. And God's people that see themselves
for what they are by nature, but they know who they are in
Christ. And they see, I've said before,
I'm telling you, whatever happens to this country, whatever happens
to it, we deserve exactly what we're going to get. You write
that down. That's what he said. He said,
notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that
dwell therein for the fruit of their doings. Write this down. Nothing is going to come our
way that is not, number one, deserving, number two, for the
good of God's people. Whatever comes, whatever happens,
I'm telling you all, it's going to be good for us. It's going
to be good. It's going to be good for God's
people. Verse 14, feed thy people with thy rod. That is, Lord,
feed us, rule us, guide us with the rod of your word, the bread
of heaven, Christ himself. Let us drink from the fountain
of life himself. Feed thy people with thy rod,
the flock of thine heritage. which dwell solitarily in the
wood, in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan, Gilead,
as in the days of old. According to the days of thy
coming out of the land of Egypt, I will show unto him marvelous
things. The nations shall see and be
confounded at all their might. They shall lay their hand upon
their mouth. Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the
dust like a serpent. move out of the holes like worms
of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord
our God and shall fear before thee." When is that going to
be? Well, in the day of judgment for sure. But I'm telling you,
God Almighty has set forth that His people are going to be vindicated. Right now, we're just nobodies
to the world. But Almighty God, who has everlastingly
loved His people, and has everlastingly stood for them, shall defend
them." Now, just listen. Best advice that I could ever
give somebody, and I hope I can listen to it, wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. When God Almighty
is ready to move, He'll move. Wait on the Lord. And then the
prophet makes this great statement of faith. Verse 18, Who is a God like unto thee? Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
Exodus 15, 11, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? The answer? Nobody. Who's like you? Nobody. Isaiah 44, 6, Thus saith the
Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts,
I'm the first, I'm the last beside Me. There's no God. You know,
this is so comforting for us to hear these words and
to just rest in the fact that our God is God. If I could just,
by the grace of God, believe that as I ought, I believe it,
but to believe it as I ought, then you know nothing in this
life would fluster me. Nothing would fluster me. But
the reason that things do, and I hate to admit it, is because
I find myself doubting Him. I just don't believe Him. That's
where Satan... That's the same point. This is a lie from Satan. You can't trust God. You can't
trust Him. I've got to somehow handle this thing. I mean, I
can't just wait on the Lord here. I've got to do something. Who is the God like unto thee?
And what does the Spirit of God set forth about the God who alone
is God? Listen, He pardoneth iniquity. You know, this world talks about
iniquity being pardoned. And we've heard that and heard
that and heard that statement so many times. We lose because
of being familiar with that thought, that truth. We lose the familiar
I mean, it becomes so familiar to us that we don't treat it
as we ought. We don't think of it as we ought. Knowing that He pardoneth iniquity. Here's what I know about that.
I'm guilty. If He pardoneth iniquity, I'm
guilty. But the reason that God Almighty,
the One, Micah says, Who's like you? Who's a God like unto thee?
has satisfied justice. He doesn't just forget about
it. Justice has got to be satisfied. And according to our Lord's substitutionary
death for His people being made sin, and them dying in Him, God's
just He has borne our griefs, carried
our sorrows, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our
iniquities. And the Lord has pardoned. Now
let me tell you what the word pardoned means. And this will
be a blessing to you. Pardoned. Lifted it off. He lifted it off. Pardon me. Lifted the fault. Lifted the
debt. of our sin and made Christ to be sin. He lifted it off of us and made
Him to be sin. That's pardon. Pardon. We're guilty. By His grace, the
Spirit of God, by the sprinkling of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ through the preaching of the gospel, teaches us that. What happened at Calvary? That which the Lord lifted off,
and think of all those that had long since died, long since died,
only God, who's God like you? Who is a God like unto thee that
can lift off the sin of those that hundreds and hundreds and
hundreds of years before, those that were living and those that
shall be born, that He's everlastingly known and loved in electing grace,
that He can lift the guilt off of those who are not even born
yet? Well, Jacob and Esau, before
they were ever born, God said this, I love Jacob, I hate Esau. Who is a God like unto thee that
can lift the fault, lift the debt of our sin, and make His
Son sin for us? He who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Who can do that but
God? can do that. And passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of his heritage. Notice the particularness. He's particular on who he passes
by, the transgression. Who did he pass by? Of the remnant
of his heritage. Almighty God has a heritage.
He's got a people. There He's chosen His heritage
according to electing grace. He passes by. He covers it. That's what it means. That's
what atonement means. To cover. Cover. They've been
redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. in time regenerated
power and made willing to come, crying out for mercy. Why did
he cry out? The Lord gave him a new heart
to, gave him a new will to, gave him a new spirit, gave him faith
to believe, believe Christ. Jehovah has ever seen the blood
of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the fourth foundation
of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ laid down
His life for His people. God pardoned their iniquity,
lifted it off them, gave it to Him, passed by the transgression
of the remnant of His people. Why? Why does He retain not His anger
forever? Why is he pleased to not cleave
to, hold on to, and continue in his anger forever? Why? His reason? Because he delighteth
in mercy. I read these words and I think,
God Almighty who is just, who will by no means clear the guilty. Just. He's a purer eyes than
to behold iniquity. And He delighteth in mercy. And I need mercy. I need mercy again today. I need
mercy, I needed it yesterday, I'm going to need it tomorrow
if he allows me to be here tomorrow. He delighteth in mercy. The scripture sets forth that
he will turn again. Now this great promise to his
elect, it's not that he turns according to his purpose, it's
not what he's saying because there's no variable. Variableness
with God. There's no shadow of eternity
with Him. But He providentially manifests
in time toward His people what He's eternally purposed to show. Mercy. He shows them the way
we behold it. That's the first part of what
it means. Turning is something He does
for His people in our understanding. He shows us mercy. Not that He
ever changed. He didn't. But secondly, He does
something to His people. He does something for them in
their perception of Him. He does something to them. He
turns them to Himself. He will turn again. He will turn
again. Turn me and I'll be turned. That's
what the prophet says. Turn me, Lord. I'll be turned. Turned to pull in again, to recover,
to rescue, that's what it means. To restore. The scripture Jeremiah,
that's where Jeremiah said that, Jeremiah 31, 18, Thou hast chastised
me. I was chastised as a bullock,
unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn me and I shall be turned,
for Thou art the Lord my God. He delighteth in mercy. And listen to this. He will have
compassion upon us. How? What is the greatest manifestation
of God's compassion to His people? Here's what it is. He was made
flesh. Here's compassion. Hebrews 2.14
says, For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is the devil. Listen, I need a mediator. I need one who is as I am, flesh. but one who is God. Who is a
God like unto thee? God, man, totally God, totally
man, the mediator. There's one mediator between
God and men, and it's the man, Christ Jesus. I need a priest. I need a priest that will approach
God for me, that God accepts. on that priest's own merit, and
one that has me and my heart as being His heart. And I'm His bride, His people,
His bride, His body. One with Him, vitally joined
with Him. Given to him the surety. It behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren. Absolutely necessary. He will have compassion. He'll have compassion on us because
he's experienced exactly what we've experienced. He was touched
in all points. You think there's certain things
that you just don't understand. I'm just going through some things
that you've never understood. You just don't understand what
it feels like to be treated the way I'm treated. You don't understand
what it feels like for me to go through what I'm going through.
The Scripture says, Don, he was in all points, all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. He knows. He knows. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities. Not only has He pardoned our
iniquities, lifted the debt. Now listen to how I'm saying
this, because I'm saying it exactly the way I want to say it. He's
lifted the debt of it. But here's the problem. The presence
of it's still there. The presence of it's there. but the debt of it's not. But
He says He will subdue our iniquity. He says, "...who pardoneth iniquity."
Then in verse 19 it says, "...He will subdue our iniquities."
All the manifestations of our iniquity. All of the manifestations
of the source. He's pardoned the source of it.
In that He's lifted it off and put it on Him. But the presence
of it, He will subdue. Not only pardon, But He'll take
away the dominion of sin. Romans 6, 14, Sin shall not have
dominion over you, for you're not under the law but under grace.
God's purpose, grace, Spirit is pledged. He pledged Himself. Subdue. We're in the kingdom
of His dear Son. We're struggling. We're sojourners.
sinners saved by the grace of God. I'm telling you, you're
going to go through this life, believer, and it's not going
to get any easier. It will not get easier. It will
not get easier. I'm telling you, but the Lord's
grace is sufficient. The Scripture says, and thou
wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. How many? All of them. All of
them. Not the depths of the physical
sea. That's going to be burnt up. It's not going to be here anymore.
But in the depth of the sea of His mercy, of His grace, the
fountain which God has opened in the redeeming blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 20 says, Thou wilt
perform the truth to Jacob. Thou wilt perform, Thou wilt
give the truth Himself. The Lord said, I'm the way, the
truth, to Jacob, to his people. That's what He said. When He
said, Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, Thou wilt give Christ
to his people. You sons of Jacob, you know why
we're not consumed? Because God doesn't change. If
He's ever purposed to show mercy, He shows mercy. He doesn't change. What Almighty God has promised
in Christ, He's faithful to perform. And the mercy, thou wilt perform
the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn
unto our fathers from the days of old. Listen, the Lord is going
to save His people. Now, we're struggling right now,
but I tell you, even in the struggles that we have, we come weekly
to the table of His mercy, giving us a place where we can come
and feast. I need to hear this. I need to
hear this again. I need to hear it again, and
again, and again. You would think that, you know,
the world would think, well, you know, okay, I've heard the
message. Okay, I've got it now. I've got it. I've got it. No. I've got it, but I need it more.
I need to eat again. I need to
feast again. at His feet. I need to be like
Martha, chosen that better part, that part that the Lord says
is not going to be taken away from her. If God's given me a
heart, sit and listen. It's by the grace of God. If
you want to be here today, it's by the grace of God. I'm glad
that any of us showed up. I'm glad that any of us wanted
to be here. Lord, bless the Word to our heart for Christ's sake.