Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me now to the book of Micah chapter 7. Micah chapter 7. I want to actually speak, the
message will be mostly out of verses 18 to 20, but I want us
to just read a few verses along, and then I'll make a few comments,
beginning at verse 1, and bring us to that portion of Scripture
that we'll focus on this morning. Micah 7, verses 1-4 says, Woe
is me! For I am as when they have gathered
the summer fruits, as the great gleanings of the vintage. There's
no cluster to eat. My soul desired the first ripe
fruit. The good man, that is the godly
man, is perished out of the earth. There's none upright among men.
They all lie in 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. And the great man, he uttereth
his mischievous desire. So they wrap it up. The best
of them is as a briar. The most upright is sharper than
a thorn hedge. The day of my watchman Thy visitation
cometh, now shall there be their perplexity." Here the prophet,
he just bears his heart. He looks around and he doesn't
see many around that are concerned with God's glory, God's honor. He's like Elisha. You know, Lord,
am I the only one left? He thought that faith and the
faithful were practically gone out of the earth. It appeared,
just like now, that God is calling His chosen home, calling them
unto Himself. And would there be With many
raised up, would there be any raised up that would stand and
preach the gospel of God's grace? Would there be? The world and
its religion hates God, hates His people. They've got one goal,
to do evil. And to do it and call it good. But this day, This day of open
rebellion is not going to always continue. The Lord is merciful. The Lord is gracious. Verse 4,
the day of thy watchman and of thy visitation cometh, and now
shall be their perplexity. That is, the Lord shall have,
the Lord shall always have a witness In this earth until the day of
Christ's second coming. And then shall be the day of
their perplexity. All that have walked in confusion
and darkness, rebellion against God, are going to be exposed. They're going to be condemned.
They're going to be punished. That's where he started off.
Woe is me. And that's when they've gathered the summer fruits as
the grape gleanings of the vintage. There's no cluster to eat. He
said there's no satisfaction. He said, Lord, let's look at
verses 5 and 6. Trust ye not in a friend. Put
ye not confidence in a guide. Keep the doors of thy mouth from
her that lie in thy bosom. For the son dishonoreth the father,
the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law
against the mother-in-law, the man's enemies, or the men of
his own house." Sadly but true. Who does a man have to trust
in, in this world? One that will never fail. Who does he have? But the Lord,
as sincere as any of us would want to be, you know that we're
frail creatures. And a man's best friend, though
he may not want to, he'll disappoint him. But the Lord never will. Verse 7, Therefore, because I
could not trust in anyone, Therefore, verse 7, I will look unto the
Lord. That capital L-O-R-D. I'm going to look to the Jehovah. I'm going to look to the Father,
the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the fullness of the Godhead in
Christ. I'll look unto the Lord. I will
wait for the God of my salvation My God will hear me." Oh, what
faith! To know that the Lord will hear. He does hear. He is the God alone that hears. What a statement of hope! But
I can find no lasting confidence in the closest of my friends.
I can trust Him. When you can find no other, you
trust Him. His Word never fails. Even in the disappointments and
the sorrows and the failings of others, when they are the
means used by the Spirit of God to drive me to Christ, when others
disappoint me, when I disappoint you, and I will, I will. There'll be times you say, man,
I wish Marvin wouldn't have said that. I wish he wouldn't have
done that. I wish he would have done this. I don't want to. But I'm a frail creature. And
I will, just like you will. We'll disappoint others. But
when we disappoint each other, those failings, those sorrows,
Those disappointments, when they are by the grace of God used
by the Spirit of God to drive us to Christ, they are blessings. They are blessings. Even in the
disappointments, if it causes you to cry unto the Lord and
to pray, Lord, help me. Lord, help me to have a right
attitude and pray for my brother. Help me, I'm sorry. They'll say, Rejoice not against
me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation that
the chastisement of the Lord, because I've sinned against Him,
until He plead my cause and execute judgment for me. He will bring
me forth to the light. I shall 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? Mine eyes shall behold
her. Now shall she be trodden down
as the mire of the streets. In the day that thy walls are
to 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. Notwithstanding, the land shall
be desolate because of them that dwell therein for the fruit of
their doings." In whatsoever state trials A believer finds
himself in, by the grace of God. You know, you know, they that
shall live godly in this world shall suffer persecution. This is our lot. This is the
way it is. I know that the religion of this
world proclaims peace and harmony and joy and everything is great
and you're always going to be healthy. Anybody that they say,
if you had enough faith, you'd never be sick, Scripture doesn't
bear that out. If you have enough faith, you'll
always have more money than you know what to do with, Scripture
doesn't bear that out. You're going to suffer persecution,
trials, and tribulations in this world. God Almighty is preparing
His people to take them out. He's weaning them from this world.
I tell you, God's people, the older we get, the more we realize
that this world is not our home. It's not. It's not. I mean, we
look all around. It's like we were talking this
morning. Look at God's people. Look at these faithful, faithful
saints of God. And by the grace of God, the
Lord has allowed them By His mercy. To be sick. You think that's the cause of
their rebellion? It's by the grace of God. God's
grace. Whatsoever state we're in, our
safety in Christ is always the same. If by His good pleasure
we're made to sit in the darkness of His hidden will. If He's not
pleased to reveal to us what He's doing, if we look around
and we say, I don't understand why this is happening. Why? Why? If that's the case,
He's still our light. In Thee will I trust. The Lord
is my light. The Lord is my hope. Is ever
our comfort? Is ever our strength? These times
of trial are always the privileges that we've been given to triumph
by faith in Him. The wicked speak evil of God's
people, but the Lord has set forth. He's their defense. Verse 14, 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 Vatian and 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, and their ears shall be deaf, and they shall lick
the dust like a serpent. They shall move out of their
holes like worms of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord
our God, and shall fear because of thee." Lord, behold your foe. Lord, look upon us in kindness. Feed us with the bread of heaven.
Let us drink from the fountain of life Himself. Now with the
case laid bare. Here's that seventh chapter of
the book of Micah. Now with the eyes of our understanding,
knowing that we're in this world and we're not of it, Knowing
that we are to be in this world blameless and harmless, sons
of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation among whom you shine, the Apostle Paul says to the
church of Philippi, is lights in this world. Let's look at
the last few verses of this chapter and proclaim the reason of our
hope. Let us set forth the glory of
Him in whom rests all of our security and all of our trust. This is the way it is. We're
in this world and we look around and we see, Lord, Lord, how long? How long? Lord, if you hide from
me your good providence, you are my illumination. Here's the great statement of
faith. Here's where we rest. Here's where we stay. Here's
where we find comfort right here. Verse 18, Who is a God like unto
thee? Exodus 15, 11 says, Who is like
unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto Thee? Glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises, doing wonder. Who is like unto Thee? Here's the answer. None. None. None. Who is like unto Thee? There's none like unto Thee. Isaiah 44, 6, Thus saith the
Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, The Lord of hosts,
the God of hosts, I am the first, I am the last, and beside me
there is no God. There's none. And concerning Him who alone
is God, what does the Holy Spirit set forth that He alone does? Here it is. Who is a God like
unto thee that pardoneth iniquity? Now let me tell you what was
just stated right there. That pardoneth iniquity. That word pardoneth. You know, we think we know what
it means. I thought I understood that word. Pardoneth iniquity. Do you know what that word means?
To lift off. To lift off. By this statement, who is a God
like unto thee? We know, first of all, From that
statement, who pardoned iniquity, we know first of all that in
ourselves we're guilty. If that word iniquity is found
there and it's pertaining to us, we might as well just go
ahead and admit something. We're guilty. We're guilty. But the pardoning of iniquity
concerning God's people is according to satisfied justice. God Almighty
does not pardon iniquity. He does not just absolutely lift
it off without the satisfaction of His justice. The pardoning
of iniquity is according to our Lord's substitutionary work and
death and sacrifice at Calvary. Substitutionary. He bore my place. He was there in my stead, in
the stead of all that the Father had given Him. He said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. Now, if God is going to pardon
iniquity, if He's going to lift it off, He's going to put it
somewhere. He does not just lift it off
without His justice being satisfied. If He lifted it off from me,
where did it go? Somebody said, well, He just
forgave it. No, He didn't. He said, I'm a
just God. The soul that sinneth is going
to die. I'm the sinner. What is he going
to do with the iniquity that he pardons, that he doesn't impute
to me, that he doesn't charge to me? What's he going to do
with it? He lifted it off. Charged it to his son. His son
was maimed. Sin. He was the one that has
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The Lord has pardoned our iniquity,
the iniquity of His elect. He lifted the debt of our sin
and made His Son Sin. Who knew no sin. That we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. You know, we read
that and we just think He pardons iniquity. We say, well, just
don't worry about it. Just don't worry about it. I'll
just forget it. No, no. No, no. No. Sin is always dealt with. God deals with sin. He never
just sweeps it under the rug. Never! God Almighty is going
to deal with sin in either you and me or in His Son. But He's going to deal with it.
He's going to punish it. Who is a God like unto thee that
lifts sin off of a sinner, the ungodly? Who is a God like you
that lifts up pardons, takes it off, and puts it on another?
and deals with it in absolute justice. Who? Who can do that but God? Who
can do that? Who is a God-like unto thee?
Again, consider the alternative. What would you do with it? You
wouldn't do anything with it. You would die in your sin. That's
what you'd do with it. How could you deal with it? Who
would you give it to? Who is a God like unto you that
pardons, lifts off iniquity, and passes by the transgression
of the remnant of His heritage? Who is a God like unto you that
lifts iniquity, charges it to another, to His Son, to His Lamb, The transgression of the remnant
of His heritage. God has a remnant. God has a
remnant. God has a heritage. God has a chosen according to
the election of grace. God's heritage has been redeemed
by blood and regenerated in power, made willing to come to Christ
and believe on Him. And they're in this world. Regenerated
they are. Warring within and without. And
they know! They know. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. We say we have no sin. We make
God a liar. We have sin. In word and thought and deed.
But who is a God like in you that lifted the guilt of it?
The penalty of it? and charged to a son, and then
passed by his people. Who is a God like them? Here
they are in this world. Sin is present with them. But
their debt has been paid by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because God chose to pay their
debt. God chose to show them mercy.
I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whomsoever. I will have mercy and compassion.
So then it's not of Him that willeth. It's not of Him that
runneth. It's of God that shows mercy.
Who is a God like unto you that takes no notice in wrath against
His people? that passes by. Oh, He's going
to deal with them because He loves them. He's going to chasten
them. But chastisement is because of
His love. It's not wrath. He spanks us
because we deserve it. We deserve it. We deserve everything
we've gotten then, son. But for the grace of God, He
would have cast us out of His sight. Who is a God, like unto
you, that hides his face and will not call into account the
transgression of his people? Because he called his Son into
account. And he dealt with him in absolute
justice and judgment. And the Lord Jesus Christ bore
the full extent of God's wrath. He held back nothing. Nothing. And what that sin deserved eternally
and would have taken eternity to forever bear, it would have
never been over. It would have never been over
had we borne it. Never! We would have forever
been under the judgment of God in hell, in the lake of fire.
It would have never been over. How effectual was His blood by
one sacrifice. One sacrifice. He hath perfected
forever. Heaven and earth sanctified.
set apart by God. Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity, passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever. Back in verse 9, the prophet
said, I will bear the indignation, the chastisement of the Lord
because I have sinned against Him So I said, oh, in His loving
chastisement, the hand of His correction is grievous for the
moment. We know from His Word that these
corrections issue from His love. We know that they're for our
good. We know it's for the glory of His blessed Son, the Savior. And they're not going to be forever. Oh, what good news He retained,
if not His anger forever for some. They will be forever under
the judgment of God. But for Almighty God to not deal
with me in chastisement forever, that's because He's pardoned
my iniquity. And He's passed by the transgression
of this sinner in mercy. He's charged it to another. There's
going to come a time When we're going to see Him as He is. And
there's going to be no more tears, no more chastisement, no more
rebellion, no more disappointments. And why does He not retain His
anger forever? Why does He pardon iniquity?
Why does He pass by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? Because He delighteth in mercy. He delighteth in mercy. It's not like me that says, well,
I know it's the right thing to do, so all right, I'm just going. Don't worry about it. Don't worry
about it. He delighteth in it. It is His
delight. It is His joy. Jeremiah, let
me read this to you. Jeremiah 9.24. But let him that
gloryeth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment,
and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord. I don't even know. You have to
grasp hold of that. That He delighteth in showing
mercy. Mercy is for those who in themselves
are truly guilty. He takes pleasure in mercy and
being compassionate to whomsoever He wills. And you know the sad
thing? Is that man by nature doesn't
desire His mercy. I don't want that. I think I'll
pass on that one. No, to come and hear about His
mercy and I, you can have it. I'm busy. I've got stuff. I've got things. I'm fine. I'm
fine. There's one way and one way only that God can be merciful
and delight in that mercy, and it's to show mercy through Him
who alone is the mercy of God. Let me read you something here
as we bring this to an end. In Luke 1, an amazing passage
of Scripture, we speak of the mercy of God. That's a marvelous word. Mercy. Mercy. But listen to me. I'm going to read you something.
I'm going to show you that mercy is a person. Mercy is a person. The mercy of God. That's the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you this. Luke 1
verse 68, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited
and redeemed his people. Now we know. He visited and redeemed
his people in who? Christ. And has raised up a horn
of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. Now who
has been raised up as the horn of our salvation? The power of
our salvation? Christ. As he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we
should be saved from our enemies, from the hand of all that hateth,
from Satan, this world, sin, rebellion. That we should be
saved from our enemies. That's our enemies. To perform
the mercy promised to our Father, and to remember His holy covenant. And to perform. That is, to establish
and to finish the work. To perform the mercy promised
to our fathers. Who is the mercy promised to
our fathers? And to remember His holy covenant?
It's Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know why Almighty God
He who delights in mercy. He who passes by the transgression
of His people. He who pardons iniquity. Do you know who He delights in? His mercy. He delights in His
Son. He delights in His Son. who has
absolutely performed that which the Father has given Him to do. I have finished the work that
Thou gavest me to do. The Lord is the mercy of God.
There is no mercy from God. There is no delight in mercy
except the law be honored. There is no delight in mercy
Except justice is satisfied. Except righteousness is established
for man. For mercy to truly be mercy.
It must have, as its very nature, the glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
How can God Almighty show mercy at the expense of His justice? For Christ, who is our mercy,
to be truly mercy to us, He's got to satisfy God. And the great promise in closing
to God's elect, verse 19, here it is, He will turn again. Not God. Let's not talk about
God turning. There's no variables. There's
neither shadow of turning with God. God doesn't turn. I'll tell
you what He does. He turns His people. He will
turn again. We were born in trespasses and
sins. We came forth from our mother's
womb, speaking lies. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord has promised,
because He delights in mercy, He will turn again. He will turn
His people. I loved, I looked up that word,
turn. He will turn again. Here's what it means. Pull in
again. Recover. Rescue. Restore. When you understand
what the word means, it makes perfect sense. He will turn again. And not only did He turn us in
regenerating grace, but He mercifully turns us always from the wanderings
of our walk. And don't even remotely think
that we don't need to be turned again every moment. Jeremiah 31.18, Thou hast chastened
me and I was chastened as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn
Thou me and I shall be turned for Thou art the Lord my God. He delighteth in mercy. He will have compassion. Do you know the scripture sets
forth, Here he is, the Lord of glory, made like unto his brethren,
yet without sin. For as much then, Hebrews 2.14,
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself
Likewise, took part of the same, that through death He might destroy
them that had the power of death, that is, the devil." How can
God have compassion on me? I'll tell you how He has compassion
on me. Let me just read this for you. Hebrews 2, 16-18, For
verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, But he took
on him the seed of Abraham, wherefore, in all things it behooved him
to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
How can Almighty God have compassion on me except He knows what I
suffer? He has compassion. He will have
compassion because He's experienced. He was touched by the feelings
of our infirmities. And I'll tell you this too, He
will subdue our iniquities. Not only has He pardoned our
iniquity, but He destroys the dominion of sin. Romans 6.14,
for sin shall not have dominion over you. For you're not under
the law, but under grace, God's purpose. God's grace, God's Spirit
is pledged to prevent it. He said, sin will not have dominion
over you. It's not going to. It's not going
to rule. Not in His people. It's there.
But it doesn't rule. It doesn't have the dominion
over. And then the Scripture says, thou wilt cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. The sea of His blood. The sea
of the blood that came forth from the fountain of life. The
blood that covers. And good news. I will remember their sins no
more. Put away. Put away. Thou wilt, verse 20, perform
the truth to Jacob. and the mercy to Abraham, which
thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." What Almighty
God has eternally purposed and promised in Christ, He is faithful. He is faithful to perform. Thou
wilt perform. The Lord has come. He has redeemed. He will save His people. He will
give them a new heart in regenerating grace. And finally, He is going
to bring them right into His very presence. Who is a God like
unto you? That lifts iniquity. Charges it to another. Passes
by the transgression of the remnant of His people. Why? Because He
delights in mercy. Just God. May the Lord bless
these words to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.