Micah, chapter 1. We're going through this chapter,
Lord willing, this morning. And I've entitled this message,
The Cure of the Incurable Disease. The cure of the incurable disease. We'll read the first five verses
and get a sense of what is taking place here. It says, "...the
word of the Lord came unto Micah the Morasith in the days of Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning
Samaria and Jerusalem." And he begins now his message. He says,
Hear ye all people, hearken, O earth, and all that is therein,
and let the Lord God be witnessed against you, the Lord from His
holy temple. For behold, the Lord cometh forth
out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high
places of the earth, and the mountains shall be molten under
him, and the valleys shall be cleft as wax before the fire,
and as waters that are poured down a steep place. Because this is the reason of
his coming down in vengeance. It says, "...for the transgression
of Jacob is all this, and for the sin of the house of Israel."
What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What
is the high places of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Therefore
I will make Samarian heap of the field as the plantings of
a vineyard, and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley,
and I will discover her foundations thereof. and all the graven image
thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all their hires thereof shall
be burned with fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay
desolate. And she, for she gathered it
of an hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire
of an harlot." The first thing we see here is a call A call
of the prophet Micah to Jerusalem and to Samaria. Now, I will not
spend a lot of time talking about the physical Jerusalem and physical
Samaria that is mentioned here. Of course, God did bring destruction
on Samaria, which is Israel, and destroyed that whole nation.
From the face of the earth, He destroyed those ten tribes, never
to return. And Judah was eventually taken
captive by Babylon. This was the judgment of God
upon them, and God said He would do it, and He did it. But I have,
by the authority of Scripture, know this, that all that is mentioned
of Jerusalem and Israel and Judah speaks to us of God's people. God's people. And so then this
call is a cry to all people. Is that not what he said? He
said that in verse 2. Here, all ye people hearken,
O earth, and all that is therein." This is a cry of God by the prophet
to everyone. And it is a cry of judgment. It is not a popular message. It is not a feel-good message. It is a message of truth that
God is coming in judgment, that God in justice will come and
destroy the wicked. He will cast them into outer
darkness. He will cast them into hell.
This is the judgment of God. And listen why. For the transgression. For their sins. The Lord will come and there
will be none to oppose Him. You got that? There will be none
to oppose Him when He comes. There will be no objections to
His rule. There will be no objections to
His eternal judgment. None whatsoever. In fact, He
says it'll be like wax to the fire, like water running down
a steep hill. You know what that is? That's
unopposed. Unopposed. God says He will come and those
who appear as mountains The mountains among men, that's what he's talking
about, the strongest of men, the noblest of men, the wisest
of men. God shall melt them with the
brightness of His glory. All those that are high as mountains
of self-righteousness, the religious of this world, All who count
their religious deeds as mountains. A mountain was something that
had a firm foundation. A mountain was something thought
to be immovable. And that's what men think of
their religion, of their righteousness, of their goodness. They think
it's immutable. They think it cannot be moved.
But God says, I will melt it like molten heat. I will melt
it. your deed your best religion
that you could offer in that day they will be melted under
the standard of God's holy perfect justice and now that he does
not just say he's coming to I'll destroy the high the religious
the moral but he comes also to the valleys notice that inverse
to I'm sorry inverse I'll Verse 4, it said, "...the mountains
shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft."
He says, I'm not only going to judge the highborns, I'm also
going to judge those that are of the lowest degree, the lowest
estate of men, which are pictured by the valleys. Those who in that day will sink
lower than they are even now. You hear men talk foolish things
like this. Well, this is hell on earth.
You ever heard of that mess? They suffer. They have great
suffering, no doubt. Their suffering is great. But
listen, that is not hell. That is a foretaste of hell. But it is not hell. None of our sicknesses in the
flesh, none of the griefs of man. If he was put into the gutter
and lost everything he has, he is still not as low as he'll
be when God comes in judgment. God says, I'll make you lower. The valleys shall melt as wax
and they'll become lower. None of those pains of earth
or flesh could ever pay for your rebellion against God. Therefore,
all your suffering and misery and tear are a foretaste of damnation."
Listen what God says about His eternal judgment in Isaiah 29,
verse 18. He says, "...from that time that
it goeth forth, it shall take you." He's talking about eternal
judgment. When He lays the plummet to the
line, when God lays His just plummet to the line, and you
are not found in Christ, you are not found on His rock, He
will cast you away, and He will take you. He will take you, and
there's nothing you can do about it. He will take you in vengeance. And He says, from the morning
to morning it shall pass over you, and day and by night, and
it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. When God comes in holy vengeance
and takes the sinner, when He lays that judgment to the plummet,
and you're not found in Christ, hell will pass over you morning
by morning. Suffering of hell is new every
morning. Day by day, night by night, it
shall be a vexation to you only to understand the report. The report of God's righteousness,
of God's holiness, of God's... I'm giving you a report, aren't
I? I'm telling you what He's going to do. I'm reporting to
you. And when it takes you, this will
only be a vexation to you to hear it for eternity. Because
I warned you. I warned you. I warned you. I want you to understand that
every... We know this, that the promises of God are yea and amen. Aren't they in Christ? They're
yea and amen in Christ. All the promises of God, all
the decrees of God. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Now that's a decree of God. That's
a promise of God. But here's another one. He that
believeth not shall be damned. Now that's another promise of
God. That's another decree of God. Here when the prophet of God, he cries to every man. And so do we. Jesus Christ is
your only hope. That's my whole intent of this
is to tell you there is hope. There is hope in Christ alone.
He alone is the Savior of man. And if you believe on Him, you
will be safe. But if you will not believe,
you will be damned. You will be damned. And when
a thousand years roll by, it shall still be written, shall
be damned. And when a million ages roll
by, it shall still be written, shall be And we who preach the
Word of God like this prophet understand this truth. But we also understand the nature
of man not to receive it. This vexed the prophet that he
knew they would not receive it. He knew they would not hear it.
And yet he knew he must preach it. He must declare it. We know men will see things like hell as
a place for other men. Isn't that what men think? Men believe that if they believe
there's a hell at all, they believe it's for somebody else and not
them. I told you about that Jewish
rabbi, a man came to him and said, this woman is preaching
Christ, if you don't believe in Christ, you'll go to hell.
And the rabbi said, well, son, that's a Jewish problem. That's
a Gentile problem. That's a Gentile problem. See,
hell is for somebody else. No, if you don't believe in Christ,
hell is for you. Hell is for you. Men hear of the justice and the
wrath of God, and they say, away with such a God. I don't want
to hear about that. I don't want to hear of a just...
Tell me of the love of God. Tell me nothing of the justice
of God. Listen, God is love, but He is
also just. We still must declare it as plainly
and boldly as we are able to, even if men do not want to hear
it. Why? It's true. It's true. And I say, let God be true. And
every man a liar. It's true. We must not fail to
preach the truth regardless of what men think or feel of it.
We must, like Micah, fulfill and obey the command of God.
Hear ye all the people, the Lord cometh in judgment. And if you
will not hear it, you will not repent and turn to mercy. Listen,
God Himself will testify against you. Now what He said? He said
that in verse 2. Hear you people, and all the
earth that is therein, let the Lord God be witness against you.
Listen, God's going to witness against you. If you don't hear
My Word, God Himself will witness against you. God will testify
against you. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of a living God. And yet some men mock and will
not fear. And will not fear. When He comes and takes you,
only then will it ring true. But it's too late. then it's
too late. Now, Israel wholly rejected the
prophet of God. They utterly were destroyed as
a nation, and so will it be spiritually with all who reject the Word
of God concerning Christ. But I do know this, and I wouldn't
preach this if I did not know it's true. Some will hear. Some will fear. Some will believe. And they say this, What shall
I do? Isn't that what the Philippian
jailer said? What must I do? But it's also
what the lawyer said. What must I do? They had two
different hearts. One man said, what must I do,
knowing he could do nothing. That was a Philippian jailer.
What must I do? What in the world? I can't do anything. And the
gospel was preached and he believed and he was saved. But that lawyer,
he said, what must I do? In other words, what do I got
to do? Give me a list of things I have
to do so as I may escape this. Jesus said, well you know the
law, do that. And so what is it when men say,
what must I do? Here's God's answer to men who
ask for a list. What you can do is this. Nothing. Absolutely nothing you can do
about it. It is a hopeless case. Look what
it says. Micah 8, Micah 1, verse 8. This
has caused the sadness and lamentation of the prophet. He said, therefore
I will wail and howl. I will go stripped and naked. I will make a wailing like that
of the dragons and mourning like the owls. Why? For her wound is what? incurable. Somebody go to the doctor and
they've got cancer and they say it's terminal. What does that mean? It means
there's nothing you or anyone else can do. It's exactly what it means here.
What can you do to stop the judgment of God against
your sinful soul? You listen, pay attention. You
can do nothing. The wound of your sin is terminal. It's terminal. It's incurable. The wound that Adam in the garden
was struck with the blow to his soul affected all his race. All of us are born dead in trespass. I can't think of a more incurable
disease than death. Can you? I've even heard of miraculous
things happening to patients with that terminal cancer. Sometimes just one in a million
come out and all of a sudden their cancer is gone. 100 out of 100 dead people stay
dead. Just dead. We come forth from the womb,
speaking lies. Our spiritual wounds cover the
whole man." Isn't that what Isaiah said? He said, from the sole
of the foot to the crown of the head are nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. Therefore, the wound of our nature
caused by sin cannot be cured. It cannot be healed by any means
of the flesh. By any work or sacrifice or religious
deeds of man, this wound cannot be healed. Cannot be removed by moral reform. It cannot be moved, cured by
outward acts or ordinances of religion. It is incurable. Incurable. This is because the
wound is not outward, but inward. The wound is not fleshly, it's
spiritual. And therefore no work of the
flesh, no work or sacrifice of the outer man can cure the wound
of the spiritual man. The cure must be spiritual, because
the wound is spiritual. And yet men go about thinking
to cure themselves by outward religions, baptisms, and religious
ceremonies, and rituals. And God says this, I'm coming
in judgment and there's no cure for it. No remedy that you can have. So then, is there any hope? Does God's Word not leave us
with any hope? Will all men be consumed by justice? Is there no cure for the wound
of the wicked? Balak asked that, didn't he?
Matter of fact, it's in this book. If you flip over to chapter
6, you remember Balaam, that wicked prophet, came to Balak,
that evil king. And this is what Balak said,
asked. He says in verse 6 of chapter
6, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before
the high God? Shall I come before him with
burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord
be pleased with a thousand rams, or with ten thousand rivers of
oil? Shall I give my firstborn for
the transgression of my body, the fruit of my body for the
sin of my soul? Do you see? He's saying, can
an outward thing affect the inward soul? Is that possible? The answer is no. The wound is
incurable. None of that will affect it.
Verse 8, He has showed thee, O man, what is good. And what
doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, love mercy,
and walk humbly with thy God? You suppose that's easy? Do justly. Let's just deal with the first
one. Do justly. To be holy. That's what it means
to be holy. Listen, if you desire God's favor
by works or sacrifice, you must be as holy as God. But none of us have done this,
and none of us can do this. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. So what will be the wisdom of
men when they hear this word? When you tell men, listen, when
you tell men that this disease is incurable, what is the response
of men? They gladly receive this. Is
this something that's well received in religious circles today? That
the wound of sin is incurable. That man is totally depraved. When this message is preached,
they will not receive it. What do they do? They begin to
look for help somewhere else, don't they? They begin to look
at other things and, you know, enough is never enough, is it?
You say, well, you just do this and you'll be alright. You do
that and what does your conscience say? It's not alright. The wound's
not healed. And so you find another thing,
and another thing, and pretty soon you've got a big thick book
of traditions that you have to follow in order to cure this
wound. And yet when you find the end
of all of them, you find no cure at all. Look at what God says to him.
Go back to your text. Look at what God says to him.
In verses 10 through verse 14, I'm just going to summarize this
for you. He says, look, don't go looking for help anywhere
else. He said, don't go tell Gath. Don't go tell them. They're
not going to do anything for you. Look, he says, "...declare
it not to Gath. The Philistines weep not at all
in the house of Aphrodite. Roll over thyself in the dust.
Pass you away, you inhabitants of Sapphire, having the shame
naked." The inhabitants of Zanon came not forth in the morning
to Bethzeal, He shall receive of you His standing. For the
inhabitants of Moreth waited carefully for good, but evil
came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem. O thou
inhabitant of Lamech, bind the chariot behind the swift beast.
She is the beginning of sin of the daughter of Zion, for the
transgression of Israel were found in thee. Therefore shalt
thou give presents to Moresheth Gath, the house of Aqzib, shall
be a lie to the kings of Israel." He said, look, you're going to
go to all these people, but I'm going to destroy them. They're not going to have the
ability to save themselves, much less you. And you're going to
give presents to them, but it's going to be a lie. They're going
to be bribed, but they're not going to be able to help you.
What happened to Israel? Could all their bribes help them?
No. Could all the chariots and horses
of their enemies help them? No. No, they were destroyed,
and neither can they help you. Put not your trust in princes,
nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. Do you not yet see there is no
help in men? Can you not see the wound is
incurable? There's no help. But now, all those that feel
their wound, and find no help in men, no goodness in their
flesh, to all who have come to see the coming judgment of God,
but know they cannot cure themselves. Now behold the goodness and grace
of God, behold the promise of God which should give hope. look at verse 15 here it is here's
the cure for the incurable disease yet even though even though this
is what I'm going to do I'm coming in judgment even though it's
an incurable disease even though you will bribe and you will try
and you will fail yet here it is yet will I bring an heir unto
thee." Don't you know that both of those
kingdoms lost their kings, their heirs, and yet what does God
say? I'm going to bring in a king.
I'm going to bring in an heir. O inhabitant of Meresheth. Now Meresheth is a place of Judah. It is a place of Judah. And He
shall come unto Abdullam, the glory of Israel. Now the Word of the Lord is very
clear concerning the fall and the state of man. that the wound
is incurable, that no amount of fig leaves of religion shall
cover it or cure it, but God is equally clear about the promise
of salvation by free grace through the work of Jesus Christ and
high priest and representative of his people. The seed of the
woman shall what? Crush the head of the serpent.
How? By the bruising of his heel. Look now and see what God says,
I will send an heir unto thee. One writer writes this about
this text. He says, when all things shall seem to be without
any hope of deliverance, then cometh the Deliverer. It is Jesus,
the glory of Israel. God forbid we should think of
any other subject here, and so the heir in the preceding clause
is no one else but the Messiah. The heir is Christ. Isn't that always God's way to
show you the darkest of circumstances? And then, the morning break. Then the Deliverer comes, and
that's exactly what God has done here. He showed forth the liver,
behold Jesus Christ is the heir. Isn't that what Paul said? Hebrews
1, he said, He has spoken these last days by His Son, who He
hath appointed, what? Heir of all things. Do you know
this? That Jesus Christ is the heir
of all creation. and all creation is sustained
by His power and will. All power is given unto me in
heaven and earth. Jesus Christ is heir of all things
and all peoples. They are His by divine right.
They are His and under His divine power. The Apostle says that all things
were made by him and for him. Yet see the glory of the grace
of God, for God not only gave him all things of earth and time
and space, but something more particular. God gave him something
more precious than anything else in the universe. And that is,
he is the heir of all the elect of God. He is the king of all
the elect of God. Listen to what God says in Deuteronomy
32. The Lord's portion is what? His
people. And Jacob, the lot of his inheritance. See how that God made in him
heir of Mirshath. That's Judah. He's made him the
heir of Judah. The elect of God. And see now,
the incurable wound was not just for Samaria. Look back at over
there where it says that incurable wound in verse... Verse four, verse five, for the
transgression of Jacob is all this, for the sins of the house
of Israel. I'm sorry, it's the wrong place,
just a second. And what is the transgression
of Jacob but Samaria? And what is the high place of
Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Now then, this is talking about
that both are in sin. Both Samaria and Judah. This did not stop at the gates
of Samaria. The sin of Israel did not stop
with the ten tribes, but it came even into the gate of Jerusalem. Now what does this mean? It means
that sin permeated the whole race. those who are not God's
elect, and even those that are God's elect. And so all men are
sinners. This is exactly true of all of
God's people. We know this. If you're saved
of God's grace, you know this, that sin did not stop at your
door, that it came in to you as well as it did everyone else.
But here then is hope that God has promised a king, a Savior,
a deliverer of Judah. which should be given, and that
is Jesus Christ. Don't you know this? That God
put all of us, He gave us to His Son, He put us in union with
His Son, so that He is the head and we are the body. God has tied all of His elect
to Christ. And it pleased God that in Jesus
should have all the preeminence, that the Son in love for His
people should come into the world. And He came even as God promised
in our text. And by His obedience and blood
He obtained for all His people righteousness and redemption,
full redemption and atonement for our sins by the blood of
His cross. Now look at that in our text
again. Go back to that verse 15. And he shall come to Adullam,
the glory of Israel. Remember, this is the place where
David prayed, that cave there, where he hid from Saul and found
refuge and shelter from Saul. And he wrote a psalm. Let's go
to this psalm. Go to Psalm 142. Psalm 142. I want you to read this and see
if these are not the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as He hung
upon the tree, bearing the sins of His people. Psalm 142 and verse 1, a prayer
of David when he was in the cave. He said, I cried unto the Lord
with my voice. With my voice unto the Lord did
I make my supplications. I poured out my complaint unto
him, and showed him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I
walked, they privately laid snare for me. I looked on my right
hand, and behold, there was none that would know me. Refuge failed
me. No man cared for my soul. I cried
unto Thee, O Lord, I said, Thou art my refuge, and listen, my
portion. In the land of the living, attend
unto my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my
persecutors, for they are stronger than I." Can you not hear that in that
sentence? My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? All men forsook Him. And God
alone was His refuge. And now look at this last verse.
Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Thy name. Bring
my soul from the grave. This is speaking of His resurrection.
And notice the result of the resurrection. And the righteous
shall compass me about. for thou shalt deal bountifully
with me." What is that, the righteous? That's His people. Those are
the ones He made righteous. He said, they shall compass me
about. Isn't that a picture of heaven?
Can you not see that in Revelation when all are compassed about
who? About Christ. They all come to
Him. They all are worshiping Him because
of His perfect work. That's the result of His offering
to God. He obtained the glory of God
and the salvation of His children by His death and by His burial
in the tomb. And now, where is He? Where is
Christ? Where is the heir? He is seated
on the throne of God for one purpose, to cure the incurable. He said this, He said, I have
glorified thee on the earth. And now has given the Son power
over all flesh, that He may give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given Him." That's the cave of Badum. It was His tomb. And
now it is the glory of God that the tomb is what? It's empty.
It's empty. And He comes to save His people
from their sins. Is there anyone who feels the
incurable wound? Do you know anything of this
incurable wound? Then you know this, the only
cure is Christ. The only cure is that God sent
an heir and the glory of the Lord by His death, by His burial
and resurrection, He will save His people from their sins. There is a cure. There is a balm
in Gilead. Jesus Christ Him crucified. If
any would seek a cure concerning the justice and judgment of God,
it is only found in Jesus Christ alone. And notice how they all
come. Look at verse 16, "...make thee
bald, and pull thee of thy delicate children." The shaving of the
hair was a sign of repentance, a sign of humility. If anyone is to come to Christ,
they must come and abandon all and believe on Him. You must
shave off all your self-righteousness. You must abandon any hope of
curing yourself and come holy to Christ. You must pull thee,
you must get rid of your delicate children. Know what that is?
Your sin. Isn't that what our sin is? Nothing
but delicate children. Oh, how our flesh coddles our
sin. like they're so precious that
we can't get rid you want this cure you get rid
of the sea you must abandoned and i'll tell you what your but
your delicate children is for most people's religion self-righteous
that's what there's delicate children but notice this enlarge
thy baldness as the eagle." I read of this that these birds of prey
at the certain time in the spring would fly up into the heights
of the sky so as to singe their wings and then plunge into the
sea so as to rid themselves of the old feathers so that they
should gain new ones. What a picture! What a picture! Oh, that God would burn off the
dross of our sins. That God would give us newness
of life. And that life is only found in
Christ. Picture of the new birth. And notice this, all who are
born again. He said, for they are gone into
captivity from thee. In other words, this word, it
means they are far removed from thee. That's what another translation
says, they are removed from thee. That is our sins. Those things
you had delicate children, they are removed from thee. And listen, you see one now that
has been cured. i've been cured like that came
in that woman you remember how she she spent all she had on
her disease spent on doctors of no value and what happened
she grew worse it wasn't incurable disease until we had until she
came to christ and said within herself if i may but touch the
him his garment i shall be made old this in a few just but Him of His garment, you will
be made whole. If you believe on Him alone,
you will be clean every whit. Now what does that mean? Is the
old flesh gone? No, it's still here. I tell you, I know more about
that incurable disease every day when I see my flesh. But
I also know more of that cure when I see Christ. Have you been
cured? If you have, then praise God
for the heir. Thank God for Christ. If you
haven't, then come to Christ. And you could be cured today.
Isn't that wonderful? May God even do it. Pray He will.