Let's open to the book of Micah
today, the book of Micah. And I'm going to begin in the
7th chapter, but I'm actually going to go back and settle into
chapter 5 in a little bit, the Lord willing. But I want to start
in chapter 7. All right, the book of Micah.
Boy, this is an interesting book, to say the least. Micah. What does his name mean? It's
significant. Micah's name means, who is like
God? That's the meaning of his name. And actually, a definition of
his name is to be found here in chapter 7, and verse 18. Micah chapter 7 and verse 18. Here's a definition of Micah's
name. Who is a God like unto thee? That's what his name means. Who
is a God like unto thee? Who is like God? That's what Micah's name means.
Who is like God anyway? Well, there is no God but our
God. Moses said, the Lord our God
is one God. And there is none like unto the
Lord. None so great. None so glorious. None have the perfections that
our God has. Who is like our God in the works
that he has performed, his work of creation. He spake, and it
was done. He said, let there be light,
and there was light. Literally, light be, and the
lights came on. Who is a God like unto our God
in creation? Who is a God like unto our God
in divine providence? What is providence? God directing
all things to the end that He has already ordained for the
glory of His name, the fulfillment of His eternal purpose, and the
good of all of His elect. Who is a God like unto our God
in providence? Isn't it wonderful to know all
of our steps are ordered by the Lord? Isn't it good to know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are thee called according to His purpose. God is directing
all things to the end that He has already ordained. When did
He ordain the end? From the beginning. and He ordained
everything in between. And all things happen in your
life and in my life according to God's sovereign goodwill and
purpose, whatever that purpose is. As we begin a new year, not
one of us knows what the future will hold. what will happen during
2015. I can't even believe it's another
year already, can you? It seems like you just turned
2014, and you look back and you say, where has the year gone?
Well, it's gone by like all the rest of them have gone. And we
may rest assured of this, that all things that happened last
year fulfilled God's eternal purpose. and all things that
will happen this year, in this world, in this country, in this congregation, in your
life, and in my life, will be according to the sovereign will
of our God. Who is a God like our God in
Providence? We've been studying Joseph in
our Bible classes. My, what a roller coaster ride
he was on in his life. But God ordained for him to sit
in the palace of Pharaoh and be over all the granaries of
Egypt. But in order for him to arrive
there, He had many obstacles to overcome, many trials he had
to go through, but all of them happened according to God's good
will and purpose. And so it is in your life and in my life. A lot of hills to go up and a
lot of valleys to descend into, but we know that our steps are
being governed of the Lord. We will go on the path that God
has ordained. If there was for you, my dear
brother, my dear sister, a better path for you to be on, God in
His infinite wisdom would have you on it. You're exactly where
God would have you to be. Who is a God like unto our God
in providence? You know, therefore we need not
worry, we need not murmur, we need not fear, but rather be
of good cheer. Of all the people in the world,
we should be the happiest people, the most joyful people, because
our steps are ordained of God, as are the steps, by the way,
of all men. whether godly or ungodly, whether
they know the Lord or don't know the Lord. Our God has ordained
all things. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.
Who is a God like unto our God in creation and in providence? Who is a God like unto our God
in salvation? Our God saves sinners. The Savior's name is Jesus. He shall save His people from
their sins is what the angel said to Joseph. He has saved
His people from their sins by His substitutionary death. by
the sacrifice of Himself. I say, who is a god like unto
our God in salvation? He has redeemed us by the blood
of His Son. He found a way to rescue the
fallen and bring us up unto Himself.
without any compromise to His law or to His justice. And He
does this through the blood and the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is a God like unto our God, in electing grace,
in redeeming grace, in substitution, in someone who is fit and worthy
and suitable for God, who died in our stead, in our place and
in our room. Who is a God like unto our God
in redemption, in satisfaction, in substitution? And who is a
God like unto our God in regeneration? He quickens the dead. He invades
our hearts. He comes to us in the time of
love. and He reveals Himself to us,
and He breathes into us spiritual life, and we live unto God, and
we live for His glory, and we believe His blessed gospel. I
say, who is a God like unto our God? That's what Micah's name
means. And who is a God like unto our
God in His justifying grace? He has justified us. We are made
the very righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Oh, how utterly
amazing and how mysterious that folks like us who drink iniquity
like water, who were born in sin, who came forth from the
womb speaking lies. How utterly amazing and how magnifying
this is to the grace of our God that He makes us to be the very
righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. My goodness gracious. Who is a God like unto our God? That's what Micah's name means.
Don't forget it. You'll remember Micah's name
now. Micah, who is like our God. Now this man Micah, he was a
great prophet of God in a day when there were very few prophets
of God. Now he was a contemporary of
Hosea and Amos and Isaiah. four pretty good preachers right
there. If you could hear one of those men, those were God's
men. They had God's message. And Micah
was one of these preachers of the gospel. Well, when did he
preach? When did he prophesy? Well, during
the reigns of Jotham and Hezekiah and Ahaz of Judah. And in this book, in the book
of Micah, he basically deals with two things. If I could break
it down this way, just give you a summary of the book of Micah. He breaks it down this way. Number
one, he sets forth the absolutely awful spiritual condition of
Judah and Israel. They had fallen into false religion. They were still religious, but
they worshipped gods that could not hear, that could not act,
gods that could not save, gods that were, like themselves, dead. That's when Micah ministered. This was an awful time of corruption. Those who were in charge in the
political realm, they were crooked, they were wicked men. All of
the politicians, they were self-serving men. On the spiritual level,
all of the priesthood and almost all of the prophets, they served
for money. They were bought and paid for.
They preached the message the people wanted them to hear. They
tickled the ears of their hearers. And into this scene of spiritual
degradation, God raised up Micah. And Micah went forth preaching.
And he was bold in exposing the corruption that was rampant throughout
the land and the consequential judgment of God that awaited
sin. For you see, sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death. And our God will not turn the
blind eye toward sin. He must deal with sin where He
sees it. And He will deal with sin. Either
in a suitable substitute, which has already happened, or if we
had no substitute, then He will deal with it in us. And we will
be utterly condemned forever. Micah sets forth the awful spiritual
condition of Israel. That's the first thing. Runs
all the way through the book. Second thing. He sets forth the
amazing grace of God to an undeserving remnant through a Redeemer. He sets forth the amazing grace
of God to an undeserving remnant through a Redeemer. But you know
something? Isn't this the theme of the entire
Bible? Man's utter depravity, our fall,
our wretchedness, the degradation of our race, our alienation from
God, our hatred toward Him, That from the bottom of our feet to
the top of our heads, there is no soundness in us, but only
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores? Well, that's the theme
of the entire Bible. And this is the theme of the
entire Bible. God's amazing, free and sovereign
grace for sinners like us through Jesus Christ the Lord. Micah comes forth on the scene.
He has no new message. Why? He's saying what every other
prophet has said before him. And he will say what every other
preacher of the gospel will say after him. Man's total inability
and God's amazing free and sovereign grace to sinners who are unworthy
of the least of His mercies through the Lord Jesus Christ and His
blood and His righteousness. Mike is one of God's preachers. Now remember that the nation
of Israel, and this is both the northern kingdom and the southern
kingdom, They'd been given over to empty, meaningless, religious
ritualism and idolatry at the time that Micah ministered. As I said, the political leaders,
they were vile and worthless. All of the priests, they were
men for hire. And all of the prophets except
for Micah, Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah, they were covetous thieves. Most all of the preachers of
the day were religious hucksters. And the sad thing is, people
follow. The multitudes follow these religious
hucksters in great abundance. They did then. They still do. Because these religious hucksters,
they have a message that is attractive to the natural man. It appeals
to those who are really vile and unworthy of any mercies from
God. The message appeals to them.
It's a message of peace, peace, when there is no peace. For our
God said there is no peace to the wicked. This is the situation
in which Micah finds himself. Notice in chapter 1, he spoke
concerning the wickedness. Look in chapter 1, the last few
words of verse 1, chapter 1, Micah 1, 1, which he saw concerning
Samaria and Jerusalem. Those are two capital cities.
The northern kingdom, the ten tribes of the northern kingdom
had a capital, and that was Samaria. Well, this man Micah, he speaks
out against the wickedness in the capital city. And it went
forth to the rest of the area, the northern kingdom, and Jerusalem. Now Jerusalem, that's the capital
of the southern kingdom. That's the capital of the two
tribes in the south. So what Micah tells us right
from the get-go is that those in the capitals, Those in the
very main cities of the North and the South, they're polluted
in sin. He speaks against the wickedness
of both Samaria and Jerusalem. In chapter 1, he tells them judgment
is a certainty. Look at verse 5 here. Chapter
1 verse 5, For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for
the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of
Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are
the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? The wickedness
is found here. Look at verse 9. God says, For
her wound is incurable. And I'll tell you that's so of
all of us. In and of ourselves, our wounds
are incurable. We're so cut off. We're so sinful. We're so polluted. We cannot
heal ourselves. Our wounds are incurable. Not
your good works, not your baptism, not taking the Lord's Supper,
not your Bible reading, not your faith, not your repentance, nothing
you can do can put your sin away. The only thing that washes sin
away is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And thank God He
has drowned our sins in the blood of His Son. But our wounds are incurable.
You can't cure yourself. You've got a disease. I've got
a disease that's incurable. It's incurable. Oh, we've tried
many prescriptions for this disease, haven't we? And men are still
making up their potions to try to rid themselves of this awful
disease. It's in vain. It's incurable. He says, for her wound is incurable,
for it is common to Judah. He is common to the gate of my
people, even to Jerusalem. We're thoroughly infected by
this disease, by this leprosy of sin. In chapter 2, he tells us that
judgment is therefore inescapable. Notice what he says in chapter
2 in verse 3. Therefore, thus saith the Lord,
behold, against this family do I devise an evil from which ye
shall not remove your necks. Neither shall ye go haughtily,
for this time is evil. God says this is an evil time. And you're about to lose your
head. Your neck is stretched out. And there's nothing you
can do to prevent this. Judgment was an absolute certainty. In chapter 3, he talks about
the self-serving leaders, the hiring priests, and the covetous
false prophets, He exposes them. Look at chapter 3 verses 9 through
12. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads
of the house of Jacob, ye princes of the house of Israel that abhor
judgment and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood. and Jerusalem with iniquity.
The heads thereof judge for reward. And the priests thereof, they
teach for hire. And the prophets thereof, they
divine for money. In other words, they tell what's
going to happen, they do it for money. They're bought and paid
for. They're in somebody's pocket, like most preachers are today. Yet will they lean upon the Lord
and say, is not the Lord among us? None evil can come upon us. In other words, these crooked
prophets and priests, even though they are vile, covetous men who
lie on God, they say to all the people, listen, God is with us.
We don't have anything to worry about. No evil can come upon us, but evil will come upon them. But in chapter 4, Micah begins
to set forth God's effectual calling of His people in the
gospel day. Look at verse 1. But in the last
days, oh thank God, for his butts. He's the God who butts in. When
all seems lost, when there seems to be no hope, when Micah has
painted a dreary scene, when the blackness of man's wickedness
and depravity has been set forth, he says, Bud, wait a minute! In the last days it shall come
to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted
above the hills, and people shall flow into it. And many nations
shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us. He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in His paths, for the law, for the word of
the Lord, for the gospel shall go forth unto Zion, and the word
of the Lord from Jerusalem." Thank God for His promise of
grace. Yes, things are bad off. There's
no denying that. I'm not going to paint a rosy
picture for you in religion today. And those of you who know and
love God's free grace, this blessed gospel of redemption and substitution
and satisfaction, you look out and you see outside in the religions
of the world, you see such man-made garbage. It's being spewed forth
from the lips of men who supposedly say the Lord is with us or who
supposedly speak for the Lord and say the Lord is with us.
We see that and we just are nauseous, aren't we? It's nauseating. Free
will works religion is nauseating to anybody who loves grace. You
just can't put up with it. You won't condone it. And we
draw a straight line. We're not compromisers. But preacher,
he may say some bad things, but he's such a nice guy. He's a
wolf in sheep's clothing. He's bought and paid for. It's an awful day we're living
in when there's so many lies being told on God. However, don't
lose faith. Remember that God has His people. A multitude which no man can
number. He has his sheep out here. They're
lost sheep and he's going to find every last one of them because
he's laid down his life for every last one of them. And they will
be brought into the fold of salvation. And the word of the gospel shall
go forth to Zion. Don't ever fear for the cause
of God. It's safe. It's safe. And I know there are a lot of
vile voices out here spewing out their religious venom. But I'll tell you this, there
are some voices who sound forth the joyful news of salvation
accomplished in, through, and by Christ Jesus. There are some
who are telling the truth. And God's doing His work. You say, but preacher, these
mega-churches, they're so big, they're so huge, people are flocking
into them. There are more over there than
are with us. Oh no, God is the majority. And His cause is always safe,
and it's always prospering. God is always doing His work. and His people chosen in electing
grace before the world began, and redeemed, bought, and paid
for with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall
all be called by His effectual grace." That's what Micah is
saying here. Look down in verse 7. Look at verse 6. In that day, saith the Lord,
in the gospel day, will I assemble her that halteth, and gather
her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted, her that
halteth. We're lame. We're like Mephibosheth,
lame on both feet. We've been driven out, driven
out of the garden, driven out from the presence of God. But
God said, I will assemble her. And you know what He's doing
today and what He may do this morning for you? If you're one
of His own, this may be the day when He'll draw you in by His
effectual, almighty, irresistible grace. And I tell you, if He
calls you, you will come. You'll come with a broken heart.
You'll come as a needy sinner. You'll come worshiping. You'll
come like the leper who met the blessed Savior at the bottom
of the mountain. And you'll say in your soul,
if you will, you can show me mercy. He drew him. Thank God for drawing grace.
Drawing grace. You see, by nature we are unwilling,
but He makes His people willing in the day of His power. Oh God,
make Your Word effectual to somebody today. Make it effectual to me. Make it effectual to all of these
that we may all run to Jesus Christ and find in Him everything
we need for time and for eternity. That is our cry. Look at verse 7. And I will make
her that halteth a remnant, and her that was cast far off from
a strong nation, and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount
Zion from henceforth. How long? Even forever. Even forever. Oh, come Thou,
rule and reign in my heart. Oh, come Thou, mighty King, establish
Your throne of grace within me, that I will worship and bow down
before You. And I tell you, if He does that,
we'll worship and bow down before Him forever. Forever. Because I know that whatsoever
God doeth, He doeth forever. You can't add anything to it,
and you can't take anything away from it either. That's what Micah
says. Well, how's the Lord going to
do all this? Well, go back to chapter 2. Here's how He's going
to do it. He's going to do it through somebody.
Through somebody. Chapter 2, verse 13. Well, let
me read 12 too. God says, I will surely assemble,
O Jacob, all of thee I will surely gather the remnant
of Israel." Notice he says, I will surely do it. No question about
it. No ifs, ands, or buts about it
here. I will surely assemble, O Jacob,
all of the remnant. He says, I'll assemble them.
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. He says, I will put
them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst
of their fold. They shall make great noise by
reason of the multitude of men. All of these sheep. All of these
sheep. And God says, I'll surely assemble
them all. I'm on the trail of God's lost
sheep this morning. Preaching to you. the great Shepherd
of the sheep, the good Shepherd of the sheep, who gave His life
for us, the cheap Shepherd of the sheep? Because He has said, I'll gather
them all. Oh, how glorious it would be
if He'd gather another one this morning. We'll give Him the glory,
won't we? Always give Him the glory. Look
at verse 13 now. The breaker has come up before
them. The breaker is coming. Where is it going to come from?
Look over in chapter 5 and verse 2. But thou Bethlehem Ephratah. Bethlehem means house of bread.
Ephratah means pasture or fruitfulness. Though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
me that is to be the ruler in Israel whose goings forth have
been from old, from everlasting." This is the one who is going
to gather. This is the one who is going to redeem. Well, how
is this all going to come to pass? Now let me read verse 1
of chapter 5 to you. Now gather thyself in troops,
O daughter of troops. He hath laid siege against us. This is how it's going to happen.
They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. The judge of Israel, the governor
of Israel, our king, Christ Jesus. In order to save us, He must
be smitten. He must be smitten. He must be
wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. He'll be smitten. The beard will
be plucked out of His cheeks. They'll slap His blessed cheeks. This One whose goings forth have
been from of old, even from everlasting. He is the one who is going to
have to be smitten in order for the remnant to be
saved. And who is He? Go back to chapter
2 and verse 13. He is the breaker. Chapter 2 verse 13, the breaker.
I could preach a whole sermon right here. He is the breaker.
He broke forth into this world in a miraculous way. Malachi
said he shall come suddenly into his temple. He broke forth out
of the womb of the virgin. When he went to the cross, by
his death, he broke sin, he broke Satan, he broke the world. He's
the breaker. He broke through all the forces
that were aligned against his people. He spoiled the principalities
and the powers that were set against us. He's the breaker. He broke down the middle wall
of partition that separated Jews and Gentiles for to make himself
one people, washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness. He's
the breaker. He is the one who broke that
mountain of sin that was against us. He broke it. He pulverized
it and took it out of the way. He is the one who broke the bands
of death which could not hold Him. He is the one who broke through
the regions of the air and ascended back to glory. He's the one that
broke through and opened the way into heaven for folks like
you and me. He's the breaker. He comes to us through His gospel
and you know what He does? He breaks our hearts. He breaks
our hearts. He breaks the hurt and then He
binds up the broken. Isn't that what He does? He breaks the heart. He shows
us what we are. He wounds us and then He pours
in the oil and the wine of the gospel. He soothes us. He is the breaker and He is the
healer. The hymn writer said, He breaks
the power of cancelled sin. He sets the prisoner free. His
blood can make the foulest clean. His blood availed even for me. And in the day of judgment, with
the rod of iron, He will break in pieces all of His enemies
like a potter's vessel. He is the breaker. He comes into
our hearts like Hezekiah. When Hezekiah went in and they
found the serpent of brass that Israel had been worshipping,
you know what Hezekiah did? He broke it. Hezekiah was the
breaker. He broke down the gods. He broke
down the idols. He said, this is nehushtan, a
worthless piece of brass. Our Lord Jesus comes and He breaks
in. He is not knocking on your door
asking for entrance. He breaks in. He knocks the door
down. He comes in and He establishes
His kingdom in our hearts. And He breaks up the idols. He destroys all those false gods
that we've been worshipping. He brings us to repent. To repent
of our idols. And then we become breakers.
Watch this. In verse 13. The breaker has
come up before them. They have broken up and passed
through the gates and have gone out of it. We become breakers
because we want to break those idols out of our heart. Tear
those idols down. We sing in that song, break down
every idol, cast out every foe, now wash me. And what? I shall be whiter than snow. Break those idols. He's the breaker. He's the only hope we've got. And he came forth out of Bethlehem.
Micah said he would. And you know what? He did. He
did. Hundreds of years later, he came
forth out of Bethlehem and he did just exactly what he came to do to save his
people from their sins. And I say to you, who is a God
like a Newark God? I want us to sing a closing song,
a final song, and it's actually taken from the New Testament.
You remember when the Greeks came
to Philip and said, Sir, we would see Jesus. We would see Jesus. And that's the song we're going
to sing. It is hymn number 311. And this is a new one for you. But you'll like this. I'm going
to be introducing some new songs to you. And we'll sing the old
ones, but you know what? This is really an old song. It's
new to us, but it's an old song. We would see Jesus. I'm going
to ask David to play a stanza of it, get you familiar with
it, and then we'll sing it together.