Let's open our Bibles to Micah
chapter five. Book of Micah chapter five. I
began this chapter several weeks ago in dealing with the various
issues of the prophecy that is brought forth here concerning
the glorious person of Christ and the finished work of Christ.
And now I want to finish out this chapter talking about this
great subject of Christ's redemptive work, Christ's work of redemption. It's what I titled the message
this past Wednesday in dealing with this and I want to finish
that up tonight. But this is the third message,
the third sermon or oracle that Micah the prophet brought to
the people of Judah, the southern kingdom. And I will add also
again that he does have messages for the northern kingdom. They
hadn't yet been destroyed. Micah prophesied about 750 years
before the coming of Christ. The northern kingdom of Israel
was about to be totally destroyed and taken away by the Assyrian
Empire. And then the southern kingdom
would be spared for a little while, but then later on they'd
be taken captive by the Babylonian Empire. But either way, you see
the fall of Israel, the fall of Judah here because of sin
and depravity and unbelief and idolatry. That's a spiritual
illustration. Israel was a spiritual illustration
of man fallen in sin. Man fallen in Adam. Ruined in
Adam. Cannot be saved by our works.
Cannot be saved in a conditional salvation. But it's totally a
matter of God's grace. God's mercy. Sovereign grace. Sovereign mercy. The passage
that Brother Terry read there concerning the blindness and
the unbelief of Israel, how God overrules the fall and how he
overrules the unbelief and sin of man is an awesome scriptural
truth that man cannot figure out and understand but we just
bow to because we know God's in control. Don't ever let anybody
tell you that God is not in control. He is. and so what we see here
after he identifies the messiah the messiah king the shepherd
king in verse two let's read that again he says but thou Bethlehem
Ephratah that's the name of the city of which christ the messiah
was born according to the flesh born of the seed of david the
woman's seed not of man without the aid of man but by the holy
spirit who uh... put the seed in the woman, Mary,
and how he was born, that holy thing. That's what the angel
called him. That's not a term of derision. That's a term of glory. That's
a term of uniqueness. There's no one like him. He is
God and man in one person. Remember Bethlehem means house
of bread. Ephratah, an ancient name for
that region of Bethlehem, it means place of fruitfulness. That's what it means. And so
the picture here is out of Christ, the Messiah that was promised
and prophesied and typified throughout the Old Testament. Out of Christ,
the Messiah to come. 750 years later would be salvation
of any sinner and every sinner who came to God through Him.
He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by Him. That included God's people out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, Jew, and Gentile.
But Micah's message to his day now, and understand this, is
that he's telling them what every one of the prophets told them.
is don't look to your works for salvation. Don't look to your
pedigree. Yes, you know, it was an awesome
privilege to be born in Israel. to be born in Judah, to be a
physical descendant of Abraham. Paul wrote about that in Romans
9. That's an awesome privilege. It's like a child today who's
born of believing godly parents. That is an awesome privilege.
You young people who have parents who will bring you under the
gospel. That is amazing. And don't ever
take that lightly. But here's the thing. That does
not guarantee your salvation. You understand what I'm saying,
young people? Just because mom and dad believe
it and see the value of it and the glory of Christ and our intent
on keeping you under the gospel as long as they have that responsibility
and control, that doesn't guarantee that you'll be saved. Don't look
to your pedigree, your physical heritage. And that's what Micah's
telling Israel here. You may be a physical child of
Abraham, but that doesn't guarantee your salvation. Don't look to
your pedigree. Don't look to that conditional
covenant, the blood of bulls and goats, the earthly tabernacle,
the earthly priesthood. They will not save you. They
will not make you righteous. Look to a heavenly Messiah. Look to Christ to come. as the
Lord your righteousness look to the grace of God you're a
sinner I'm a sinner and we cannot be so and that's what he's teaching
so he's telling he's telling Judah and Israel this nation
is going to be destroyed this nation is not going to last forever
I don't care what any preacher tells you today that that that
nation is not going to last forever when this world is burned up
in the end that that what people call the Holy Land will be burned
up right with it And that's not salvation. Christ said it, and
I don't know why people can't get this. He said, my kingdom
is not what? Of this world. It's a heavenly
kingdom. And we read it this morning,
Hebrews chapter 12. Brother Jim read it. You know how we haven't
come to a physical mountain, Sinai, with all of its thunderings
and lightnings and all of its prohibitions and conditions. But we've come to the heavenly
mountain, Mount Zion. That's the church, that's salvation
by grace. We've come to the heavenly Jerusalem. And we've come there how? Through
Christ. Through Christ, through His blood. The way to God is
the way of the blood, not of an animal, but the blood of the
Lamb of God. Isn't that right? God said, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. That was animal blood. And
it got him out of Egypt, but it won't get him into heaven
because the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. Christ
was manifested to take away sin. That's who Micah's speaking of
here. He shall come out of Bethlehem, Ephratah. And though Bethlehem
is little, insignificant, small among the thousands of Judah,
look at it, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me. He's going
to come forth and he's going to come forth unto God the Father. He was a sacrifice, an offering
to the Father. It pleased God to bruise him. He presented himself unto the
Father. He told his disciples, he said, when the Holy Spirit
comes and brings about the new birth, this is the way he'll
do it. He'll convince you of sin because you believe not on
me. That is, he will convince you
of your sinnerhood and your depravity that without Christ you can do
nothing, you can have nothing, be nothing. And then he will
convince you of righteousness, he said, because I go to the
Father. He goes to the Father. He's an advocate for his people
unto the Father. He's a high priest. representing
the people of God before the Father, before the holiest of
all, presenting the merits of His blood and His righteousness.
So, He's going to come forth unto me, God says, and He's the
one that is to be ruler in Israel. Now, the Israel He's speaking
of here is not physical Israel. It's spiritual Israel. And it
says, this one who's going to be ruler and spiritual... See,
this is a kingdom. under the headship and kingship
of Christ. You see that? And so, it includes
everyone who comes to Him and bows to Him and submits to His
righteousness, His righteous scepter. Remember, the king shall
reign in righteousness. His scepter is a scepter of righteousness. And the scepter shall not depart
from Judah until Shiloh, peace, that's Christ, the Prince of
Peace, comes. and makes peace. And how did he make peace now?
He didn't pull out guns and knives and tanks and all that. He made
peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians chapter 1 tells us.
And he is a scepter of righteousness. And when he extends that scepter
of righteousness, you know what the subjects can do? They can
approach him then. Because he is our righteousness.
And so he's going to be ruler. And who is he? He's the one whose
goings forth have been from old He's been operating and working
all through the history of man and from everlasting even before
the history of man. Prehistory, he's the eternal
one. He's God and man in one person. Now, he has a work to do. This
speaks of his person and his finished work on Calvary. But
now here's how this redemption works out amongst his people.
And he does this in prophecy here. Look here, he says in verse
three, He says, therefore He will give them up until the time
that she which travaileth hath brought forth. Now that's talking
about the coming of Christ, the travail of the woman. He's the
woman's seed. And He's going to give Israel
up and Judah up until that time. That's a picture of the fall
of man. God literally gave us up. He let us go our own way.
That's what He's talking about. It's not a total abandonment
of His people. But it's a giving them up for
a time. And when is the time? What is that time span? He said,
until she which travaileth hath brought forth. That's talking
about his virgin birth. Isaiah prophesied of it. He was
a contemporary with Micah. He said, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. Isaiah chapter 7, I believe verse
14. He said in Isaiah 9 and verse 6, unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given. The child is born, that's his
humanity. The son is given, that's his deity. And the government
shall be upon his shoulders, that is the government, the workings
out of the government of grace. And she's going to bring him
forth. And until that time, it's going to be, they're going to
be given up. And then, look here, now there's
four identifications of the people of God here. It says, then the
remnant, that's the first identification, that's a, as I told you last
week, that's what brother Tim James calls a tiny scrap of humanity. That's a remnant. Now, who is
that remnant? Well, in Romans 11, we're told
it's a remnant according to the election of grace. It's a chosen
remnant, chosen by the grace of God in Christ. And then it
says His brethren. Now, who are His brethren? Well,
Christ said His brethren are those who do the will of the
Father. We read that, you remember, over in Matthew chapter 12. You
remember when He was witnessing and ministering the truth? in
a certain household to several people and his mother and his
earthly brothers, that's his human mother, came and they wanted
to see him and he said, who is my mother, who is my brother?
He said, them that do the will of my father. What is it to do
the will of his father? It's to believe on the son. So
who are his brethren? In Hebrews chapter 2, it says,
He gave His life for His brethren. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. Who are they? Sinners saved by the grace of
God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, clothed in His righteousness
alone. So, they're the remnant, they're
His brethren, and it says, shall return unto the children. They're
the children, children of God. Children of God by sovereign
electing grace, children of God by justifying grace, adopting
grace, redeeming grace and regenerating grace, and ultimately glorifying
grace. And then he says Israel. Who
is Israel? Turn over to Galatians 6. We turned over there, I think,
last time, but I'm not sure. But let's look at this one. Israel. Now, in the Bible, there are
applications of these prophecies and physical blessings to physical
Israel. But physical Israel, in essence,
was a type of a greater Israel, an eternal Israel called spiritual
Israel. And in some messages in the future,
I'm gonna go through all that with you. I've done it before.
But you remember, you look at Galatians chapter six. You remember,
and let me just make reference to some other passages here.
And you write them down if you haven't studied, but we're gonna
go through them. We're going to go through that. I'm going
to go through Romans 11. I want you to see this about Israel,
okay? How we should view Israel. What
we should think about Israel today. All right? Now Paul, you
stay at Galatians 6 there. Paul, over in the book of Romans,
chapter 2, verses 28 and 29, he makes this statement. He said,
who is Israel? Who are the Israelites? And he
makes this statement. He says, he is not a Jew. And
that name Jew came from the name Judah, all right? The name Jew
was first used in the book of Esther, talking about Mordecai
the Jew. And he was from the tribe of
Judah. And so what he's saying there, he said, he is not a Jew
which is one outwardly. That's what he says in Romans
2, 28 and 29. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly. And the circumcision, which was
the covenant identification of the Jews physically in that physical
covenant. Circumcision, what Paul's saying
there is that if you're a Jew inwardly, you've been circumcised
too, but not physically. Circumcision is not of the flesh,
but of the heart, not made with hands. It's not a physical thing,
it's a heart thing. And whenever he talks about heart
circumcision, what's he talking about? Talking about the new
birth. Am I right? Being born again
by the Spirit. Remember Stephen, when he preached
in Acts chapter 7, at the end of when they rejected his message,
he said, you stiff-necked, that's proud and self-righteous, unbending,
unsubmissive, unbelieving, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears. You know what Stephen was telling
them? He says, you haven't been born again. How do you know that?
Because you don't believe what I'm preaching. That's what Stephen
said. And Paul in Romans 2, 28, 29,
he said, he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, but he is one
which is one inwardly, and circumcision is not of the flesh made within,
but of the heart. Of the heart. In other words,
if you've been born again by the Spirit, that makes you a
spiritual Jew. Circumcision of the heart. Now
that's what Paul's talking about here in Galatians 6. Look at
verse 14. He says, but God forbid that
I should glory. That's to have confidence in.
to boast in, to have assurance in. God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cross
there is His death, which put away the sins of His people,
spiritual Israel, and brought forth righteousness to enable
God to be just and justifier. That's what the cross is there.
And he says, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. Now you have to understand what
he's saying there is what he said over in Galatians chapter
three, that cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. What
he's saying there is because I glory in nothing but Christ
and him crucified and risen again and his finished work, the world
looks upon me as being cursed. But you have to understand this.
I look upon the world as being cursed. Because anybody without
Christ, if you don't have Christ, what are you? You're cursed. Isn't that right? If you don't
have Christ, all you can have is the curse. Because the scripture
says, Galatians 3.10, Cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. Now, if you don't have Christ, you're a debtor to do
the whole law, Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 5. If you don't
have righteousness by your works, which you don't have and I don't
have, then you're cursed. If you don't have Christ, you're
a debtor to do the whole law. And if you don't do the whole
law perfectly, then you're cursed. That's what he's saying. So Paul
says, The world is crucified, cursed unto me, and I unto the
world. Now look at verse 15 of Galatians 6. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything. Physical circumcision
means nothing in the salvation of a sinner. It's heart circumcision
that means everything. And heart circumcision, if you've
been circumcised in heart, you know what you do? You glory in
nothing but the cross, nothing but Christ. And he says, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature, a new creation. One who's in
Christ. That's what a new creation is.
Now look at verse 16. And as many as walk according
to this rule. Now that word rule there, have
you ever heard the term canon? The canon of scripture? It's
not a canon you shoot a cannonball out of. It's like a body of truth. Body of doctrine, that's what
that word is, that rule there. It means our doctrine. If you
walk according to this doctrine, now what doctrine's he talking
about? Well, he just said it. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross. That doctrine. And here's three
things he says. Number one, peace be on you.
You're at peace with God. You know, Jeremiah spoke of false
prophets who cry, peace, peace, when there is no peace. My friend,
if you have Christ, I can say, peace, peace, and there is peace,
because he's the prince of peace, and he made peace by the blood
of his cross. That's not a pipe dream. You're
at peace with God. You may not be at peace with
everybody else. Paul said, the world's cursed
to me and I and the Lord, but we're at peace with God. In Christ,
we have peace with God. Because He made it. He reconciled
us to the Father. That's what He did. So that's
number one. Peace be on them. Secondly, mercy. That word mercy there is compassion. If you want to talk about the
love of God, and the mercy of God, and the compassion of God,
and the grace of God, this is where it is, and it's nowhere
else. In Christ. There's no love from God outside
of Christ for anybody. Don't ever fool yourself. This
universal love thing that people promote is a lie. And I'm not
saying that to be mean. I'm just trying to be truthful
to you. And then he says, thirdly, upon the Israel of God. Now who
is the Israel of God? Who are the spiritual children
of Abraham? Those who believe the promise of Christ. Now go back to Micah. There is, in this chapter, an
application to physical Israel, but it's only temporary. And
he says that. He says that. And the prophets
preached that. Isaiah especially preached it.
And the people of Israel didn't like it. And that's why they
persecuted the prophets. And it was mainly put in this
kind of a context. that there's coming a time when
God's gonna save a remnant. A remnant out of the nation Israel.
All who come to faith in Christ and under the headship of Christ.
And you know what? He's gonna save a remnant out
of the Gentiles too. Now wait a minute. Let's not
take it that far Isaiah. Maybe if there are some Gentiles
who are going to be saved, maybe we've got to circumcise them
first. How about that? Oh no, in Christ Jesus circumcision
availeth nothing, nor uncircumcision. In Christ Jesus, there's neither
Greek, that means Gentile back then, or Jew. Your Jewishness
has nothing to recommend you unto God. Your Gentile ethnicity
has nothing to keep you away from God. God saves sinners by
grace. That was the prophet Micah's
message, Isaiah's message. Look at it. And here's what he's
going to do. Now here's how he's going to
operate. Listen to this. He says, verse four, he shall
stand and feed or literally rule in the strength of the Lord.
That's his resurrection. Christ is going to stand. Yes,
he's going to obey the law. Yes, he's going to suffer and
bleed and die. Yes, he's going to be buried,
but he's not going to stay buried. He's going to stand. in that
day. And he's going to stand in the
strength of the Lord, not the strength of men. The kingdom
of God does not hang on the decisions or the will of men. Christ doesn't stand or fall. His death is not made effectual
or ineffectual by the decisions or the will of men. He stands
in the strength of the Lord, in the power of the Lord. The
same power that brought him out of the grave is the same power
that resurrects a sinner from the dead in the new birth. That's
what Ephesians chapter 1 teaches. He shall stand. And it says here,
he shall rule. He shall feed. It is a feeding.
He feeds us with his truth. He feeds us with his glory, his
power, his life. that he's gonna rule in the strength
of the Lord and he's gonna rule in the majesty of the name of
the Lord his God that is for the glory of God in other words
this salvation that he accomplished and that he applies by the power
of the spirit is going to exalt him and not man it's gonna give
him a name which is above every name you read that He already
has that name. The problem is, is we just don't
know it until he lets us in on it. Is that right? So he's going
to give him a name that's above every name. In other words, this
thing about salvation, this thing about justification before God,
it's not about me making a name for myself or you making a name
for yourself. It's about his name, his glory,
his honor. We're here to worship him. Not
to bow at the feet of a man, but to worship Christ. And it
says, and they shall abide. Did you see that in verse four?
They're not going to fall. They're not going to lose their
salvation. They're going to abide. They're going to continue. Somebody
said, well, you're preaching once saved, always saved. You
bet I am. If this one saves you, somebody told me one time, well,
it depends on who saved you. And I said, you're right there.
Man saves himself by his own will. He never was saved to begin
with, let alone lose it. But they shall abide. And you
know why they shall abide? We study this in 1 John 3, because
we continue in Christ and he will not let us go. And here's
the reason, actually. Look here, he says in verse 4,
for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. Because
his greatness, now think about this, this is comforting. His
greatness is totally wrapped up in the complete, eternal,
unchangeable salvation of every sinner for whom he died. And
if he fails to save even one of them, his greatness diminishes. And I'll guarantee you that will
not happen. It will not happen. He's gonna be great unto the
ends of the earth. And that's in the salvation of Jew and Gentile.
Look at verse five. Here he's going to refresh and
strengthen his flock, or he's going to protect his flock, rather. It says, "...and this man shall
be the peace." Christ is our peace. That's spoken in Ephesians
chapter 2, verse 14. He made peace by the blood of
his cross in Colossians. He is our peace. And he says
here to Israel and to Judah, when the Assyrians shall come
into our land and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall
we raise against him seven shepherds and eight principal men. Now
a lot of, as I told you last time, a lot of people have made
a lot of this seven shepherds and eight principal men. What
that is, it's a Hebrew, it's what they call an idiom, it's
a Hebrew expression. And what it literally means is
simply that everything that God needs and requires to deliver
His people, He's going to provide, and more. Seven is the number
of completeness in the Bible. It's the number of perfection
and completeness that God issues forth. Eight is the number of
new beginnings. That's why the children had to
be circumcised on the eighth day. That's a type of the new
birth, heart circumcision, because when you were born again, you
know what it was for you? It was a new beginning, wasn't
it? It was a new beginning. And so, that's why we worship
on the first day of the week instead of the seventh day. The
seventh day, it was the Sabbath day under the old covenant, the
day of rest, the finished work, but we're in the New Testament,
a new beginning, the day of the resurrection. So, eight is the
number, and what he's saying here is this. He's simply saying
what God said there in Isaiah 55. What God sets forth to do
and sends His Word to do, it will accomplish and it'll never
end. It'll never come to complete.
It's like a new beginning. It'll go on and on and on and
on. Now, some people have made more than that. I heard one message
where a fellow said, well, the Lord used eight men to write
the New Testament. You know, that's true. When you consider Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, and John, and Jude, and Paul, he used eight men. I don't know that you can make
that connection there. I know this is an expression that's
used in various places in the Old Testament and just means
completeness, it means success. And so what he's telling them
here is this. Now the Assyrian is coming. He's going to destroy
the northern kingdom. He's going to attack the southern
kingdom. But God's work is going to be
done regardless of what those evil empires do. Don't let it
worry you. It's going to be a complete work.
God's going to provide plenty to accomplish His work. He's
going to protect His people. And that's a picture of Christ
protecting the church. Over in Revelation 17, verse
14, it speaks of Satan, the great dragon, and the beast, Antichrist,
and all of their henchmen and followers making war with the
Lamb. It said they'll make war with
the Lamb. But it also says, and the Lamb
shall overcome them. Why? Because He's Lord of lords.
He's King of Kings. And they that are with Him, with
the Lamb, they're called, they're chosen, and they're faithful.
Guaranteed. Guaranteed. Because He provides
everything we need to overcome. Everything God requires of me
for salvation, God provides for me in Christ. Everything God
requires of me to be preserved, God provides for me in Christ. See that? So look at verse six. He says, he says here, they shall
waste the land of Assyria with the sword and the land of Nimrod.
Nimrod, that's a reference to Babylon. That's who would destroy
the southern kingdom later on. But then they would go into obscurity.
They'd be under the Babylonians, then they'd be under the Medes
and the Persians, then they'd be under the Greeks, and then
they'd be under Rome. He would give them up until when?
Until Messiah come. The scepter would not depart
from Judah until Messiah come, Shiloh come. And he says, thus
shall he deliver us from the Assyrian when he cometh into
our land and when he treadeth within our borders. God's not
going to forsake his people utterly. Look at verse 7. The Messiah
King will refresh and strengthen his flock. The remnant of Jacob. I love that term. The remnant of Jacob. Why does
he identify him with Jacob? Well, what is Jacob? He's a sinner
saved by grace. But more so than anything else,
it connects him with a covenant. The covenant made with Abraham.
So the remnant of Jacob, that's a wonderful testimony to the
way in which God takes something that is worthless and by his
own power and grace makes something out of that person and glorifies
himself. He took a Jacob and he turned him into an Israel.
That's what he does when he saves sinners. He takes a worthless
sinner, like me and like you, who's good for nothing as far
as God's glory is concerned, in ourselves, who deserve nothing
but wrath, like Jacob, who've earned nothing but damnation,
like Jacob. And he takes that sinner and
makes that sinner a child of God, part of a remnant according
to the election of grace. If you ever think that God cannot
save you because you see yourself as worthless, I'm here to tell
you that that's just the kind of people God does save. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And you know what? That glorifies God. Now those
who don't need salvation, those who think they're righteous,
they don't need it. That's what Christ said. The
whole need not a physician. If I wasn't worthless in myself,
I wouldn't need salvation. If I had any worth in myself,
I wouldn't go around crying, worthy is the lamb that was slain. You see, that's the way God saves
sinners. So the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many
people, Jew and Gentile now, as the dew from the Lord. That's
a refreshing. as the showers upon the grass,"
and I want you to notice this next line. Don't let this get
by you. "...that tarrieth or that waiteth
not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men." Have you ever heard any preacher
get up and give an invitation that goes something like this,
Christ is just waiting for you to accept Him, or waiting over
the banister of heaven? You ever heard that? Now I'm
not saying this just to be mean, but I'm telling you that is a
lie. His remnant, His people, are
going to be spread out throughout this world in the midst of many
just as a dew from the Lord. Where'd the dew come from? Did
you make it? Were you out there this morning sprinkling dew on
the grass? No. Where'd it come from the Lord?
Just like salvation. And showers upon the grass. I
know people think they can make it rain, but they can't. That
comes from the Lord. And it waits not for man. It doesn't wait for the sons
of men. It's not waiting on you. God's not waiting on anybody.
God is right on time. His plan. His purpose. Working
all things after the counsel of His own will. I heard a... I flip around on the radio sometimes,
on religious radio, just to hear some things. And I heard a fellow
preaching this last week. He was talking about shouting
for joy. And he was trying to get his congregation to shout.
He wanted everybody to shout. What would y'all do if I come
in and try to get everybody to shout? Well, it might wake up a few,
I don't know, but that's what he was trying to do. He was trying
to get it to shout for joy. And here's what he said. And
again, I'm not saying this to be mean. Listen, I hate it when
men misrepresent God. Here's what he said, he said,
now if we shout for joy, that will release God to bless us. As if God is up there bound up,
waiting on us to release Him. That's not the God of this book,
friend. He tarrieth not for man, nor
waiteth for the sons of men. And this thing about Christ waiting
in heaven now for them to rebuild a temple or to do something like
that before He comes... No, sir. He tarrieth not for
man. It's going... Listen. He's not
running and going and stopping and starting according to your
schedule or mine. We're running, stopping, starting
according to His. Make no mistake about it. Look
at verse 8. He says, "...and the remnant
of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, a remnant of Israel, a remnant
of the Gentiles, in the midst of many people, as a lion among
the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks
of sheep, who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth
in pieces, and none can deliver." What he's saying here is that
he's talking about the power of God's grace in his people.
It cannot be stopped. You can even throw one in jail.
And he'll sing praises and worship God. You can throw him in another
jail and he'll write a letter talking about how the gospel
has been furthered. You can't stop it. The power
of God, no matter what Assyria does, no matter what Nimrod does,
no matter what China does, no matter what Russia does, you
cannot stop the power of the Lord to save his people from
their sins. God chose them, Christ died for them, the Holy Spirit
will bring them out. Mark it down. Look at verse 9. He says, Thine hand shall be
lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be
cut off. That's victory in Christ. And it says in verse 10, and
it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will
cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy
thy chariots. You can't trust in horses and
chariots now. Remember the Lord said that in
the Psalms. Some trust in horses, some in chariots, but there are
some who trust in the Lord. He said, I'm gonna take away
all those things. If you trust in them, it's a pipe dream. It's a false sense of security. He says in verse 11, I'll cut
off the cities of thy land and throw down all thy strongholds.
A city was a place of refuge back then. But man's cities won't
do it. Christ is our refuge, you see.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. He's our hiding place. He's the
cleft of the rock. We stand upon the rock. We hide
in the rock. We drink from the rock. He is
our refuge. Not man's creations and inventions. Verse 12, And I will cut off
witchcrafts out of thine hand, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers. Mysticism. will not get it for
you. Religion won't do it. That's
what he's talking about here. Man thinks that, you know, seeing
the light won't get it. They've got this book going out
now about a little boy who died and came back. That won't do
it. The Word of God is our founding place. The Word of God is our
sticking place. You see? Horoscopes won't do
it. That's just a lie. He says in
verse 13, thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing
images of statues, what he's talking about, out of the midst
of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
What a verse. Idolatry, won't we? Looking to
another God, making God like you think you want Him to be,
or making Him more palatable to man. That's what a lot of
people do. You know, they read things in Scripture about God,
and man by nature doesn't like it, so they'll tone Him down. Make Him a little more, you know,
well, that's too hard. You know. Oh, no. Let me tell
you something. God is a just God. He will punish
sin. But there's hope for sinners.
But that hope is only to be found in Christ. Nowhere else. Don't bring the works of your
hands. In idolatry or in goodness or
morality, don't present that before God like Cain. We read
about that this morning. That won't do you any good. Verse
14, I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee so I
will destroy thy cities. That's talking about idolatry
again. In other words, the place of worship was the temple, the
tabernacle, above the mercy seat, and they made their own places.
He said, I'll pluck them up. In verse 15, and I will execute
vengeance and anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they
have not heard. The vengeance of God upon all
who will not hear. And it's a vengeance like they
have never seen before. You think you've seen justice
and vengeance? You haven't even begun to get
started to see the reality of it. For those who come to meet
God at judgment without Christ, it's indescribable. It's indescribable. But my friend, there is hope
for a sinner. That's what Mike is saying. You've
tried, Israel. You've tried, Judy. Some of you
try and do your best. Some of you don't even try. Some
of you've given up. There's no hope in your works. There's only hope in Christ. His blood and righteousness is
the only thing that will give me a center, a right standing
before God. Nothing else will do it. So look
to Him. All right.