Let's open our Bibles to the book of Micah, chapter 4. Micah, chapter 4. We just read in Psalm 120, our Lord saying, I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. I've titled this message War and Peace. war, and peace. By nature, we are at enmity with God. We come into this world with our fists clenched and raised to heaven, saying in our hearts, we will not have this man reign over me. The Lord does a work of grace in the heart. At the time that we're in conflict with God, we're at peace with the world, and we're at peace with ourselves. We think all is well until the Lord stirs up our hearts and causes us, by his grace, to have peace with him. And then everything shifts. Now the conflict is not with God, it's with ourselves. It's with our own sin and with our own unbelief. The conflict is not with God, it's with the world in which we live. The battle lines have changed. Still war and peace. but oh, to have peace with God, knowing that the conflicts of this life will soon end and we'll live in everlasting peace with him. Now that's exactly what our text describes tonight in Micah chapter four.

Let's read these verses together, beginning at verse three. And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Now, the Lord told us that as long as this world exists, until his second coming, there will be wars and rumors of wars among nations in this world. We read these words of the prophet, and we understand that they apply to something spiritual.

Nations are not at peace with one another. We're in the conflict of a war right now as we speak. But the most important conflict is that of the heart. It's the spiritual conflict. There will be peace and there will be war. It just depends on who we have peace with and who we are at war with.

Verse four, but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of their of his God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted, I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast out far off a strong nation, and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even forever, even forever.

Ecclesiastes chapter three says that there is a time to hate and there's a time to love. Certainly there are things that we used to love that we now hate and things that we used to hate that we now love. The evidence of the new birth is so radical in the heart in terms of things that we love and hate. And as we've already seen, The rest of that verse in Ecclesiastes 3, verse 8 says, there is a time for war and there is a time for peace.

There was a time when we were at war with God. We now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, our Prince of Peace. by his own shed blood has reconciled those who were at enmity with God. Now, now the battle lines have changed. Now the war rages within as the spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit so that we cannot be what we would be.

We would be perfectly holy. We would be perfectly sinless in our experience. I know in our position in Christ we are. I understand that. But, oh, our experience is something quite different, isn't it? And as much as we seek to be at peace with all men whenever possible, how often we find it to be every day that the that the ways of the world do not make it possible for us to have peace in this world.

And so here's a description of what the Lord said he's going to do. He said, I'm going to, let's go back to verse three. I'm going to judge among many people. I'm going to, this word, this word means I'm going to execute judgment and make discernment from one nation to the other. I'm going to choose out of people. I'm going to decide who I'm going to give this grace to so that that nation will take their swords and beat them into plowshares and take their spears and make them into pruning hooks. I understand that to be a sickle, by the way.

A harvesting tool, a farming tool. that which was a weapon of war has now been turned into a tool of agriculture. What a graphic picture of the change that the Lord does in the hearts of his people. When we would take the sword of our tongue and boast great things about ourselves and at the same time take from Christ his glory by the lives that we would hear and believe about him. And now that same tongue that was once a sword of warfare is now an instrument of planting and harvesting seeds for the kingdom of God. It's a beautiful picture.

The Lord's going to judge the guilty from the innocent. Now, I know to ourselves, we're all guilty, and I know that God reigns. He judges. He reigns over the living and the dead. But like I said, the meaning of this passage, I believe, is that the Lord's making judgment. He's dividing the nations up. a discerning judgment as to who's going to be innocent and who's going to be guilty. He shall judge among many people.

And in this judgment, he's going to rebuke strong nations that are far off. There's a picture of us. We're strong in the bondage of our sin, strong in our unbelief, strong in our rebellion against God, strong in our unwillingness to bow or to believe. And a far off, a far off. Near to God, he's the one that took us from afar off and brought us nigh unto himself. We would have existed for all eternity afar off from our God had he not made a judgment and taken those strong nations that were far off and caused them to take their swords and beat them into plowshares and their spears into pruning forks.

Isaiah chapter five, verse 21 says, woe unto those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Woe unto those. Now that's a description of every unbeliever. He's wise in his own sight. He thinks he knows things that he doesn't know. Everything he believes about God is wrong. He's prudent in his own sight. He thinks he's got some discernment about things, but in his unregenerate state, he has no discernment at all.

This is the strong nation that we all belong to. He goes about trying to establish his own righteousness, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, not knowing that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. He believes that somehow he can establish a righteousness before God that would obligate God to save him, that he can save himself. That's how strong a nation he is. That's how far off he is from the truth.

And so the Lord tells us, trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. We leaned on our own understanding until the Lord gave us repentance. He changed our minds. He changed our understanding about things. He changed what we believe. Here's the description of that. He changed us from rebels with weapons to servants that were working willingly in the field of his vineyard and of his harvest. What a drastic change.

Paul said this in Romans chapter eight, the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be. So that they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Now that's a description of our unregenerate state. That's a condition of what we were when we came into this world. That's the condition of all men who don't know Christ, who have not been born of the Spirit. They are carnal mind, they have a carnal mind, a fleshly mind, and that mind, the Bible says, God says, is enmity with God.

Enmity with God. Now I know when you talk to unbelievers and had someone spoken to you before you were converted, you would have said, I've got no Beef with God, I've got no argument. God's wonderful. You would have good things to say about God. Understanding our enmity with God is much like understanding our sin. We can't see it as it really is, but we know it's so because God said so. The heart, desperately wicked? We would say, well, I know I've got sin. Well, God says that. That's what it is. It's desperately wicked. So that must be what it is.

We look at things from a human perspective. We're not too bothered by the things that are unholy. But when stood in the presence of a holy God, now we have God's assessment of our condition outside of him. And he says that we are at enmity with him. A nation at war with God.

I'm going to make a judgment. And there's a strong nation that's a far off. And I'm going to discern them different from the rest of the world. And I'm going to cause them to turn their swords into pruning forks and their spears, their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning forks. Oh Lord, why? Why would you do that? Turn with me to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. Verse one.

And you hath he made alive. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. He quickened you by his spirit. He breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of your soul, and he gave you life. You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. We were dead. Death is a strong thing. There's no recovery from death, humanly speaking. Once death grips the body, there's no changing that. It's strong. The grip of death is permanent. Wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

Yes, that can include immoral activity, but it's a description of our heart and our thoughts toward God. We believed what the devil believed. We believed about ourselves, what he told us. We believed about God, what we got from him. We were just walking blindly in the way of the prince of the power of the air.

I love the way the Lord describes Satan there. Just as we were surrounded by the air, so we were surrounded by the spirit of Death and evil and unbelief. The same spirit that works in all the children of disobedience. Same spirit was controlling you that controls all unbelievers. Among whom also we had our conversation in times past. In the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and whereby nature the children of wrath, even as others. We weren't children of wrath. We were always children of God. Always in Christ. Always belonging to him. I've loved you with an everlasting love. We were always seen in him.

But in our natural condition, there was no difference between us and the other nations that he did not choose, the ones that he did not separate out, the ones that he did not judge like he did his people. But God In spite of what we were, and where we were going, and what we were doing, and what we believed, and what we didn't believe, in spite of all of that, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, for by grace are you saved. He gave us life. Turn with me to Romans chapter five. Verse 10. Here's what God says about our natural state. For if when we were enemies, We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more. And go back to what we said earlier, by nature we're children of wrath, even as others, although by election, we were not.

Why? Because Christ is called the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. the father always looking to his son and his shed blood for our reconciliation. We're reconciled to God by the death of his son. Now, the death that God had foreordained in the covenant of grace had to be carried out in time, and that's what happened 2,000 years ago. But God's people have always been seen in Christ. We were reconciled to God by the death of his son. If he reconciled us to God by his death, how much more, how much more will he save us daily by the fact that he is now alive? By the fact that he is now alive.

You know, the Lord Jesus Christ is not just a doctrine. He's not just a thought. He's a person of glorified flesh and blood, seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. He speaks to the hearts of his people. He directs them by his spirit. I believe that's what the Lord is telling us here. If what happened in the covenant of grace and what was fulfilled at the cross 2000 years ago, reconciled us to God, how much more will he continue to save us and deliver us by the fact that he is our living savior? He is our living Savior who said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. What hope, what comfort. We who were by nature enemies of God. Enemies. Let's go back to our text. Well, before we do, let's turn to Psalm 57. Psalm 57.

The Lord said, I'm going to take their swords, that weapon of rebellion, that weapon of warfare, that weapon of conflict that they have by nature against me, just like the rest of the world. They'll raise their weapon and say, and they'll do exactly what the rest of the world does. I'm going to cause that weapon to be turned into an instrument of harvest. Look at Psalm 57 at verse four.

My soul is among lions. I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword. So when God says, I'm going to turn their swords into plowshares, he's not talking about a physical weapon that we carried around and waved towards heaven. He's talking about the tongue. By your words, you shall be justified, and by your words, you shall be condemned.

Peter? Whom do you say that I am? Whom do you say that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Thou alone has the words of eternal life. We know and are sure of this. This is who we know you are. The rest of the world might say, well, he's Elijah or he's one of the prophets or he's Jeremiah, but we know that thou art the Christ. Thou art the anointed one. Thou art the one sent of our Heavenly Father to accomplish the salvation of your people. And you did it. You were successful.

Turn with me to Psalm 64 verse three. who wet their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words, even bitter words. Is not the word of God called the sword of the spirit? When the Lord Jesus returns in Revelation chapter 19, riding upon that white stallion, the scripture says, out of his mouth will go a sharp two-edged sword. That's his word. That's the word of God. It's a living word, sharper than any two-edged sword. This is what the tongue is.

Peter and Jude both speak of the false prophets and they use these words. They come speaking great swelling words. They swell their opinion of men. They talk about all these things concerning what man's able to do. Great swelling words. They swell the ego and boost the pride of man. Those are the words that we spoke. We spoke of a God who needed us to do something in order for him to be able to save us. We spoke of ourselves as ones who were able to manipulate and to obligate God.

You know, this tongue, James talks about the tongue, does he not? He likens it to a rudder of a great ship. He likens it to fire from hell and how it kindles such great fire. This tongue, he says, shall a fountain bring forth sweet and bitter? And all the things that James tells us about the tongue reminds us of when we lose control of our tongue and we say things that we ought not to say.

And we hurt with words. There's only one, only one who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. This is the tongue that we now rejoice in. The tongue that has spoken to us what God says. And we just want to know what God says. Lord, tell me, speak your word to my heart. Make it effectual. Cause me to believe it. Cause me to rejoice in it. Cause me to understand it. Lord, this is the, This is the plowshare now that used to be a sort of, I used to have this sort of war against God, but now I've got the word of peace.

Who shall stand in his holy mount? Them who have clean hands, A pure heart. They've never lifted up their soul to vanity. And they've never spoken deceitfully. Now that can only describe one person. That's the Lord Jesus. His hands never performed an act of sin. His heart remained pure and faithful before God. He never lifted up his soul in human vanity like we so often do, promoting ourselves among men. And he never spoke deceitfully. Every word that he spoke was the pure word of God.

Oh, to be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law. Lord, in turning this tongue of mine into a plowshare and these spears that I would hurl out of jealousy. You remember when Saul, King Saul, tried to pin David to the wall with a spear. In our foolishness, the words that we spoke, justifying ourselves, trying to pin the son of David against the wall with a javelin? Is that not what the natural man does? He tries to, he says things about God that You know, a big one that men say is, well, if God's all powerful and God's all loving, why is there evil in this world? That's nothing more than unbelieving Saul taking a javelin, trying to pin the son of David against the wall out of jealousy, out of jealousy.

Who art thou, old man? Does the one who formed you have to explain why he forms one one way and why he forms another? No, he's God. He's God. But this is the kind of thing that the natural man says about God. He has no reverence for God. He'll take the name of God in vain. He'll say things blasphemous about God. He'll use even religious people You know, using the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and connecting it with a false gospel is more blasphemous than using it as a curse word.

And yet the world does it, and we would do it. And now what's the Lord say? You were at war with me, but I've made you to be at peace with me. You were at peace with the world and with yourself. Now that's where your warfare is. You no longer have warfare with God.

The tongue that we used in our war against God, we now use in our war against ourselves. We do. We take sides with God against ourselves. We confess with Brother Job, I am vile. I am vile. Ezekiel said, yes, I do loathe myself. In me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. Lord, I, we, We understand what Peter said when the Lord Jesus appeared at the Sea of Galilee after what Peter had done. When Peter said, oh Lord, depart from me, I'm a sinful man. What would you have to do with me?

You see, now we use the tongue, the sword that we used against God, we now use against ourselves. The tongue that we use to degrade God with and exalt ourselves, We're now used to degrade ourselves and exalt God. What a change. Did the Lord Jesus not say, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh? And I've already quoted this once, by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned. The fact that our swords have been turned into plowshares and our spears into pruning forks is the evidence, the evidence of the new birth.

That we say things now that we never would have said before. Oh, I know we say things we ought not to say, and just in conversation. We ought never to gossip. We ought never to speak out of anger. We ought never to be hurtful and condescending, proud, and boastful among men. But the things that we say about God and the things that we agree with Him about ourselves have changed completely from what they were. Psalm 149 verse 6 says, let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand. Now the sword that we wield is the two-edged sword of the Word of God.

We delight in being able to read it. We delight in being able to hear it preached. We rejoice in being able to share it. And the tongue now, well, The fruit of our lips is our praises to God. We're able to join our voices in song and praise. We're able to fellowship with one another in the spirit. We're able to rejoice in who Christ is and what he's done for us and what we've just heard and what we believe.

Let's take just another moment, look at verse four. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall be made afraid. None shall be made afraid. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, what is there to fear? O death, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, rejoicing in Christ, believing on Christ, resting in Christ, we have nothing to be afraid. Nothing to be afraid. He said, I'll not leave you. All that I have for you is good. I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of good, not of evil. Talking about that, that fear that paralyzes and grips the heart and the natural events of life, oftentimes gender anxiety and fear. And what do we do? What do we do? We go before the Lord and we believe what he has said. He's fulfilled the law. He's satisfied justice. He's put away our sin. He's opened the grave. He's conquered death. He's defeated Satan. He's established an everlasting righteousness. He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. And he's coming again to receive us unto himself.

What is there to be afraid of? If God before me, who can be against me? Now, just in closing, I want us to look at these last verses. Verse five, for all people will walk every one in the name of his God. I'm going to judge between the nations, and there's a strong nation out there that's far from me.

I'm going to bring them in. I'm going to draw them into me, and I'm going to turn their swords into pruning forks. I'm going to cause them to put down the weapons of their warfare, and they're going to join in the planting and the harvesting of the word of God. That's what's gonna happen. Now the rest of the world, they're gonna serve their God.

We will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. This is not a trial. This is not just a trial basis. God brought us into this, we knew that it was forever. We knew it was for eternity, and we rejoice in that. There's no turning back. Notice how many times the Lord says, I, in the next couple of verses.

In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth. That word halteth means to be crippled. It means to not be able to stand. Think of that cripple at the gate called Beautiful. What did Peter say? Silver and gold have we none, but such as we have, we give unto thee in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Stand and walk. And he leaped. I'm going to gather them who are halting, who are stumbling.

And I will gather her that is driven out and her that I have afflicted. These afflictions, God sent them. David said, before I was afflicted, I had gone astray, but now I've kept thy word. God uses his afflictions to bring us to himself, does he not? I will make her that halteth a remnant, and her that was cast off a strong nation.

And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, from now even unto forever. I'm going to reign. Oh, Lord, reign over me. Reign over me. War and peace. I've not read that novel. But I read this one, and I rejoice that we are no longer at enmity with God. He's made us his children. He's brought us into his family. He's reconciled to us, giving us peace. Peace. Tom? 240, 340, number 340, let's stand together.