going to be looking at the last few verses of Micah chapter 4 this evening. Before we get to that text, we're going to be looking at a few verses in Luke 24. So if you'd like to put your finger in Micah and then turn with me to Luke 24. to illustrate these verses in Micah chapter four.

I want you to think with me for a moment about the cross, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never in history was there an event that was, in fact, more contrary than what it appeared to be. The cross of Christ, of course, is the culmination of everything that the Lord had purposed in glorifying himself and saving his people from eternity past. And all of our understanding of who our God is and of what he has done. We look back to the cross for that.

But at the time at the time, the demons in hell were delighted. They thought that they had one. The disciples were distraught. The world had no interest. Pilate was dismissive about the whole thing. The Jews thought their problem had been solved, and they were ready to move on. Everything that was taking place as far as the appearance of it was concerned, seemed completely opposite of what, in fact, was actually happening. I believe the cross illustrates for us, reveals to us the love of God. It reveals to us the justice of God. It reveals to us the sovereignty of our God. It reveals to us His immutability.

Thinking about the Lord Jesus, Father, if there be any way this cup can pass from me. But there was no other way, not if God was going to remain the same yesterday, today, and forever. And all those glorious things that we see about God are revealed in Our Lord at Calvary's Cross. But the event itself, I believe, is a picture of the believer's life in this world, in that nothing is as it appears.

You have your Bibles open to Luke 24. You remember the story. These disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus, and the Lord Jesus comes along beside them. And this, there, their comments illustrate for us or reveal to us what the feelings were among the disciples. Verse 17, the Lord Jesus said to them, what manner of communication are these that you talk to one another as you walk and are sad? What are you all talking about? Why are you so distraught? Why are you so discouraged? What's made you so sad?

And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered and said unto him, art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? Now they're talking to the Lord. And their only conclusion was that he must be new here. He must not know what just happened. Are you a stranger in Jerusalem? And hast thou not known the things which came to pass there in these days?

And he said unto them, what things? And they said it to him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet. He was a prophet. He was mighty indeed and in word before God and all the people. But the chief priests and the rulers delivered him to be condemned to death. And they've crucified him. We trusted that it would have been him that would have redeemed Israel. And then they go on to tell about the report of the women at the tomb. But the disciples went, and they couldn't find him either.

The irony and the paradox of this event concerning the most glorious and profitable, what word can we use, for us, the death of Christ on Calvary's cross. It had the outward appearance of all was lost. But in fact, it was the only means by which all could be saved, all to God's people.

Our text tonight, if you'll go back with me to Micah chapter four, is another reminder, and how many reminders there are, how often, how often you and I need to be reminded to look not on that which is seen, but on that which is not seen. How often we have to be reminded that walking by faith and not by sight is not making judgments based on the appearance of things. We judge not according to appearances. Appearances can be very discouraging. Appearances can make it seem that things are all going in the wrong direction.

Think about Jacob when his sons came back from Egypt. And he thought everything was against me. He said, all these things. You want to take Benjamin now? I've already lost Joseph and Simeon's no longer. And now you want to take Benjamin? And he said, all these things are against me. He was making his judgments based on appearances, when in fact, the best 18 years of Jacob's life were yet to come. He was going to move to Goshen in the Nile Valley, and his son would be the prime minister of the greatest country in the world.

But isn't that the way we are? We look at things that are temporal. instead of things which are spiritual. And over, and the Lord knows, the Lord knows, he remembers that we're made of dust and he remembers how foolish and slow of heart we are to believe. Believing is resting all our hope and rejoicing in what, not what we can see, but what God has said. What God has said.

I've titled this message, Victors, Not Victims. Not victims. You know, the only thing that, and there are truly victims in the world that are taken advantage of, those who can't defend themselves, but how oftentimes we we play the victim card in order to excuse ourselves and shift the blame to someone else. And the only thing that aggravates me more than someone else making themselves a victim is when I see myself doing it.

But the truth is, if God, if what God has said is true, if we can trust his word, we are We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who has loved us. We have the victory. Paul said, in Romans chapter seven, Paul's looking at the obvious. He's looking at his life. He said, by a wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus. Through Christ Jesus, we have the victory. The world sees the church as the off-scouring. The Bible says, Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 said, I know they treat you as if you're refuse. as if you are of no value. And and sometimes you may you may be tempted to look at yourself as the off scouring the world.

But in fact, in fact, there's nothing more precious in the side of God. There's nothing more valuable than his bride, and there's nothing more beautiful than that day will be when he robes her in his righteousness and parades her as the most beautiful thing that he's ever created, before all of creation, as a trophy of his grace.

That's the way it really is. The world may say, well, you're the refuse, you're the off-scouring, you're nothing. That's not the way God sees it. We look at our own sin and we think, how can it be that God would love me as he loved Christ? And as he is, so am I. But that is my boldness in the day of judgment.

And that is what God says. And the way God sees it is the way it is. And faith is believing what God says. Being entrusted with the gospel as we are, we walk in this life as humble servants of the truth. But the scripture says in the day that the Lord establishes his eternal kingdom in heaven, that the church will stand in judgment, not only of the world, but of angels themselves. Right now, we are objects of tribulation and persecution. Yet the Lord Jesus said, in this world, you will have. You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Why?

Because I've overcome the world. Things are not as they appear. any more than the things that took place at Calvary's cross were as they appeared. I have overcome the world. And we read in the book of Revelation, they that overcome. How do we overcome? Well, we stand with the one who conquered this world. who overcame the grave, and overcame death, and overcame sin, and defeated Satan. Our experience is that we die daily to self, and yet we possess a life in Christ that no man can take from us that is eternal. Yet dying, dying, we are made alive. Things are not as they appear.

We live in a foreign country. Hebrews chapter 11, the confession of all those saints that are mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 is that they were strangers and pilgrims in the land. Strangers, foreigners. Immigrants. Immigrants. They live in a strange culture. They didn't speak the language. They didn't have the same values. And though the citizens of that country tried to be tolerant with them, when they spoke of their homeland, it was clear that the citizens of that country considered them to be illegal aliens. And when the time was right for them, they would exile those illegal aliens to their homeland through martyrdom, through death. through execution.

Pilgrims and sojourners. Do we consider ourselves to be victims? No, no, we're just passing through. That's what a pilgrim is not gonna be here long. We're on our way to a much, much, much better country. And the Lord over and over and over again reminds us to look look to that country and don't make judgments based on the outward appearances of this life.

If we can make the analogy, and I do, I want to make this with all reverence, but think about a a sporting event where one team is losing miserably, and yet they know in the end they're going to win. They know in the end they're going to win. Say, how do you know that? Because God said so. God said so. That's how I know.

You have your Bibles open to Micah chapter 4. This is just another one of those passages over and over and over again in Scripture where the Lord is calling on us and reminding us, encouraging us to to set our affections on things above. And the only way that we can lose is to quit. The only way to lose is to quit. We have the hope of knowing that the Lord's not gonna let us do that. He's not gonna let us do that.

No man can pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me and is greater than all, no man can pluck them out of his hand. I give unto them eternal life. We are not of them that draw back unto perdition, but we are of them which believe to the saving of our souls. Not gonna get off this ship. By God's grace.

You remember in Acts chapter 27 when the ship that the apostle Paul was on shipwrecked at Malta. And the Bible says there was 276 souls on that boat. 276. And before the ship crashed into the rocks and broke into pieces, there were some sailors on the ship that acted like they were putting out an anchor, but really they were lowering the lifeboat and they were planning on escaping for themselves.

And Paul went to the captain of the ship and Paul said this, he said, if they leave, you can't be saved. If they leave this ship, none of us can be saved. It's gonna be all of us or none of us. And in the end, all 276 souls were saved because no one left the ship. That's a glorious picture of what the Lord's done with his church. He's not gonna lose one of his sheep. They're all going to remain until the end. He's gonna cause them to be faithful. Verse 11, Micah chapter four.

Now also, now, for now, for now, many nations are gathered against thee. They say that you're the ones that are deceived. You're the ones that are perverting the truth. You're the ones that have defiled the gospel. They say, let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.

We have the message of salvation. They hear the message of sovereign grace, and they reject it for a message of works. They hear a message of sovereign election, and they reject it for a message of free will. And they say, and all the religions of the world and all the different flavors of Christianity that exist in this world in which you and I live would fit the description of what Micah is saying here. Many nations are gathered against thee. They say, they say, we are defiled. Let our eyes look to Zion. We've got the truth.

But they know not the thoughts of the Lord. You have an unction from the Holy One. You have the mind of Christ. You know the truth as it is revealed in God's word. And though the whole world says, no, free will is the way, works is the way, the Lord has revealed to us that Christ is the way. Christ is the way. They know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 2. Look at verse 10. But God hath revealed them unto us. What? The mystery of the gospel. By his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. We just sang it in that hymn that you led us in, Tom, that it is the spirit that causes us to cry, Abba, Father. Romans chapter eight, the spirit of God confirms to our spirit that we are the children of God.

He confirms to us the truth of the gospel. And a lot of that confirmation doesn't come because we're intimidated by the nations of the world It comes because we see the contrast between what they're saying and what we know to be true. The more they fulfill what Micah said they would say, the more they gather against the Lord and his people, the more they say, your gospel is defiled, we're the ones going to heaven, the more they They speak of their good works, earning them favor with God. And the more they boast in that lie of free will, that's the strong delusion that God sent them, that they should believe the lie, that they have something to say about this thing. And the more we hear of that, the more it confirms to our heart what the Spirit of God has taught us. So we're not victims to their criticism. No, they're judging according to appearances. And the judgments that they make only confirm the spiritual judgments that we know to be true. We're not victims.

Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now, verse 12, we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. We didn't earn these things.

God gave them. If he hadn't made us willing in the day of his power, if he hadn't birthed us, and given us a faith in Christ and a desire for Christ, we wouldn't believe. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The more we look at Scripture, The more we compare scripture to scripture, the more clear it is that this is the truth, and that salvation is of the Lord, and that the promises of God are all yea, and they're all amen in Christ, and that we though suffer in this life, and we live as pilgrims and strangers in this land, we believe that what God has promised is coming.

But the natural man, he receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The unregenerate man, the natural man, he can't know the things of God. Try as he may, study as he would, he can't know them.

Which tells us that the only reason I know them is because of the work of the Spirit of God. And that takes us back to what John said in 1 John 2. You have an unction, an anointing from the Holy One, therefore you know these things. You know these things are true.

Verse 15, but he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yea, he himself is judged of no man. Oh, they make their judgments. What does it mean when it says he himself is judged of no man? We're not felt judged. In other words, they may make their judgments, and they may think that they're right, but we know better. We don't feel judged. We don't feel intimidated. We don't feel a need to defend ourselves or to prove ourselves. We just declare the truth, and we know that it's true. It's something very confident, isn't there? about knowing that what you believe is true. You've been taught of God, and it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks or what anybody else says.

If God before me, who can be against me? The whole world can think otherwise. That's what Micah's talking about. Many nations will gather up against you. The whole world will be contrary to what you know and what you believe and who you know. And they will say that you are perverted. We're going to Zion. We're the ones that are going to heaven.

The Lord Jesus said in John chapter 15, he said, no longer do I call you my servants, but I call you friends. For a servant knoweth not what his master is doing. All that the Father has given to me, I have made known unto you. You know, you know these things. Go back with me to our text.

They know not the thoughts of the Lord. Neither understand they his counsel. For he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Those sheaves are gonna be, well, the Lord said that the wheat will be gathered up into the barn. but the chaff will be thrown into the fire.

So let man in his pride say all that he wants. We're not the victim here. It's not as it appears. Verse 13. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, For I will make thine horn iron. I will make thine horn iron. Now, the horn in the Bible is a symbol of strength. It's a symbol of strength. There's a verse at the end of Isaiah chapter 40. We've looked at it on several occasions in the past. I'll just remind you about it again. I think it's the last verse of Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31.

They that wait upon the Lord, they that believe Him, they that rest all their hope in His immutable promises and in His sovereign grace, they that wait upon the Lord. And the next word says, will renew their strength But that word renew doesn't mean that we somehow bolster a refreshed strength. As a matter of fact, that word renew is most often translated in the Old Testament, exchange, exchange. They that wait upon the Lord will exchange their strength for his strength.

How is the Lord going to make our horn iron? Is he going to bolster our confidence and bolster our ego and bolster our, no, he's gonna cause us in all the trials and tribulations of this world, he's gonna cause us to exchange our strength for his strength. His strength will be made perfect in our weakness.

Paul said, these things are necessities that I go through in this life. All these troubles that I have are necessities that I might glory in his strength. He goes on to say, I'll glory in my weakness. For when I'm weak, when I'm weak, then I'm strong. Lord, all the appearances that you, that I see, cause me to know that I'm going to have to have your strength. I can't. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hooves brass.

David said, my foot had almost slipped. My foot had almost slipped, but then I went into the house of the Lord and then I understood their end. And in understanding their end, I understood my end. I understood my end. And that gave me a firm standing. I was able, in the house of the Lord, being reminded of the spiritual things that the Lord had promised, I was able to stand. He made my hooves to be brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces many people, and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord.

Turn to me to Revelation chapter two. Revelation chapter two, here's the end of the story. You know, as the cross is the most, is the most clear example of how things are not as they appear. The book of Revelation is a conclusion to all of scripture. And the message of the book of Revelation to his churches and to his people is don't give up.

Don't give up. You are victors in the end. Look at Revelation chapter 2 at verse 25. But that which you have already Hold fast till I come. That's the message of the book of Revelation. Now, these believers were scattered all over. They were suffering persecution like you and I don't know anything about. They were being martyred. And the Lord says, hold fast, I'm coming. And what's the last thing John says at the end of the book of Revelation? Come Lord Jesus, even now come, come.

Oh, the fulfillment of your promises is what I long for. In verse 26, and he that overcometh He that remaineth faithful until the end. And if I'm going to remain faithful to the end, I'm going to have to exchange my strength for his. He is able to keep me from falling. He is able to present me faultless before his throne with great joy. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him I will give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received my father. And I will give him the morning star. That's Christ. He's the morning star. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Now turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Shamefully, shamefully, and there was a lot of shameful things going on in the church at Corinth. One of the things they were doing is they were taking one another to court over legal matters and letting letting unbelievers make judgments as to how things should be settled between them, between them, between believers. And Paul writes to them and says, what are you doing? Choose out from among you the least esteemed believer, the one who, and they'll make better judgments than those unbelievers. Those unbelievers are making judgments according to outward appearances, but believers make judgments according to that which is spiritual.

And so in chapter six, Verse one, dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know you not that we shall judge angels?

How much more things that pertain to this life? Believers make spiritual judgments. And they make those spiritual judgments in light of that which is eternal. Now go back with me to our text in verse 13. I believe that's what the Lord is telling us here. What appears is not what shortly and surely will come to pass. Don't lose heart. You are soon, you are soon to be more than conquerors through him who loves you.

And though the world stands in judgment against you and have gathered against you and say that you're defiling the gospel and that they're the ones going to heaven, here's what's gonna happen. Verse 13, arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, For I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hooves brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces many people, and I will consecrate. I will take that which they think.

You remember when the Lord rebuked the Pharisees for violating the law with their hypocrisy? The Lord reminded them of the fifth commandment, thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother. But looking at the Pharisees, they had a tradition called Corban. Corban meant that all that they owned and possessed, they had consecrated to the Lord. So they could say it really didn't belong to them, it belonged to God. Nevertheless, they had access to it and they were the ones using it. Such blatant religious hypocrisy. Well, that's Corbyn. We can't help our mother and father who might be in need because what we own really belongs to the Lord. Now, here's what the Lord's saying.

I'm gonna take that which they have consecrated to me And I'm gonna consecrate it to fire. I'm gonna consecrate it to judgment. I'm gonna consecrate it to my wrath. And that's not gonna be true of you. I've done a work of grace in your heart. I've caused you in faith to consecrate everything that you are and have unto me. This is what's gonna happen to the world.

You're gonna have a horn of iron because your strength will be Christ. I will make thy feet as brass and they will not slip, you will not fall. But I'm gonna consecrate their gain, their covetousness, They thought was gain to them. Paul said that which I thought was gain. What did he say he thought was gain?

Well, he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was of the tribe of Benjamin. He was circumcised the eighth day. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. According to the law, he was blameless. He thought these things were gain to him. And that's what the religions of this world believe. They believe that what they're doing And what they've achieved is their gain before God. And Paul said, that which I thought was gain was my loss. And now I counted all but loss for what? For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Brethren, the Lord in these few verses is telling us once again, the contrast between the unbeliever and though it may appear as it did at Mount Calvary 2,000 years ago, that the world is winning.

The outward appearances might be that we're the off-scouring, that we're the refuge, we're the filth of the world, we're the sojourners, we're the pilgrims, we're the illegal aliens. No, it's actually not that way. It's not that way. This is the way it is. And what appears to the natural eye is not what's going to be.

I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance, that word substance is also translated strength or riches, that strength that they rely upon, the wealth that they've accomplished, talking about spiritual wealth, Reminded how, what the Lord said, that it's easier for a rich man to, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. All men by nature are rich in their own righteousness. And it's impossible for them to get into heaven based on that. And what's the Lord saying? I'm gonna consecrate their strength and their riches and their righteousness unto the Lord of the whole earth. But for you, I'm going to give you the morning star. I'm going to give you the morning star.

Keep making spiritual judgments. Judge not according to appearances, but judge righteous judgments, spiritual judgments. will continue to encourage us and sustain us to the end when the fulfillment of all these promises is finally realized. Our Heavenly Father, thank you for this encouragement, for this reminder, for this glorious hope and truth that you've given us in Christ. Forgive us, Lord, for how often we judge according to appearances and enable us, enable us to believe what you have said. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. Number 34. 34 in the Sprout Hymn. Let's stand together. Yeah.