John called me Thursday at work.
And I live a rather tedious existence. Sometimes I get bored. And when
that happens, I will sneak to a computer and read commentaries. And when he called me, I was
reading on this chapter and I thought, well, you know, I'm just going
to preach this. I spoke from this text before. Micah chapter
5. We're going to start in verse
2. Now this prophet Micah lived
about 750 years before the birth of Christ and he prophesied concerning
Israel and Judah and reproved them for all their sins and idolatry
and foretold of them being taken away, carried away into captivity.
The Sennacherib would come and take the ten tribes and then
Nebuchadnezzar would come take Judah into Babylon. In the midst
of all these prophecies, he prophesied of the coming of the Messiah
to comfort them. And you see that throughout the
book of Isaiah and all the other prophets when they're being reproved,
every time they're being reproved, just out in the middle of nowhere,
they'll say, now wait a minute, I'm going to tell you, the Son
of God is coming. The Son of God is coming. And
that's what you have in Isaiah. I'm not going to read the first
verse, It's talking about bad times, troops coming, laying
siege. But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of
thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. You hear that every year at Christmas
time. Every year at Christmas time. This little town of Bethlehem
would be so honored, though it's a small, small place. It has
quite a history, even here at this time. I mean, the first
time it's mentioned, and you know our pastor, Henry Mahan,
years ago used to tell us, pay attention the first time something's
mentioned. Look at Genesis chapter 35, and
I'll show you the first time that this little town is mentioned. Look at verse 16. They journeyed from Bethel. This
is Jacob and his wife. And there was but a little way
to come to Ephra. And Rachel travailed and had
hard labor. And it came to pass when she
was in hard labor that the midwife said unto her, Fear not, for
thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul
was in departing, for she died, that she called his name Benoni."
You see there, that is the son of my sorrow. The son of my sorrow,
if you look in the center console, that's what that means. The son
of my sorrow. But his father called him Benjamin. Benjamin. You see what that is
in the center? the son of my right hand." Isn't
that amazing? First time Bethlehem. And you
read here the next verse, and Rachel died and was buried in
the way of Ephrathah, which is in Bethlehem. First time. First time. There's a boy with
two names born. The son of my sorrow and the
son of my right hand. What's the chances of that? The
son of my sorrow. That's what Isaiah said of him.
Isaiah 53 said, he shall be a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief.
And yet he would be the son of my right hand. The son of my
right hand. See, there's two things I want
you to see there, and Frank was talking about it in Sunday school
this morning. Benoni, the son of my sorrow, is referring to
the man Christ Jesus. The man of sorrows. And yet that
other name of his, the son of my right hand, is talking about
his deity, the one who would be raised in majesty through
the very right hand of God. That's what happens. What a blessed little place Bethlehem
was. Bethlehem was. And our Lord,
you know, when he was born, Mary took him, and his dad took him,
those who thought he was his dad, took him. to be circumcised,
and you remember there in the temple that day, Simeon said
to her, he said, this child is set for a fall of many in Israel,
but I'm going to tell you something. Yea, a sword shall pierce through
thine own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be
recorded. Mary was told that day that boy would be a boy of
her size too. Years later, We read of Bethlehem again. There's
another name change that took place there. There was a woman
named Ruth, a lady named Naomi, lived in that little town and
times got hard. She and her husband and two boys
left and went to Moab. And when she got there, she lost
her husband, she lost her sons, and one day she decided she was
going back to Bethlehem. One of the daughters left her,
but Ruth would not leave her. Ruth would not leave her. And
Naomi came back and they said, oh, it's Naomi that's coming.
And she goes, don't you call me Naomi. That means pleasant. That means happy. That means
joy. You call me Mara. Bitterness. You call me bitterness. And she
came. But when she came, she brought
with her a woman named Ruth, who started gleaning in the fields
and ran into a man named Bobas. And that Gentile woman would
mingle her doggish blood with the blood of a man named Boaz.
She would give birth and he would give birth. Through this Boaz
would be born Obed. And Obed would give birth to
Jesse. And Jesse would give birth to
David. And every king that ever arose in Israel would be as a
result of that woman coming to that little town. all the kings
of Judah were born as a result of that. And lastly here, the
very king of kings, the king of kings, would be born Boy, talk about esteem. And you
know, even the name of this place, Bethlehem Efratha, it has significance. Bethlehem means the house of
bread. That's what that name means. There's nothing that describes
our Lord better than that. The house of bread, this one
who would feed us with his blood and with his flesh. He would
be our bread, eternal life, this one who would be born there.
And he would be bruised and ground to a powder and cooked in the
furnace of affliction to provide for our salvation. And that little
town was Bethlehem Ephrathah, which means fruitfulness. Fruitfulness. All of our fruitfulness would
be a result of that man coming. You know that? You have no fruit
before God apart from that man coming. This man. This man. Not to be had anywhere else.
It's found in Bethlehem. It's not found out there on Mount
Sinai. You go on out to that mountain, I'm telling you, you're
going to find nothing but thorns and bushes. There's nothing fruitful
on Mount Sinai, but in Bethlehem at Proctoh, this one will come. This one will come. Well, who's
coming here? Look back in the text. Who's
coming and who's he coming to? Well, "...yet out of thee shall
come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." There's
a king coming. He's a ruler in Israel. The ruler
in Israel, the very moment he was born, the very moment his
eyes saw the light, he was God's king on this earth. They may
have given him a rattle to play with, and I know we all do that
with our children, but I'm telling you, anything that was in his
hand was a scepter. He was the ruler that came forth
to rule this world. And all heaven and earth would
bow to him. Hebrews 1, I'll read this to you. I won't go there.
Hebrews 1, verse 4 through 6, our Lord was told when he came
into this world, thy throne, O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Everything he does will be right.
He comes in as a ruler the day he arrives. saying, I come to
do thy will, father. In the book it's written of me.
In the book, in the volume of the book, it's written of me.
I always loved that. That word volume means at the
very head of the book. They used to have rolls, the
book would roll down, and you'd start at the top and right at
the top, at the volume, at the top of the book, it's all been
written about me. It's all been written about me.
This one would be a king, he would rule, he would command
our wills. We don't command his. He's the
commander of our wills, our judgment, our counsel, and we live to honor
this one who is our ruler. But you know when he came, he
didn't come primarily for you and I. That's not what the text
says here. The text back here in Micah says,
he shall come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in The Son
of God came for the purpose the Father had sent Him. He comes
forth in human flesh to do the bidding of the eternal God. His purpose. His purpose. Hebrews
10. Look at that for a moment. Hebrews
10, verse 5. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offerings thou wouldst not,
but a body thou hast prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book to do thy will that is written of me, O
God. Above, when thou saidst sacrifice and offerings and burnt
offerings, thou wouldst not for sin, thou wouldst not, neither
hadst thou pleasure therein which are offered by the law. Then
said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the
first, that he may establish the second. And this is his will,
and it's by this will, by the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for
all. He came as a bloody sacrifice,
a substitute, a surety of an everlasting covenant set up before
the foundation of the world. Now, that's what it says here.
Wicked hands slew him. Wicked hands slew him. but it
pleased the Father to bruise him." This transaction was always
between the Father and the Son, and you look throughout the Old
Testament, you'll see that. When that high priest went behind
that veil, human eyes weren't watching that. That was a sacrifice,
that was a blood offering that concerned the Father and that
priest. That's what it was. Just like
the day down there in Egypt's land when the Passover lamb was
slain, the blood was put on the outside of the door and everybody
got inside the house. Why? Because there's a transaction
going on outside that door. God Almighty is going to go by
and He's going to look at that blood and say, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. He'll come forth unto me. He
comes forth unto me. The cross was never meant to
be a spectacle for men to weep over. For you to feel sorry for
poor little Jesus, I hear people say that. Poor little Jesus,
boy, I hear that song sung every year. It was never meant to be
a spectacle for men to feel sorry for him. You're talking about
the eternal Son of God accomplishing the will of the Father. You don't
have to feel sorry about that. You need to rejoice in such a
thing as that. Rejoice in such a thing. This is an offering that the
Father would love. He'll never love you apart from
this offering. It's an offering the Father would
love. It's an offering that would be
a sweet-smelling savor in His nostrils. And this goings-forth has been
from of old, even from everlasting. In the margin you'll see there
it says, Days of Eternity. I don't know if you have the
Bible, I've got it. In the days of eternity, his
goings forth had been a bold. He's been going forth way back
now. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. Who did Adam
talk to in the garden in the cool of the day? No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." That's
who he talked to in the garden. He talked to the only begotten
Son. Man was made in the image of
God. Well, whose image is that? The image of Jesus Christ, the
Lord. The body that the Father would
choose for him to come in. We were made in that image. Made in that image. When Abraham was sitting out
there in Genesis chapter 18, he was sitting under the tree
in Mamre, and he was just sitting there enjoying himself, and he
saw three men coming towards him, and he ran out, and something
made him say to one of them, Lord, Lord, would you come here? We'll fix you something to eat.
And he started talking to that one and kept calling him Lord.
And finally that one said to him, well, will I hide the thing
that the Lord is going to do? Should I hide that from Abraham? And he started heading towards
Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham started walking with
him saying, now listen, listen to me. Shall the judge of the
whole earth do right? Shall he not do right? He'll
do right. If you could find 50, 50 righteous
men in the city, you wouldn't destroy the city for 50 men.
No, I wouldn't destroy the city for 50 men. Now, pardon me, I'm
just dust. I'm just dust. I have no reason
to even talk to you. But if you could just, if there
were only 45 men in that city, would you not destroy that city?
Well, I would not destroy it for 45. Oh, pardon me again if
I've just opened my mouth. What if there's only 40? What
if there's only 20? What if there's only 15? What
if there's only 10? Over and over and over he keeps
asking. What's he doing? He's interceding
for that city. Who's he talking to? The only
mediator between God and men. That's who he's talking to. The
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. His goings
forth have been of old, even from everlasting." Look at Jacob. I won't go there. Jacob, chapter
32. He's going out and he's going to meet his brother Esau, and
he's a nervous wreck. Hasn't seen him for years. Starts
sending all the family ahead of him. Starts sending everything
he could think of as a gift out before him. Scared to death to
meet Esau. And that night, on that road,
he met a man. who wrestled with him. And he
wrestled all night long, and he said, I'm not going to let
go of you until you bless me. And finally, he got the blessing. He said, your name's been Jacob.
Your name's going to be Israel now. You were a supplanter. You're
going to be a prince with God. You'll have power with God. And
Jacob said, who are you? What's your name? And he said,
why would you even ask me my name? And Jacob named that place Peniel,
which means the face of God. Why did he call it that? Because
I've seen the face of God and I still live. Who was that? All his goings forth have been
of old. When Israel came into the promised
land after they walked through that water, now Moses had met
a voice in a bush years and years before and led them through the
wilderness. When they came to Jericho, just outside of town,
Joshua went out one morning in Joshua chapter 5, and he was
checking out Jericho, looking at that city, trying to figure
out what to do. And there stood a man over against
him with a sword in his hand. And Joshua said, Are you with
us or are you against us? And he said, as the captain of
the Lord of hosts am I come forth. Who is this? Jacob, Joshua bowed
and worshiped him. And you know the same thing was
said that day that was said to Moses, you take your shoes off
your feet, for where you're standing is holy ground. Holy Grail. That's all these things. His goings forth have been from
of old, even from everlasting. Proverbs 8. Look at Proverbs
8 here. If you've got a moment here,
I'll read this to you. Proverbs chapter 8. We won't read all
of it. I'll just read verses 22 through
31. There's one who is being personified here, and his name
is called Wisdom. And you see this in verse 22,
the Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his
works of old. I was set up. I was anointed.
I was set up, anointed from everlasting from the beginning wherever the
earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth.
When there were no fountains abounding with water, before
the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth.
While as yet he had not made the earth and the fields of the
highest parts of the dust of the world, When he prepared the
heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when he established them clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to his sea his decree
that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth, I was by him as one brought up
with him. I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him. Rejoicing in the habitable parts
of the earth and my delights. My delights were with the sons
of men. My delights were with the sons of men." This is the
son of God talking. Even then, my delights were with
the son of men, those I was coming to redeem. His goings forth have
been from of old in redeeming his people. Redeeming his people. He would be sent forth as a worthy
substitute dying to fulfill the law, coming to preach the gospel. And he's been going about doing
this since the world began from the days of eternity. Now, let
me ask you something. Do you think for a moment that
such a love, that such a love will ever go unhonored? Do you
think for a moment that one who came and has had that plan for
such a length of time will ever lose one for whom he has come
and died for? It ain't happening. It just ain't happening. Shall he labor from the days
of eternity and not see the travail of his soul? I'm sorry, I refuse
to believe the junk that's being preached in our day. John 6,
I'll read it to you. John 6, verse 37, it says, All
the Father giveth me shall come unto me. and him that cometh
unto me," John 6.37, I will in no wise cast out, for I come
down, I came down. Here's this one who's going forth
from the bend from of old. I came down from heaven, not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me, and this
is the Father's will which hath sent me. In case you have any
questions, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing. I'll lose nothing. but should
raise it up again at the last day, and this is the will of
him that sent me, that every one which seeth the sun, and
believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at
the last day." His goings forth have been of old. Back in our
text in Micah, look at verse 4. Therefore will he give them up
until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth.
Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children
of Israel." We're told here that the Jews would be given up to
a time of trouble and distress, the days of Micah, from that
time. Boy, that's a fact. Sennacherib
would come. Nebuchadnezzar would come. the
Babylonians would rule over them, then the Medo-Persian Empire
would rule over them, and as time went by, the Greeks would
rule over them. And after the Greeks all dissolved,
they would be run by a guy named Antiochus Epiphanes, who did
all kinds of crazy things against the Jews, and eventually would
be taken over by the Romans. A time of distress, a time of
trouble. And that time would go on and they would be given
up. That's what it says, given up. He'll give them up. He gave
them up, not only to be ruled by other men, but he gave them
up to their religion. He gave them up to their tradition.
He gave them up to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Herodians.
He gave them up until this woman would prevail. Now who's that? That's Mary. and she brought forth. And I'm
telling you, from that time on, from that time on, the Lord who
started his ministry, we're told to the day she prevailed, then after that there would be
a remnant who would return of his brethren. Of his brethren.
You see that? The Lord's the firstborn among
many brethren. It's his brethren that return,
and it's a remnant And I'm telling you, the remnant always returns.
I won't go to Romans 11 this morning. I just don't have time.
but the remnant always returns. There is an election of remnant
of grace that always returns. We're taught here that they would
come, and from the moment our Lord started preaching the gospel,
men were converted and were not ashamed to own Him as their Lord. Now, and they shall not only
come, listen to me, and return unto the children of Israel,
verse 4 says, and He shall stand and feed in the strength of the
Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord, his God. He's going
to stand and feed." Who's this one? This is talking about the
shepherd king. He'd be a king and he'd be a
shepherd. And he would not sit. He stands
and feeds. I love that. One who's actively engaged. Have
you ever gone down the road? I know you have. You'll be driving
down the road somewhere and you'll go by a, I don't know, maybe
a state job or something out on the highway and you'll see
one guy digging and four people leaning. Or people sitting and one guy
working, you know. Our Lord doesn't sit. He stands. He's actively engaged And he
feeds. He's the ruler. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. He's meek
and lowly of heart. But he stands. He does not close
his eyes to the conditions of his people. He does not do that. He knows us through and through. He knows you and me and what
we're going through in our lives. in a way we can't conceive of.
He knows each one of us as if we were the only thing in the
universe. You say, well, how can He do
that? You've got me. I just know the truth. If there
were no other person, no other center saved by grace for Him
to put His attention on, that's how well He knows and cares for
His people. You mean everything? I mean all
things are working together to their good. How can that be?
He knows you. He knows you. The Lord said,
I the Lord do keep it. I'll water it every moment, lest
any hurt it. I will keep it night and day. That's what he says. And he feeds
us, and this is done Says here, he does this in the strength
of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. What's that mean? That means
he's able. He's able. He's able. That's no mere man being spoken
of there, my friends. This is the one who's been exalted
to the right hand of the majesty of God on high. And he keeps
his people. He stands and He feeds them. He gives them everything they
need. Everything. And these people are secure.
They are as secure as He is. And that's what He says here.
Look at this. And they shall abide. Right there
in the middle of chapter, verse 4. And they shall abide. I love that. They shall abide. There's never going to be a time
when they're not abiding. You know, you read in Revelations
chapter 12 about the war in the heavens and the dragon going
out after the woman, the church that ended up out in the wilderness.
and him making war with her and opening his mouth and spewing
forth his lies, casting a great flood after her, the doctrines
of men, the doctrines of this world, the earth swallowed it
up. Because false doctrine will never
destroy the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They shall abide. Liars, cheats, thieves, men who
are not faithful will never destroy the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They shall abide. The church shall always exist.
Always. If people depart and go and forsake
it, it's because they were never of us, the scripture says. God's elect. Now listen to me.
Not one of God's elect has ever gone back. Not a one. A lot of them make mistakes,
but they may deny, as Peter did, but I'm telling you, when it's
all said and done, they don't go back. They don't go back.
You can pull their flesh off their bones, and they will not
go back. The church shall always abide,
though the rains come down and the floods come up. Remember
that old song? The church's stand is built on
a rock. His people aren't going anywhere. And listen, verse 5,
verse 4, for now he shall be great unto the ends of the earth. You say, well, one day the Lord
Jesus Christ is going to be revealed and he'll be great at that time.
No, sir. Now he shall be great unto the ends of the earth. Now. It's true. It's right now at
this very moment. Even until the ends of the earth,
that means the ends of the earth, that means all places, his gospel
is going to go. All the ends of the earth can
be referring to as long as the earth exists, his gospel is going
to proceed. He'll be great until the ends
of the earth. This flock shall become large. There'll be no place in this
world where God Almighty does not have sheep. That's exactly
right. And he shall have dominion from
the sea to the sea, and from the river even unto the ends
of the earth." What river is he talking about? Pick one. You can start at the Ohio to
the ends of the earth. Just pick one. He's great and
shall be great to the ends of the earth. And the verse 5, this
man, this man, Oh, I love that. That's what I'd call this man.
This man, this one we've been talking about, who would be born
in Bethlehem, pictured by the son of sorrow and the son of
my right hand. This man, whose goings forth have been
from of old. This man who stands to feed his
flock. This man who's great to the ends
of the earth. This man shall be the peace. The peace. When the Assyrian
shall come into our land. We read in Ephesians 2 today
about our Lord being our peace. There was a time when Gentiles
like you and I, we were looked upon as the uncircumcised. That
was kind of a mean thing to say about people. The uncircumcised. The circumcised said, the dogs.
Even if you proselytized and became a Jew by faith, you could
go no further than the wall in the temple that was called the
Wall of the Gentiles. That's as far as you got until
this man came and put his blood on that altar. And now he hath made us all one. He's our peace. He's our peace. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is our peace. I've got peace with God. Do you
realize this morning the guns of heaven are not pointed at
the Lord's people? They're not. He is our peace. He is our peace. This man is
our peace. He alone is our peace. He speaks
peace. I had a relative recently die,
and I remember sitting in the ceremony, and the man said, well,
he made his peace with God before he died. I'm sorry. I hope what he meant to say was
true, but I'm here to tell you the only one who makes peace
with God for me or you is this man. He's our peace. He's our
peace. He preserves us when all our
enemies are coming against us now. And that's, my friend, what
he talks about here when he speaks of the Assyrians. The Assyrians
were the enemies of Israel at that time. And I want you to
know, I've got them. I have them. I have Assyrians
who come into the land. I have Assyrians that tread down
this palace. You notice how he split those
two things up? Come into the land and tread
down our palaces. I've got those kind of things.
Paul spoke in 1st or 2nd Corinthians about having fightings without
and fears within. You remember him saying that?
All around me I see fighting. I see trouble. I see trials.
The Assyrians treading, trodden through the land. Often times
I find them right here in this palace, treading around. I want
you to know He's my peace. That's the only security I have.
Only security I have. When I am presented with the
terrors of the law, when I see what God requires of me as a
man, looking at that Old Testament, perfect obedience. Loving him with all my heart,
my soul, my strength. When I see that, the only peace
I've got is this man who's done that for me. Who's lived a perfectly
righteous life and then bore my punishment justly before the
Father. This man's my peace. I see the
temptation of Satan, the things that come my way every day. The
temptation to do wrong. This man is my peace. He's my
only peace. This man is my only peace when
I face the troubles of this world. Do you understand everything
that's going on in your life? I don't. Are you troubled by
it? I am. Whether it be the terror of the
law, the temptation of Satan, or the trouble of this world,
this man is my peace. I am secure, my only security,
my only defense is this one who is my priest, who has gone before
the Father and made atonement for me. My king, who now lives,
reigning, making all things work together for my good. And listen, I'll quit here. I want to read something to you.
Go on through this here. And then shall he raise against
him seven shepherds and eight principal men. You know, we have powerful enemies
that have come up against us. And they've come up ever since
the days when this man came at Bethlehem. died at the cross,
and they've been working against us since that time. And we're
told here specifically that he would raise up from among us,
we, raise against him, the Assyrian, seven shepherds, eight principal
men. This is a total number. It's
meant to be eight. It's seven plus one. And when
I'm troubled, I find my hope with my rest in
this book. And it's interesting when you
look at it. The New Testament was written by Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John, Jude, Peter, James 7, oh wait a minute, Paul
8. Seven shepherds, eight principal
men. They'll come up after this man
came and was born in Bethlehem. Now, what's the chances of that?
Coincidence, I suppose. There's a man named Peter Stoner,
who's a mathematician at the University of California. I'm
not really into math or sciences. Some of you may like that. He had been a Bible student.
He'd found over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament concerning
the birth of Christ. And he didn't think it would
be worth his time to try to handle them all, so he took eight of
them. And he was one of these guys that handles finite math. So he took eight prophecies,
and this was one of them, and said, OK, of all the known cities
that were on the earth 750 years before the birth of Christ, and
of all the ones that were known in Judah, What are the probabilities
of one man being born in that city who would fulfill seven
other of these prophecies, such as him being sold for thirty
pieces of silver, some of these other prophecies? And the chance
of one man fulfilling just eight of the three hundred prophecies
in the Old Testament was one chance in a number that starts,
well it's basically ten, to the seventeenth or eighteenth power.
Now I don't know. He started talking things like
that, I can't grasp it, but Mr. Stoner gave an illustration of
it. He said that if you took silver dollars and marked one
silver dollar, took a black marker and marked it, and dropped that
number of silver dollars down in the United States of America,
that it would cover a state the size of Texas, two feet deep. And then if you would take a
blind man and send him out. and the chance of him reaching
over and picking up that silver dollar that you marked. That's
the chances of just eight of these prophecies in the Old Testament
being fulfilled accidentally. I'm telling you, it takes great,
great darkness in the heart of a man to not see the truth. Unbelievable darkness. Egyptian
darkness. Can't see your hand before your
face darkness. Unless God Almighty does something
for a person, you'll never see. Never see. We need to look to
this man. We need to look to