Well, in what is turning to be
a series on the Minor Prophets, one message per week on each
Minor Prophet, we come this week to the book of the Prophet Micah,
seven chapters in the book of the Prophet Micah. You know,
in the criminal community, I don't know what it's like today, things
have changed a lot, but in the criminal community of old, you
know, historical novels, stories from the past, in that criminal
community, The different judges that sat on the benches in the
courts of law were not all of the same standard of severity. And the criminals would say to
one another, oh, let's hope we don't come up before justice
somebody or other, because he's got a reputation. If he can find
a way through the law to have you hanged or extend your sentence,
he'll do it. He's a very severe judge. different
severities, oh let's hope we get such and such a one, he's
known to be a bit soft, he'll let us off more lightly. But
in respect of God and his righteousness and his law and his justice,
we all stand guilty. Not just the criminal community,
we all, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It
is appointed to man, all of us, without exception, to die once,
and then the judgment. That's what Hebrews 9.27 tells
you. Look at it. That's what it says.
It's you and me that are heading for that dock in the courts of
divine justice, with the one just judge on the throne. What will our judge be like on
that day of judgment? Answer? Strictly just. Strictly just. It says in Exodus
34 and verse 7 that our God will by no means clear the guilty. Did you hear that? He will by
no means clear. You won't get let off. You won't. It would seem that we're all
in a perilous condition regarding eternity. but the message of
the Bible is consistent. Without any contradiction, the
message of the Bible is consistent. It pronounces condemnation for
sin. God, who is holy and of purer
eyes than to behold iniquity, despises sin, hates sin. It's
an evil stench in his nostrils. Sins of what? Just the crimes
that we do to one another, no, no, no, that's just the tip of
the iceberg. I'm talking about the underlying
disbelief of God, which is at the root of all sin. Rebellion
against God, which is at the root, He's the Creator, with
whom we have to do. Transgression of His law, and
the guarantee of just, because it is just, divine justice. He will punish sin. He will exact
the payment for sin, yet, without any inconsistency at all, the
message of the same book, this Bible, is a message of hope. It's a message of the gospel,
the good news of grace. It's a message that our judge
is a merciful God. He is able to be merciful without
violating his justice. Some of those soft judges in
the courts of our land They were merciful, but at the expense
of justice. The sins, the crimes, were not
properly paid for. And that's what goes on so much
today. But in the court of God, no,
no. Justice will be perfectly upheld, yet at the same time,
the Bible is clear, God is a merciful God. Micah proclaims that same
message clearly. You read these prophecies, doom
and gloom, but always in there, the message of grace. So, just
quickly, just look back with me at Micah. I'll just give you
a very, these seven chapters. The first chapter of Micah is
God's charge, his charge sheet. These are the things that you've
done against the nations, and especially the 10 northern tribes
of Israel. That's there in chapter one.
Chapter two, God's wrath is certain and coming. Absolutely without
doubt, God's wrath is certain. Chapter three, Condemnation gets
into some details of self-serving princes, of hireling prophets,
of covetous... all of the evil things that were
going on. And he says from verse 8 of that
chapter 3, hear this, guilt is pronounced, your guilt is pronounced.
But then in chapter 4, there's a proclamation of grace. There
were corrupt princes, there were cheating priests, there were
lying prophets, but A proclamation of grace, a better prince is
coming, the Lord Jesus Christ. A better prophet is coming, the
Lord Jesus Christ. A better priest is coming, the
Lord Jesus Christ. For he does all of these things,
he is gracious to his people. He brings his people onto the
mountain of the Lord. In a couple of recent messages
we've talked about deliverance in Mount Zion. Mount Zion is
where in this, even in this fallen world, the Lord Jesus Christ
stands, the Lamb of God stands with his 144,000. In chapter
5, there's more about the Redeemer. His death in verse 1, and His
birth in Bethlehem. You Bethlehem. It's there, prophesied. Hundreds of years before He actually
came, but there it is. And in that chapter, it's all
about the peace that He shall bring. The Messiah, the Lamb
of God brings peace with God, for the people of God. Albeit
they're sinners, but because of what He does, He brings peace.
Chapter 6. Call to remember God's goodness. That's what it is. It's a call
on the people to remember the goodness of the Lord. And chapter
7 is the coming of Christ and his glorious kingdom. And we
get to the end for the one message that we're going to have from
this book is verses 18 and 19, possibly on into verse 20. Who
is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth
not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will
turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities,
and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Wow! Given! the strict justice
of God, hear those words. This is throughout the Word of
God, a message of gospel confidence, and this is God's message to
his people. We read that God delights in
mercy. At the end of verse 18, He delights
in mercy. You know, you might confuse the
words grace and mercy, both attributes of God. He is a gracious God,
He is a merciful God. Well let me try and summarise
it very briefly. Grace is when I get what I don't
deserve. Oh, so much goodness. I totally
do not deserve it. But God is gracious, so grace
is when I get what I don't deserve. Mercy is when I don't get what
I do deserve. I deserve condemnation. I deserve
hell. I deserve to pay the penalty
for my sins under the strict justice of God. but He's a merciful
God. So I don't get that in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I don't deserve to be a citizen
of God's kingdom. Why? Because we read in Revelation
and other places, nothing that defiles shall enter in. I am
all defilement because I am sin. It says nothing like me shall
enter in, but in pure divine grace, before time began, God
loved a multitude of Adam's race, people like you and me. And for
nothing but pure love, nothing that they were, nothing that
He foresaw they would do, nothing but pure love, He united that
multitude with His Son, with the One who is His manifestation
in this creation. such that the Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, would do all that was needed to qualify that multitude
justly, strictly according to the justice of God, for citizenship
of His kingdom. And in the process of doing that,
He enables mercy to be shown to sinners in the flesh, who
deserve eternal condemnation. yet they're justly ransomed.
They're ransomed from the curse of the law. Job 33 verse 24,
then he is gracious unto him. I'll put some words in to make
the sense plain. Then God is gracious unto the
sinner who deserves hell and condemnation. He's gracious and
he says, God says about the sinner deserving of hell, he says, deliver
him, the sinner, from going down to the pit of hell. Why? Why? How can you deliver him?
You can't just let him go, can you? How can you deliver him?
The reason is, God says, I have found a ransom. Who is that ransom? What is that ransom? It is his
own son, his own beloved son. a body prepared, God in flesh,
came to bear the sins of his people, to take them upon himself,
to be responsible for them, to be counted guilty of them, to
be punished for them, him himself having committed no sins whatsoever. And God tells us that he delights
in this, because it enables Him to be merciful to sinners. He
is strictly holy and just. God is strictly holy and just,
but we don't read anywhere of Him delighting in justice. We don't. He is just, but we
don't read of Him delighting in justice. It's just an immense
attribute of His holy character, is His justice. But in mercy,
we read, He delights. God, who sits above the universe. God, who inhabits everywhere. God, the one who created all
things, to whom we must give account. The one who upholds
all things by the word of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This God, who speaks and it is done, delights in mercy. You know, you have things that
you delight in, that give you a thrill, that tick all of your
boxes, as we say. God delights in mercy. Is there
a glimmer of hope, sinner, justly condemned for you and for me,
awaiting just condemnation? Is there a glimmer of hope, your
judge, who you are appointed to meet when you die, all of
us, Your judge, we read, delights in mercy. But how does he show
it? How does he apply it to the objects
of his love? How does he show his mercy to
the people that he chose in Christ before the foundation of the
world? Let's look in these two verses at the phrases that are
in there that show us how God manifests his mercy. First of
all, we read that, who is a God like unto thee? He pardons iniquity
and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage.
He pardons it, iniquity that condemns us. He passes by the
transgression of his people who are the remnant of his heritage,
the heritage that is the Lord's. This is the remnant, as Romans
11 verse 5 says, according to the election of grace. And we
read that God passes by their sins. Now don't think that that
means that he can't see the sins of his people, nor that he condones
the sins of his people. We read that God is angry with
sin. Psalm 7 verse 11, God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry
with the wicked every day. He is angry with the sins of
his elect people, but it is the sin, not his people, with which
he is angry. And, what does it say? Towards
the end of verse 18, he retaineth not his anger forever. he doesn't
hold on to it. He retains not his anger forever,
because his people are the objects of his grace. If you turn to
Ephesians and chapter 1, just for a few moments, Ephesians
chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
6, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein, his grace,
in his grace, he has made his people, he has made us accepted
in the beloved. not subject to banishment from
His Kingdom, but accepted in the Beloved. Verse 4, because
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. That's
our qualification. for his kingdom, for eternity. He does that for his people,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. He
can't be angry so as to condemn the objects of his grace. He
can't. He's gracious and merciful to
them. So how is justice maintained? How is it that he does that without
violating his nature as God who must punish sin? His just anger
versus sin, we know from cover to cover of the Bible, the message
is there. That anger is propitiated away,
it is removed, it is taken away, it is soothed, it is calmed,
it is propitiated away, it is put away by the doing, and the
dying of his son as his people's substitute. He retains not his
anger forever, but he delights in mercy. He doesn't retain his
anger forever because he delights in mercy. It's because he delights
in mercy that he found a way that sinners like us could be
justified, and his anger could be turned away. Yes, his people
sin, and they come under the chastisement of God, and God
withdraws for a while. If you look at Isaiah chapter
54 and verse 5, this is speaking to the people of God who are
sinners in the flesh and who will be wayward. For thy maker,
you sinner, the child of God, your maker is your husband. The
Lord of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the manifestation of God to us,
the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath
called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a
wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a
small moment have I forsaken thee. but with great mercies
will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." All this he does
without violating his strict divine justice. He pardons iniquity,
he passes by transgression of the remnant of his heritage.
Then, verse 19, we read, he will turn again, he will turn again,
verse 19, he will return to the heritage that he seemed to have
forsaken. He will return to them. His people
are not born believing, They're children of wrath even as others,
and they come to belief. He will return to the heritage
that he seemed to have forsaken. He will return to it. He will
show compassion. God will show compassion. God who is strictly just will
show compassion. How do we know this? We read
in John 1 verse 18 that no man has seen God at any time, but
the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He
has manifested Him, He has made Him known, He has declared So
that when Philip asked the Lord Jesus Christ in John 14, show
us the Father and that will be sufficient for us, Jesus said,
Philip, have I been so long with you and you have not known me?
He who has seen me has seen the Father. What did he mean? Think
of all the miracles he did. Think of the compassion that
he showed to the blind, and the lepers, and the lame, and the
dumb. Think of the compassion that he showed to the starving,
and all of these other things. This is the compassion of God.
He, Jesus, the man, our Lord Jesus Christ, manifested the
compassion of God. He demonstrated it. He demonstrated
it and showed it to us that it's there in the heart of God is
compassion and all the acts of compassion that he did. As he
turned again and he repented him. You know we were thinking
in the book of Jonah last week about God warning Nineveh by
Jonah the prophet. He warned them and they repented.
They repented. He turned again and repented
him regarding the just condemnation of Nineveh. He is a God of mercy. He is. Our sins in the flesh
deserve just condemnation. But for the payment made in Christ's
blood, He releases us from that sentence of condemnation. In
grace, we get what we don't deserve, which is forgiveness. In mercy,
we get what we don't deserve. We don't get what we do deserve,
which is condemnation in mercy. Therefore, he can turn again
and be compassionate. He will turn again. He will have
compassion on us. He will subdue our iniquities
and cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. The reason
is that our sins You know, and there's that hymn that goes,
ask my sin not in part, but the whole is nailed to his cross
and I bear it no more. Religion doesn't teach that,
you know. Religion teaches that in conversion, you're kind of,
all right, you're given a leg up into the kingdom of God, but
now, from now on, it's up to you. You've got to live a perfectly
holy life so that you improve your sanctification until you're
fit for heaven. Honestly, that is so widely taught
as the truth of Scripture. Nothing can be further from the
truth. You read it. I challenge anybody to show us
where it actually says that. It doesn't. It says that God
is gracious to sinners. He has cast the sins of His people
into the depths of the sea. What sea? Answer, the sea of
Christ's precious blood. His dying and shedding his blood,
the lifeblood of the God-man. That is what has paid the price
to the justice of God for the sins of all his people for whom
he took responsibility. And this is a deep sea. It's
not a shallow sea. You read And there was a case
up in the Lake District a few years ago where a man murdered
his wife and tried to hide her body in the depths of one of
the deepest lakes. And of course it worked for a
while, but then nature and the fish and the creatures and all
the rest of it, and lo and behold, that body became obvious. It
came floating up, you know, but not so with this. The sins of
his people are buried in the deepest sea, into the depths
of the sea. What has the blood of Christ
accomplished for the people of God? Psalm 103 verse 12 tells
us that as far as the east is from the west. See, how far is
the North Pole from the South Pole? About 12,500 miles, right?
And when you get to the one, that's it, you've done it. But
how far is the east from the west? Well, keep going west. through America, through California,
through the Pacific Ocean, to Japan. Hold on, Japan's in the
East, isn't it? Ah! Where's the East then and
where's the West? If you're in California, Japan
is to your West. If you're in Japan, California
is to your East. Do you see what I'm saying? The
metaphor is that it's so far away that it's removed from us,
never to be brought back to us again. So far has he removed
our transgressions from us. This isn't just one verse, it's
again and again, Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 18. Though your sins,
speaking to his people, though your sins be as scarlet, absolutely
dead guilty, bright red guilty, they shall be white as snow,
not guilty. Imagine, believer, your advocate
We have an advocate. John tells us we have an advocate.
If you sit, we have an advocate. We have a lawyer before the bar
of divine justice. Imagine your advocate at the
bar of divine justice putting these incontrovertible facts
of the covenant of grace before God's strict justice. Isaiah
44 verse 22. Listen, this is what he says.
I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and
as a cloud thy sins. Jeremiah 31, 34. I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Really? You know, the pastors and ministers
of churches up and down this country will not say that to
you. I will forgive their iniquity, says God, the iniquity of his
people, and remember their sin no more, so that when it comes
to that day of judgment, where is the sin? Oh, let's see, Jeremiah
50 verse 20, in those days, and in that time, the day of judgment,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall
not be found, for, I will pardon them whom I reserve." What a
great verse of forgiveness and grace. On that day, Judah and
Israel are just synonyms of the people of God, the church of
God, the Israel of God. The judgment books will be opened,
but there will be no sins found there for those people. And how
do I say it? How do I know it? The Word of
God says it. The sins of Judah, they shall
not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve. He's elect,
he will pardon them. Zechariah chapter 3 verses 3
and 4. Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. Revelation chapter 19. Look at Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19, this is
all because He has cast their sins into the depths of the sea.
In Revelation chapter 19 we have the marriage supper of the Lamb,
that great and glorious day when His people are taken into that
kingdom for eternity. And it says in verse 7 of chapter
19, "'Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to him, for the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself
ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints.' Not the righteousness
that they have accomplished and made themselves, no, "'For all
our righteousnesses,' says Isaiah, "'are as filthy rags.' No, not
at all. But He, He, God, has clothed
me, Isaiah 61 verse 10, He has clothed me with the garments
of salvation. These are the garments, this
is the robe that the Church of God, that the Bride of Christ,
that the people of God is arrayed in. Fine linen, clean and white. The fine linen is the righteousness
of the saints. Righteous Follow righteousness,
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Clothed in
this righteousness, clothed in this holiness that God must have,
his people see the Lord. There, in that day, that last
day, that marriage supper of the Lamb, clean and white, for
why? Christ has blotted out the sins
of his people. He has taken them all away. They are buried in the depths
of the sea. He took them. He took them. 2
Corinthians 5, verse 21, God made him Jesus, who knew no sin,
he was sinless, he never committed any sin at all, but he made him
the sin of his people. He loaded that sin upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. He took it and took responsibility
for it, and was found guilty in the court of God's justice
of it, though he himself had never committed any of it. He
was made sin for his people. And he, the infinite God, in
human flesh, bearing the sins of his people in his own body
on the tree, the punishment of sin, the requirement of the law
is that the soul that sins, it shall die. The life is in the
blood. His blood must be shed. The lifeblood
of the Lord Jesus Christ is shed for the sins of his people. And
when he did that, having taken the sin and paid for it so that
there is no more penalty to pay, his people are made the righteousness
of God in him. clothed in that white garment
for the marriage supper of the Lamb. It also says in there,
in verse 19, He will subdue our iniquities. He will subdue our
iniquities. Be in no doubt, grace and redemption,
the salvation of God, is never a license for us to sin. That's
what legalists will tell you. Oh, you cannot preach the true
gospel of grace because the people of God will go and sin terribly.
You've got to keep beating them with the law. The law is the
believer's rule of life. No, it isn't. Christ is the believer's
rule of life. Grace and redemption, though,
is not a license to sin, as legalists consider. We're never free from
sin while in the flesh, but He subdues our iniquities. God subdues it. How does He do
it? It's not only imputed righteousness
that he gives to his people, the righteousness of Christ,
that robe of righteousness, the garments of salvation with which
he clothes his people for qualification for his kingdom. He not only
imputes righteousness, but he imparts. At regeneration, when
the Holy Spirit comes and makes alive, quickens the dead sinner
and makes him alive, he imparts a righteous nature. This is the
man who cannot sin. In 1 John chapter 3 and verse
9, hear these words, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because
he is born of God. What? Does that mean I'm not
born of God because I still sin? No, two natures. There's a new
nature. The man that is born of God cannot
sin. The old man, the old flesh, can
do nothing other than sin. And the two, Paul tells us in
Galatians chapter 5, the spirit and the flesh, the new man of
the Spirit of God and the old man of the flesh are constantly,
as we're like a camp of two armies, as Solomon chapter 6, 13 tells
us, warring. Spirit against flesh, flesh against
spirit, until death takes us from this life, never improving
the flesh, but subduing its sinful tendencies. He will subdue our
iniquities. Compared to the unbelieving world,
the people of God are what Titus chapter 2 and verse Sorry, Titus
chapter 2 verse 13 says, no, verse 14, I don't know how I
got that so wrong, but anyway, here it is. Speaking of our Lord
Jesus Christ, he gave himself for us that he might redeem us
from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
a dwelling alone people, a people separate from this world. Separate
from this, you know the feeling. If you're a child of God, you
know how the love of the company of this world fades from you.
And the things that they love, you no longer love. A peculiar
people, a dwelling alone people. And those people are zealous
for good works. They're zealous for doing the
will of God and the righteousness of God. Yes, we're a people who
continue to sin, for in the flesh we are nothing but sin. But it
is a people in whom sin is subdued. We read it right at the start
in Romans 6 and verse 14. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, because you are not under law, but under grace. Yes, God
delights in mercy. and he manifests it, he shows
it, he displays it to his believing people. God is a God of mercy
and grace, praise his name. But Micah puts out a challenge
God's mercy is unmatched. Micah puts out a challenge. You
know how in Revelation when the seven seal scroll is there and
John looks and a challenge goes out. Who is worthy to open the
seals of this scroll? And no one is found worthy. And
John wept much because no one was found worthy. But then one
was found. The lion of the tribe of Judah.
Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? The lion of the tribe of Judah.
Look at the lion of the tribe of Judah. And John looks, and
he sees a lamb as it had been slain. Because in the capacity
of a slain lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ was able where the others
weren't. Well, here is a similar sort of challenge. Who is a god
like unto thee? Which of you false religions
is like unto the true God that pardons iniquity and passes by
the transgression of his people. Which of you religions, which
of their false gods, retains not his anger? Can you do it? Can he forgive sin? Can he have
compassion, these false gods? It's asking, it's a challenge,
asking for false religion and its false gods, if they dare
to step forward and compare themselves to the one true God. In the day
in which Micah wrote, people were burning incense to the Queen
of Heaven. You'll see that in Jeremiah 44
verse 17. Interesting words. Read those words, you know, when
so much of what calls itself Christianity, and the world thinks
it's Christianity, spend most of their time burning incense
to what they call the Queen of Heaven, Mary. Moloch was a god
worshipped by the heathen, and they used to do dreadful things.
To earn favour with their god, they used to burn their children
in the fire. Baal, Baal. False God. Come on, Baal, can you forgive
your people's sin? What about the modern idols,
the things that this world worships? False Christs of false religion. You know, Jesus said, beware
of them, don't follow them. You know, Christs who bear that
name in the false religion, but are not the Christ of the Bible.
You know, the churches around here will be talking about Jesus
Christ today. It's not the Christ of the Bible.
The Christ they're talking about did not die for his people, his
particular people. He made it a possibility for
everybody. That's not the Christ of the Bible. False Christs.
Religion of whatever name, where nearly all of them are putting
the onus on the individual to earn the righteousness or conform
in the way that is accepted. The religion of Babel, Babel,
the Tower of Babel, you know, the religion of Nimrod, the religion
of this world. It's thousands of years old,
but it's absolutely up to date. It's the religion that's all
around us in this world. Babel in its modern guise. Can
any of you match this? Can any of you pass by transgression? Can any of you cast the sins
of your people into the depths of the sea? Will your idol pardon
your sins when you are dying? Imagine that. You say, oh, that's
so far away, I don't need to think about it. You better think
about it. It's fleeting. Life is fleeting.
Who knows how long you will get? Will your idol, your God, your
religion, pardon your sins when you are dying? Will any of this
world's baubles work, the trinkets, the The money, the fashion, the possessions,
the honour, your self-righteous heart. So many have a self-righteous
heart. I'm getting better and better.
No, not one of them will. Only this one true God. Who is a pardoning God like Thee? Or who has grace so rich and
free? May He be your God.