Celeste could not have picked
a better hymn with which to introduce this message. Turn with me to
Micah, chapter 5. Micah, chapter 5. Now gather thyself in troops,
O daughter of troops. He hath laid sage against us.
They shall smite the judge of Israel with the rod upon the
cheek. But before the judge of Israel,
our Lord Jesus Christ, could be smitten by men, he must first
take on himself our nature. He must first come into the world
in human flesh, God in our flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. So we read in verse two, but
thou Bethlehem, Ephrata, Though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, out of thee shall he come forth unto me. Our Savior
said, lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. He comes forth from
the womb of the Virgin, that he might die upon the cursed
tree, and thereby ascend to the Father, having obtained eternal
redemption for us to be ruler in Israel. by means of his cross
to obtain the right to sit on the throne of David and rule
over all flesh. To this end, Christ lived and
died and revived. He might be Lord of the dead
and of the living, whose goings forth have been from of old,
from everlasting. Verse three. Therefore, will
he give them up until the time that she which travaileth hath
brought forth. Then the remnant of his brethren
shall return unto the children of Israel. God gives up even
his chosen through the sin and fall of our father Adam until
the time appointed for his mercy when he will gather his elect
among the children of men, his remnant gather them with the
sons and daughters of Israel. And he shall stand, the Lord
Jesus, this man, and feed in their strength, or feed in the
strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord
God. And they shall abide. For now
shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. Now, look at verse
five. And this man shall be the peace. And this man shall be the peace. When the Assyrians shall come
into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall
we raise against him seven shepherds and eight principal men. This
man shall be the peace. That's my subject. Clearly, Micah
here refers to the man spoken of at the latter part of verse
4, that one who he says now, shall he be great unto the ends
of the earth. This is a prophecy concerning
the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, our great Redeemer,
that one born at Bethlehem to die at Calvary. He stands and
feeds his people. He is the great God and our Savior,
great unto the ends of the earth. He is our peace, the scriptures
declare. One of the ancient Jewish rabbis
commenting on this passage of scripture said, when you see
a Persian horse bound in the land of Israel, look for the
feet of the Messiah. Hold your hands here, Michael.
We'll be right back and turn, if you will, to Ephesians chapter
2. Ephesians 2. And listen while you turn. The
Lord God says concerning this man, he shall speak peace unto
the heathen. That is, when he cuts off the
chariot and the horse of the Assyrian, he shall speak peace
unto the heathen. And in Ephesians chapter 2, verse
14, the apostle Paul says, for he, the Lord Jesus, is our peace. who hath made both one and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us. Christ
is our peace. He is the cause and the author
of peace between Jew and Gentile. Clearly, Ephesians 2.14 is a
fulfillment of Noah's prophecy given back in Genesis 9.27. You remember, Noah said, God
shall enlarge Japheth, speaking of all the Gentile world except
the sons of Ham, all the Gentile world except for the reprobate.
God shall enlarge Japheth, his elect among the Gentiles, and
he, Japheth, shall dwell in the tents of Shem. And Canaan, the
reprobate, the sons of Ham, shall be his servant. Now the Lord
Jesus is our peace. He's broken down the middle wall
of partition that separated Jew and Gentile, and of the two has
made one new man called his church. We are the church and kingdom
of God, and we're one in him. And it is Christ who made this
peace between God and man as well. He is our peace and he
made peace between God and man by the blood of his cross. He
speaks peace. He gives peace to men and women
by the power of his spirit when he gives us life and faith by
the gift of his spirit in conversion. It's Christ who is the author
of peace in his churches. Brother Marvin Stonerker called
me today and was asking about Hebrews chapter 10 and the matter
of admonishing one another to love and good works. And then
he comes to that statement, not forsaking the assembling of yourselves
together. He said, brother Don, it looks
to me like they're connected. I said, they're clearly connected.
We find peace and joy and edification from our Lord built upon him. But that peace and joy and edification
depends greatly upon our mutual fellowship with one another in
Christ Jesus the Lord. And he gives peace in his churches. The Lord Jesus gives peace in
his churches. This man who is our peace, the
Lord Jesus Christ is the God of peace, our savior, our sanctifier,
by whom Satan shall be bruised under our feet shortly. And he
secures our peace in the midst of our enemies. Look back here,
Micah five and verse five. And this man shall be the peace
when the Assyrian shall come into our land. Without question,
there is a specific reference to the invasion of the land by
the Assyrians in Micah's day in the Babylonian captivity.
But as we see and have seen, the prophecy refers to much more
than that. The Assyrian represents any powerful adversary, any powerful
enemy opposed to God, opposed to the gospel, opposed to Christ,
opposed to his church, opposed to our souls. The adversary may
be Satan himself. It may be one of the messengers,
the servants of Antichrist, the principalities and powers of
hell. Christ, our peacemaker, engaged our foes, conquering
them when he made peace for us by his sufferings and death.
Listen to what the scripture says. Having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in his cross. The Lord Jesus, when he conquered
Satan, when he crushed the serpents in, when he accomplished our
redemption, spoiled principalities and powers. And in his resurrection,
he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them, declaring
himself to be Lord over all, so that you and I, who are his,
have no reason to be trembling and fearful and in dread. Christ
is our peace and he rules over the Assyrian. Watch this. And
this man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into
our land, when he shall tread in our palaces. Now I've been
looking at this for weeks and I really don't know which of
these two the text refers to. So let me give them both. Both
are certainly true. He shall tread in our palaces. Does that mean when Satan attempts
By his influence to tread in our palaces, in gospel churches,
to subvert the gospel of Christ, then Christ is our peace? Yes,
sir. Yes, sir. Read the book of Jude. When Satan would pervert the
gospel, when Satan would destroy God's church, when Satan would,
by the influences of Antichrist, by false religion, and by other
evil, destroy his church, Christ is our peace. But I think, perhaps,
the passage might better be read to understand when Christ treads
our palaces. When the Lord Jesus walks in
the midst of his churches, as he describes himself in Revelation
1 and in Zechariah 1, when the Lord Jesus is in our midst dwelling
with us and we with him, then he is our peace. Read on. And this man shall be
the peace when the Assyrians shall come into our land, and
when he shall tread in our palaces, Then shall we raise against him
seven shepherds and eight principal men. Seven shepherds. I said this to you a few weeks
ago, but it'll bear repetition. These seven shepherds, I have
no doubt, speak of gospel preachers, pastors, God's churches, the
angels of the churches, God's messengers to his churches as
they're represented through the scriptures. We are under shepherds,
under Christ Jesus, the Lord. And by those seven shepherds,
the Lord feeds and guides and protects his church. But he speaks
here of seven shepherds. Seven is used in the scriptures,
the number of completion and perfection. And I can't help
but to have my mind turned in this direction in the light of
things that I'm currently involved in trying to help churches looking
for pastors. The Lord God promised that he
would give his church pastors, according to his own heart, to
feed them with knowledge and with understanding. Let us never
cease to pray. that he will raise up such men.
Let us never cease to pray for God's mercy in fulfilling his
promise to us and pray that God will send his church's pastors
after his heart. But let us walk in the confident
assurance that he shall. We sometimes think there's a
shortage of preachers. Lenzer, there's never a shortage. There's never a shortage. not
for God's purpose. Never shortage for the accomplishment
of God's will. There's an abundance of heretics,
an abundance of false prophets, and there are exactly as many
faithful men as God's church needs in this hour to accomplish
God's purpose in this hour. When he sent the angels to deliver
Lot and his wife from Sodom, and their two daughters, He sent
the angels to deliver Lot, his wife, and their two daughters.
He didn't send one, he sent two. He didn't send three, he sent
two. so that each one might take hold
of two and bring them out of Sodom. And God always sends angels
sufficient to accomplish his work. God always raises up and
sends men sufficient to preach his word for the engaging of
his elect and the building of his church. The eighth man, the
eighth shepherd, I remind you is our Lord Jesus Christ, the
great shepherd of the sheep, this man who is our peace, this
great man, the God man by whom all the work of grace is accomplished. Our Lord Jesus Christ treading
in our palaces. Oh, savior. As you send your servant, come
with his word. and walk in our palace tonight. And he says, I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I was talking to Brother David
Edmondson this week, and he asked me about things we could do,
that he could do, and the church there could do, for the furtherance
of the gospel, and I encouraged him And I, for the Larry sitting
here, the folks down in Sylacauga, take every opportunity, Larry,
by the gospel to attack hell. To assault hell itself. You see, we are to march against
the gates of hell. And the gates of hell will fall
before us. For Christ is our peace. And
let me talk to you a little bit about him of whom Micah speaks.
This man shall be the peace. What man can this be except the
God-man, our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. When all our enemies
oppose my soul, when all hell is set against me, he still is
my peace, and I have peace by the blood of his cross. When it appears that providence
has turned against me in some hard way, Christ is my peace. And I have peace in the assurance
that his providence is his providence. And it's ruled according to his
will who loved me and gave himself for me. And it is none but Christ who
can make peace for my soul. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. And none could make us righteous
except him who is our near kinsman, the Lord Jesus Christ, God in
our flesh, who is the Lord, our righteousness. Oh, blessed Savior,
how well suited you are for the work of making peace. Christ
is our peace. And the scriptures, the peace
that Christ gives and the peace that Christ is, is represented
in at least these three ways. Peace with God. What would you give? Oh, tormented, guilty soul, what
would you give? to have peace with God. I'm talking
about peace with God. Peace with God. To be able to
think about God and his holiness, about judgment and righteousness
and truth, about eternity and everlasting, everlasting life
or everlasting, everlasting damnation. To think of those things with
Christ is our peace with God. And he is peace and gives peace
with one another, so that he causes his people to live together
in peace, and he is our peace. And Christ is our peace in our
souls, our peace in ourselves, in our consciences, in our hearts. All right, let's look at them
one at a time. Christ is our peace with God. In the beginning,
when God made Adam in his image in the garden, everything was
peaceful. Adam and Eve walked with God
in the garden in sweet communion, friend with friend. Adam and
Eve had fellowship with God and spoke to God just like I'm speaking
to you. As men, as a man and a woman,
completely accepted and favored of God with no sense of discomfort,
no sense of unease, no sense of terror or threat. They walked
with God in peace. And then Adam willfully took
the forbidden fruits. and plunged himself and all the
race into everlasting death. Except God intervene, we all
would perish forever. And immediately, immediately,
a quarrel broke out between God and man. And the quarrel has
been ongoing ever since. A mutual quarrel, so that God
is angry with man and man is angry with God. God loathes man,
and man is loathed of God. This is what he says. My soul
loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. And the quarrel
is universal. The heart of man, the carnal
mind, is enmity against God. Enmity against God. I don't suggest we should take
these things lightly. Don't misunderstand me. But we
should not be surprised when you turn on a television set
and silly infidels and atheists or folks who claim to be atheists
are arguing against God being mentioned in any kind of public
document and God being represented in anything public and always
trying to mock God and belittle God. We shouldn't be surprised
at that. The carnal mind is enmity against God. That's the way men
and women are born. You'll soon be married. I pray
God gives you children. When they come forth from your
womb, they come forth enemies to God. You don't have to teach
it. It's what is natural to man.
The wicked are estranged from the womb. They go forth from
the womb speaking lies. That's the nature of man. Man
by nature walks in this world with his fist shoved in God's
face, hating God all the days of his life so that we all by
nature are children of wrath, even as others. We were called
in Colossians 1 20 enemies in your mind. Now, on God's part,
this quarrel is righteous. It's just. The holy Lord God,
Bill Raleigh, has every reason to be angry with you. Now, whatever your name is, I
meant for you to hear it just that way. God Almighty has every
reason to be angry with you. No reason not to be angry with
you as you stand and as you are and as you behave by nature.
You see, we violate God's law. Not we have violated God's law.
We violate God's law with every breath. We despise his gospel. We rebel against his word. We
resist and oppose his will. We murmur against his providence.
Fallen men despise God, despise his son, despise his word, despise
everything about him. God has every reason to be angry
with man. What is sin? What is sin? We talk so lightly about sin. And we categorize sin. I've always found it strange
that folks, I know people, I know people who if a murderer is converted,
They'd pay him good money to come and give his testimony.
But somewhere in a man's life, he's been married once or twice
or three or 20 times, and God saves him. I know places where he's not
even allowed to join the church. Somehow, that doesn't make any
sense to me. Somehow, it doesn't make any sense to me. But the
fact is we categorize sin. And we make one sin great and
one less, and I recognize there's a sense in which that's true.
But sin, Bob Duff, what's in you by nature and in me by nature,
what is it? It is the attempt of man to rape
God, to rob God of His glory, to throw God off His throne,
to murder God. When Pilate delivered Jesus to
the will of men, that angry people took the Son of God and vented
their angry will against Him, murdered God in the flesh, and
threw a hellish party, reveling in their hellish deed, laughing
while they murdered Him. John Bunyan once said, sin is
the dare of God's justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of
his patience, the slight of his power, and the contempt of his
love. Oh, sin is high treason against
the crown of heaven. It is the defiance of God's right
to be God. This is what Pharaoh said, who
is the Lord that I should obey his voice? And that's how every sinner lives
by nature. You who are without faith in
Christ, you who live continually in rebellion to God, this is
how you live. I will not bow to God. That's the way every man by nature
lives. The problem is not that you don't
want to be saved. The problem is not that you don't
want to avoid hell. The problem is not that you don't
want to go to heaven. The problem is you will not bow. And you will either bow or you
will perish. And the fact is you're going
to bow whether you perish or not. You will either bow to God,
Christ Jesus as your Lord now and seek his mercy, or when he
cast you into hell, you will bow and acknowledge that he's
Lord, despising him all the same. God has every reason to be angry
with man, and he will show his anger to you who despise him. If you do not bow to him, trusting
his son, He will show you his anger. He's not reluctant to
do so. He's not reluctant to punish
sin. Turn back to the book of Leviticus. The book of Leviticus,
one of the reasons for the giving of the law. As clearly, as plainly,
as well enumerated as the law of God was given in the five
books of the law, was to show us the necessity and need of
a Redeemer. To show us that we fully deserve
God's wrath and that God will exercise His wrath and justice
in punishing sin. Leviticus 26. Listen to what
God says to all who violate His law. Leviticus 26. Verse 19, I will break the pride of your
power. I will make your heaven as iron
and your earth as brass. That looks to me like something
God does while fellows are still walking on the earth. Your strength shall be spent
in vain, for your land shall not yield
her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their
fruits. You see rich and famous athletes
and movie stars and rock stars commit suicide, involved in everything
that you can imagine that would destroy their lives. Why? Because God Almighty said, I
want to fix it so you spend your strength in vain. I want to fix
it so you can't find any satisfaction. No matter what you spend, no
matter what you do, you can't find any satisfaction. Read on,
read on. Your strength shall be spent
in vain, for your land shall not yield her increase, neither
shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. And if you walk
contrary to me and will not hearken to me, I will bring seven times
more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will also send
wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children
and destroy your cattle and make you few in number and your highways
shall be desolate. And if you will not be reformed
by me, by these things, but will walk contrary unto me, then will
I also walk contrary unto you. Oh, what a word. For God to walk
contrary to you and will punish you yet seven times for your
sins. And I will bring a sword upon
you that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant. And when you
are gathered together within your cities, I will send the
pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand
of the enemy. Verse 26. And when I have broken
the staff of your bread, 10 women shall bake your bread in one
oven, and they shall deliver your soul, deliver you your bread
again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. And if you will not for all this
hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me, then will I walk contrary
unto you also in fury. I walk contrary to you in fury,
and I will even chastise you seven times for your sins, and
you shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters
shall you eat. What a word. More to that, Merle, than just
cannibalism. Disobedience to God causes men
and women to take their children by hand and lead them to hell. You take your sons and daughters
by hand and you say, come dear child, come darling son, come
darling daughter. Let me show you how to go to
hell. You'll devour their flesh and
I'll destroy your high places. I'll make your religion nothing
on your part. The quarrel with God, most unreasonable
thing on this earth. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 2 for
a minute. Jeremiah 2. What's the cause of your hatred
of God? Why do you despise him so? Why
won't you bow to him? Listen to what it says. Jeremiah
2 verse 4. Hear ye the word of the Lord,
O house of Jacob. and all the families of the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord, what iniquity have your fathers
found in me that they are gone far from me and have walked after
vanity and are become vain? The Lord Jesus said, many good
works have I performed among you. For which of those works
do you stow me? The fact is, if you persist in
rebellion, if you refuse to trust Christ, if you will not have
Christ to rule over you, this feud between you and God will
go on forever. In hell, you will go on blaspheming
and cursing and hating God, and God will go on hating and tormenting
your soul forever and ever. Now, the only one who can put
an end to the feud is this man who shall be the peace, Christ
Jesus, our Lord. He stepped forward and then opposed
himself as the mediator between God and men, as the days as the
one who can lay hold of God for man and lay hold of man for God
and bring the two together. He's the God-man mediator. He's
the only one who can. These men who pretend to be priests,
they're just fakes. They're charlatans. I don't care
who they are. I don't care how men call them reverend and holy
and father and all that nonsense. They're fakes. They're charlatans.
The only one who can absolve guilt and sin is Christ the mediator. He lays hold of God and satisfies
every demand of God. And he lays hold of man. and
gives him everything God requires and brings man and God together
in peace. The Lord Jesus fully obeyed God
in the room instead of his people, fully brought in everlasting
righteousness. and then took our sin in his
own body on the tree and bear our guilt as our representative
before God until God Almighty so tormented him in his wrath
until justice said enough and God killed his son. And justice
now is satisfied and God's at peace with man and man at peace
with God. He hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. How is that? Not imputing their
trespasses unto them. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. He charged his son with our trespasses
when he made his son sin for us. And it's Christ who alone
can bring sinners into peace. Oh, how we try. How we try. Earlier this morning, as God allowed me, I was calling
my own grandchildren by name before God. and your children
and your grandchildren by name and asking God to do for them
what only he can do. We plead and we reason and we
argue and we beg and we teach and we instruct and we plead
and reason and argue and beg and teach and instruct and there's
nothing we can do to cause sinners to trust the Savior. unless Christ himself steps in. And if he steps in, he graciously
bows rebel hearts to himself. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. By irresistible, uncontrollable,
infallible, sovereign, free, mercy and grace. The Lord Jesus
breaks the rebel heart and bows the wheel and causes the sinner
to look up to him and cry, Lord. Lord. Lord. These days, people Talk to you
about choosing Jesus, letting Jesus be your Savior, all that
nonsense. Tell you something about faith
in Christ. Allen Kibbe, faith in Christ
is no more and no less than bowing to Christ the Lord, trusting
Him. Bowing to Christ. Surrendering to Christ. your life, your time, everything
that you are surrendered to Christ. That's all. And if ever you see
Him, you'll gladly surrender and beg for grace yet to surrender
and beg for grace yet to surrender. Christ is our peace. He gives
us peace with God. And he tells us to lay hold on
his strength and find his peace. But then when Micah says, this
man shall be the peace, he also means that the Lord Jesus gives
us peace with one another. He causes Japheth to dwell in
the tents of Shem. In Christ, there's neither bond
nor free. Greek nor Jew, circumcision or
uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, but Christ is all and
in all. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.
Ephesians 2. We expect no peace with the wicked,
the seed of the serpent, The seed of the bond woman will hate
and persecute the seed of the woman, the free woman, as long
as time shall stand. Fire and water will sooner mix
together than the righteous and the wicked be reconciled. But
God's people live together in peace. Our blessed savior left
us a legacy of peace as his church in the 14th chapter of John.
In chapters 15 and 16, he pressed us to walk in peace. In chapter
17, he prays that we may live together in peace. In Ephesians
2, verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were
far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our
peace, watch this, who hath made both one and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us. Christ is our peace. He's broken down that which divides
and separates us. And the only means of peace there
is in this world between fallen men and women is Jesus Christ,
His blood and His righteousness. He's our brother. God's our father. His spirit, our sanctifier. He
is the man of peace. Oh, spirit of God. Use us to promote the peace of
Jerusalem. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Pray for the peace of God's church and of God's churches. Pray that
God will cause his people to live together in peace. And ask
for grace to do what you can to help with the peace. To cause
God's people to live together in peace. Do nothing. Do nothing. Hear me. Do nothing. Hear yourself,
preacher. Do nothing. Do nothing to divide
brethren. Not a word. Not a word. Sally Poncia, if I knew something
that would cause you to be less admirable, less loving of Bob
Poncia than I do, I wouldn't dare tell you. I wouldn't dare
tell you. And I ought to have the same
idea if I knew something caused you to be less admirable and
less loving of Allen Kidney. I'd dare tell you. I'd dare tell
you. Well, I just speak the truth.
Love covers sin. Ham and the reprobate uncover
it. Believers cover the evil. They don't expose it. You can't
live together in peace like that. Why don't you give it a try?
The other hadn't worked. Give it a try. Walk before one
another graciously and kindly. And when Micah says this man
shall be the peace, he means that Christ alone gives us peace
in our consciences. Most of you are familiar with
the name Matthew Henry. Few of you are familiar with
his father's name, Philip Henry. I read a sermon by him again
today on this subject, Christ our peace. And he made this statement. He said, when all is clear between
us and heaven, how can it be but there must be joy in the
Holy Ghost, peace and quietness. When all is clear between me
and heaven, why shouldn't I be in peace? Why shouldn't I live
in peace? Rejoice in the Lord all way. Again, I say rejoice. Let your
moderation be known unto all men. The Lord's at hand and be
careful for nothing. But in everything, by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus. The peace of God that passeth
understanding. Ah, that peace. That's peace. Sweet, sweet, sweet peace. For this man shall be the peace. God give you faith in him for
Christ's sake. Amen.