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 a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah,
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. Therefore will I 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, and he shall stand and feed in the strength of the
Lord and the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they
shall abide, for now shall he be great unto the ends of the
earth. Now shall he be great unto the
ends of the earth. What a declaration. Now shall
he be great. Now, since he has come, God in
our nature into this world, Now, since he, the ruler and judge
of Israel, has been smitten of men and smitten of God, now,
since he has with his own blood entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, Now, since
he reigns in the majesty of the name of Jehovah, his God and
our God, now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. My subject is too big for me.
Now shall he be great. That's just more than I can handle.
But I can declare the fact of it. Now shall he be great. The subject is all about Christ
Jesus, our Lord, our Redeemer, our God, and our Savior. Micah
has denounced the sins of Judah and of Israel. He has faithfully
pointed out the fact that their own iniquity is the cause of
God's judgment upon the land. And yet, as he declares God's
judgment upon the land, His mind, his heart, his prophecy is taken
up not with Babylon, not with Nimrod, not with the Assyrian,
but with Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, who comes at God's appointed
time to deliver and save his people from a captivity far worse
than that of Israel in Babylon. Micah's words here, now shall
he be great unto the ends of the earth. seemed very much to
be the same announcement that Gabriel gave to Mary in the first
chapter of Luke. Turn over there if you will.
Luke chapter 1. Micah's announcement concerning our Lord's incarnation
for the saving of his people is much like this announcement
that Gabriel gave to Mary. It was no ordinary birth announcement. The announcement given by Micah
and the announcement given by Gabriel to Mary is the announcement of the birth
of him who is the savior of his people. The birth of him who
is God's Messiah. The birth of him who is the woman
seen. Like Micah, Gabriel was sent
to proclaim that God's own son would take on himself our humanity
and come into this world for the saving of his people. Luke
chapter 1 verse 31. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb and bring forth the son and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be
called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father, David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there shall
be no end. Now you might want to put your
bookmark there. We'll come back to Luke chapter one in just a
few minutes Gabriel said he shall be great Micah said now shall
he be great unto the ends of the earth David saying his glory
shall be great in thy salvation now strictly speaking Micah's
prophecy Gabriel's prophecy and David's song strictly speaking
all refer to the humanity of our Lord Jesus. They refer to
Him in His manhood as our God-man mediator. They do not refer to
Him in His eternal deity. They do not refer to that which
is His and shall be His and forever was His as God the Eternal Son. But rather they refer to a greatness
that He has earned by His obedience. A greatness that is the reward
of something he did. A greatness that is the result
of the work he performed while he was upon this earth. And the
prophets declare, he shall be great unto the ends of the earth. This greatness is a greatness
concerning this man who was to be born of a virgin at God's
appointed time. Strictly speaking, I repeat,
Those words refer to our Lord's humanity and not to his eternal
deity. Oh, what a great stoop our Savior
made when he stooped to become one of us, when he stooped to
become a man. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich.
Look at Philippians Chapter 2, Philippians 2. Paul uses this marvelous. condescension of our Lord Jesus
this marvelous bowing this marvelous stooping of our Savior as a display
of love and mercy and compassion and as a display of that selflessness
with which we should serve our God and one another. Look in
Philippians 2 verse 1. If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ If any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit
if any bowels and mercies Fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded
Having the same love being of one accord of one mind Let nothing
be done through strife or vain glory. Oh God teach me that Let
nothing be done because that's just what I won't do through
strife or vain glory But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other
better than themselves. What does that mean? Look not
every man on his own things, but every man also on the things
of others. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. This is what it means in lowliness
of mind for each to esteem the other better than themselves.
for each to seek not their own things, but the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
being in the form of God. What language Paul was inspired
to use, who being in the form of God, that is Christ Jesus,
who being himself God thought it not robbery to be equal with
God. He didn't consider it something to be sought after, something
to be desired, something to be craved by him to be equal with
God because he is God. But made himself of no reputation,
emptied himself. He emptied himself and took on
him the form of a servant. He made himself an empty, meaningless
creature. He made himself one of us. And
as he did, he took on him not the form of a mighty man, a great
man, a noble man, but of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he still stoops again. He humbled himself and became
obedient, obedient unto death. even the death of the cross.
Now, look at this. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him. In other words, since all this
is so, He shall be great unto the ends of the earth. Wherefore,
God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee
should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. When our Lord
Jesus first appeared in this world, as the prophet said, he
would come. As he came forth from the virgin's
womb, as far as mortal eye could see, there was nothing at all
great about him. He was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Indeed, Jesus of Nazareth, was
so poor as a man that he had no place to lay his head, no
piece of property to call his own, not even a grave in which
to be buried. Our Lord Jesus was so despised
by men that he became the song of drunkards. He was rejected
as a madman, a winebibber, one who was possessed of a devil.
So low was this man, Christ Jesus, in the eyes of men, as he walked
on this earth, that his own familiar friends and his own family looked
upon him as a madman. He was finally arrested like
a common malefactor, a common criminal, a common thief, a common
murderer, and taken out to be crucified. During his days on
this earth, Our Lord's enemies couldn't find words sufficient
to vilify him. They couldn't find terms vile
enough to cast reproach upon him. Never was a man brought
so low as the man Christ Jesus in his temptations, in his trials,
and in his condemnation, in his sufferings, and in his death.
In order to redeem and save our souls, The Lord Jesus, God's
darling son, became one of us. Not only did he become one of
us, he became the lowest of men that he might redeem and save
men. He stooped so low that he cried,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? When he was made
sin for us, he was forsaken of God. He said, but I am a worm
and no man. a reproach of men, and despised
of the people. All they that see me lack me
to scorn. They shoot out the lip. They
shake the head, saying, he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver
him. Let him deliver him, seeing he
trusted in him. Who thought he was great when
he knelt in Gethsemane, brokenhearted and sweating blood, crying, oh,
my God, if it be possible, Let this cup pass from me. Who thought
he was great when the soldiers came in the garden to arrest
him like a common criminal, band of soldiers coming after him
as if they were coming after a thief or a murderer? Who thought
he was great when he was led to the judgment hall and beaten,
stripped naked, spit upon, led to the streets of Jerusalem,
taken up to Mount Calvary, nailed to the cursed tree, and hanged
there while men laughed and mocked him? who thought he was great
as he bore all the fury of God's anger, wrath, and justice as
our substitute. How he humbled himself. How he stooped. He comes into
this world born of the virgin's womb at Bethlehem, Ephrathah,
he whose goings forth have been from all from everlasting comes
forth to come to Jehovah as our Redeemer and our Savior. But
before he goes again to his father's throne and takes his place at
his father's right hand in the greatness that he earned as our
mediator, he must endure all as our mediator, the Lord Jesus. God's son hangs upon the tree
and at last gives up the ghost, saying, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And they take him out and bury
him. How Mary's mind must have pondered
in deep anguish the memory of those words that Gabriel spoke.
knowing that they were but the reiteration of Micah's prophecy,
that they were but the reiteration of David's song. Now shall he
be great unto the ends of the earth. Mary must have thought
to herself, what could Gabriel have meant? What could those
words possibly mean? What could Micah's words have
meant? Speaking of the coming of this redeemer of whom the
angel told me this is God's son in your womb What what possibly
could be meant Before I bless Christ could be exalted this
great one He had to humble himself make himself of no reputation
and become obedient unto death and even the death of the cross. All of those things speak of
his humanity, distinctly of his humanity. Having said all that,
I hurry to say, though the text speaks distinctly of our Lord's
humanity, his deity cannot and must not be excluded. He who on earth as man was known,
and bore our sins and pains, now seated on the eternal throne,
the God of glory reigns. Blessed God, there is a man in
glory. That means maybe there'll be
another. Bless God, there is a man in glory. That means a
man can glow to glory. There is a man in glory, but
that man in glory is God, my creator, God, my redeemer, God,
our savior seated in human flesh. You see, in order to redeem and
save us, God became what we are. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. God was manifest in the flesh. There was no way for God to save
sinners apart from the sacrifice of God's own son, except God
himself become what we are so that the infinite might bear
in the body of the finite the sins of God's elect, suffering
all the horror of God's wrath until justice is satisfied. And
now he who is the man, Christ Jesus, Seated on the throne of
God Almighty in heaven God in our nature Peter said therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly That God hath made
that same Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ Stephen
when he was stoned being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up
steadfastly to heaven and said, Behold, I see the heavens open
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. As a matter
of fact, as you read through the New Testament, it seems that
the Holy Spirit inspired me to write about our Lord's incarnation,
about our Lord's assuming our nature with such commonality. as to scarcely make any distinction
between Him who is God-man and Him who is God alone. Scarcely any distinction. Because
while we must not ever imagine that the humanity of our Lord
Jesus is eternal or that He who is man is infinite God in His
manhood, we understand the distinction. But when God assumed our nature,
He took our nature into union with Himself, so that the One
who redeemed us is Himself God. He is Himself God. You understand what I'm saying?
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the man born in time, is himself
God. He's the God man. He's the man
God. He is Jehovah, Jesus, God, our
Savior. Jesus Christ is God. Isaac Watts wrote that hymn. We'd love to sing. I've referred
to you many times. We ought not accept the changes
men make. to good things very readily. Our hymn book reads, well might
the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in. When Christ,
the mighty maker, died for man, the creatures sin. And people
have the idea you can't sing that like Watts wrote it. For
he wrote, well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his
glories in when God, the mighty maker, died for man, the creature
of sin. But Bobby, that's what the book
says. God redeemed the church with his own blood. Acts 20,
28. What? God redeemed the church
with his own blood? But pastor, God's spirit, God
doesn't have blood. I know this is shocking to some
folks, but I know that. But God doesn't have a body.
God's spirit. I understand that. I understand
that. God can't suffer. God's spirit. I understand that.
God can't die. God's spirit. I understand that. But the God-man suffered. And the God-man was made sin. And the God-man died, and the
God-man put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And the God-man with
his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. And as a result of this, because
of all his accomplishments as our Redeemer, because of all
that he performed as our substitute, Because of all that he did as
Jehovah's righteous servant, now shall he be great unto the
ends of the earth. That's Micah's prophecy. Great
in the esteem of the triune Jehovah. Great in the esteem of the heavenly
angels. And great in the esteem of every
redeemed sinner. Now shall he be great to the
ends of the earth. If I had Micah's wisdom and Gabriel's
eloquence and the space of eternity, I couldn't begin to declare that
which is written here. Let me just state a few facts. I'll leave it to you to meditate
on them and pray that God will sanctify them to your heart's
good. First, understand this. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 9.
Isaiah chapter 9. That child born from Mary's virgin
womb was and is God the Son given in human flesh. The angel said
to Mary, thou shalt bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. Look here in Isaiah 9. For unto
us a child is born, and unto us a son is given. As God the Son, the Lord Jesus
could never be born. a son is given. But as the man
Christ Jesus, there was a time, the due time, the appointed time,
when God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law, and a child was born to Mary. That one that Mary carried
in her womb for nine months is that holy thing formed in her
womb by the conception of God, the Holy Spirit, prepared as
a sacrifice for our souls. And he's God Almighty. A son
given, a child born, God manifest in the flesh. Emmanuel, God with
us, for none but the incarnate God could save us. This great
incarnate God came into this world on a mission. He came here
with a specific purpose. The angel told Mary, you call
his name Jesus. And then the angel came to Joseph
and said, thou shall call his name Jesus and explain, for he
shall save his people from their sins. Jesus Christ, who is God
incarnate, came into this world on an errand of mercy with a
specific work to do. He came here to save his people
from their sins. Now, either he did it or he's
a failure. No in-between grab. Admiral,
we were his people before he came. He came here not to make
us his people, but to save his people. His people given to Him
in covenant grace before the world began. His people redeemed
by Him as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
His people who must be saved by Him for the glory of God.
He came here to save His people from their sins. And He did. As Joshua did for Israel what
Moses could never do, so the Lord Jesus, our great Joshua,
did what the law could never do, he brought us to God. He brought us to God, and now
shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. Great in his person,
God, the God-man. Great as our prophet, priest,
and king. Great as our mediator, our great
shepherd, our great king, our great savior, and our great God. And great in his perpetuatory
sacrifice. Our Lord Jesus, by the sacrifice
of himself, being made sin for us, bear our sin in his own body
on the tree, And God wore out the whip of his law on his son. God wore out his justice on his
son. God buried the sword of his justice
in his son when his son was made sin for us. And now justice is
satisfied. I can't begin to preach this
like I want you to understand it. like I so much want you to
enjoy it. Oh, God help you to hear this.
God Almighty is satisfied with the sacrifice of his son. He
demands nothing more from you and me. Can you get hold of that? Would you live forever with God? God is satisfied with his son. God is satisfied with his son,
his son's righteousness, his son's obedience, his son's death,
his son's sacrifice. God says, And until you look away to Christ
as your only salvation and your only savior, your conscience
will never echo the voice of God enough. Oh, but if God will
give you grace to believe on his son, to cast your soul on
the merits of his son, to trust his son's blood, his son's righteousness,
to trust his son, you will find satisfaction for your soul's
needs. You'll find that which alone
will give your conscience ease and peace. I had a lengthy talk
last night with my friend, brother Angus Fisher, down in Australia. He said, Brother Don, I don't
believe there's anybody in this country, speaking of Australia,
who's preaching what I hear you preach, that Christ is enough,
and we dare not add anything to him. Everybody wants something
to do. Everybody wants a work. Everybody
wants something that they can look at and put their hands on
and say, now that, that that I had done or felt or experienced,
that's what gives me peace before God. And I said to Angus, I said,
that's the reason the whole religious world is engulfed in constant
despair and always looking for something else. Because men know
what they do isn't enough. What you do, what you do, what
you suffer, what you perform, You'll never find peace there.
That bed's just too short to stretch yourself on. Those coverings
too narrow to wrap yourself in. Where's our hope? Christ is our
hope. He's great in his propitiatory
sacrifice, satisfying the justice of God. He is the, I love the
word, propitiation. for our sins. Propitiation. Merle, he propitiates an angry
God all the time. The word is mercy seat. That
mercy seat that covered the ark, that contained the broken law,
where the blood was shed, where God said, I'll meet you on the
mercy seat between the cherubs. That's what Christ is. He's the
meeting place between God and his people. He's the place where
God meets James Jordan and accepts him and to nowhere else. He's
great. The triune God has so arranged
the affairs of the universe that Christ, this great one, shall
be praised for his greatness everywhere forever. In Revelation
chapter four, we read that all creation shall praise him as
the creator. We read in Philippians 2 that
all rational creatures shall one day bow before him. Oh, what a day. What a day. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess. Everybody is going to bend the
knee and bow their heads before Jesus Christ the Lord and say
he is Lord Everybody everybody all angels and men both righteous
and wicked shall render praise to Christ the judge in the last
day and God's elect ah every ransom soul Shall give praise
to him Crying not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name give
glory, O Lord, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Now,
look back in Luke chapter 1. I'll give you this five-fold
declaration of our Lord's greatness and send you home rejoicing,
I hope. Luke chapter 1. The angel said he shall be great. Greater than all who went before
him. Greater than all who come after him. Great in all his offices. The great God and our great Savior
Jesus Christ. Great in all of his covenant
engagements and great in all his works. Great in his great
grace to sinners. He. made of God and to us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And according
as it is written, he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. He is our great shepherd and
our great king. And look at the second thing
he says, he shall be called the son of the highest. So that his
father says, this is my beloved son and whom I am well pleased.
And all his people look to him and call him the son of the highest.
And even his enemies acknowledge this man is the son of God. Look
at the third thing. The Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. Now, sadly, I have to say this
because people have the silly notion The Lord Jesus one of
these days is going to come back here and set up a kingdom over
in Palestine and sit on a little peanut throne over in Israel
What would he want with that What what would he want with
that he's seated on the throne of the universe and David's throne
was but a type and picture of the throne of which he seated
as David's great son the Messiah the king over all God's given
him power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as the
father's given him And then he says he shall reign over the
house of Jacob forever He shall reign over the house
of of God's chosen people, fallen, sinful men and women, loved of
God and chosen of God from everlasting, called by God's grace, redeemed
by the blood of God's dear son. He'll reign over the house of
Jacob forever. The house of Jacob is God's church,
God's kingdom, God's people. I received a note from one of
my friends last week. He signed his note, he said,
in like Jacob, out like Israel. Born in this world like Jacob,
leaving this world like Israel, prince with God. He shall reign
over the house of Jacob forever. Now watch this. And of his kingdom,
there shall be no end. of his kingdom, there shall be
no end. When you build a building, it
takes a lot of scaffolding. The scaffolding is not part of
the building. And no one who knows anything about the building
process imagines that the scaffolding is of any importance. Except
as it's used to build the building now understand something The
kingdoms of this world are but scaffolding God uses to build
the kingdom of his son in this world Just scaffolding and when
the building is done you take the scaffolding down the kingdoms
of this world like Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, and Tyre, Carthage, and
Rome, and the Soviet Union, all the nations and empires that
have been, are, and shall be, shall soon perish and be made
to bow before this great and glorious king, who alone shall
reign forever. that was given to him dominion
and glory and a kingdom that all people and nations and languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away and his kingdom, that which
shall not be destroyed. And the kingdom and dominion
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven. shall
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve
and obey Him. All right, turn back to Micah.
Let me show you one more thing. Micah chapter 5. If you would
be saved, if you would live forever, you must bow to this king. Bow
to His righteousness and bow to His rule. Soon all creation
will see and acknowledge His greatness and bow before Him. And we who know Him, oh, how we shall rejoice when
we see His greatness extending to the ends of the earth forever
and forever. Micah chapter 5, verse 1. Now
gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops. He hath laid sage
against us. They shall smite the judge of
Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 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 old everlasting therefore
will he give them up until the time that she which travaileth
hath brought forth then the remnant of his brethren shall return
God's elect shall return to the children of Israel and he shall
stand and feed in the strength of the Lord in the majesty of
the name of the Lord his God and they shall abide For now
shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace. This man shall be the peace. This man, this great one, seated
on God's throne, our Redeemer, whose dominion's an everlasting
dominion, this man, he's the peace. He'll keep your soul in
peace. He gives us peace with God and
keeps us in peace. His rule, his dominion, his greatness
is that which sustains us in peace. For He is our peace. Amen.