Well, the preaching may be lacking,
but nobody has better music than we do. Thank you, David. These
men and women who pick out such great songs, sing them so well,
commit themselves to the work with earnestness. I appreciate
it very, very much. The title of my message is Christ
the Glory Man. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
man who came from glory that he might win glory for us by
his obedience unto God who ascended back to glory and will soon bring
us to glory. This great glory man is the man
Christ Jesus in whom the glory of God is revealed to the everlasting
salvation of our souls by his obedience and death as our substitute. Christ, the glory man. We'll read about him in Micah
chapter 5. Micah chapter 5. When we get to Micah chapter
5 and read these 15 verses, It is obvious that Micah is still
addressing the matter of the Babylonian captivity to which
Israel must soon be subjected. They must be taken into Babylon
and there held in bondage for 70 years and from there be delivered. It's obvious that Micah is dealing
with that when we get to this fifth chapter. And yet as you
read these 15 verses, If you just give them a casual reading,
not even a detailed study, just a casual reading, it's obvious
that Micah's talking about something else. It's obvious that he has
his mind's eye on something far, far more important, something
far greater, something far more significant than those 70 years
of Babylonian captivity when the children of Israel would
suffer bondage and be delivered because of their sins and by
God's mercy. Bondage brought to pass because
God would publicly punish them for the evil they had done. and
deliverance wrought because of God's free mercy, and that he
would not give up his elect among the seed of Israel. Micah here
speaks not merely of Israel, that physical nation, that political
nation, but he speaks of another nation, a nation called an holy
nation, the Israel of God, God's church, God's kingdom, that over
which Christ Jesus is Lord and King. The prophet is not merely
talking about a deliverer, a mere physical carnal deliverer by
the name of Cyrus. He's talking about Jehovah Jesus
who comes at the appointed time to deliver Israel who comes forth
out of Zion. He's not merely telling us that
Nimrod shall at last be destroyed and spoiled, but rather he is
telling us that Satan shall be destroyed and Satan shall be
spoiled. So the prophecy here is about
Christ Jesus. It is about God's salvation.
The salvation of God performed for and in his people by God's
free grace through the obedience and death of Christ our substitute. Micah's prophecy in these verses
is all about Christ the glory man. The salvation he accomplishes
for and in chosen redeemed sinners by the power of his grace and
his Holy Spirit. First, Micah tells us that Christ,
our great judge, the judge of Israel, the judge of all the
earth, he before whom all worlds shall be judged, was to be smitten
with a rod. Look at verse one. Now gather
thyself in troops, O daughter of troops, for he hath laid sage
against us. They shall smite the judge of
Israel with a rod upon the cheek. Those words describe not merely
the time of Babylonian captivity, but that time when the children
of Israel were under Roman dominance, when Christ Jesus came into this
world as our substitute, as we shall see in the next verse,
which speaks about his incarnation. Obviously, Micah then is looking
beyond just the Babylonian captivity. The children of Israel, the nation,
that physical nation, was under Roman dominance all the time
that our Lord lived upon this earth, throughout the days of
his earthly ministry, and those who were Romans at last smote
the judge of Israel upon the cheek with the rod, just exactly
as Micah here prophesied. Those Roman soldiers, when our
Lord Jesus was taken to trial in his mockery of a trial, they
took him aside and beat him and smote him with a rod upon his
cheeks. And they hailed and mocked him
as the king of the Jews. And then after beating him, led
him through the streets of Jerusalem to be crucified. Next, in verse
2, Micah tells us about our Savior's incarnation, his virgin birth. naming the specific little town
in which the Lord Jesus would be born. But thou Bethlehem Ephratah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of
thee shall he come, shall he come forth unto me, that is to
be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old,
from everlasting. Bethlehem means house of bread. From Bethlehem came forth the
Lord Jesus, who is the bread of life. The Lord God Almighty
ordained that Christ should be born at Bethlehem, the smallest
of the towns of Judah. And He fixed it so that He would
be born there contrary to what would look like would be happening,
would take place in the ordinary course of things. Something very
strange had to happen to bring this about in order to show clearly
this prophecy must be fulfilled. so clearly that we're reading
the very Word of God, that which only God could have caused to
be written. And Bethlehem is described little
among the thousands of Judah. There he must come forth, who
is God Almighty, rich in glory, rich in his eternal Godhead,
rich in all the glory of his being, rich as God over all,
blessed forever. Yet he stooped. Oh, what a stoop
he made. He came to be humbled as the
lowest of men. He who is greater than all became
the least of all. He, who is the greatest of all,
became the least in the kingdom of heaven. He stooped to become
a man, and stooped again to become a servant, and stooped again
to become the servant of servants, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, as Jehovah's servant. He came
forth at Bethlehem, and Jehovah the Lord says, He comes forth
unto me. He came forth at Bethlehem to
bring about that which God had committed to him, the triune
God, as Jehovah's righteous servant, the salvation of his people,
that he might come again to God. Now this speaks not of his eternal
deity, but rather of his blessed, glorious mediatorship, our surety. He comes forth from the womb
of the Virgin at Bethlehem to accomplish God's purpose in the
earth that he might go back to God, the triune Jehovah, in the
glory of accomplished redemption as Jehovah's King, ruler over
Israel. The only way he could wear the
crown is by his obedience unto death. The only way he could
ascend to David's throne is by fulfilling all the law and all
the prophets as our substitute and mediator. And Peter declares
in Acts chapter 2, that's exactly what he did. Our Lord Jesus came
here as that one who must obey, who must satisfy justice, if
he would be crammed with glory and honor, given power over all
flesh as God's king over everything. And yet he was the king before
he came. The father had already given
him power over all flesh. Everything was ruled by him.
Well, how can it be said then that he must accomplish these
to be king? The works were done from the
foundation of the world. In the purpose and decree of
God, this is all accomplished. His goings forth had been of
old from everlasting. And now he comes in time and
makes manifest that which was done from eternity in the actual
experience of things in time. Our Lord Jesus then is the one
spoken of here in Micah chapter 5 in verse 2. He ascended back
to heaven, Lord over all. made to be Lord over the quick
and the dead, given power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as the Father has given him. He came
down from heaven on a mission from Jehovah, and that mission
was saving his people from their sins. And when he finished his
work, he made his exodus out of this world and went back to
the Father as the mighty King he is. All right, third, look
at verse three. Micah tells us that there was
a set time, an appointed time for all this to be done. Therefore,
will he give them up, watch it now, until the time that she
which travaileth hath brought forth, then the remnant of his
brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. The sense
of this verse, the sense of the verse appears to me, I'm not
speaking dogmatically here because I'm not certain that it doesn't
mean other things as well. But it appears to me that the
sense of this verse is that there was to be a great time of trouble
throughout the history of Israel until these things are accomplished.
And indeed, that was the case. Israel never again really had
peace. Israel never again really had
great prosperity. Israel never again really had
any dominance over anything after Micah's day until Jacob's time
was accomplished. And then the Lord cast off that
people, cast off that nation until the fullness of the Gentiles
would be brought in. That is until all God's elect
scattered through all the earth had been saved. And that's exactly
what the scriptures mean when it speaks about the fullness
of the Gentiles. God has his elect scattered in
the four corners of the earth He always has he scattered them
there and his purpose is to gather them from the four corners of
the earth And so he cast off the natural branches that it
might gather in the spiritual branches And so all the remnant
returns to the Lord all return unto the children of Israel in
due time in due time Christ died for the ungodly In the fullness
of time, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law. And at the appointed
time of love, God sends forth his spirit to each of his chosen
ones, to every one of his elect and calls them by his grace,
giving them life and faith in Christ. The time of Zion's travail,
the time when God's elect are brought into the travail of birth,
is for each of God's elect a set time. A set time. God Almighty, before the world
began, set the time when he would meet Merle Harding, His Grace,
and arranged all the affairs of time to bring it to pass,
and at the set time brings travail to your soul. And the first time
you realize He's given you life, it's already there at the set
time. And there's no need for you and
I to fret as if God Almighty doesn't accomplish His purpose.
At the set time, every one of God's elect shall be called. Bless God. He stoops in great
mercy to use such things as we are as instruments to proclaim
the word of his grace to sinners. But the salvation of God's elect
doesn't doesn't hinge on you. And it doesn't hinge on me. And
it doesn't hinge on them. It's done at God's set time. All right. Fourth. Look at verse
four. Here, Michael speaks of the greatness and the glory of
our dear Savior, the Lord Jesus. 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. Who's this talking about? He
shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord. In the majesty of
the name of the Lord his God, he shall. Who is that? Well,
that's Christ, who is himself the Lord. He, our Redeemer, stands
all the days he walks on this earth and feeds in the strength
of the Lord. and all the days of his pilgrimage
in the majesty of the Lord's name, he walked as Jehovah's
servant. And because of that, we abide. For now shall he be great unto
the ends of the earth. I want to come back to this,
Lord willing, in a week or two. But do you have any idea how
often in the scriptures The prophets prophesied of Christ's greatness. He shall be great. Great to the
ends of the earth. The angel said he shall be great. This babe born at death to him.
Turn back to Psalm 21. Psalm 21. You get to Psalm 22, you're talking
about the Lord's crucifixion. Psalm 23 talking about Christ,
our good shepherd. Psalm 24 talks about his exaltation. But he begins back here in Psalm
21 talking about our Lord's obedience. The king shall joy in thy strength,
O Lord, and in thy salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice.
Thou has given him his heart's desire and has not withholding
the request of his lips. For thou preventest, thou goest
before him with the blessings of goodness. Thou sentest a crown
of pure gold on his head. He asked life of thee, and thou
gavest it him, even length of days forever and ever. His glory
is great in thy salvation. Honor and majesty hast thou laid
upon him, for thou hast made him most blessed forever. What a descriptor. Most blessed. Most blessed forever. Thou hast
made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. Look at Psalm
72. Psalm 72. Here again, the psalmist
is speaking of our Redeemer. Move down to verse 8. He shall
have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the
ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness
shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents.
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall
fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
Verse 12, for he shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the
poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the
poor and the needy and shall save the souls of the needy.
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence and precious
shall their blood be in his sight. Verse 15. And he shall live,
and to him shall be given the gold of Sheba. Prayer also shall
be made for him continually, and daily shall he be praised.
There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of
the mountains. The fruit thereof shall shake
like Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like the
grass of the earth. His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as
long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in Him, and all nations
shall call Him blessed. Verse 18. Blessed be the Lord
God, the God of Israel. Now watch this. Who only doeth
wondrous things. Who only doeth wondrous things. Do you mean, pastor, that everything
God does is the performance of a wonder? Everything. The rising of the sun, the covering
of the earth with snow, the falling dew, the falling rain, The light,
the darkness, the peace, the evil, the war, the peacetime,
everything. God only does wondrous things. All God's works in creation are
the working out of redemption for his people by Christ Jesus.
Oh, God teach me that you only do wondrous things. All right,
look back here, Micah. Micah chapter 5. Verse 5, 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. And they shall waste the land
of Assyria with the sword. and the land of Nimrod in the
entrances thereof. Thus shall he deliver us from
the Assyrian when he cometh into our land and when he treadeth
within our borders. The Assyrian, the land of Nimrod,
that mighty hunter, that mighty man raised up back in the early
chapters of Genesis just after the flood. connected with Babel
and the building of that city, the Tower of Babel. Babylon,
the Assyrians, he's not talking about the physical things. He's
talking about those things represented in them spiritually. He's talking
about our deliverance from Nimrod and from Babylon, from the Assyrian
and all their influence. Yes, Christ, the glory man, the
God man, whose goings forth are from everlasting, is the one
who is our peace. Christ alone is our peace. He
made peace for us by the blood of his cross. He bestows peace
upon us by his grace. And he alone is this peace against
the Assyrian, that is, against every enemy of our soul. Christ alone makes you to be
at peace in the midst of your enemies. Christ alone gives you
peace in the midst of trouble. Christ alone sustains our hearts
in peace. But he uses men. He speaks of these seven shepherds. And we're not told anywhere specifically
who they are. But there's some hints given.
There are seven angels of the seven churches spoken of in Revelation
2, 3 that describe the work of God's servants. God's servants,
these under shepherds to Christ Jesus the Lord. are God's gifts
to men, the ascension gifts of Christ to his church. They are
God's messengers by whom God sends his word of peace, the
gospel of his grace to the souls of men, by whom God speaks to
the hearts of his people, by whom God comforts, edifies and
strengthens his saints, by whom the Lord God calls out his elect
from among the four corners of the earth. God's servants are
shepherds. and Christ's vineyard among Christ's
sheep. They are under shepherds to Christ
Jesus the Lord, but they are shepherds. Shepherds who are
given oversight of God's flock. Shepherds who are responsible
for the sheep committed to their trust. Shepherds who are responsible
to feed and guide and protect God's sheep. But then he speaks
of an eighth man. An eighth man. seven shepherds and eight. Christ
Jesus is the chief shepherd and it is the work of this eighth
man upon whom everything depends. It is the work of this eighth
man who makes all the work of his shepherds effectual for his
sheep. Christ Jesus is that great shepherd
of the sheep. who rules all things and governs
all things for his sheep. Look at verse 7. The remnant of Jacob shall be
in the midst of many people. The remnant of Jacob scattered
through all the earth. Christ is described as the propitiation
for our sin and not for ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world. And that doesn't mean everybody
in the world. That doesn't mean everybody in
the world. Some of you saw that ad that was kind of a takeoff
on Tim Tebow's John 316 wearing it, and it's wonderful to wear
John 316. That's just fine if you want to do that. But Jesus
loves, God so loved the world, the whole world, that means everybody,
everybody in the world, wherever you are. No, it doesn't. No,
it doesn't. The world is not used that way
in scripture at all. Never used that way. The word
world is always used in a limited sense. But when it speaks of
God's love for and Christ dying for the whole world, it's talking
about God's elect scattered among many nations, scattered throughout
all the world. God's elect wherever they are
in the world. And that is a proper understanding
of the scriptures. many people as the dew from the
Lord, as showers upon the grass that tarrieth not for man, nor
waiteth for the sons of men." Now hear how God inspired Micah
to speak of his people. They're called a remnant. And
so they are. They're always a little flock
of God's choosing. This remnant is distinguished
from the world around them by divine blessings. You remember
how God caused the dew to fall on Gideon's fleece and not upon
the earth? So this remnant is distinguished
from the world just like Gideon's fleece was distinguished from
the earth with God's blessing upon it. Now watch this. God's
elect, though a remnant, is as the dew from the Lord. as showers
upon the grass that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for
the sons of men." What's that mean? They're a great multitude,
like dew. They are a great multitude that
go unnoticed by men. Who pays any attention to the
dew? The dew's here in the morning and soon gone. They're a great
multitude that are brought in the earth and scattered through
the earth by God's hand. They're a great multitude found
throughout all the ages of time, throughout the earth, like floods
of water covering the earth. For the whole earth was created
for this remnant of God's elect. But notice this, their salvation
doesn't depend on man. doesn't wait for man. They carry
not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. Their salvation
is God's work and God's work alone. It's brought to pass by
God's power and God's power and grace alone. Look at verse 8.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the
midst of many people, as a lion among the beast of the forest,
as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through,
both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver." Wow, what a description for God's
sheep. Bill is talking about the same
people, and he's talking about the same grace. And he's talking
about the same salvation. But in the previous verse, we're
described with regard to God's salvation and grace as we initially
experience it. Completely passive. Completely
passive. Men and women are given life
without anything done by them. They're given life by something
God does in them. We're completely passive. Grace
comes down from God like dew from heaven upon his elect who
are as the dew upon the earth and as the rains upon the earth.
All God's work. But here he speaks about salvation
and God's elect remnant as being very active. Going forth in the
Lord's strength Going forth in the Lord's strength in the Lord's
called as lions fearless and triumphant Lions fearless and triumphant
you see God's Church Strengthened by his grace God's people, strengthened
by his grace, live in constant war with hell and march always against the
gates of hell. Now, I've got to say this. You
won't find God's church or God's people marching against an abortion
clinic. are marching in a political rally
in the name of Jesus, are marching to protest something the government
does in the name of Christ. You won't find it. No, sir. You won't find it. No, no. No,
no. We don't march to be seen of
men and to accomplish things by the power of the flesh. but
rather walking by faith in Christ Jesus, believing God, we walk
in constant opposition to hell. and we do so with confidence,
the gates of hell shall not prevail against us. We preach the gospel
of God's grace with confidence. Every chosen redeemed sinner
shall be called by God's grace. All of God's elect shall be gathered. Every stone shall be laid in
Zion's temple. Not one of Christ's sheep shall
be missing. Look at verse nine. Thine hand
shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies
shall be cut off. That's talking about Christ.
No question about that. He, at Calvary, triumphed over
death, hell, and the grave as our substitute. That's talking
about the triumph of God's elect in Christ. The God of peace shall
bruise Satan under your heels shortly. But primarily, This
is talking about our great Savior's work of grace in us by his Holy
Spirit, as is described in the next verses. Grace. Sweet, sweet, sweet saving grace. It is omnipotent grace. It is irresistible grace. It is all-prevailing grace. Grace always has its way, and
all who experience it rejoice to know it so. So here in verses
10 through 15, Micah describes God's great work of grace in
saving poor sinners as a destructive work. A destructive work. Blessed destruction it is. And
it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will
cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee. Some trust in
horses and some in chariots. We all do. Carnal strength. Look to something carnal for
hope and refuge. And I will destroy thy chariots.
And I will cut off, verse 11, the cities of thy land and throw
down all thy strongholds. You'll never take refuge in Christ
until God destroys every other refuge. And I will cut off witchcrafts
out of thy hands. Witchcraft? Oh, none of y'all
practice witchcraft, do you? You wouldn't be guilty of anything
like that, would you? Looking to superstitious things?
Leaning on superstitious things? Indeed, the religion of most
men is just witchcraft. And thou shalt have no more soothsayers,
no more liars, No more fortune tellers. No one to speak peace
to you with regard to your future when you don't know God. Thy
graven images also will I cut off. Graven images. Brother Don, there's nobody around
here who worships tree stumps. No, you worship worse things
than that. Everybody around us worships something far worse
than a tree stump. Far more base is the idolatry of this religious
age in which we live than the idolatry of the Hottentot in
Africa or New Guinea. For men these days worship God
they've carved in their own image, in their own mind's imagination.
God says, I'll destroy your images, thy standing images out of the
midst of thee. Thou shalt no more, watch this,
worship the work of thine hands. This is what God does, Larry,
when he saves a sinner. This is what God does. He causes
you to quit worshiping the work of your hands. You got that? And as long as
you worship the work of your hands, you don't worship God.
As long as you worship something you've done, cling to something
you are, you don't worship God, all idolatry is will worship. It's the worship of the work
of your hands. That's all it is. And I will
pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee, so will I destroy
thy cities. And I will execute vengeance
and anger and fury upon the heathen such as they have not heard.
The remnant of Judah shall be stripped of all false confidence
in themselves and secured from all deceitful errors from hell. The Lord Christ who undertakes
for us will keep us from all evil and beat down all our foes
before our face. And Nimrod shall at last be destroyed. Satan shall at last be bruised
beneath our feet. Christ the glory man does this. He came down from glory that
he might perform the work God the Father had given him as his
servant on our behalf in the saving of our souls, that he
might go forth unto God again as a man perfect. a man of perfect
righteousness, a man with perfect satisfaction, having obtained
eternal redemption with his own blood. And this man, this glory
man, brings the sons of men to glory by his grace. He gives
grace and he who gives grace surely gives glory too. Oh, may God give you his grace. And if He does, He will give
you His glory. Amen.