Our text tonight will be Micah
chapter 4, verses 6 through 8. Haunt, driven out, and afflicted. That's the title of my message.
Haunt, driven out, and afflicted. Those words describe God's people
in every age in this world, halt, driven out, and deflected. With those words, God's church
is described at any time in any place it's found in this world. For you see your calling, brethren,
have it not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things that are
mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught
things, those things that are, that no flesh should glory in
his presence. Several years ago, Brother Joe
Terrell, in a conversation he and I with several other fellows
were having, he said, Christians and preachers are like an old
red wasp. They're never again as big as
when they're first born. Never again as big as when they're
first born. Haunt, driven out, and afflicted. That's how God's people, as they
grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, are
taught of God to look upon themselves. Haunt, driven out, and afflicted. Base, worthless. Low, despised, useless. That's a good description of
you who are God's and of me if I'm his. I am poor and needy,
David said, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and
my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God. The
sweet singer of Israel again sang, I am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set
me on high. He said, I am poor and needy.
Make haste to help me. O God, thou art my help and my
deliverer. O Lord, make no tarrying. Bow
down thine ear, O Lord, hear me. For I am poor and needy. Again he says, I am poor and
needy and my heart is wounded within me. Now this one thing
I want to convey to your heart tonight. Oh Spirit of God, inscribe
this one thing on my heart and the hearts of these who hear
me. Just this one thing. The God of all grace promises
salvation to the haunt, the driven out, and the afflicted. The God of all grace promises
salvation to the haunt, the driven out, and the afflicted. Micah
chapter 4, verse 6. In that day, in the day of God's
grace, in the day when God's kingdom is built in this world,
in the day when Christ comes in his grace, in the day of this
gospel age, in that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her
that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her
that I have afflicted, and I will make her that halted a remnant. and her that was cast far off
a strong nation. And the Lord shall reign over
them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever. And thou, O tower
of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto
thee shall it come. Even the first dominion, the
kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. Now there are numerous,
numerous prophecies of this kind found in the Old Testament. But
let's read one more. Ezekiel chapter 34. Ezekiel 34. Hold your hands here in Micah
and turn to Ezekiel 34. Verse 11. Ezekiel 34 11. For thus saith the Lord God,
behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them
out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And
I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the
countries and will bring them to their own land and feed them
upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and all the inhabited
places of the country. Verse 14, I will feed them in
a good pasture and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their
fold be. There shall they lie in good
fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains
of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that
which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and
will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which
was sick. But I will destroy the fat and
the strong. I will feed them with judgment. Yes, the Lord God declares that
he will destroy the fat and the strong, but he promises grace
and salvation to the haught, the driven out, and the afflicted. Most of the old good hymn writers
are not very well known in our day. And of those who are known,
most of their better hymns are known by very few. Here is one
I have referred to a number of times, and I think we'll start
putting it in the bulletin soon, fairly regularly. It's not in
any of our modern hymn books as far as I know. Written by
Joseph Hart. Listen carefully. I want you
to hear it. When Adam by transgression fell and conscience fled his
maker's face, linked in clandestine league with hell, he ruined all
his future race. The seeds of evil once brought
in increased and filled the world with sin. But lo, the second
Adam came, the serpent's subtle head to bruise. He cancels his
malicious claim. disappoints his devilish views,
ransoms poor sinners with his blood, and brings the sinner
back to God. To understand these truths are
rights. To understand that this is God's
purpose, that Adam fell. And from Adam's fall comes the
ruin of the race. And from the fall of Adam and
the ruined race, God sends his son, the last Adam, to redeem
and save his own. To understand these truths aright,
this grand distinction must be known. Though all are sinners
in God's sight, there are but few so in their own. I hope God has sent some here
tonight. Though all are sinners in God's
sight, there are but few so in their own. To such as these our
Lord was sent, there are only sinners who repent. What comfort
can a Savior bring to those who never knew their sin? A sinner
is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. New life from him we must receive. before for sin we rightly
grieve. This faithful saying let us own. Well worthy it is to be believed
that Christ into the world came down that sinners by him might
be saved. Sinners are high in his esteem
and sinners highly value him. I repeat again, the one thing
I want you to know. The God of heaven promises grace
and salvation to the haunt, the driven out, and the afflicted,
and to no one else. To no one else. The haunt, the
driven out, the afflicted. If the Lord will enable me, I
want us to stay right here in Micah chapter four, these three
verses, and I want you to see three things. First, the objects
of God's grace, and then the grace that God promises, and
then finally the tower of God's grace. First, those sinners who
are the objects of mercy, love, and grace are described here
in verse six. In that day, saith the Lord,
will I assemble her that halteth, and will gather her that is driven
out, and her that I have afflicted. Those sinners to whom Jehovah
is wed. Those whom he has espoused to
be his holy bride from eternity. Those who are the objects of
his mercy, love, and grace are here described as her that halteth. You recall what happened when
the angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, wrestled with Jacob? He wrestled with Jacob, not Jacob
wrestled with the angel. The angel wrestled with Jacob.
Most everybody gets that backwards. And they talk about men wrestling
with God in prayer. The angel wrestled with Jacob.
And the object in wrestling was to pin him down. The object in
wrestling is to get the opponent pinned down. And the angel of
the Lord wrestled with Jacob and saw that he prevailed not.
And so he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh. and said, now
what's your name? And he said, my name's Jacob.
And as soon as he confessed his name to be Jacob, sinner he was,
deceitful, cunning, crafty, slick, a con man, a cheat, one who is
full of subtlety. He said, my name is Sid. The
angel of the Lord said to him, now your name's Israel, a prince
with God. And Jacob halted on his thigh
all the days of his life. So it is with all who are touched
by God's grace in the experience of his grace in conversion. God
causes all his own to halt through this world. Smitten by God, the
Holy Spirit in conviction. and smitten by God the Holy Spirit
in the continual process of conversion and of grace. Smitten by God
the Holy Spirit in the constant experience of grace. The church
says, I am black but comely. What will you see in the Shulamite? As it were a company of two armies. All God's people understand this. I do not suggest that all articulate
it perfectly or all are able to state it in a fine doctrinal
manner, but all God's people understand the blackness of their
hearts, the depravity of their nature, the corruption of what
they are. I am Jacob. That's my name. Sins my nature, sins my name,
sins my game. That's what I am. And I can't
get over it. I can't get over it. Read the
7th chapter of Romans. Read the 5th chapter of Galatians.
Understand that those who are born of God are made to understand
that God in His grace comes and puts a new nature in us, creating
us new by His grace. And that old man wars against
this new man. That old man lusts against this
new man. That old man constantly opposes
this new man. The old man never gets better.
And yet this new man within us is constantly at war with that
old nature, that old man that we are by nature, that which
is called Adam. The halt are those who limp along. They just limp along. Mother Don, we come to church
to get pumped up and primed and made to feel good about ourselves.
You came to the wrong place. The halt limp along. They limp. Do you know what it's
impossible for a fellow who limps to do? It's impossible for him
to walk in a straight path. It's impossible. The fellow who
limps, cannot walk uprightly. It's not possible. He's halt. And most who leap, every step
is taken with pain, some with excruciating pain. That's me. That's me, the halt. For in thee, O Lord, do I hope
thou will hear, O Lord my God. For I said, hear me, lest otherwise
they should rejoice over me when my foot slippeth. They magnify
themselves against me, for I'm ready to halt, and my sorrow
is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity.
I will be sorry for my sin. Forsake me not, O Lord, my God. Be not far from me. Make haste
to help me, O Lord, my salvation. The Lord God promises, I will
assemble her that halteth. And next he says that his chosen
are those who are driven out. He describes his chosen as her
that is driven out. The God of all grace says, I
will gather her that is driven out. Her that's driven out. God never gathers any until he
first drives them out. You see, all men are self-righteous
Pharisees by nature. All who believe not on the Lord
Jesus Christ really think they're good. And they really think they
are acceptable to God just as they are. You who refuse to believe
on the Son of God, you really think that all you've got to
do is put your mind to it and you'd make yourself acceptable
with God. And if God ever calls you by His grace, He will drive
you into utter despair. He'll knock the props out from
under you. He'll fix it so the only way
you can look is up. He'll fix it so that you cannot
find any refuge in yourself. And unless God does that, you'll
cling to your refuge of lies. You claim to your religious works
and your moral goodness and your uprightness and your imaginary
superiority. God banished Adam and Eve from
the garden and then he gathered them to himself. He that gathereth
together the outcast of Israel first cast them out. We came
forth banished from the womb. and we didn't know it. But then
the Lord God came. And we realized. I'm banished
from God. I'm banished from God. every hope dashed in pieces,
every strength withered, banished from God, and certain to be banished
forever. And then when God saves us by
His grace, we come to know something about
His grace. I can't speak for others. I can
only speak for myself. God teach me to speak truth. I spend most of my time longing for his manifest presence. Longing for him to speak to me
and let me speak to him. Longing to know that he's near
and longing to know that I'm near with him. People talk about living on the
mountain underneath the starry sky and all that stuff, and they
talk about the heavenly experiences. Merle, I don't know much about
those things. I don't know much about them.
I do know something about the valley, the valley where the
Lord Jesus makes himself known, and it's there that he does.
I made to cry with Calper, where is the blessedness I knew when
first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul refreshing
view of Jesus and his word? What peaceful hours I once enjoyed,
how sweet the memory still that they've left an aching void the
world can never feel. How tedious and tasteless the
hours when Jesus no longer I see. the banished the Lord God says
he'll gather the banished and then he says and her that I have
afflicted her that I have afflicted yes
children of God our afflictions come from our heavenly father
And as surely as God saves you by his grace, he will afflict
you all the days of your life in one way or another, by one
means or another, because he loves his children and chasteneth
every soul that he loves, that we might be made partakers of
His holiness. That is, that we might live in
all godliness, looking to Christ our Redeemer. I have some friends, various
families around the world, who have small or larger families.
And these friends have a special child. That child's afflicted. They may have two, three, four
others, but this child's afflicted. Guess who gets all the attention? Guess who gets all mama's attention?
Guess who gets all daddy's attention? That poor, afflicted child. Hear me, children of God. The
affliction is token of God's attention. His heart is ever
on his own. He only prunes the vines from
which he will extract fruit for himself. Some are physically
afflicted. Some mentally afflicted. All
spiritually afflicted. Afflicted by God's hand. God in Israel sows the seeds
of affliction, pain, and toil. These spring up and choke the
weeds that would else or spread the soil. Trials make the promise
sweet. Trials give new life to prayer. Trials bring me to his feet,
lay me low, and keep me there. If you haven't learned it, my
young brother, my young sister, be prepared, soon you must. You
will find it next to impossible to pray, I
think, except as God by trials lays you at his feet. We're too
proud. too presumptuous, too self-righteous,
too cocky, too arrogant, too strong. And we think we can handle
things ourselves until God lays us down in the dust at his feet. My father, whatever is necessary to lay
me at your feet and keep me there, that I will and that I won't. I'm 61 years old, and I've been down this road
a while. And what I just said, Eric, I said with sober thought. Sober thought. God's elect are the halt, the
driven out, those who are afflicted. If you can find your place there, You'll find grace there. Paul said, I knew a man who was
taken to glory. Because I don't know whether
I was in the spirit or whether I was dead. I don't know what
it was, but I was taken to glory. And I saw things nobody else
ever seen. And I heard things nobody else
ever heard. The things I saw and heard defy
language to describe them. And from that day to this, I've
been afflicted with a messenger from Satan that keeps beating
me in the face. And I begged the Lord three times,
take this away, take this away. And the Lord finally answered
me and he said, live with it. My grace is sufficient for thee
and my strength is made perfect in weakness. When you find yourself
utterly weak, you will find him strong. When you find yourself
utterly empty, you'll find Him fullness. When you find yourself
utterly helpless, you'll find Him your help. Until then, you
won't. Now look at grace, the grace
God promises to perform for the haught, the driven out, and the
afflicted. In that day, verse six, saith
the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather
her that's driven out, and her that I have afflicted, and I
will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off
a strong nation, and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount
Zion from henceforth even forever. What sweet promises. God says
I, I, I, I, I, I will, I will, I will. And when God says I will, none
shall say you will not. God says I will. I will assemble
her that halteth. I will assemble my people. as
sheep with broken legs, I will gather them into their fold.
I will assemble them in the churches of God scattered throughout the
world in the day in which they live. I will assemble her and
I will gather her that is driven out, gather her to myself, gather
her by my grace, gather her with omnipotent mercy. I'll gather
my sheep into their fold and assemble them as my people. God
declares, I will make manifest. And her that is halted is his
remnant. I will make her that halted the
written. That is, I'll make it manifest to her. And in time
to everybody, this is my elect. These are my chosen. This is
my remnant in the earth. He says, I will make manifest
that she's mine. And then he adds, I will make
her that was cast off a strong nation. Hold your hands here
and turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. I'll make her a strong nation.
Now, these prophecies concerning Israel and Judah and deliverance
from the Babylonian captivity, deliverance from various trials
and difficulties, gathering them to their land, and so on. Understand,
as you read the prophecies, as you read the prophecies, you
look at it, and you say, there's more to that than just gathering
Jews into Palestine. There's more to that than just
gathering of the physical nation, and the prophets make that clear.
Be sure you understand there's a reason for that. It's talking
about the gathering of God's elect, the true Israel of God,
not to some material city, but to Mount Zion, the city of the
living God. And he makes his own a strong
nation. Look in Ephesians 2 verse 11.
Paul is writing to the Gentile believers, particularly. Wherefore,
remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh. who
are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands. You see that? The circumcision
in the flesh made by hands. That doesn't map to anything.
That doesn't map to anything. Just because you're a Jew outwardly,
that doesn't mean a thing. Read on. that at that time when you
were Gentiles in the flesh, before God saved you by his grace, at
that time you were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus,
ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. Christ has made us one of his
own, made us his covenant people, made manifest that we who halted
and were driven out and afflicted are his chosen, his remnant in
the world, made his strong nation against whom none shall stand.
And then he promises the Lord shall reign over them in Mount
Zion from henceforth even forever. The Lord Jesus, our great king
reigns over all the earth, over all flesh to give eternal life
to whom he will. Our Lord Jesus, our great king
reigns in Mount Zion, reigns in his house, in his kingdom
as king so that his word is law. And the Lord Jesus reigns in
the hearts of his people by the word of the gospel that goes
forth from Zion, that is preached to you as you hear the gospel
proclaimed. He rules over our hearts and
rules over our lives by the sweet influence of his grace. Now,
what great, magnificent promises. But can we rely on them? Are they sure? Let's see. Look at verse eight. Micah speaks
here of the tower of the flock as a stronghold into which the
daughter of Zion flees. The stronghold of God's kingdom. The tower that stronghold is
Christ Jesus. Look at verse 8. And thou, O
tower of the flock, stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto
thee shall it come. That is the kingdom, even the
first dominion. the kingdom shall come to the
daughter of Jerusalem. Throughout the scriptures, whenever
you read the word stronghold or tower or refuge or fortress,
the reference is not to the church, but rather to him who is the
head of the church, Christ Jesus, the Lord. The reference is always
given to one of the divine persons, our Lord Jesus Christ, representing
the triune God. Listen to this. The Lord is my
rock and my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I
will trust, my builder and the horn of my salvation and my high
tower. The wise man says in Proverbs
1810, the name of the Lord is a high tower. The righteous runneth
into it and is safe. The name of the Lord, Christ
our Redeemer, Christ our Savior, He is our refuge, He is our high
tower, and all who are born of God run into this tower for refuge
and abide in Him. Children of God, in every time
of trouble, in every time of difficulty, In every trial, in
every adversity, flee to the refuge. Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we maintain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Flee to the refuge. I was talking
to one of my preacher friends this week. Preachers, it seems. It seems. Baptists and Protestant,
and Reformed, and Arminian, and Papist, all the rest of them.
It seems they all really want to be your priest. They want
you to come to them with your troubles, and they want to shepherd
you through your troubles. Doesn't it sound wonderful? Let
me help you through your troubles. They're just nosy, busybodies.
They're just nosy, busybodies. They want you to depend on them,
as if somehow you can't do business with God. My business as your
pastor is to teach you to flee not to me, but to Him who is
your high tower. Take refuge in Christ the Lord. I'm here to walk with you and
weep with you and rejoice with you and help you any way I can.
But I am not God your Savior. I'm not your mediator. I'm not
your intercessor. I'm just your pastor, your under
shepherd to lead you to the shepherd. Flee away children of God to
Christ Jesus. And if you flee to him, you won't
need to flee to me. If you flee to him, you won't
need to flee to someone else. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. poor, tried, haught, afflicted,
limping soul, the great shepherd has not forgotten you. He will
gather his sheep, and they shall pass again under the hands of
him that telleth them, and there shall not be one missing. At
the appointed time of love, he gathers his sheep. We get in
a hurry. We want to get things done, you
know. We think the Lord needs us to
put a nudge on somebody. And the Lord needs us to twist
somebody's arm. I don't get calls from you, but
I've gotten calls over the years. Folks say, oh, Brother Don come.
My boy's suffering. My boy's got in trouble. My boy's
in jail. My girl's doing this. My girl,
I believe they need the Lord. And I say, well, let's wait a
few days and see if they do. Let's wait a few days. Why would
you do that? Because if God's dealing with
somebody, God'll deal with them. Doesn't need my interference
or yours. Don't you think we ought to try
to win folks to Jesus? By all means, by preaching the
gospel, by calling on God for mercy on their behalf, and waiting
for God to work. Wait for God to work. Anything
you produce or I produce, I promise you, we will regret. I promise
you. I never heard a preacher talk
like that before. It's time you hear more. I promise you, we
don't produce life. We can't convert sinners. We
can't cause men to be saved. We can preach the gospel to them,
bring them to the foot of grace. and beg God to have mercy. And
that's all. And at God's appointed time,
He gathers them. And soon, when the hour appointed from
eternity has arrived, He will gather us, one by one,
into His heavenly fold. Halting days will be over. And days of being outcast will
be over. And affliction will be over. But the fat and the strong, he
will feed with judgment. Amen.