Brother Frank Hall brought an
outstanding message to us on lessons from the betrayal. You
may remember the first lesson that he gave us from the betrayal
of our Lord was cast in these words, all evil shall ultimately
result in the glory of God and the salvation of God's elect.
All evil. shall ultimately result in the
glory of God and the salvation of God's elect. Now that includes
physical evil and moral evil. That includes the evil of divine
judgment upon a people and the evils we personally experience
in our lives. The evils of sickness and disease
and pestilence and poverty. all evil shall ultimately result
in the glory of God and the salvation of God's elect. Here in Micah
chapter 1, Micah, as we have just read, gives us a long list
of evils to come upon the people of Judah and of Israel. Now, the singular purpose of
Micah's prophecy the singular purpose of all prophecy in the
Old Testament. The singular purpose. Be sure
you get that fixed in your mind. The singular purpose of Micah's
prophecy and of all Old Testament prophecy, of all the writings
of the prophets, was to prepare God's church for the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ in the accomplishment of redemption.
It was not the purpose of the Old Testament prophets to talk
to us about world history and world events and what was going
to happen with America or Russia or Israel or any other nation.
The singular purpose of the prophet is to declare to us the coming
and the accomplishments of our Lord Jesus Christ. And verse
two, Micah calls for all the people of the earth to give ear
to the word that God had given him. While he addresses himself
specifically to Israel and to Judah, to Samaria and to Jerusalem,
this second verse tells us plainly that Micah is written by divine
inspiration for you and me personally. This is God's word to you and
God's word to me as much as it was to those who lived in Micah's
day. This is a message that's universal,
a message to be declared to all men. In this first chapter, Michael
was inspired of God to describe the terribly low condition of
God's church in his day. By the word church, I mean those
who were called by God's name and those who professed God's
name for their own. They who pretended to worship
God in Jerusalem and in Samaria, though they were given over almost
entirely to idolatry. Not only did the prophet of God
openly assert and reprove the sins of Israel and Judah, he
called for all the neighboring cities and nations around them
to witness God's judgment upon them. He calls for Gath and Aphrodite,
Saphir and Zanon to be witnesses against Israel. Though these
nations themselves were corrupt and vile, but God calls them
by his prophet to be witnesses against his church in his day. Micah warned all of the evil
that was to come upon them from the Lord. And he asserted that
all the evil that was coming was coming as an act of divine
justice. This evil is coming because Judah
has earned it. This evil is coming because Israel
fully merits it. You see, the judgment of God,
the justice of God is always just. The judgment of God The
justice of God is always just. God only punishes those who fully
deserve the punishment he gives them, both in time and in eternity. Have you heard what Micah says
to you? Have I heard what Micah says
to me? The church of God today, by that
term I mean, those who call themselves the people of God and claim to
worship the Lord God and take Jehovah's name for the name of
their God. The Church of God today is without
question in its lowest state and condition in history. Never
in history has such universal apostasy Blasphemy and ungodliness
possessed the Church of God. Never before in history. The
Church of God, the professed people of God today, go to any
assembly you wish, any assembly you wish. The Church of God,
the professed people of God today, engage themselves in tomfoolery
and call it worship. They engage themselves in entertaining
folks on their way to hell and call it worship. They teach folks
how to live sort of good and convince them that they're believers
and never declare to them anything of their sin, anything of their
accomplishments of the Redeemer, anything of the glory of God.
Because of our sin, the judgment of God has fallen upon us. I have been asked many times,
do you think that God's going to judge this nation? Going to? Going to? Have you read today's
paper? Did you see the news last night?
Going to? We are under the judgment of
God. The evil has come upon us from
the Lord. And the judgment began, as it
always does, at the house of God. It's what the Spirit of
God says in 1 Peter 4, judgment must begin at the house of God. It begins where men and women
profess to worship God. It begins where men and women
name the name of the Lord as their God. It begins where men
and women profess to be the people of God. When the Lord God goes
forth in judgment, Let us ever run to the chambers of his covenant
and take refuge in Christ Jesus, our Lord, the judge of all the
earth, who must do right. The prophet tells us repeatedly
to take refuge in him. Come, my people, the Lord says.
Enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee.
Hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment until the indignation
be overpassed. children of God, enter into the
chambers of covenant mercy. Hide yourself in the Lord until
the judgment's gone. I can't tell you better counsel
than this. When trouble comes, when heartache
comes, when you're disturbed, when you're when you find things
just distressing and give you unrest and you can find no relief. Go, bury yourself in the Word
of God and in Christ the Redeemer who reveals Himself in that Word.
Bury yourself in the Book of God. Go into the chambers of
God's covenant and shut the doors and stay calm, hiding beneath
the shadow of His wings. This I recall to mind, therefore
have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They're
new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. By showing us the poverty of
our souls, God the Holy Spirit uses the pen of his servant Micah
to show us our need of Christ. By what more persuasive Powerful
means can the Lord Jesus be recommended to our hearts. Merle, the more clearly, fully
you know your need of Him, the more you'll cherish Him. Faithful
men ever expose the sins of those to whom they preach. Faithful
men ever expose the evil of the heart because it is our Desperate
need of Christ that makes Christ dear to our souls Micah shows
us our need God the Spirit shows us our need and thereby would
draw us away to the Savior now Let's focus our attention on
one statement found in verse 12 One statement Right here in
the middle of this prophecy, speaking of all the evil that
must come from the Lord, speaking of all the evil that men have
heaped upon themselves, the evil that we have heaped upon ourselves,
the evil that the church of this age has heaped upon itself, the
evil that this nation has heaped upon itself, the evil that the
nations of the world have heaped upon themselves. Right in the
middle of all this, Micah says evil came down from the Lord. Evil came down from the Lord. What a statement. What a statement. I'll give you a challenge if
you want one. The next religious person you run into, family or
friend, neighbor, foe, the next one you run into is talking about
the evil around us. the decadence of our society,
the moral emptiness of our society, the evil in Washington all the
way down to your doorstep, the evil all around us. Ask them,
where does this come from? Where does this come from? Where
is all this turmoil? Where is all this war and this
poverty? Where does it come from? And I'll guarantee you, you won't
find one of them repeating Micah's words. In this day, when men
everywhere are engrossed in base idolatry, men everywhere imagine
that God really has no control over anything. that God Almighty
is somehow in competition with Satan, hoping somehow maybe his
will will overcome Satan's will. Hoping somehow that maybe his
purpose will be accomplished and Satan's purpose be defeated
if he gets enough cooperation from you and from me. Somehow
this generation has convinced that God Almighty is really incapable
of accomplishing his will. And in this day, Micah's statement
just seems totally out of place. But if you'll care to read the
scriptures, just casually. You don't have to study them
in great detail. Just read the Bible. Wouldn't
it be wonderful if folks would just read the Bible? Just read
the Word of God and see what it says. If you'll just casually
read the Book of God, you will discover that men of old who
knew God Men of old who worshiped God, men of old who believed
God, understood evil, came down from the Lord. Turn to Isaiah
chapter 45. Isaiah chapter 45, verse 5. Hear what God says. Hear what God says. Now you can
take what Don says with a grain of salt or less than a grain
of salt if you want to. But you better hear what God
says. God says, I am the Lord. Well, who are you, Lord? There's
none else. There's no God beside me. There's
no God sitting up here on my throne with me. That they may
know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there
is none beside me. That is so that men and women
everywhere in the world will be convinced there's no other
God but me. I am the Lord and there's none
else. How are they going to know that? How are folks going to
know that? I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. Remember the story of a fellow,
there's a fellow named Pharaoh. You know anything about Pharaoh? What do you know about Pharaoh?
What do you know about him? Really, what do you know about
him? Well, Brother Don, he was one of those fellas who ruled
over in Egypt and God raised him up and hardened his heart
and dumped his carcass in the Red Sea so everybody'd know he's
God. That's what you know about Pharaoh.
God says, I do these things that everybody will know that I'm
God and I'm God alone. Look in Proverbs 16, Proverbs
16, verse four. These are the words of God's
inspired servant, Solomon, the wisest of men. Proverbs 16, four. The Lord hath made all things
for himself. And you thought the world revolved
around you. The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea,
even the wicked, for the day of evil. Well, that's talking
about he made all things for himself, even the wicked, for
the day of judgment. Well, it certainly means that. Translators had translated the
word accurately. He made the wicked for the day
of evil. The wicked you read about in
the paper, the wicked you live with, the wicked all about us
for the day of evil. Psalm 76. Psalm 76, verse 10. Now give you a moment to get
there. Psalm 76. Verse 10, talking about
God's enemies and the enemies of his people. Surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee. Wow. Surely the wrath of man will
praise God. How on earth can that be? Do
you know what? I don't have a clue. I don't
have a clue. But I know it's so. The wrath
of man, all wrath in all men shall praise thee. And whatever
wrath there is in man that he would do, that you will not use
to praise you, God Almighty will restrain. What does it say? The
remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. whatever comes to pass,
no matter what any man does, doesn't matter whether it's our
president or some dictator from another place, doesn't matter
whether it's our Senate or Congress or some parliament from another
place, doesn't matter whether it's your neighbor or your son,
whatever men do with the intent of harming God's cause, whatever
men do with the intent of evil against God's people and God's
name, It shall praise God. It's going to praise Him. It's
going to praise Him. One more text in this regard. Amos chapter
3. Amos chapter 3. Verse 6. Shall a trumpet be blown in the
city, and the people not be afraid? Alarm sounds. People are afraid. My daughter calls over here every
time she hears there's a tornado warning, and she'll call and
tell us there's a tornado warning because she knows neither Shelby
nor I can hear the alarm. And she'll call us, there's sounding
an alarm, tornado warning. And people, ooh, what am I going
to do? Thunder claps and the lights
go out, lightning strikes, ooh, folks tremble. There's an alarm
sounding. Folks are afraid. All right. Shall there be evil in the city
and the Lord hath not done it? Shall there be evil in the city
and the Lord hath not done it? The question is often asked,
how did sin and evil arise in God's creation? If God is absolutely
sovereign, absolutely holy, absolutely good, if he created all things
good, how is it? that pride was found in Lucifer's
heart. How were the fallen angels led
to rebel against his throne? How was Adam induced to say it?
I frankly acknowledge that I'm in waters way over my head. And
when I get done, everything I've got to say concerning this matter
of evil coming down from the Lord, there will be much more
to be said yet than I'll get said. But I want to address this
matter head on for the honor of God and the comfort of you,
his people. Two facts are clearly revealed
in scripture. Now, we know the existence of
evil is a problem that exercises the minds of men and women continually.
Whenever we consider the subject, we must clip the wings of curiosity. I'm not here to just answer curious
minds. But knowing that God is not the
author of sin, knowing that he never tempts any to evil, as
James says, Knowing that nothing comes to pass without his all-wise
decree, the matter can't be resolved in a more God-honoring way than
simply to say, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. Now, that's the beginning point. That's the beginning point.
You see, you will never understand the Word of God by trying to
prove it scientifically, philosophically, or logically. It will not be
done. You understand the Word of God
by bowing to God. And when you bow to Him, well,
it's all right. It's all right. It's what God
did. It's what God did. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. Don Renner, that means that whatever
it is that you experience tomorrow, It's what God has for you. And
whatever it is you experienced yesterday, it's what God has
for you. And whatever it is you experience
right now, it's what God has for you. For good. Oh, but it tastes so bitter.
Some of you have been through some severe sickness. And the
medication, you think it's going to kill you. You think it'll
kill you. I went through a year of treatments,
cancer, chemotherapy, and Cobalt, back in the days when they didn't
measure the dosage with very much limitation. I spent a year
sick every day of my life. Sick as hugging a komodo almost
every day. Just sick as a dog. And you think,
man, this is almost worse than the illness. But you submit to
it with the hope of better health when it's done. If you'll do
that with the puny brains of puny men, why won't we do that
with God Almighty? Even so, Lord, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. We bow to God in reverence, submitting
to and confessing, Lord, we're darkness, your light. We're ignorance,
your wisdom. We're just creatures. You're
the creator. We are nothing and we know nothing
and we understand nothing. You're all things. You see all
things. You know all things. You understand
all things. Before whom all things are naked and open and ordered
with infinite wisdom. We bow and we worship. No questioning, no disputing. That's not so. Would to God it were. Far too
much questioning and disputing. But we ought to bow to him, Bill,
with no question, no dispute. God does all things well. He
does all things well. Let us be content to wait until
our souls are freed from the influence of all evil and then
understand, as God makes himself known to us in heaven's clearer
light, the beauty of his wise providence. I think we shall
spend eternity Searching over the Alps of time,
observing God's goodness in everything. In everything. Alright, now these
two facts. Number one. All things are of
God. All things are of God. That's what the book says. For of him, and through him,
and to him are all things. Romans 8, 36. Of him, that's
the source, that's the origin. Through him, that's the means
of accomplishment. To him, that's the end, the ultimate
finishing point. Of him, through him, and to him
are all things. We know also that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. Everything in the world, everything
in history, everything in time, ultimately results in God's glory
and the salvation of God's elect. Everything. He raises up nations,
and tears down nations to save his people. He raises up nations and tears
down nations to save his people. David Burge, God Almighty, rules
history for you. Can you grasp just a little bit
of that? God Almighty rules the universe. for you, whom He's
chosen, loved with an everlasting love, and redeemed with the blood
of His Son. God intends for us to understand
that the perfections of God, His glorious being, could not
have been so gloriously revealed as they are now revealed to us
in Christ. Had evil never been permitted
to enter the universe? God always permits sin and evil
so that he may use it and overrule it for his own praise and our
everlasting good. Had sin never been permitted,
how could the justice of God ever be known in punishing it?
Had evil never existed, how could the wisdom of God be displayed
in overruling it? Had there never been any wickedness
in God's creation, how could the power of God be revealed
in subduing it? Had there been no fall by the
first Adam, there could never have been redemption by the last
Adam. Had sin never entered into the
world, How could the goodness of God be made manifest in the
pardoning and forgiving of sin? Evil came down from the Lord. Now, you can buck it, and you
can fight it, and you can spit and snarl and hoot and holler
all you want to. That's the way it is. or you
can bow and worship God. We'll bow and worship Him. We'll bow and worship Him. All
things are ordered absolutely by our God in heaven, in earth,
and in hell. I mean by that, there's nothing
that breathes or wiggles in the universe except by God's decree
and God's will. Nothing. Nothing. All things
are ruled and governed by God for the salvation of God's elect,
for the saving of his people. You can't find a more marvelous
display of this than in the things Brother Frank was dealing with
last Sunday night and the betrayal and crucifixion of our Lord.
The scribes and Pharisees wanted to kill our Lord privately. They
didn't want to do it on feast day. Oh, no, because they didn't
want people to know what they were doing. But God had ordained
that Christ our Passover be sacrificed for us on the highest feast day
they had. They attempted numerous times
to kill him, to stone him, to shove him off a cliff. But God
Almighty had ordained that he must be delivered to the hands
of the Gentiles by the Jews and be crucified and rise again the
third day. So you know what they did? You
know what they did? They did what you couldn't have
hired any of the Jews to do, let alone the whole nation. They
went and begged Pilate to judge him, and turned him over to Pilate.
And Pilate said, you take him and judge him. Can you imagine
a Roman governor saying, you take him and judge him? Oh, no,
no, no, we have a law. We can't do that. You kill him
for us. Because he must be crucified
by Romans. He must be numbered with the
transgressors. put to death as a common male factor. He must
be one who's put to death without one bone being broken and yet
his very heart must be pierced because the scripture said that
it must. And the scripture tells us repeatedly
that these men did what they did by their own wicked wills,
fully responsible because they hated him. Oh, the heart of man is enmity
against God. If you could, you'd kill him.
Me too. That's our nature. That's our
nature. And yet the Lord says, when they had done whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before must be done, they took
him down from the cross. You mean, you mean God was in
total control of that? Judas betrayed him with a kiss
because he wanted to. And he did what God in his determinate
counsel before the world began said he was going to do. It's
exactly right. Exactly right. Not only that, God overrules other evil. The evils of this world in which we live, homosexuality,
adultery, fornication, pedophilia, rape, murder, incest, lying,
stealing, those things are, see all around, horrible, horrible
evils, all of it, horrible. But those things are nothing.
compared to the evil that's in me. And Merle, you know what it'd
take for God to stop that? He could eradicate that evil
nature from you and me right now as easily as he shall in
the resurrection day. Well, why doesn't he do it? Because
he has something better in store for us. He leaves us to constantly
struggle with that warring nature of evil that's in us, that we
might ever be broken before him, ever made by his grace, forced
sweetly by the bitter, painful experience of our own depravity
to cling with all our hearts to Christ the Redeemer as our
only substitute, our only surety, our only righteousness, our only
Savior. and this evil, all of it, all
things shall at last redound to the glory of our God and the everlasting salvation of
every chosen ransom sinner for the glory of God. That's right. That's right. When
God gets done, he's going to eradicate from his creation the
very slime of the serpent. We, being saved by his grace, will suffer no loss because of
the fall are because of our sin, our transgressions, past, present,
or future. Oh, Brother Don, you don't dare
tell people that. Joe, I don't dare not tell you that. No loss. No loss. No loss. But only good. And God shall
suffer no loss. No loss. Redound to His glory,
and then the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your heels
forever. Amen.