Holding Fast to the One Who Holds (Micah 7)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:06.120 Please remain standing if you're able, and let's turn to Micah Chapter Seven. 2 00:00:10.029 --> 00:00:29.660 Here God's word, I'm going to read tonight, versus one through seven. 3 00:00:33.740 --> 00:00:38.450 Woe is me, for I have become as when this summer fruit has been 4 00:00:38.570 --> 00:00:43.409 gathered and when the grapes have been gleaned. There is no cluster to eat, 5 00:00:43.570 --> 00:00:49.369 no first ripe fig that my soul desires. The godly has perished from 6 00:00:49.369 --> 00:00:54.159 the Earth and there is no one upright among mankind. They all lie in 7 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:59.280 wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands 8 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:02.679 are on what is evil. To do it? Well, the prince and 9 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:07.150 judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of 10 00:01:07.269 --> 00:01:11.590 his soul. Thus they weave it together. The best of them is like 11 00:01:11.709 --> 00:01:15.390 a Briar, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of 12 00:01:15.469 --> 00:01:23.260 your watchman, of your punishment, has come. Now their confusion is at 13 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:27.379 hand. Put No trust in a neighbor, have no confidence in a friend. 14 00:01:27.939 --> 00:01:33.290 Guard the doors of your mouth for from her who lies in your arms. 15 00:01:34.329 --> 00:01:38.650 For the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against 16 00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:42.930 mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law. A man's enemies 17 00:01:42.969 --> 00:01:48.719 are the men of his own house. But as for me, I will 18 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:52.640 look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. 19 00:01:53.560 --> 00:02:15.710 My God will hear me. He may be seated. To understand Mike a 20 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:20.939 seven, it's helpful, I think, to remember the context in which this 21 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:24.020 book is written. Don't worry, I won't go long, I promise. 22 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:30.090 which just briefly, remember that God had called his people out of Egypt. 23 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:37.250 Remember that he had called them to be a holy people and he gave them 24 00:02:37.449 --> 00:02:44.599 his law. And if they obeyed that law, they would find fruitfulness in 25 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:51.840 their wombs, in their livestock, in their land. They would be a 26 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:55.919 land owing with milk and honey. It would be in a land that would 27 00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:02.150 be characterized in every way by life and life, as we know, true 28 00:03:02.430 --> 00:03:10.310 life, true satisfaction, true peace, comes with righteousness. This life, 29 00:03:10.430 --> 00:03:15.539 as they lived in an obedience with the law, would be a life that 30 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:24.699 would be characterized by healthy community, by love between father and mother and extended 31 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:34.050 family members, neighbors and even strangers who came in among Israel would receive love, 32 00:03:35.129 --> 00:03:38.610 they would be protected, they would be cared for, there would be 33 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:45.439 justice for all. If someone was wrongfully harmed, there would be fairness and 34 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:52.080 judges to to rule rightly, and this would be the state of God's people 35 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:58.990 if they obeyed the law. If they didn't obey the law, of course 36 00:03:59.030 --> 00:04:02.069 there wouldn't be obedience. So right off the bat we've got an whole number 37 00:04:02.069 --> 00:04:08.229 of problems. Instead of justice, we have an injustice. Instead of righteousness, 38 00:04:08.310 --> 00:04:13.500 we have unrighteousness. Instead of a healthy communities with love and peace and 39 00:04:13.620 --> 00:04:18.300 hospitality, we would have people at each other's throats. We could have people 40 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:24.889 in power instead of using that power to shepherd and protect and guard, would 41 00:04:24.889 --> 00:04:30.610 be using it to consume and devour those they were called to protect. and 42 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:35.209 that's just the disobedience to the law, sort of God giving us, giving 43 00:04:35.329 --> 00:04:43.040 us giving his people over to their own sinful actions that are own natural consequences. 44 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:47.399 But in addition, God promises that the curse would come upon them if 45 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:53.189 they disobeyed this law, that they would not be fruitful, but they would 46 00:04:53.430 --> 00:04:58.870 that the walls of this kingdom would come crashing down around them. And indeed, 47 00:04:58.990 --> 00:05:03.389 in the same way in which they purged the lawless unrighteous people from the 48 00:05:03.470 --> 00:05:09.699 land, they also would be purged. The land would spit them, vomit 49 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:19.740 them, out for their lack of holiness, and this is exactly what happened. 50 00:05:21.329 --> 00:05:25.970 Of course, this is no surprise. Moses himself, and giving the 51 00:05:26.129 --> 00:05:30.170 law, told them that when they failed to do this, these are the 52 00:05:30.250 --> 00:05:35.160 things that would happen, not merely as a threat, although it was that, 53 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:40.720 but as a prophecy as well, telling them that these, this is 54 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:45.439 what's going to happen, despite their promises that they would obey all the commandments. 55 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:57.629 The fulfillment of their failure is what MICA is about. Mica comes as 56 00:05:57.750 --> 00:06:06.339 this prosecutor, this attorney, God's attorney, to prosecute on their disobedience and 57 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:15.300 to bring them under the coming condemnation of God. Mica seven is not only 58 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:17.769 pointing or MICA. Mica as a whole is not only pointing that out, 59 00:06:17.850 --> 00:06:25.730 but it's helping us to see and unto understand the consequences for disobedience, the 60 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:32.759 weight that comes for judgment because of our sins, these sins, this unrighteousness. 61 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:38.360 It's often passed off, as we've seen in MICA, as no big 62 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:43.160 deal, is something to worry about some other time. But God is very 63 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:48.670 clear that he requires obedience, he requires holiness and righteousness among his people. 64 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:57.509 And when that's not there, it leads to judgment. But Mike a seven 65 00:06:57.790 --> 00:07:01.259 and all of the Old Testament also has another theme running parallel in all of 66 00:07:01.420 --> 00:07:04.899 this, and that is a theme of God's mercy, in God's salvation, 67 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:14.300 that despite this coming judgment, despite the rightful wrath coming upon all people, 68 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:19.329 God's people included, because of sin, God would provide a salvation that would 69 00:07:19.370 --> 00:07:26.490 take away their sin, that would give them new hearts of obedient he would 70 00:07:26.610 --> 00:07:36.639 do. But this is what likes out it's focus build upon the nation and 71 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:45.310 judgment, but also hope in the future for all trust to listen again. 72 00:07:46.350 --> 00:07:49.589 But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I wait for 73 00:07:49.750 --> 00:07:57.949 the God of my salvation, my God, you'll hear. That's that Gospel. 74 00:07:58.699 --> 00:08:03.819 Nope, that good health, that note of both this passage, of 75 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:09.779 the whole book and the Bible as a whole, this note of promise, 76 00:08:09.019 --> 00:08:15.250 this note of hope. Mica, as the Prophet of the Lord, speaking 77 00:08:15.569 --> 00:08:20.050 of God's will for the people, for all the world, is not does 78 00:08:20.129 --> 00:08:26.050 not tiptoe and walk around, walk on eggshells when it comes to preaching judgment, 79 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:33.720 to preaching the terrifying wrath of God that comes from sin, but he 80 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:39.960 also is not quiet and careful in promising the good news who's of God, 81 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:46.870 the hope of salvation for all who relying on him. And so, as 82 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:50.470 we come and we look at the these final verses in Mike a seven, 83 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:56.139 I want to focus on these first, these seven verses, in three brief 84 00:08:56.179 --> 00:09:05.779 sections. First, and accepted verdict that they are understanding and accepting in the 85 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:09.850 way that it is spoken here got, or I should put this way, 86 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:16.889 God gives voice to what accepting the verdict sounds like, the way the faithful 87 00:09:18.009 --> 00:09:24.519 of the Lord expressed themselves, the way also the faithful anticipate judgment. That's 88 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.399 number two, and then, finally, the confident attitude of the saints. 89 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:37.519 So first we have an accepted verdict in versus one through four. This great 90 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:43.950 court room seen this coming to an end in this book, and this is 91 00:09:43.990 --> 00:09:54.100 the conclusion. Whoe is me, Whoa it was me? Why? For 92 00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:58.259 I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered and the Grapes of 93 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:01.220 them gathered. There is no cluster to eat, no first right thig that 94 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:09.049 my soul desires. What does this mean? It's described in verse two. 95 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:13.289 The godly have perished from the Earth. There's there's nothing left. There's no 96 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:18.970 righteousness, no fruit, no holiness left in the people, particularly in the 97 00:10:18.049 --> 00:10:24.039 leadership of Israel. They all lie in wait for blood. Each hunts the 98 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:28.919 other with a neck. This is with a net, total breakdown of the 99 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:35.080 community right, everyone at each other's throats. Verse three, their hands are 100 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:37.669 on what is evil. To do it? Well, the Prince and the 101 00:10:37.789 --> 00:10:43.549 judge asked for a bribe and the great man utters the evil desire of his 102 00:10:43.629 --> 00:10:48.830 soul. They weave it together. This net that they are using to entrap 103 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:58.460 one another is woven together with evil desires, evil plans, intentionality. Verse 104 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:05.610 Four describes these princes and judges, these rulers, that have been condemned so 105 00:11:05.809 --> 00:11:11.169 frequently throughout Mica, and says the best of them is like a briar. 106 00:11:11.009 --> 00:11:18.490 Your best hope for judgment, one commentator put it, is obstruction. Right, 107 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.600 maybe, just maybe, he won't take a bribe from your enemy and 108 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:28.759 you'll just meet a wall of resistance. That's your best case scenario, right. 109 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:33.830 The best case scenario is that you will meet a thorny hedge of judgment 110 00:11:33.870 --> 00:11:43.990 and not someone outright attacking you. A terrible, terrible a situation these a 111 00:11:43.190 --> 00:11:48.620 men, who were called to lead Israel according to God's word, who are 112 00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:54.019 called to shepherd the people, to protect them, to judge well, have 113 00:11:54.460 --> 00:12:00.340 failed, and this is why God promises to provide for them a shepherd king 114 00:12:00.379 --> 00:12:03.769 in the future, who is, of course, our Lord, Jesus. 115 00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:07.049 This is as will get this to this in a few in a week or 116 00:12:07.090 --> 00:12:13.889 two. In Verse Fourteen, we have this prayer to God, Shepherd your 117 00:12:13.049 --> 00:12:20.720 people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance. In seeing the failure 118 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:26.240 of mankind to do the things of the Lord, the faithful of God look 119 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:37.029 up to the Lord instead of laying down in in desperation and simply giving up 120 00:12:37.629 --> 00:12:41.309 on they look to the Lord if they wait on the God of our salvation, 121 00:12:43.190 --> 00:12:46.299 for he will hear me. We pray to him, we seek him. 122 00:12:48.299 --> 00:12:56.500 This verdict that we have in verses one through for a is of course, 123 00:12:56.779 --> 00:13:01.610 on the people of Israel here at this time, but it's also the 124 00:13:01.690 --> 00:13:07.649 verdict that all mankind receives that come under the Law of God. If you 125 00:13:07.809 --> 00:13:11.330 turn with me to Romans Eight, or I'm sorry, Romans, I'd like 126 00:13:11.370 --> 00:13:18.159 to show you a few verses that show that this is the case. One 127 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:24.440 of God's purposes of doing this thing in Israel was to teach them and the 128 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:30.509 whole world, Jew and gentile alike, the under the law, when we 129 00:13:30.629 --> 00:13:37.549 are only under the law, we face nothing but God's curse because we can 130 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:43.460 produce nothing but disobedience. Israel, that, we might say, is a 131 00:13:43.539 --> 00:13:50.500 little microcosm, a little world that is descriptive of the whole world. What 132 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:54.980 they're facing here, this verdict that they're accepting, is a verdict that all 133 00:13:54.220 --> 00:14:01.570 mankind is required to accept under as those under the law of God. Listen 134 00:14:01.649 --> 00:14:09.690 to Romans one, verse eighteen, for the wrath of God is revealed from 135 00:14:09.730 --> 00:14:16.879 Heaven Against All Ungodliness and done righteousness of men who buy their unrighteousness suppress the 136 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:24.350 truth. Look at chapter two, versus one through five. Therefore, you 137 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:28.629 have no excuse, Oh man, every one of you who judges, for 138 00:14:28.710 --> 00:14:33.950 in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, 139 00:14:35.429 --> 00:14:41.500 practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls 140 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:46.259 on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, Oh man, you 141 00:14:46.419 --> 00:14:50.659 who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you 142 00:14:50.860 --> 00:14:56.330 will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of 143 00:14:56.409 --> 00:15:01.850 his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to 144 00:15:01.929 --> 00:15:07.080 lead you to repentance. But because of your heart and Im pennant and heart, 145 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:13.480 you are storing up wrath for yourself. On the day of Wrath, 146 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:20.679 when God's righteous judgment will be revealed, you can say, he says, 147 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:24.110 you all know how to judge. You're really, really good at it, 148 00:15:24.870 --> 00:15:28.110 because you constantly are saying that's wrong, that's right, that's wrong, that's 149 00:15:28.149 --> 00:15:31.909 right, that's not fair, that's fair. And if you are capable of 150 00:15:31.990 --> 00:15:37.620 passing judgment, who do the very same things you pass judgment on? Do 151 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:41.659 you think you will escape the judgment of God? Well, I think I 152 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:46.460 will, because God has been so patient. God hasn't judged me yet. 153 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:56.210 That's meant to lead you to repentance. If you stay in this hard and 154 00:15:56.289 --> 00:16:03.970 and penitent heart, you are storing up wrath. Go to verse or sorry, 155 00:16:03.009 --> 00:16:12.480 Chapter Three, verse nine, again more proof that we are all, 156 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:22.590 not just Israel, all righteously condemned under the law. What then, after 157 00:16:22.710 --> 00:16:26.190 speaking of the gentiles, what then, are we Jews any better off? 158 00:16:26.710 --> 00:16:33.179 No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both 159 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:40.500 Jews and Greeks, are under sin. As it is written. No, 160 00:16:41.019 --> 00:16:45.139 none is righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one 161 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:49.210 seeks after God. All have turned aside together, they have become worthless. 162 00:16:49.490 --> 00:16:53.610 No one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave. 163 00:16:53.769 --> 00:16:57.490 They use their tongues to deceive. The Venom of ASPS is under their 164 00:16:57.610 --> 00:17:03.000 lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness, their feet are swift 165 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:07.400 to shed blood and their paths are ruined and misery and the way of peace 166 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.359 they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. 167 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:17.470 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are 168 00:17:17.470 --> 00:17:23.069 under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may 169 00:17:23.150 --> 00:17:30.980 be held accountable to God. So this accepted verdict, as we have it 170 00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:34.940 in Mica Chapter Seven, is not something that we can just sort of, 171 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:38.660 you know, look at binoculars from the disc from a distance and say, 172 00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:45.410 Oh, Israel, glad you're finally coming around to see God's righteous verdict in 173 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:51.170 your lives, to see that you are coming under the condemnation of the law. 174 00:17:52.329 --> 00:17:55.529 Good for you. I'm going to go have a great day. Right. 175 00:17:55.650 --> 00:17:59.720 This is meant to teach us. It's meant for us to feel the 176 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:07.519 weight of the law. Just recognize our own sins in their sins, so 177 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:11.119 that we might come to the second thing that we see in Mica seven, 178 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:18.750 which is an anticipated judgment. First, if we accept the verdict, then 179 00:18:18.789 --> 00:18:26.390 we rightfully anticipate this judgment beginning and for be going back to mica seven. 180 00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:32.019 The day of your watchman, of your punishment, has come. Now their 181 00:18:32.059 --> 00:18:40.539 confusion is at hand, as Israel is overtaken by her enemies, as the 182 00:18:40.660 --> 00:18:47.450 city of Jerusalem comes under this cloud of war and destruction, what we see 183 00:18:47.650 --> 00:18:52.410 is that, in the judgment of God, even the closest and most intimate 184 00:18:52.569 --> 00:19:02.119 and trustworthy of relationships fall apart. Don't trust your neighbor when the Lord's judgment 185 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:07.359 comes, when these armies come in and destroy the city and all is thrown 186 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:11.029 into confusion. Don't trust your neighbor, have no confidence in a friend. 187 00:19:11.509 --> 00:19:18.869 Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms. Don't 188 00:19:18.910 --> 00:19:25.579 trust your own wife, for the son even treats his father with contempt. 189 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:30.259 A daughter rises up against her mother, Daughterin law against Motherin Law. A 190 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:34.700 man's enemies are the men of his own house. The Day of judgment, 191 00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:47.730 there will be nowhere to turn. All is falling apart, this coming judgment, 192 00:19:48.730 --> 00:19:52.640 this coming wrath of God. We've already read about it in some of 193 00:19:52.680 --> 00:20:02.000 these verses, but let's look at some more, I'm again. Let's let 194 00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:07.430 actually let's go to a GLACIAN's three ten. As we come here, remember 195 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:12.670 the point that, as we see Israel coming under judgment for sin, I'm 196 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:19.150 God is promising that all who are disobedient to the law also come under judgment. 197 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:33.619 glacians three, the verse ten, for all who rely on the works 198 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:40.250 of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed be 199 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:44.849 everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law 200 00:20:45.289 --> 00:20:48.170 and do them. You see what he's saying? He's saying if you stand 201 00:20:48.569 --> 00:20:55.880 before God and you say judge me based on my works, you're condemned. 202 00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:04.869 Why? Because you didn't do the work right. If you if and and 203 00:21:04.990 --> 00:21:11.589 perfection is the standard, all who rely on the works are under the curse 204 00:21:11.670 --> 00:21:14.230 of the law. We tell God. If we go before God and we 205 00:21:14.309 --> 00:21:19.220 say judge me by the law, we find ourselves under the curse. If 206 00:21:19.299 --> 00:21:26.740 you flip a few more pages over to the book of Collossians, Colossians Three, 207 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:36.130 verses five through six, or yeah, five through six. Put to 208 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:41.690 death. Therefore, what is earthly in you? Sexual immorality, impurity, 209 00:21:41.930 --> 00:21:45.890 passion, evil, desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of 210 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:53.599 these, the wrath of God is coming, Paul says in Romans, those 211 00:21:53.640 --> 00:22:00.990 who obey unrighteousness, those who live by that unrighteous principle, there will be 212 00:22:02.309 --> 00:22:08.829 wrath and fury. Mark Forty Eight. Jesus says of Hell that it is 213 00:22:08.869 --> 00:22:14.630 a place where their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched. 214 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:26.579 This terrible, dreadful, terrifying state in which the Israel will find themselves in 215 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:33.410 is only a prelude, only the the warm up notes for the kind of 216 00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:41.009 judgment that will come when Jesus returns and God sets all things right, when 217 00:22:41.130 --> 00:22:47.640 God judges all perfectly and he looks at the evils of the world, the 218 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:53.359 the the bribery, the covetousness, the idolatry, the sexual immorality, and 219 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:57.559 he says no more, just like with the flood, with Noah, just 220 00:22:57.710 --> 00:23:03.349 like Sodom and Gomorrah at the end of days God will say no more, 221 00:23:03.349 --> 00:23:10.750 and that time it won't be a small, localized a place in time and 222 00:23:10.869 --> 00:23:15.259 in space, but it will be the what we call the final judgment. 223 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:25.660 In Mike a seven we get a taste of that. We are awakened to 224 00:23:25.980 --> 00:23:33.970 this reality. We are reminded that when we accept the verdict of the Lord, 225 00:23:33.049 --> 00:23:45.359 we also must anticipate the judgment of the Lord. But we must never 226 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:52.359 forget the confidence that those who belong to the Lord can have in him. 227 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:59.990 And this brings us to the confident attitude of the faithful in verse seven. 228 00:24:02.029 --> 00:24:06.269 But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait 229 00:24:06.430 --> 00:24:11.619 for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. What is 230 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:18.619 this confidence based in? If one accepts the judgment or the verdict and anticipates 231 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:25.970 the judgment, on what basis can a person then say, I will look 232 00:24:26.009 --> 00:24:33.170 to the Lord on the base is of his promises? It's the same basis 233 00:24:33.289 --> 00:24:37.450 actually. In the first part one is saying, I believe what God has 234 00:24:37.490 --> 00:24:41.799 said, that all who rely on the works of the law come under the 235 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:48.519 curse. But verse seven, in the same way, says I believe what 236 00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:53.589 God has said that all who turned to him for forgiveness, will be saved 237 00:24:55.630 --> 00:25:00.470 and the curse will be removed from them and they will have life. He 238 00:25:02.430 --> 00:25:07.460 is the God of our salvation, right. He is a rescuer. He 239 00:25:07.099 --> 00:25:14.500 takes us out of this place of curse and wrath and unquenchable fire and misery 240 00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:26.650 and rescues us. My God will hear me. So let's turn again to 241 00:25:26.730 --> 00:25:32.690 Romans, and here are a few more verses. Where does this confidence come 242 00:25:32.849 --> 00:25:38.359 from? How is it expressed? Their first Romans, Chapter Three, Verses 243 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:48.839 Twenty One through twenty six. But now the UNRUS. Sorry, but now 244 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.230 the righteousness of God. Right, that's what we need, obedience to the 245 00:25:52.309 --> 00:25:57.869 law. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, 246 00:25:57.910 --> 00:26:04.859 although the law and the prophets, Micah, for example, bear witness 247 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:11.579 to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who 248 00:26:11.700 --> 00:26:17.900 believe, for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fallen short 249 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:22.009 of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, 250 00:26:22.690 --> 00:26:27.730 through the redemption that is in Christ, Jesus, whom God put forward as 251 00:26:27.849 --> 00:26:33.920 propropitiation by his blood to bree who received by faith. This was to show 252 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:40.799 God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he passed over former sins. It 253 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:45.160 was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be 254 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:52.069 just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. You see 255 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:56.630 what Paul is saying? He says that our salvation happens because the righteousness that 256 00:26:56.710 --> 00:27:03.339 we so desperately need has been given to us as a gift, not based 257 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:12.019 on our works, but apart from the law. It's given to us and 258 00:27:12.220 --> 00:27:18.170 because we accept it freely, because we accept it by faith, we aren't 259 00:27:18.210 --> 00:27:22.930 relying on the works anymore and we're not under a curse, but instead we 260 00:27:22.009 --> 00:27:33.160 simply he receive this blessing, namely Redemption Jesus Christ, who turns aside the 261 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:40.160 wrath of God through his blood. This is the salvation that God gives, 262 00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:45.349 this is the shepherd that God has promised to this is the king that we 263 00:27:45.430 --> 00:27:51.029 have all been waiting for, that the world has been waiting for, so 264 00:27:51.230 --> 00:27:55.390 that, just as all were condemned, both Jew and gentile, now all 265 00:27:55.589 --> 00:28:02.180 have the opportunity for life, both Jew and gentile. This is how Micah 266 00:28:02.339 --> 00:28:07.980 seven is such a good news, is such a gospel message, not just 267 00:28:08.180 --> 00:28:15.410 to Israel but to the whole world, little more from Romans, Romans five 268 00:28:15.609 --> 00:28:19.009 one through six, some of the implications of this. Romans five one through 269 00:28:19.089 --> 00:28:23.210 six. Therefore, since we have been just a bid justified by faith, 270 00:28:23.769 --> 00:28:30.440 we have peace with God through faith or through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through 271 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:36.519 him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we 272 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.990 stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only 273 00:28:41.109 --> 00:28:47.390 that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 274 00:28:47.670 --> 00:28:52.309 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put 275 00:28:52.349 --> 00:28:57.220 us to shame or yes, Ban hope does not put us to shame, 276 00:28:57.339 --> 00:29:03.380 because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has 277 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:08.779 been given to us. This is how you can have confidence even as your 278 00:29:08.940 --> 00:29:19.569 city, Jerusalem, is being ransacked around you suffering. But it's moment god, 279 00:29:21.250 --> 00:29:25.640 though, using it as a judgment for sin and to demonstrate these things 280 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:30.880 for those who trust in him and his promises to Abraham and Isaac and David, 281 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:36.400 ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. For those who trust in those promises, in 282 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:42.069 that promise, in that coming King, there is suffering that produces endurance, 283 00:29:42.869 --> 00:29:49.910 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. So you can be like 284 00:29:51.029 --> 00:29:56.980 a Daniel who suffered and was weak and was carried off into battle on even 285 00:29:57.740 --> 00:30:02.980 and yet kept his hope and his confidence in God. Why? Because of 286 00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:07.890 his because of God's promises to him, because God's love has been poured in, 287 00:30:07.130 --> 00:30:11.049 was poured into Daniel's heart, just as its been poured into your heart. 288 00:30:11.049 --> 00:30:22.480 Romans a one through four, just as Romans five says that we have 289 00:30:22.599 --> 00:30:29.640 peace with God, Romans they says there is therefore now no condemnation for those 290 00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:34.559 who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life has 291 00:30:36.150 --> 00:30:40.630 us set you free in Christ Jesus from the Law of sin and death. 292 00:30:41.869 --> 00:30:45.269 For God has done what the law we can by the flesh could not do 293 00:30:47.589 --> 00:30:51.299 by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. 294 00:30:51.779 --> 00:30:56.140 He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law 295 00:30:56.180 --> 00:31:02.460 might be fulfilled in US, who walk not according to the flesh but according 296 00:31:03.259 --> 00:31:08.769 to the spirit. Flip over to the last few verses of this chapter, 297 00:31:08.849 --> 00:31:14.890 Verse Thirty One, Verse Thirty One of Chapter Eight. What, then, 298 00:31:14.970 --> 00:31:22.759 shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can 299 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:26.759 be against us? Or if I'm going to insert here Mike a seven, 300 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:30.039 verse seven? But as for me, I will look to the Lord. 301 00:31:30.119 --> 00:31:33.190 I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me. 302 00:31:33.990 --> 00:31:37.549 Right back to Romans. If God is for us, who can be 303 00:31:37.670 --> 00:31:42.269 against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him 304 00:31:42.269 --> 00:31:47.109 up for us all, how will he not also, with him graciously give 305 00:31:47.140 --> 00:31:51.539 us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God? A Let, 306 00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:56.339 God's elect. It's God who justifies. WHO IS TO CONDEMN CHRIST? Jesus, 307 00:31:56.380 --> 00:32:00.259 is the one who died. More than that, who is raised, 308 00:32:00.700 --> 00:32:05.529 who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us? 309 00:32:06.289 --> 00:32:12.410 WHO shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress 310 00:32:12.930 --> 00:32:19.720 or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword pause? All those things 311 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:24.160 were about to come upon Jerusalem, right? Shall those things separate the faithful 312 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:30.269 from the love of God? No, because condemnation is already passed for them 313 00:32:30.829 --> 00:32:35.710 through faith. Verse Thirty Six, as it is written. For Your Sake, 314 00:32:35.789 --> 00:32:37.430 we are being killed all the day long, and we are regarded as 315 00:32:37.509 --> 00:32:42.789 sheep to be slaughtered. Thirty seven. No, in all these things, 316 00:32:42.990 --> 00:32:46.700 we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure 317 00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:52.339 that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things 318 00:32:52.380 --> 00:32:55.380 present, nor things to come or powers, nor height nor depth, nor 319 00:32:55.579 --> 00:33:00.009 anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love 320 00:33:00.049 --> 00:33:07.650 of God. In Christ Jesus, Our Lord, Praise God, and that 321 00:33:07.930 --> 00:33:15.160 is exact actually what the prophet, Mica and all of God's people do. 322 00:33:15.319 --> 00:33:19.920 That's what Mica does, as you we continue on and will come to this 323 00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:25.119 in the coming weeks, and in chapter seven he comes from. He expresses 324 00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:31.109 this acceptance of the verdict and the judgment, but yet confidence in the promises 325 00:33:31.150 --> 00:33:37.950 of God that we've been reading about, as they're fulfilled in Christ and Romans. 326 00:33:37.710 --> 00:33:43.019 This ends up in an expression of prayer and, finally, praise. 327 00:33:43.579 --> 00:33:50.259 Let's finish this word from the Lord by Reading Verses Eighteen through twenty and micah 328 00:33:50.339 --> 00:34:00.529 seven, who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression 329 00:34:01.049 --> 00:34:06.970 for the remnants of his inheritance. He does not retain his anger forever, 330 00:34:07.170 --> 00:34:14.360 because he delights insteadfast love, he will again have compassion on us. He 331 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:20.079 will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths 332 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:24.670 of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, 333 00:34:24.789 --> 00:34:31.869 as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old. Right 334 00:34:31.909 --> 00:34:37.900 after that passage in Romans three of Romans or or Paul Talks about the righteousness 335 00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:44.219 of God that we received as the righteousness of God that Abraham received by the 336 00:34:44.340 --> 00:34:52.730 same thing faith. Point is this, this joy and confidence and faith in 337 00:34:52.849 --> 00:35:00.730 the Lord, even in light of coming judgment that Mica has, the faithful 338 00:35:00.730 --> 00:35:07.320 in Israel has, is exactly the same confidence and hope and joy that we 339 00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:12.159 have in the Lord in the coming judgment of God on all the Earth. 340 00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:17.960 We have hope, not fear. We rejoice even in our sufferings, even 341 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:22.710 under persecution, even in famine and distress and all of these things, because 342 00:35:22.789 --> 00:35:30.909 nothing can separate us from the love of God. It's my prayer for you. 343 00:35:31.469 --> 00:35:37.099 You know these things and you know them very well. If you don't 344 00:35:37.019 --> 00:35:45.139 spend time in these passages, spend time reflecting on what those promises to Abraham 345 00:35:45.219 --> 00:35:52.809 and Isaac were, how they're fulfilled and Israel, how they're fulfilled in Jesus. 346 00:35:54.090 --> 00:36:00.050 Know Him. You will be perfectly, perfectly safe. Let's pray.