Micah - The Message of the Deliverer
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1 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it. 2 Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. 4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 5 For all people walk each in the name of his god, But we will walk in the name of the Lord our God Forever and ever.
Introduction:
Before I get into the body of this message of Micah, I would like to reference something that he says here and bring it into our contemporary setting.
The prophet says something that is quite profound in verses two and three, that really only make sense from our Christian perspective, and in fact, once we see it, everything else falls into place.
What he says is that - The law and the Word are one.
2… For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; …
In our polarized culture, we find that the poles are drifting further apart even within the Christian sphere.
On the one hand, we see the religionist: confidently and even ignorantly following the law for their own righteousness.
Convinced that their own works must be maintained for God’s favor, they continue to elevate those that outwardly conform and destroy with verbal assaults, those that don’t.
They are at the root, legalists.
In my estimation, they will be those that stand before Christ and say…
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
We know, do we not, the answer of the Master?
“Depart from me you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you.”
On the other hand, we see the love people, who believe that love knows no law.
Convinced that God’s love is such as that which never requires sacrifice or self reflection.
A love that extends to all people and requires only a confession of the person of Jesus, but does not require admittance and confession of sin.
A relationship where one can continue in sin that grace may abound!
But, neither of these poles are correct, for the reality of the God man, exists in His statement in the sermon on the mount, reflected in the two verses of Micah:
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
We see then that what Jesus was saying, was that every aspect of the law, every command, every prohibition, as well as, every prophetic utterance of the coming of the Lord, was all fulfilled, not in a system of practical does and don’ts, but in a union with Him; whereby every action carried out by the one in Him, is fine tuned by the Word (Christ Himself) and everything He represents; essentially, the entire word of God!
In short then, we are bound to everything written because we are bound to Him.
Let me say that again - we are bound to everything written because we are bound to Him.
So let us now get into this message.
I. The promise of peace.
I. The promise of peace.
3 … They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
There have been those throughout the church age that sought to bring this prophesy to fruition, but alas thy never will.
As is the way of God with salvation, so are His promises to His people.
He will do the work!
Certain groups such as the Society of Friends (Quakers) as well as Anabaptists, have embraced a pacifist way of life, taking their inspiration from this verse in Micah.
Today, many Christian organizations and individuals are involved in social justice movements, working to address issues of poverty, inequality, and injustice, viewing these efforts as part of their responsibility to bring about a more just and peaceful world, echoing Micah's message.
These are all well and fine indeed, and though we strive as God’s people to bring about the relief of the poor, and seek justice always, we are not fooled one moment that we will usher in this prophesy.
For, this prophesy alone belongs to the “Lord of Peace” (2 Thes. 3:16).
You and I may grow tired and at times feel like the enemy is winning, but He will never win.
His instruments of war and evil leaders, will never triumph over the two edged sword that proceeds from the mouth of Lion of the tribe of Judah.
For when the time that is appointed comes, He will come upon a white horse conquering and will put all enemies under His footstool.
We may suffer now.
We may be wearied now.
We may even be killed now.
But, there is a day coming when there will be true peace for the people of God.
II. The promise of Rest.
II. The promise of Rest.
4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 5 For all people walk each in the name of his god, But we will walk in the name of the Lord our God Forever and ever.
I believe the greatest gift of rest comes to us from the mouth of Jesus.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
What a beautiful scripture!
So many striving to live good lives.
So many striving to be perfect.
So many beaten down by their own inability and sin.
So many guilt ridden souls that realize their is no way of rest.
So Jesus says, stop!
And come to me!
I will give you rest.
I find the problem amongst Christians today, is that they thought Jesus was talking about physical rest.
A rest that soothes the mind and body from the drudgery of living in such a world as ours.
A rest that is the cry of people like Joel Osteen.
That is a false rest.
Jesus provides what we need in Him to sustain us so that we can serve Him and live for Him.
The battle between good and evil continues and we have been called into it.
We must go forth a good soldiers of Christ.
We lay our treasures, our families, our reputations, and even our lives, on the line for this service.
Dominic used this scripture last week and it is most appropriate here.
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
You see, we are fighting and striving against the forces of evil, but only now, for there is coming a day when we will rest.
7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
III. The promise of the Savior.
III. The promise of the Savior.
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” 3 Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel. 4 And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth; 5 And this One shall be peace...
Though the time of His coming would not be for another 730 years, the promise of God is still given and still expected to be believed.
It is the same with us today, that we are waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ as promised, but must wait longer that we are sometimes able.
Yet, when He comes He comes in fulfillment of all prophetic scripture, just as He did the first time over two thousand years ago.
But, there are many who say, when is He coming?
They’ve been saying this for two thousand years!
What proof do you give us?
I believe Jesus Himself already gave the answer to this misguided question.
4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.
You and I know clearly that the sign of Jonah is that Jesus was buried in the heart of the earth and rose three days later.
My friends, we are the miracle!
As He rose from the dead to give us everlasting life, everyone that trusts in Him has been supernaturally changed into a new creation.
We are born anew!
And the evidence of that new birth abides within all of us, and as we let that light so shine, men, unsaved men, see it and realize that something is going on.
They see the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through the believer.
That’s why Jesus said let it shine!
And what shines, is the good works.
Conclusion:
All these wonderful scriptures from the Bible!
All these promises and prophecies given!
All fulfilled in one person, the God man, The Lord Jesus Christ!
I’m going to ask you - have you trusted Jesus alone for eternal life and are you following Him?
For if you say I’m trusting Him but not following, then you are not trusting Him.
To trust is to follow, because He alone is the way the truth and the life.
And, if you are following Him, what does this new venture look like?
Are yoy giving Him your all?
