Well, good morning, church.
Would you turn with me to Micah chapter 4?
That's page 730 in the Pew Bible.
We will be looking at verses 1 through 8 of Micah chapter 4 today.
As you turn there, let me pray for us, and then I'll read our text.
Father, what a great promise it is that Christ is ours forevermore,
that you have given your own self to us in your Son
and promised to hold us until the end.
Father, as we come to your word now, we pray that this great hope,
this great promise would again become real to our hearts
as we hear this message from Micah about the hope that you have laid up for us
and that you have accomplished for us according to your good plan and purpose.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, Micah 4, verses 1 through 8.
It shall come to pass in the later days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established
as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills.
And people shall flow to it, and many nations shall come and say,
Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways, and they may walk in his paths.
For out of Zion shall go forth the law
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples
and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away.
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nations shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
But they shall sit, every man,
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.
For all the peoples walk, each in the name of its God,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
And that day, declares the Lord,
I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted.
And the lame I will make the remnant
and those who are cast off a strong nation.
And the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.
And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you it shall come.
The former dominion shall come.
Kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
So Micah.
Micah's writing and ministering
in a time of great crisis.
In a time of great difficulty.
If you remember back in chapter 1, verse 1,
we're told that the word of the Lord came to Micah
during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
That's the late 8th century B.C.
And it was a time of massive upheaval in ancient Israel.
In fact, some Old Testament scholars think
that this particular passage,
this message from Micah chapter 4,
was perhaps first given around 701 B.C.,
which was when Assyria,
the great sort of superpower of the day,
had invaded Judah during the reign of Hezekiah.
And in that invasion,
most of the country,
politically and economically,
had been devastated.
But if you remember,
the literary context of this passage,
in particular chapter 3
that we looked at last week
that leads up to it,
talks about the failure
and the selfishness
of Israel's own leaders.
And it speaks of the coming judgment
that will make Jerusalem,
or Zion,
which is another name for Jerusalem,
that coming judgment
would make Jerusalem
a heap of ruins.
Jerusalem would be plowed like a field.
So chapter 4 is a message
given to people,
not just in political or economic turmoil,
but in spiritual turmoil,
in spiritual crisis.
Their leaders had failed them,
and God's judgment was coming.
The whole people of God
seemed to be on the verge of collapse
under the weight of sin.
I wonder,
how do you feel
in times of crisis?
How do you react?
Not just in political
or economic crisis,
but more importantly,
in times of spiritual crisis.
How do you respond?
How do you react
when you learn that
perhaps a well-known pastor
or author
has failed morally?
How do you feel?
How do you react
when you see
more covetousness
and greed
in professing Christians
than generosity
and grace?
How do you react
when you discover
that perhaps
some of the things
you've been taught
aren't actually
what God's Word says,
but the twisting
of God's Word
by selfish
and self-centered teachers?
Micah was confronting
all of those things
in his day,
and so do we.
And Micah has been
pointing these things out
in the first three chapters,
calling for lament,
for grief and sorrow
over these things,
and he's been calling
for repentance,
for confession
and turning away from sin.
For the past few weeks,
we've been considering
these messages
of judgment,
of lamentation,
this call to repentance.
repentance.
But how do we go on?
Sometimes when the
spiritual crisis
is so great,
we just want to give up.
We think,
if that's what it means
to follow God,
if that's the cost,
if that's the pain,
I don't want anything
to do with it.
The whole thing
is hopeless.
hopeless.
And so,
into this crisis,
God,
through Micah,
speaks not just
a message of judgment,
but also a message
of hope.
And part of what
these messages of hope
are meant to do
is to encourage
our perseverance.
They're written
to people in crisis,
in turmoil,
encouraging us
to hold on,
to press on,
even in the midst
of the most difficult times.
And we see that
this very thing
is pointed to
in verse 5.
In verse 5
of our passage,
we see perhaps
the main application
that Micah wants
to impart
to his listeners.
He says to a people
in the midst
of spiritual crisis,
in the midst
of this upheaval,
he says,
look,
all the people's walk,
each in the name
of its God.
But knowing what we know,
even in the midst
of this turmoil
and difficulty,
we will walk.
Walk in the name
of the Lord,
our God,
forever and ever.
Why?
Why keep walking
in the name of the Lord,
even when politically,
economically,
and spiritually,
everything is crumbling?
Well,
because as our passage says,
there's hope.
Because God has a future plan
to establish his kingdom,
and that plan
will not fail.
He has spoken,
and so it shall be.
So let's look at the message
of hope in this passage
and consider how it encourages us
to persevere,
to keep walking
in the name of the Lord,
even in difficult times.
First,
Micah says,
keep walking
in the name
of the Lord,
because one day
God will draw
all nations
to himself.
Keep walking
in the name
of the Lord,
church,
because one day
God will draw
all nations
to himself.
We see this
in verses 1 and 2.
First in verse 1,
Micah says,
it shall come to pass
in the latter days
that the mountain
of the house
of the Lord
shall be established
as the highest
of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up
above the hills.
Now, obviously,
Micah's point here
isn't ultimately
about elevation,
right?
It's about exaltation.
He's saying that
the God of the Bible,
the God of Israel,
the Lord,
will one day
be exalted
and seen
as the great
and glorious God
that he is,
and all other
so-called gods
will be exposed
as empty idols.
And when God
exalts himself
in this unmistakable way,
then,
Micah goes on to say,
people shall flow
to it.
And many nations
shall come
and say,
come,
let us go up
to the mountain
of the Lord,
to the house
of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us
his ways,
that we may walk
in his paths.
For out of Zion
shall go forth
the law
and the word
of the Lord
from Jerusalem.
So Micah sees here
a future day
when God's word
streams forth
from God's
exalted presence
out to all
the nations,
and then those nations
come streaming in
desiring more
of God's word,
desiring to be taught
his ways,
desiring to walk
in his paths.
Now,
in Micah's day,
the only nations
streaming to Jerusalem
were nations
who wanted nothing
to do with Israel's God.
The only nations
flowing towards Jerusalem
were flowing
with violence
and the machinations
of war.
war.
In fact,
if you read the story
of Assyria's invasion
into Judah
in the 8th century,
the Assyrian armies
mock God
and say he's no better
than all the other gods
they've conquered.
And if you and I
were standing on the wall
of Jerusalem that day
listening to the Assyrian
generals mock the Lord,
seeing the devastation
they had wrought,
seeing the proof
that they had toppled
countries and nations
a lot more mighty
than Judah,
would we too
have thought,
why not just give up?
Why not just join
the winning party?
Haven't our leaders
been terrible to us anyway?
I wonder if it doesn't
feel the same today.
It often feels like
the world wants nothing
to do with the true God.
God seems irrelevant
at best.
But it won't always
be that way.
Micah says,
God will be seen
as great.
And the nations
will stream in.
And they will want
to walk in his ways
because his ways
are good
and they're full of life.
You know,
sometimes people talk
about not wanting
to be on the wrong
side of history,
right?
But Micah is saying,
brothers and sisters,
extend your timeline
long enough.
And there's only one way
to not be on the wrong
side of history.
And it's to walk
in the ways
of the Lord our God.
Of course,
Micah didn't see
this promise fulfilled
in his day.
And we don't necessarily
see this promise
completed in our day
either, do we?
The fullness of this promise
awaits the day
that we read about
in Revelation 21
that Elizabeth read for us
earlier in the service.
When the heavenly Jerusalem
descends,
when God's presence
comes to earth,
and in the new heavens
and new earth,
a countless multitude
from every nation
streams in,
bearing their gifts
and worshiping God.
God's presence
is yet to come.
And we don't see it
But even though
the completion
of this promise
is yet to come,
don't we see it
beginning to take shape?
When Jesus the Messiah
rose from the grave,
and when 40 days later
he ascended
to the right hand
of the Father,
this promise
began to be fulfilled.
Christ ascended
to the heavenly Zion,
and from the Father's
right hand
he poured out
his Spirit
so that the law
might go forth
and be written
on our hearts.
And from the day
of Pentecost
until today
that word
has gone forth
and the nations
have begun
to flow
to God the Father
and to Jesus the Son.
Not in completion,
but the streams
have begun to flow.
That's raw.
Look at us.
Look around.
Count the nationalities
and ethnicities
in this room alone.
And then consider
that this morning
across the entire world
churches gather
in the name of Jesus,
the crucified
and risen Messiah,
to draw near
to God
with confidence
and assurance
in his name.
And what is it
we're saying
as we gather here
and across New Haven
and across Connecticut
and across North America
and across the entire globe?
What is it
all of these nations
are saying,
all of the international church
is saying
as we gather?
Are we not saying,
come,
let us go up
to the mountain
of the Lord,
to the house
of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us
his ways
and that we may walk
in his paths?
So brothers and sisters,
keep walking
in the name of the Lord,
even in difficult times
because one day
God is going to draw
all nations to himself.
And that's the first part
of Micah's message of hope.
The second part is this,
keep walking
in the name of the Lord
because one day
God's justice
will bring global peace
and provision.
Keep walking
in the name of the Lord,
even in difficult days
because one day
God's justice
will bring global peace
and provision.
We see this
in verses 3 and 4.
Micah begins
by speaking
of God's righteousness,
his perfect justice
that will settle
all the disputes
between the nations.
Verse 3,
he shall judge
between many peoples
and shall decide disputes
for strong nations
far away.
Micah foresees a time
when God will settle
every claim
in perfect,
justice.
Imagine a world
where every dispute,
every conflict,
every clashing
of rights,
every deep history
of conflict
and violence,
imagine a world
where all that
has finally been
settled.
And in the wake
of such perfect justice,
Micah says,
there will be no more need
for warfare
and they shall beat
their swords
into plowshares
and their spears
into pruning hooks.
Nations shall not
lift up sword
against nation,
neither shall they learn
war anymore.
If you're familiar
with the book of Isaiah,
who was a contemporary
of Micah,
Isaiah gives
almost an identical
prophecy
in his book as well.
Clearly,
this is something
that God wanted
his people to see
and to know.
Imagine a world,
imagine a world
where all the money
and materials
and imagination
that we human beings
put into engines
of war
and destruction
and security
are turned instead
to cultivation
and not devastation.
We take all that money
and material
and imagination
and we put it
into pursuits
that are about
building up
and not tearing down,
that are about
agriculture
and artistry
and not war
and suffering.
Do we even let ourselves
imagine
such a future?
And what results
from the end,
this ending
of human war
because of the perfect
justice of God?
Verse 4,
they shall sit
every man 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.
The picture here
isn't just that
of prosperity,
although it is that.
You know,
the vine
and the fig tree,
those were images
of abundance,
of flourishing.
But the image
isn't just one
of prosperity.
The image
is also one
of contentment.
Every man
under his vine
and under his fig tree
no longer afraid
that there isn't enough
to go around,
no longer coveting
what someone else has,
no longer plotting
and scheming
how to squeeze
more profits
and more produce
out of less
and less pay.
It's a picture
of living without fear
because God will provide.
We live in a world
where consumption
and competition
are the air
that we breathe.
and so often
even as Christians
because we've been
breathing that air
for so long,
we don't even realize it.
I remember as a kid
when I'd go to visit
my friends' houses,
I remember,
I don't know why
I noticed this
and why I remember this,
but I remember
that each of my friends' houses
had their own
particular smell.
I don't know,
maybe it was just
the food
that they would
normally cook
or the cleaning products
that their parents
would use
or just the age
and materials
of the house,
whatever,
but I'd go into
my friends' houses
and be like,
man,
this house
kind of smells
different.
Am I the only weirdo
who noticed that
growing up?
And I used to think,
why do my friends' houses
smell different,
smell funny,
and mine doesn't?
And then you have
that realization,
ah,
my house must smell too
and I'm just used to it,
right?
I don't notice it.
And you get a little
self-conscious,
you're like,
oh man,
what does my house
smell like?
You know,
but the point is this,
in this passage
in Micah,
the breeze of God's future
is blowing into our present.
There's a wind
from the presence
in the house of God
coming in
to the present.
And that future
is not a future
of fear
and competition
and it's not a future
of greed
and war
but of peace
and contentment
and provision.
And we've grown up
in the house
of consumption
and competition
for so long
that we don't realize
that our house
kind of smells
until we catch
the breeze
of God's future.
And like a fresh wind
full of summer flowers,
it starts to open us up
to new possibilities.
You know,
the early church
felt this wind
on their face.
Listen to Acts 4,
32 through 35.
Now the number
of those who believed
were of one heart
and soul
and no one said
that any of the things
that belonged to him
was his own
but they had everything
in common.
And with great power
the apostles
were giving their testimony
to the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus
and great grace
was upon them all.
There was not
a needy person
among them
for as many
as were owners
of lands or houses
sold them
and brought the proceeds
of what was sold
and laid it
at the apostles' feet
and it was distributed
to each
as any had need.
Do you see
what Luke
is describing here?
As the people
held more
and more tightly
to the resurrection
of Jesus
as they held
more tightly
to the great grace
that they had
and the hope
that they had
and the confidence
that they had
in the resurrection
of Christ
as they held
tightly to that
they found
that they could
suddenly start
to loosen
their grip
on money
and possessions.
They started
to realize
that they weren't
in competition
anymore.
that they had
everything they needed
forever
in the resurrection
of Jesus
and now
they could be
generous
radically so.
Was this
the fulfillment
of Micah's prophecy?
Well again
like we saw
in verses 1 and 2
there is a completion
to Micah's vision
that still awaits us
in the future.
in the new heavens
and new earth
this will be true
without any remainder.
But even though
the completion
awaits the future
the beginning
is here.
When the church
practices
this sort
of radical generosity
in the boldness
and the confidence
of the resurrection
we start
to catch
the wind
that blows
through God's
future
and our house
starts to smell
a little differently.
And Micah's point
is that
this is
where God
is certainly
taking the future.
So don't give up.
In the midst
of difficult times
and times of crisis
times when the church
feels and smells
more like the kingdoms
of this world
rather than the kingdom
of God
don't throw in the towel.
Keep walking
in the name
of the Lord
our God.
Keep pursuing peace.
Jesus said
blessed are the peacemakers.
Keep pursuing peace
because that is
where the future
is going.
Keep pursuing contentment
in the riches
of the resurrection
because that is
where the future
is going.
And don't be afraid.
Keep walking
in the name
of the Lord
because one day
God's justice
will bring
global peace
and provision.
Well finally
then we come
to Micah's third
and last point.
Keep walking
in the name
of the Lord
because one day
God
will restore
the weak
and afflicted.
Keep walking
in the name
of the Lord
even in difficult days
because one day
God will restore
the weak
and the afflicted.
In verses 6-9
you can tell
sort of the voice
of the passage
shifts
doesn't it?
No longer
is it Micah's voice
sort of reporting
what God will do
but here we have
the direct speech
of God.
God speaking
through Micah
in the first person.
Here's a message
that God wants
his people
to hear loud
and clear
coming in his own voice
coming from his own heart.
The future
that God
will surely
bring to pass.
And this future
that God
will surely
bring to pass
won't just mean
the gathering
of the nations
and it won't just mean
global peace
and provision.
All those things
are surely wonderful
and all those things
are surely testimonies
to God's greatness
and glory.
But as Micah's
original listeners
heard all that God
was going to do
with respect
to the nations
there must have been
some who thought
in their hearts
that's what God's
going to do
with the world
that's what God's
going to do
with the nations
but what's coming
what is God
going to do
with us?
What will God
do with me?
What's God's plan
for those
who have suffered
the affliction
of these difficult days?
What's God's plan
for those
who have felt
the betrayal
of failed leaders
of corrupt authorities
of false preachers?
What's God's plan
for those
who have felt
the sting
and conviction
of their own sin
too?
Listen again
to what God
says in his mercy.
In that day
declares the Lord
I will assemble
the lame
and gather
those who have
been driven away.
To those
whom I have
afflicted
and the lame
I will make
a remnant
and those
who were cast off
I will make them
a strong nation
and the Lord
will reign over them
in Mount Zion
from this time
forth and forevermore.
And you
O tower of the flock
hill of the daughter
of Zion
to you
shall it come
the former dominion
shall come
kingship for the daughter
of Jerusalem.
God sees
the affliction
of his people
whether their affliction
comes
because of the sins
of others
or whether their
affliction comes
because of their own sins
or whether their
affliction comes
simply because
we live in a fallen
world.
God sees all of it.
And he says
to those who grieve
and those who limp
and those who
are driven
and feel far away
God says
I will
gather you.
The day will come
when I will wipe
all tears away.
The day will come
when you will be
so close to me
that you will
see my face
and you won't need
the light of a lamp.
You won't even need
the light of the sun
because I'm going
to be your light.
And though you're
weak now
though it feels
like you can barely
walk
one day
you will reign
with me
forever and ever.
what is perhaps
the greatest
stumbling block
in our walk
with the Lord?
What's the thing
that often tempts us
the most to want
to give up
and give in?
Is it not the heavy
weight
of our griefs
and our shame?
Our losses
and our failures.
We feel like
we've suffered
too much
and we feel like
we've sinned
too much
and so we just
lose hope
and walk away.
But God says
I'm going
to gather you.
I'm going to wrap
my arms around you
like a shepherd
lifting the wounded
sheep
and I'm going
to make you
strong.
It's you
he says.
It's the wounded
ones.
It's the humbled
and it's the
humiliated ones.
He says
you're going
to be
my remnant.
That is
he says
what is this
remnant?
He says
you're going
to be the core
you're going
to be the seed
you're going
to be the center
of the new
thing that I do.
you're going
to be like
the planting
that gives
birth to the
new tree.
You see
God's not
looking for the
strong
and God's
not looking
for the polished
and the put
together.
God's looking
for the weak.
God's coming
for the humble.
God's looking
for those
who know
what it's
like to
grieve.
Those
are who
will form
the remnant
the start
of his
renewed
people.
And that's
exactly
what God
did.
God
exiled his
people not
in the 8th
century but
in the 6th
century.
Eventually
Babylon came
and demolished
Jerusalem too
and carried
them off.
But then
in that
humbled and
humiliated
people,
that people
full of
shame and
grief,
he brought
a remnant
back.
They weren't
much.
In fact,
the temple
that they
rebuilt,
some people
remembered the
old temple
so they
wept because
it seemed
so insignificant
compared to
the former
one.
And they
struggled for
hundreds of
years just
to survive
as the
Persians
and then
the Greeks
and then
the Romans
as empire
after empire
continued to
oppress them
and to
shame them.
But then
at last
it came.
It came.
Just like
verse 8
of Micah 4
had said,
to you
shall it
come,
the former
dominion
shall come,
kingship for
the daughter
of Jerusalem.
At long
last the
kingdom arrived.
God's king
was born.
But this
king wasn't
what they
expected.
He wasn't
strong and
proud.
He was a
man of
sorrows
acquainted with
grief.
He was
humble and
came not to
be served
but to
serve and
to give his
life as a
ransom for
many.
You see,
friends,
this is how
much God
loves the
weak and
the humble
and the
broken.
In order
to rescue
his weak
people,
he became
weak.
In order
to redeem
his humiliated
people,
he humbled
himself.
In order
to save
his broken
people,
he was
broken.
And the
greatest mystery
of all,
in order
to save
his sinful
people,
Jesus
Christ
became sin
on the
cross.
Friend,
are you
weak and
filled with
sorrow today?
Has the
weight been
so heavy
that you've
considered just
giving up and
just walking
away?
Before you
do,
look again
upon the
God who
loves you.
And who
walked every
sorrow for
you and
even bore
the weight
of every
sin so
that in
your sorrows
you might
never be
alone.
So that in
your sorrows
you might
actually become
more like
him and
so that your
sorrows might
one day be
swallowed up in
victory and
he might wipe
every tear from
your eye.
Don't give
up.
Trust in
him.
And if you
placed your
faith in
him,
then keep
walking in
the name
of Jesus
our Lord.
He will
carry you
when you
feel like
you can't
take another
step.
He will
make you
strong even
when you
feel weak.
So this
is Micah's
message of
perseverance
and hope.
Hope,
not in
ourselves,
but in
God.
And hope
in God's
kingdom that
will gather
the nations
and establish
peace and
even strengthen
the weary.
glory.
And we
can know
that this
kingdom has
already begun.
It's already
begun because
the King,
the Lord
Jesus,
has come.
He came
the first
time to
live,
die,
and rise
again,
and he
will come
a second
time to
judge and
reign forever.
And on
that day,
when he
comes again,
all these
promises will
be fulfilled.
Fulfilled
not in
part,
but in
whole.
And all
these echoes
that we feel
and that we
experience now
will come
to their
fullness and
their
consummation
and their
fruition.
And Micah
tells us to
set our
eyes on
that day.
Keep that
day in
your sights.
Keep that
hope alive
in your
hearts.
And keep
walking in
the name of
the Lord
our God,
in the name
of Jesus,
in whom all
God's promises
are yes
and amen.
Let's pray
together.
Father,
we've
considered
the words
that you
spoke
through
Micah
so long
ago.
Now we
ask that
by your
spirit you
would work
this endurance
and hope
into our
hearts
through these
words.
Make the
hope of
the gospel,
the hope
of Christ
Jesus
crucified,
risen and
coming again,
the hope
of the new
heavens and
the new
earth.
Make this
hope real
to our
hearts,
spirit.
Make us
certain in
these promises
because Jesus
the son has
died and
has been
raised.
And in
hope, give
us strength
to walk,
to persevere,
knowing that
you will
surely complete,
bring to
full completion
the good
work that
you've
begun.
In Jesus'
name,
amen.