So Micah chapter 5, I'll start reading in verse 7. This is the holy, inspired Word of God. Let's give our full attention now to its reading. Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples. like the dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass which delay not for a man, nor wait for the children of man. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces. And there is none to deliver. Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off. And in that day, declares the Lord, I will cut off your horses from among you, and will destroy your chariots. And I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds. And I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortune. And I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands. And I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities. And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey." Thus far, the reading of God's Word, people of God, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord remains forever, written this morning for you and for me. May He bless it to our hearts. The sweet smell of victory. Have you experienced that? We often speak in this language when we're so close to something that we can taste it, we can smell it. Victory is on the horizon. And we think, man, I can really taste it and smell it. Why do we use that language? Well, the scriptures help us with this language. Speaking of, those things that are very close and very near, using our senses to tell us we can taste and see those things, taste and see, for example, that the Lord is good. And that's what Micah, that's what we have before us is that Micah is speaking of a time that is near, speaking of a time where the Lord is going to preserve, where the Lord is going to purify, and he can taste it because it is so near. The good news of the gospel is a fragrance of life to the believing, while we also know that it is an aroma of death to those who are perishing. So the victory is sweet for those who are trusting in the Lord, yet for those who are hardening their hearts. that proclamation comes as further condemnation to the unbeliever, which is what we're going to see in the book of Micah, chapter five, this morning. You remember that at the time when we began the book of Micah, at the very beginning, we said that the book of Micah as a whole, we should probably revisit this more often, but the book of Micah as a whole is written that The Lord, or Micah, would bring comfort to those who are hurting, would bring comfort to those who are in despair, but also would bring sobering thoughts to the one who is unbelieving. So there's this twofold work of the book of Micah is to comfort the believer and also sober the unbeliever. And so as Micah moves through these cycles of judgment and then promise, that's the twofold working of the book. Comfort and also sobering thoughts and so as we this morning come to the book as we come gathered in the house of God as believers we can take great comfort in this language that the Lord is going to purify his people that he is still at work and And as we, at times, are tempted to harden our own hearts before the Lord, these words are also sobering, that we would remember that the Lord desires that we walk and we live in holiness. And so the second half of the chapter really aims to awaken unbelief and to strengthen our belief. While the believer takes great comfort in the Lord, we remember that he is a God who keeps his promises. And so we rejoice, even as we hear of the affliction that may come upon the people of God, we rejoice that we are not destined for wrath. Rather, we may face affliction, but it's because of the Lord's great care for us as his people and also for his care for the nations, knowing that it's through the remnant that the Lord is going to bless the nations. He may bring affliction, but it's for greater blessing for our ultimate good. And so taking comfort in this great reality. And as we noted last week, when we spoke about the ruler that would come from Bethlehem and we saw that the Lord is going to bring deliverance to his people, we referenced Hezekiah. And the reason why that was important is because we remember at the beginning of the book of Micah, if you were to look back at Micah chapter 1, which we'll do in just a minute, we remember that Micah says he is prophesying the word of the Lord came to Micah in the days of the kings of Judah, Ahaz, Jotham, and Hezekiah, and so what did we do? We looked at the historical account of Hezekiah when he's closed up in the cage in Jerusalem and the Assyrian army is up against him, and what does he do? cries out to the Lord because Micah delivers this prophecy. And so Hezekiah cries out and the Lord brings deliverance. And so the book of Micah in that historical fact, that instance is working as a blessing, as a comfort to the King Hezekiah. He repents and he believes. Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, 2 Kings tells us. And how did he do what was right? Well, he removed the high places. He removed the Asherah. He cut down the pillars. That was the main issue, if you remember. The issue in Israel was false worship. And so Hezekiah restores right worship. So the word of Micah is a blessing to Hezekiah, but for the Assyrian who stands outside of the gates, The angel of the Lord comes and he destroys 185,000 men. who were going to wage war against Hezekiah. So you see how this prophecy comes as an aroma of death to death for the enemy of God. God saying, I will protect my people and those nations who do not repent. I am going to bring my wrathful vengeance on those who are waging war against the people of God. So even in its historical context, we need to catch that. It has those two functions. life and death for those who don't believe. And so in our passage this morning, this is what I want us to see. I want us to see that the Lord cleanses His people through preservation, that they would be a blessing to the nations. God is purifying His own as He preserves them, that they would then bless the nations around them. that they would be a testimony to God's grace, to His mercy, that they would call the people to repentance, that they would know that He is the one true God, as we see that proclaimed time and time again. That's why God does things in the nation of Israel, that they would know there are not several gods, there is one God. And so we see through their preservation, God would bless the nations. You remember that the remnant, this small group of people, is eventually scattered among the nations when they are brought into exile. And then God is going to bring them back. And through that exile, through even the bringing back, they are purified. the church, as it's set up during this time and will continue, is also purified. So there's two points as we see God cleansing. It's the Lord preserves a remnant, and the Lord purifies a remnant. Preservation Purification. We see those two things happening simultaneously and we can take great comfort in this because you and I know that we often face the afflictions of life and it can be a struggle and we ask the question, Lord, are you with me? Are you for me? Why am I facing this great affliction? We'll see that the people of God are not destined for God's wrath, but rather they are given over to affliction that they might be strengthened. We'll see that through the purification. So first, the Lord preserves his people then. First question we need to ask, how does he preserve his people? Well, what we've seen so far in the book of Micah is that he is going to preserve his people by carrying a remnant. A remnant just means the rest, you can say, but typically we look at that as a small group of people that is carried along. You've got the broader nation of Israel, right? And then in that nation of Israel, there is typically a remnant small group of people that is brought through the time and history where God says, that remnant will never be destroyed. God preserves them. Why? Because he's going to bring about the Messiah through that people, through that remnant. And we've seen that, so I just want to point your attention back as we now step away. We see that the the book of Micah is unfolding for us. Well, we need to remember what he's already been saying up to this point. So, What Micah does is he plants the seed in chapter 2, he waters it a little bit in chapter 4, and now in chapter 5 it's coming to full maturity in some ways. We see that this is what he's been talking about, this is what he's been telling us. So let's reflect on that for just a moment. If you look back at chapter 2, turn over with me a couple of pages there to chapter 2, and in verse 12, So Micah opens with the first oracle of judgment, cycle of judgment, and he goes on for all of chapter one, all of chapter two, and then he brings his first oracle of promise. And in verse 12 of chapter two, he says, I will surely assemble you, O Jacob. I will gather the remnant of Israel. I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture." So we can see that's what God promises to do. And then as Micah moves forward, we realize, oh, well, what he's talking about is these things are actually coming to pass as he sees it in his vision. And so let's watch him pour some water on that planted idea and see it come to further maturity if you turn over then to chapter four. chapter 4 verse 6, he then says, "...in 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," here it is, "...remnant, and those who were cast off a strong nation. And the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion. And so what he's doing now in chapter 5, he references that remnant again in verse 7. And so he's saying, what I've been talking about, this is coming to further fruition, but we're going to see now what the purpose is of that remnant. What is the remnant going to do? And we see that the purpose is twofold. The remnant, as God preserves, first we can say on a broader scale, the remnant was preserved that the Messiah would come forth. But then God acts in and through the remnant throughout history to be a blessing to the nations, and also to be a curse to those nations who would reject the Lord. Those nations who would harden their hearts, who wouldn't repent, God-preserving would actually heap more condemnation on these nations. So, in other words, the remnant itself. So, we said that the Word of God acts in those two-fold ways. Well, now we see it's the remnant that's acting in that two-fold way. The Lord would be or use the people to be an instrument of blessing. Look there at verse 7. They're an instrument of blessing. How do we know that? Well, Micah tells us that they would be like dew from the Lord. They would be like showers on the grass. So this is another way of saying, he's not just coming right out and saying that they would be a blessing to the nations, but he's using this imagery of rain. He's using the imagery of dew that rests on the flowers. You can think of the plants as they grow up. What do they need? They need water. We need water that rains down from heaven that the plants and the foliage might grow. In other words, Micah is saying the remnant's going to be among the people as a great blessing because God is going to rise them up and be like water as they need it. But they would also be an instrument of death. How do we know that? Well, Micah continues. Now, in verse seven and eight, these two verses are in parallel. So first he tells us they're going to be like water that rests on plants. And then in verse eight, he tells us more. And you begin to think, is there a contrary? What is he doing here? Why is he using this different type of language? Well, look at verse eight. The remnant of Jacob is going to be among the nations. We already know that. They're gonna be in the midst of the peoples. But in this case, they're going to be a lion as in the forest, a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which when it goes through treads down and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver." So what is Micah saying? He's saying they're going to be both a blessing and they're going to be a picture of death for those who don't believe. In other words, they are going to be set up like a strong nation, a strong lion who cannot be moved by those nations who are coming against them. they would in fact tear their enemies down, and that is through the right proclamation of the Word. As they take up in right worship, no one can come against them because they are fixed like a strong lion." So I hope that we're seeing now that there's this twofold purpose. Are you with me? There's these two things that are happening, as Micah is telling us, and now we also see that there's a merging between the who and the how. The who is the remnant, twofold purpose, blessing, and also a picture of death. And the how then, the how is through their doctrine and through their life. In other words, the Lord has given them content. He has said, this is who I am. This is what you ought to believe about me. This is what you ought to tell the nations about who I am. This is what you should believe. And that belief informs how they then live. They should cut off those idols. They should walk in holiness. They should walk in righteousness before their Lord, as He has called them out of the land of Egypt. and their living would then be a blessing to the nations because the nations would say, wow, who is this Lord who's called you? We want to come into the fold. And so they would. So their life is informed by their doctrine, and that would be how the Lord would be a blessing to the nations. And as they lived holy before the Lord, The nations would also be convicted of their own sin, that they were standing in opposition to God. And so we see that as we look at verse nine, it says, your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries. The way that this typically reads in our translations is we think that this is the people, the remnant, that they're going to raise their hand, but rather it's better to take this verse as a prayer where the people of God, the remnant, are actually now praying to the Lord and saying, you, O Lord, your hand will be lifted. You are going to bring vengeance upon your enemies. In other words, they're not taking vengeance in their own hands, but rather they should be giving it over to the Lord as He would bring vengeance, as He promised to do so. This is the picture of what the nation of Israel should have done. This is who they should have been. And we see this by just taking a step back. Let's take a step back for a moment and think about verse one of chapter one. the word of the Lord came to Micah. We spent a good deal of time in the beginning talking about the Lord speaking, the Lord coming to his people, and now we're beginning to see that this is the purpose of him coming, is that he would use his people to bless others, and he would use his people as a display of his righteousness, that those who do not repent would endure his wrath, and we surely Surely we see trickles of this in the Old Testament. We see that even as the people of God are carried off, they're carted off into exile in Babylon, they're a blessing to the Babylonians in some way. Think of the life of Daniel. He is set up as one who blesses King Nebuchadnezzar in the way in which he hears and sees from the Lord. And then in Zechariah 8, we look there and we see that the Lord says he's gonna do things for this remnant. He says, you were a byword of curse to these nations, and now I'm going to bless you. So again, that theme is strung all throughout. And while we see these examples, we also must note, and this is important, this is important, that those things, those examples that we see, they're foreshadowings. They're a foretaste. They are foreshadowings of the day that Micah is speaking about. After all, he's been saying, in those days, in the latter days, then, so he's already speaking, he's still speaking. Remember at verse seven, look there again, then the remnant of Jacob will be in their midst. So he is indicating that this is the time that the remnant is going to be handed over to their great shepherd king. We already established that in verse one of chapter five and following, that this would be the time when the Messiah would come. He would be the shepherd king. The remnant was handed over, and that's where the prophecy ultimately finds its fulfillment. So what does that mean for us? What does that mean for us as we've gathered this morning? Well, what it means is that We are in those latter days. Micah is looking forward to this church age where the Messiah is set up. He is crucified. He sets up his church and the church is now living in the midst of the nations, he says, in the midst of many peoples. and the church would be like dew on the plants, and like a lion who wages war against their enemies." In other words, the church would be fixed and established as Christ, as the rock and foundation, and nothing would move her. So we've seen so far that the preservation of the remnant depends upon the Lord. He is the one that preserves. He is the one that calls them. He is the one that disciplines them by sending them into exile. He is the one that then brings them back, sets them back into the land, and He is the one that sets up the Messiah. He is the one that lays His wrath upon the Messiah because He chose them. And then we see that further fulfillment comes in and through the person and the work of the ruler from Bethlehem that Micah was looking forward to. So the assembly of God gathered at Pentecost. nations there. We worked through that. Go back and listen to prior sermons to get a refresher on what the significance of Pentecost is. But Pentecost marks this greater fulfillment of Christ coming, dying, rising, ascending. And then we see this age begin where he pours out his spirit and he scatters his church. Where is His church now located? Well, universally, all around the world, amidst the nations. So what is Micah talking about? He's talking about the age when the church would go forth, when the church would take up the sword of the Spirit. wielding it, dividing it rightly, being a blessing to those who are coming in and showing those who are outside, who are waging war against God, that God is just and he will bring his judgment. So calling the nations to repentance. For those who believe, the word of the Lord is a comfort and a blessing. For those who reject, it is an aroma of death, is what Micah has been telling us. So if we just take a minute to summarize where we've been. Boys and girls, are you with me? Let me summarize where we've been and where we're going. We've said that it's God, it's our good and gracious God, who even as the people, they turned from God, and God is still with them. He preserves them, which means He keeps them, and He promises to do things through them, and that is to be a blessing to the nations. He's a God who keeps His people, promises and how do we see that this this finds its fulfillment and what the apostle paul you guys familiar with the apostle paul he proclaims things about this gospel in second corinthians chapter two which is where he says listen to the words of the apostle paul there in second corinthians he says but thanks be to god who in Christ always leads in triumphal procession, and through us, which is what we said, through the church, through the gospel ministers, spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death and to the other a fragrance of life to life." This is referring to that victory that Micah can smell and he can taste, that Christ was going to be the victor. that his church was going to proclaim that victory, which would be an aroma of life, and to those who have hardened their hearts it would be a stench of death. If we think about the military context, oftentimes the victorious military would light a fire and they would burn this aroma, and that would be a sweet-smelling aroma, probably so sweet you could taste it. But the army that was destroyed would smell that aroma, and they would think of the destruction that has just come upon them. That drives us to proclaim the name of Christ, to call the nations, to come into the fold, to repent, and to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why He is preserving us, and that's why He has been good to us, to give us His only begotten Son, that we might trust in Him for our salvation. And as He has done that, He also purifies His people, purifies the nation of Israel and us. So let's think about the purification. Look at verse 10. This is the second section where He says, and in that day, so He's still speaking about The day to come, the day that Micah is looking forward to, the future day when the people would be under the rule of the Messiah. He has already come and he would purify them. It tells us this is strong language. He'll cut off their horses, remove their strongholds, destroy their chariots, cut off their cities. How should we understand this? The Lord is removing strongholds. Well, what we first need to understand is that the people of God at the time were trusting in their own strength. They were trusting in their own ability, the work of their own hands. They had set up this military army and they thought it was the army that was going to protect them. Now the Lord uses means, He can rise up an army to protect His people, but the problem comes when the people of God trust in those earthly things, the work of their own hands for deliverance. And this is what happened with the people of God trusting in horses and chariots and fortified cities. They were trusting in those things as their ultimate source of deliverance instead of trusting the Lord for their ultimate comfort and peace. So what have you set up this morning as your ultimate source of security? What have you set up as your horses and your chariots and your fortified cities, those things that you're finding hope in, those things that you're finding strength in? What we see with Israel is that they were doing such, and the Lord intervenes. They were bowing down to foreign gods, and the Lord steps in and He says, enough. And He rips those things away from them in His mercy. He rips those things away because as He rips those strongholds and those fortifications, the people of Israel would have no other choice but to then trust in Him alone. And so we could read this passage, we could say, wow, the Lord is full of anger against His people, but rather we need to see that it is in His mercy that He removes those things that had caused them to walk far from Him. In exile, they are there and they are trusting in the Lord, their God, because those strongholds had been ripped away. We don't want to view this as the Lord coming in vengeful wrath against His own, because He tells us in verse 16 that He's going to come in vengeful wrath against the nations who don't believe. But in those first several verses, 10 through 14, He's speaking to His redeemed. He's speaking to those who He is calling back to repentance. they had went astray. And because of their idolatry, they were no longer able to see that the Lord had delivered them. So God opens their eyes by removing those strongholds. He cares for his people, and that's why he does this. If God didn't do this, if he did not remove their horses, if he didn't remove their chariots, that would actually be a sign of his judgment. giving them over to the passions of their flesh, giving them over to their own way, giving them over to their own strongholds. That would be the Lord coming in judgment. Think of Romans 1. That's what he does to the one who suppresses the truth and unrighteousness. He gives them over. That's his form of judgment, but in this case, he purifies. And he purifies because he loves them. He purifies because he cares for them. He purifies you and he sanctifies you because he cares for you. And he desires that you walk in holiness because of his love and his mercy. So this, people of God, we identify with Israel here, that conceived and born in sin, our eyes are darkened. We can't see the Lord. We need His mercy to come and to break in, His grace to bring us from death to life, and that's what He does. So this here is a picture of the Lord bringing us from our sin and misery and our death and breaking in and removing the strongholds that we have set up in our lives and saying, I am the Lord, your God. I created you and I've delivered you. The Lord is good. To remove those things that cause us to walk in pride, those things that cause us to walk in arrogance, those things that cause us to shake our fists at God, He reminds us that He is our stronghold, that He is our strength. It's out of sheer grace and according to His love that the Lord comes to shatter the idols of Israel. And same for you and for me, removing the idols of our hearts that we would trust renewing our minds through the word, giving us eyes to see and ears to hear that the Lord cares for his own. He, in fact, cared for the people of Israel. He preserves them that he would bring the Messiah. He gives the Messiah to you, and he cares for you that he would continue to change you. The Lord is concerned, this is what we're seeing in this back half of chapter five, is that the Lord is concerned that His people walk in godliness and that His people walk in holiness because of their redemption. We, people of God, we've received this twofold benefit. We've received a declaration of our righteousness. That means that God has told you that Christ and His perfection is given to you. That's one aspect of the benefit. And the second aspect of the benefit is that He continues to change you, that He gives you His Spirit, and that He works in you that you might then walk in holiness, that you would walk in godliness, that you would walk in light of what He has accomplished. Once we are saved, in other words, We can't go on living in the way that we once lived. We don't go on living, walking in the passions of our flesh like the Gentiles do. Rather, the Lord purifies us and he rips away those things to which we cling onto. The Lord promises to continue purifying because he promises to preserve us. And it's through the preservation that he purifies that we would find blessing in that purification and that we would also then be a blessing to the nations who look upon and they come into the fold. and they see the immeasurable riches of God's grace on display for all to see. And that's why we look at these passages in the New Testament that tell us God's desire for holiness and righteousness. It's because out of our status that we've received. We saw this all through the book of Ephesians. This is who you are, redeemed by God. Now you walk in light of that out of thanksgiving, out of gratitude and righteousness. And then in first Thessalonians, very clear, Paul tells us, for this is the will of God. Do you remember what he says there? This is the will of God, your sanctification. that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passions of lust like the Gentiles do, as they don't know God, for God has called us not for impurity, but to holiness." So in other words, we've been set apart that we might live. We've been set apart as the nation of Israel was, and they failed. And their failings pointed them forward to the one who would come as the true Israel, who would not fail. And he's been given for us. We don't walk in holiness that we might earn our status before God, as we know. Our status can't change, but He does desire that we do walk in true righteousness and holiness because He's given us His Spirit. So as we bring this to a conclusion, just to say a bit more about the Lord's preservation for us, it's God who wills and who works in us that we might then do His will. We see that here with Israel. Do you see it? That the God of the universe intervenes. he removes those things. God is not telling us that we ought to pull up our bootstraps and change ourselves, but rather it is God who works and who wills to work in you. And He does that as the Word is proclaimed and as He changes you by His Spirit. And so we come with confidence knowing that as we confess our sins the way that we've broken His law, He is faithful and just to forgive us, to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, that we are not destined for wrath. We need to hear that. We're not destined for His wrath, but rather He disciplines and He changes and He sharpens us. And that growing can be painful. The people of Israel are brought into exile. We've said it time and time again. We, as the people of God, won't be brought into exile because of our disobedience. That was pointing to the Messiah who accomplished. But rather in this life, we do face a time of wandering and pilgrimage, you could say. Things are difficult. We face trials and we face struggles. I'm sure if we went around, we could name the several things that have been brought upon us in this veil of tears, and we could give thoughts as to how the Lord is working through those things to change us. Scriptures give us imagery of being refined as through fire. As the nation of Israel is refined as through fire, so too you and I, people of God, are refined as through fire. If I can end by just giving you a picture. A bit of an illustration of what that might look like. If you were to go and take a trek across to the west coast and drive through the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas, this is in California for those who have been there. If you were to drive through the Sequoia National Forest and you're in Kings Canyon, there you are going to see the largest tree that has ever been, or the largest tree in all of history, are sequoia trees. It's very fascinating as we consider what a sequoia tree, how it grows, and how it is purified, you could say. And so we have this picture in nature for how the Lord purifies something in nature, and we can liken it in some ways to our walk with the Lord. A sequoia tree is resilient against fire. So as the fires come, its bark is protected, protects this tree. And their cones also need fire that they would drop their seeds and so then pollinate. So with the sequoia tree, they aren't burnt down at the coming of the fire, but they resist, and that also causes them to grow. So we too, as we are refined by fire, it is painful. But we're changed and we grow. In fact, the scriptures tell us that we can count it all joy when we face these sufferings. We can count it all joy at the various trials that come because we know that the trials produce steadfastness. So we are purified that the Lord might be glorified in and through us. Remember, God sets up the church on display for the world to see the immeasurable riches of his grace. And so therefore we rejoice in the hope and the glory of God. Not only that we rejoice in this, but also in our sufferings, because suffering produces endurance, endurance character, and character produces hope. And that hope will not be put to shame. Why? Because it is founded upon the solid rock of Christ who endured the sufferings of God himself for us. For God destined us, not for wrath, but to obtain salvation through Christ, listen to this, who died for us. This is Paul's words in Thessalonians, which will end here. Who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. And then Paul ends, therefore, encourage one another. you have been doing. So you too, people of God, encourage one another in the one hope that you have in Christ, who is a sure foundation, who will never fail you, he will never leave you, and nothing can snatch you from his hands. Let's pray.