A People Purified

Good morning, church. Would you turn with me to Micah chapter 5. That's page 730 in the Pew Bible.

Micah 5 · chapter mention

We will have Micah 5 on the screen above when I read it in just a minute, but let me encourage

you to have it open before you as we walk through it together. Micah chapter 5, we're going to pick

Micah 5 · chapter mention

up in verse 4. If you're joining us for the first time this morning, let me welcome you. We're glad

you're here. Our practice at Trinity is to take a book of the Bible or to take a section of a book

and just teach through it section by section, week by week. So if you're here celebrating graduation

or commencement, this won't necessarily be a graduation-themed sermon, but we trust it will

be spiritually edifying for you nonetheless. So let me pray, and then I'll read our text for us.

Lord, what a powerful prayer we have just sung that you would speak to us.

God, we confess that as Christians we often take it for granted that you are a speaking God,

that you have spoken many times and in many ways through the prophets and through the apostles,

and you have spoken in these last days through your Son, and you've given us your word, inspired

and preserved to continue to speak to us. So Holy Spirit, we pray that you would come as we read

and as we consider this text, that it would be your voice that we hear and your word that we heed,

and God, your image into which we are conformed, that we might display your glory

and praise your name as a church and as a people. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

All right, Micah chapter 5, we're going to pick up in verse 4 and read through the end of the chapter.

Micah 5 · chapter mention

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth,

and he shall be their peace.

When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces,

then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men.

And they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with a sword and the land of Nimrod at its entrances,

and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border.

Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like 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 fortunes.

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.

So if you were here last week, you'll remember that the context of the passage that I just read

is this.

The context is this.

God's people are in crisis.

They're on the verge of defeat.

But God promises that his long-awaited king will come, the shepherd king from the line of David,

who, as verse 4 says, will come and will make his people secure,

and who will himself be their peace.

So the context is this message of great good news that God is going to come,

that the shepherd king is going to come and rescue and preserve and be peace for his people.

And we saw last week how this Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ,

who was born in Bethlehem in David's royal line,

and who came and who won a security and a peace for his people

that was far beyond anything that we could have imagined.

Because Christ came and triumphed over humanity's greatest enemies,

sin and death and judgment.

In the light of those great crises, those great distresses, our greatest enemies,

Christ has come, and he is indeed our peace,

eternally and forever for all who believe in him.

Our sins are forgiven.

We are reconciled to God.

We who were enemies have been made adopted children in God's family.

But then what?

Is that where the story ends?

What happens after we believe?

What happens after we come to receive this peace that is Jesus himself?

Do we just sort of wait around, hoping God will come again and just wait?

You know, there have been times in the history of the church where we haven't really painted that picture very well.

There has been a lot of focus on becoming a Christian, on conversion, on belief, and that's been good.

But at times there's been a lack of focus on being a Christian.

What does life look like after I come to believe?

What should I expect the Christian life to be like?

And this lack of focus or clarity has often been unfortunate.

Because when we look at the New Testament, we see that the call to follow Christ,

the call to follow this shepherd king that Micah foresaw,

this call to follow Christ, is a great adventure.

It's the rediscovery of our true humanity,

of our purpose as God's image bearers,

and our purpose as God's kingdom people.

And I think that our passage from Micah today is about this very thing.

Now, Micah is using the language of his day.

He's using descriptions and images that his audience in the 8th century B.C.

would understand under the Old Covenant.

But Micah is describing what will happen after the king comes.

When the king comes and wins his victory and becomes our peace, then what?

Well, in our passage, Micah describes two things.

First, he tells us that the reign of the Messiah extends through us.

And second, that the reign of the Messiah extends in us.

In other words, Christ advances his kingdom through us,

and Christ advances his kingdom in us.

So let's look at how Micah describes the first in verses 5 through 9,

the first half of our passage.

Christ extending his kingdom through us.

Now, notice in verses 5 and 6 that it is the people themselves

who participate in the pushing back of the enemy.

When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, Micah says,

then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men.

That phrase, seven shepherds and eight princes, it's a figure of speech.

It's a figure of speech as if to say, in that time there will be more than enough.

There will be more than ample leadership.

There will be more than ample participation from God's people to meet the call

and to join their king on the field of battle.

The picture is that the Messiah, the king, he won't sort of leave his people behind.

They won't be forgotten.

They won't be relegated to the sidelines.

But they will be caught up to participate in his reign.

He will make them his fellow regents.

And they will join him in the advance of his liberating reign of peace.

Now, as we come to the New Testament, as this passage finds its fulfillment in the New Testament

and in the New Testament, new covenant people of God,

we know from reading the New Testament that the real enemies of God's people are not flesh and blood.

You know, the Assyrian in Micah 5 is sort of this picture of the ultimate enemy coming against us.

But we know as we come to the New Testament that our real enemies are not flesh and blood.

We aren't engaged in a geopolitical struggle.

Our battle is against sin and death, against principalities and powers, as the Apostle Paul will say.

And our warfare is not waged with swords or with guns, but by the Spirit of God,

through the Word of God and prayer.

It's a movement of liberation, setting people free from sin and death,

setting people free from the things that have bound them and captured them and enslaved them

so that they might be free to live for God as God's people.

That's what the New Testament pictures as our great spiritual battle.

But this advance of Christ's new covenant kingdom through his Spirit to all nations

is still happening through the people of Christ, just as Micah saw it.

When we believe in Jesus the Messiah, we're swept up into his story, where each of us has a part to play.

When the Holy Spirit causes us to be born again through the preaching of the gospel and through faith,

he not only unites us to Christ and floods our hearts with his peace,

as Micah says, he will be our peace,

but the Spirit also equips us with gifts,

gifts to build up the church and to participate in the advance of Christ's kingdom in the world.

And as this kingdom goes forth through the people,

what is it we should expect?

Well, in Micah 7 through 9,

Micah gives us two images in verses 7 through 9,

two images of what it will be like when the people of the king,

this redeemed remnant,

are spread throughout the nations in the midst of many peoples.

Which, by the way, is exactly what the church is today, right?

Spread throughout all nations and all peoples.

Micah says, at that time,

God's people, on the one hand,

will be like dew,

like showers on the grass.

Imagine living in the arid, dry climate of Israel, of the Middle East,

but then waking up early in the morning,

and there's dew on the ground.

There's showers on the grass.

We felt some of those showers yesterday, didn't we?

Because it just downpoured all day, right?

But man, in the midst of a dry and weary land,

Micah's saying there's going to be cool,

even refreshing water to be found.

And that dew, that shower,

it's going to be God's people,

spread throughout the nations.

It's going to be you and me,

spread throughout the nations.

Micah says that's what the remnant's going to be like.

They're going to be a blessing.

Jesus, of course,

will say something very similar.

He will look at his disciples and say,

you're the light of the world.

You're the salt of the earth.

You are meant to be a blessing.

The Father sends his rain on the just and the unjust.

So it's going to be with you.

You will love your neighbor as yourself.

In fact, you will even love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you.

So on the one hand,

the people will be like dew.

They'll be like a blessing.

But on the other hand,

Micah says,

they'll be like a young lion.

Amidst the unbelieving nations,

the scattered people of God

will often be perceived as a threat,

as a danger,

as a curse.

And indeed,

there have been times

when the growth of Christianity

has led to social upheaval.

You remember the book of Acts

when the gospel was spreading

in the city of Ephesus?

So many believers

were leaving their pagan lifestyles

to become followers of Jesus

that the local economy was being upended.

Because the Ephesian economy

revolved around temple worship

and shrines,

and there were silversmiths

who made little trinkets

that they would sell

and make a lot of money,

and it sort of made

the wheels of the city turn.

But as the number of Christians grew,

and they forsook their pagan practices

and became followers of the one Lord,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

suddenly it was a threat

to business as usual.

It disrupted the local economy

so much so

that some of the silversmiths

in town instigated a riot

to try to get the Christian leaders

thrown out of town.

In his second letter

to the church in Corinth,

Paul described the experience

of Christians in this way.

He says,

Thanks be to God,

who in Christ

always leads us

in triumphal procession.

What a wonderful picture.

Being led by the king

in a procession of celebration.

And Paul says,

And through us

spreads the fragrance

of the knowledge of Christ

everywhere.

For we are the aroma

of Christ to God

among those who are being saved

and among those who are perishing.

And then Paul says this,

To one,

a fragrance

from death

to death.

To the other,

a fragrance

from life

to life.

Paul was experiencing

and his fellow Christians

were experiencing

what Micah foresaw,

that the people of the Messiah

would be both a blessing

and a curse.

They'd be the aroma of life

and at times

the aroma of death.

They would be loved

and they would be hated.

Now at the end of this section

in verse 9

and at the end of the chapter

in verse 15,

Micah assures the people

that they need not

ultimately fear.

That the enemies

of God's people

would not have the last word.

That God would be

their perfect protector

and the ultimate judge.

But in the meantime,

as they participate

in the advance

of God's kingdom,

they must expect

to be both a blessing

and a curse.

To be like dew

and like a young lion.

So how might we apply

all of this to us today?

Well first,

if it is true

that God has a role

for each of us

in this kingdom work,

and if it is true

that this new covenant kingdom

advances not through

earthly weapons

or earthly strategies

but through the word of God,

then all of us

as followers of Jesus

must be eager

to immerse ourselves

in that word of God.

We must become

more ardent students

of scripture.

Reading it,

meditating on it,

memorizing it.

We must make a practice

of saturating

our minds and hearts

with good biblical teaching.

How else,

as we are scattered

among the nations,

how else are we going

to recognize God's ways

and discern God's will

and really inhabit

this story

into which

he's called us

each to play

such an integral role?

How else are we going

to do that

if not through a deep

and constant engagement

with God's word?

Imagine being called

into a theater troupe,

right?

Being called to play a part

in a play.

And the director

hands you the script

and you say,

thanks,

but I got this.

And you walk out

onto the stage

and you have no idea

what your part is.

You have no idea

what the story is,

right?

Instead,

God hands us

the script

and says,

this is the play.

This is how you're

to live this out

in the midst

of the nations.

So soak yourself

in it,

immerse yourself

in it.

And then when there

come those times

when you have to

maybe improvise

because there isn't

an exact verse

that you can quote,

you'll be so saturated

in the story

and the ways

and the word of God

that you'll be able

to do it faithfully.

So as we face

the kingdom task

of our own day,

we must recommit

ourselves to a deep

and joyful saturation

in the Bible.

But second,

as we face

the kingdom task

of our own day,

we have to be,

we have to be

humble enough

to bless

and at the same time

bold enough

to offend.

We have to be due

and we have to be lions

at the same time.

And of course,

humanly speaking,

that sounds impossible,

right?

Most people are either

one or the other,

you know?

You have,

you probably have friends,

you probably have friends

who are very gentle

and very humble

and they'll always agree

with you

and they'll always do

something good for you

even if you've treated

them poorly,

right?

Then you have other friends

who are just like,

they're always telling

you the truth

and they're always

stepping on your toes

and you like them for it

but you kind of

don't like them for it,

you know?

And then you realize

like, oh my goodness,

I'm probably one of those.

I'm probably one of those too.

You know,

I wonder which one I am,

you know?

Most people kind of

humanly are one or the other

and the truth is

most churches

and most communities

usually kind of tip

one way or the other.

Right?

We're either really good

at boldness

or really good

at humility.

We're really good

in a willingness to bless

or we're really good

at a willingness

to offend.

But Micah says,

you'll need to be both.

You'll need to be both.

And that's going to be

the sign,

one of the signs,

that you're really

the people of the Messiah,

of the shepherd king.

So how do we get

to that human impossibility

of being humble enough

to bless

and yet bold enough

to offend?

Well, the reality

is we get there

through a constant engagement

and an ongoing

internalization

of the grace

and peace

that Jesus is for us.

Because the humility

comes

when we grasp

deeper and deeper

and deeper

that we are sinners

saved by sheer grace.

That Christ's love

and mercy

extended to us

when we did nothing

to deserve it.

In fact,

just the opposite.

We defended God

and lived as if we wanted

nothing to do with Him.

God supports our life

with every second,

every moment

we're awake

and alive

and in being

is because of God's

sheer goodness

and power

and mercy.

And yet we live

99.99%

of our days

completely ignoring

that fact.

And yet

God sends His Son

in mercy

to love us

and to die for us

and to forgive us

and to welcome us home

when we've done nothing

to deserve it.

And so that makes us

incredibly humble

because we know

that it's only by God's grace

that we're saved.

We can't work our way

out of that debt.

But at the same time

the grace of Christ

also makes us bold.

It humbles us

but it also makes us

bold

like lions.

Why?

Because as we come

to know God's love

and acceptance

and His favor

suddenly when we come

to know God's acceptance

and rest in it

and relish it

that frees us

from the fear

of losing

the world's acceptance.

We have the most

important acceptance

and favor

in the universe.

If the King

has made me His own

and given me

His favor

what difference

does it make

if I happen

to lose

the world's favor?

It may be costly

but I have

riches

that cannot compare.

And so we mustn't

ever lose sight

of the grace

of the gospel

where this whole passage

starts

He will be our peace.

That's the only thing

that's going to make us

humble enough

to bless

and at the same time

bold enough

to be willing

to offend.

So this is Micah's

first answer

to what happens

after we believe.

when we come

to participate

in the Messiah's

peace through faith

we also become

participants

in the advance

of His kingdom.

The kingdom

of the Messiah

advances

through us.

But the second part

is this

the kingdom

of the Messiah

advances

in us.

This is verses

10 through 15.

Now before we look

at the main point

of those verses

it's good to see

again how verse 15

the last verse

of our chapter

like verse 9

is a reminder

that God will

ultimately protect

His people

and God will

ultimately be

the perfect judge

of all.

And you know

even though that

strikes our cultural

sensibilities

pretty harshly

God being the

perfect judge

it's actually

good news

because if God

is the perfect judge

if God is the judge

and that means

I don't have to be

I don't have to be

the one who's trying

to right every wrong.

I can follow

Christ faithfully

and actually forgive

and actually be merciful

knowing that God

will one day

put everything to right.

But this is also

sobering news

for those who are

outside of Christ.

And verse 15

is an urgent call

to flee to Christ

and find forgiveness

and peace with God.

If that's you today

if you're outside

of Christ

then don't delay.

There is full

forgiveness and mercy

for everyone

who turns

and trusts in Christ

no matter what

your background

no matter what

your long list

of failures

and guilt

or shame is.

There's full

forgiveness and mercy

for everyone

who turns

and trusts in Christ.

The judgment for sin

fell on Him

at the cross

so that all

who trust in Him

need never face

the judgment

their sins deserve.

And God offers

this forgiveness

free of charge

to you today.

So believe in Christ

and be saved.

That's where

our passage ends.

But the bulk

of this second half

of verses 10

through 14

the second half

of our text

the bulk of it

is about what God

is going to do

in His redeemed people.

In other words

the second half

of our passage

is largely about

how God plans

to purify

His redeemed people

to make them

increasingly holy

to increasingly

transform them

into His image

and likeness.

And this happens

Micah says

as God

cuts off

or casts away

the things

that the people

depend on

instead of Him.

In verses 10 and 11

God says

He's going to

cut off

their dependence

on military might

on chariots

on strongholds

on citadels

I'm going to

cut those things away.

And then in verse 12

God says

He's going to

cut off

their dependence

on fortune tellers

and sorcerers

and trying to

control or

manipulate

their surroundings

through their

human machinations.

He says

I'm going to

remove that

and cut that

off from you.

And then in verses

13 through 14

God says

He'll cut off

their dependence

on idols

and carved images.

He says

I'm going to

remove those things

from your midst.

And you know

as you look at

the Old Testament

these were the

constant pitfalls

for the Old Testament

people of God.

They were constantly

tempted to run

to military power

or to run to

false gods

to protect them

and keep them safe.

But God wants

His people to rely

on Him alone

and He wants them

to be set apart

from the other nations

to be different

from how they operate.

All the other nations

operated along those lines.

Let's build a big military

and let's build

a bunch of statues

to God's

and then we're

going to be safe

and then we're

going to be victorious.

But God says

that's not what

my people are

going to be like.

God wants them

to be set apart

from the other nations

to be distinct

which is what

the word holy means.

It means set apart

distinct.

Other nations

depend on chariots

and citadels

not God's people.

Other nations

depend on idol worship

engraving images

not God's people.

They would be different.

They would be set apart.

They would be holy

like God is holy.

You see

when we become Christians

when we enter

into a saving relationship

with Jesus

the Messiah

it is true

that all of our sins

are forgiven.

The penalty

for our sins

is taken away

because of Christ's

death on the cross.

But the truth is

is that

many of our sinful

tendencies

and patterns

and habits

still remain.

And God's plan

is to remake us

and refashion us

over time

through his Holy Spirit

to make us

ultimately

more like Christ.

Our sins are forgiven

but now

he's actually going to

work that out

in us

and through us

by his Holy Spirit

to make us

more like Christ

in how we think

and how we act

and how we speak

and how ultimately

what we love

and what we depend on.

Jesus Christ

lived his life

in complete dependence

on nothing

but the love

of his heavenly Father.

He lived

in complete dependence

on the love

of his heavenly Father.

The love of the Father

was completely

and utterly

sufficient for him.

So much so

that even in the

Garden of Gethsemane

when Jesus was faced

with the terrible

prospect of the cross

Christ was willing

to say

but not my will Father

your will be done.

And this is where

God wants to bring us

to the place

of utter freedom

and utter liberty

in God's love

dependent on nothing else

so that we might

be able to say

from the depths

of our being

God thy will be done.

I'm depending

on nothing else

but you.

So brothers and sisters

how has God

recently been at work

in your life

to make you holy?

And how are you

pursuing this holiness?

Are there obvious sins

that you need to confess

and get rid of

to cut off?

Do you need the help

of fellow Christians

or a support group

to fight a sinful

addiction or habit?

If you have sins

you need to confess

confess them friends.

If you have sins

where you need help

reach out for help.

Come talk to me

or any of the elders

and we can point you

in the right direction

so that you can

pursue this path

of becoming

more liberated

more free

more holy

like Christ.

Perhaps you've been

in a season

of change

or of loss.

perhaps it feels

like there are things

that God

has been

cutting off

or cutting away

from your life.

No doubt

those things

have been painful.

But you know

God will often

use these painful

seasons

of cutting away

to produce

a deeper

spiritual growth

in us.

Remember Jesus'

words in John 15?

John 15

Jesus says

I'm the true vine

you're the branches

if we abide in him

we bear much fruit

and Jesus says

as we bear that fruit

God is going to

continue to prune us.

He's going to continue

to prune us

why?

So that we might

become even more fruitful

and that pruning

that cutting away

is never easy

or joyful

at the time.

Sometimes it feels

like a piece of us

is literally being

taken out.

But the result

is a deeper

dependence on God

and a deeper

intimacy with him.

And as our roots

push deeper

and deeper

into God

and God alone

we find ourselves

from the inside out

being more

and more like

Jesus

more and more

who God created

us to be.

You see friends

this is how much

the Father loves us.

He gives his son

for us

to reconcile us

to himself

to be our peace

and then he continues

to pursue us

never resting

in that pursuit

until we begin

to reflect

more and more

of his character

of his wisdom

of his grace

of his glory

of his joy.

And so here is

Micah's vision

for the people

for the people

who've come to know

the Messiah

and his peace.

What's the story?

What's the journey

that God has for us?

God doesn't just want

to advance his kingdom

through us.

He wants his kingdom

to be embodied

in us.

He wants to purify us

and make us holy.

He wants to make us

like his son.

And isn't this

the greatest privilege

and joy

that we could imagine?

not just to be used

by God

but to become

living images

of God's own character

to become like God.

To have everything

false

and everything

destructive

cut away

and to have

our true self

emerge.

We live in a time

when we all

want to find

that authentic self

don't we?

And God says

I'm going to help

you find that.

It's not going to be

the path you think.

It's going to be

the path

through the grace

of Christ for you.

Cutting away

the things that are

false and destructive.

So that the self

that's created

by God

in Christ Jesus

that self

that fully known

fully loved

fully free self

can begin to emerge.

Where you'll be free

not just from sin

but you'll be free

for God.

free for God

as Michael will say

in the chapter to come

free to do justice

free to love kindness

and free to walk

humbly with our God.

Let's pray together.

Father we ask

that you would do

this work

through us

and in us

that you've portrayed

and pictured

through Micah's prophecy.

Lord help us

to take joy

in the work

that you're doing

through us.

Help us to find

deep joy

in the work

that you're doing

in us.

Lord and help us

as a church

to be doing

these things

together

in the fellowship

of this family

that you've brought

us into

with Christ

as our head

as our good shepherd.

Help us to open

up our hands

to you God

and say

thy will be done

and then to find

our place

in this great

and this thrilling

story of redemption

that you've made

us a part of.

We pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.