1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:03,360 Well, we come today to the last in our series entitled 2 00:00:03,360 –> 00:00:05,740 close encounters with the living God. 3 00:00:05,740 –> 00:00:07,840 We’ve been going through the book of Micah 4 00:00:07,840 –> 00:00:09,740 and we’ve been seeking to learn together 5 00:00:09,740 –> 00:00:13,620 something more about the living God of the Bible. 6 00:00:13,620 –> 00:00:17,059 Now Micah, as you know, by now lived about 700 years 7 00:00:17,059 –> 00:00:19,340 before the time of Jesus. 8 00:00:19,340 –> 00:00:22,420 But we’ve seen that throughout his book 9 00:00:22,420 –> 00:00:25,120 Micah really anticipates the Good News 10 00:00:25,120 –> 00:00:28,540 or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 11 00:00:28,540 –> 00:00:31,840 And this must have been a tremendous strength 12 00:00:31,840 –> 00:00:35,700 and hope for believing people in Micah’s day. 13 00:00:35,700 –> 00:00:38,720 You see, they looked forward to the coming of Jesus 14 00:00:38,720 –> 00:00:41,299 though they didn’t know his name at the time 15 00:00:41,299 –> 00:00:43,740 but they looked forward to the coming of Jesus 16 00:00:43,740 –> 00:00:47,860 in the same way as we look back to the coming of Jesus. 17 00:00:47,860 –> 00:00:50,919 Folks then were being called to live by faith 18 00:00:50,919 –> 00:00:52,939 in what God would do 19 00:00:52,939 –> 00:00:55,820 in the same way as we are called to live by faith 20 00:00:55,860 –> 00:00:59,660 in what God has done in Jesus Christ. 21 00:00:59,660 –> 00:01:01,180 I was thinking about this during a visit 22 00:01:01,180 –> 00:01:04,580 to the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton. 23 00:01:04,580 –> 00:01:05,620 Many of you will be there. 24 00:01:05,620 –> 00:01:09,059 If you haven’t, it’s well worth taking the opportunity 25 00:01:09,059 –> 00:01:10,099 of visiting there. 26 00:01:10,099 –> 00:01:13,760 There is an exhibition on the history of evangelism 27 00:01:13,760 –> 00:01:15,760 that you can walk through. 28 00:01:15,760 –> 00:01:18,379 And at the center of that exhibition 29 00:01:18,379 –> 00:01:21,199 there is a small, darkened room 30 00:01:21,199 –> 00:01:23,779 and there’s just one object in display. 31 00:01:23,779 –> 00:01:28,779 It is a glass, three-dimensional sculpture 32 00:01:28,800 –> 00:01:33,019 depicting Jesus Christ on the cross. 33 00:01:33,019 –> 00:01:35,800 And as you walk around the sculpture, 34 00:01:35,800 –> 00:01:39,000 360 degrees around its display, 35 00:01:39,000 –> 00:01:40,239 because it is in glass, 36 00:01:40,239 –> 00:01:43,699 you can see the light reflecting through it 37 00:01:43,699 –> 00:01:47,160 from all of the different angles in the room. 38 00:01:47,160 –> 00:01:48,239 Now think of it this way. 39 00:01:48,239 –> 00:01:52,080 The Old Testament prophets backlight 40 00:01:52,080 –> 00:01:54,919 the cross of Jesus Christ. 41 00:01:54,919 –> 00:01:56,519 They shine a torch as it were, 42 00:01:56,519 –> 00:01:58,800 from ancient history 43 00:01:58,800 –> 00:02:02,860 onto the centerpiece of God’s plan for the world. 44 00:02:02,860 –> 00:02:07,860 Micah saw, if you like, the back view of the gospel. 45 00:02:07,959 –> 00:02:10,240 He did not know the name of Jesus. 46 00:02:10,240 –> 00:02:11,839 But he placed his hope 47 00:02:11,839 –> 00:02:14,520 and called people around him to place their hope 48 00:02:14,520 –> 00:02:15,899 in someone who would do 49 00:02:15,899 –> 00:02:17,380 what needed to be done 50 00:02:17,380 –> 00:02:21,960 so that God’s purpose would be accomplished in the world. 51 00:02:22,000 –> 00:02:25,600 Now, we of course have the frontline of the gospel 52 00:02:25,600 –> 00:02:27,880 in the New Testament scriptures. 53 00:02:27,880 –> 00:02:30,160 Living this side of the coming of Jesus, 54 00:02:30,160 –> 00:02:31,940 we are able to look back 55 00:02:31,940 –> 00:02:35,940 in the full view of the cross of Jesus Christ. 56 00:02:35,940 –> 00:02:37,600 And that is a wonderful thing. 57 00:02:37,600 –> 00:02:40,600 But if you only look at it from the front view, 58 00:02:40,600 –> 00:02:43,839 you only see it in two dimensions. 59 00:02:44,960 –> 00:02:47,479 And God’s purpose for us is that we should be able, 60 00:02:47,539 –> 00:02:52,000 as it were, to walk round the centerpiece of history, 61 00:02:52,000 –> 00:02:53,839 that we should be able to see its light 62 00:02:53,839 –> 00:02:56,520 and its glory from every angle. 63 00:02:56,520 –> 00:02:59,479 And that is the particular thing that we have tried to do 64 00:02:59,479 –> 00:03:01,639 as we’ve taken our stand, as it were, 65 00:03:01,639 –> 00:03:04,960 back there with Micah to get his glimpse, 66 00:03:04,960 –> 00:03:09,960 looking forward at what God would do for us in Jesus Christ. 67 00:03:11,199 –> 00:03:14,820 Now, I say that this morning because in the Old Testament, 68 00:03:14,820 –> 00:03:19,820 the back light of the Gospel is never brighter 69 00:03:20,100 –> 00:03:24,699 than in these closing verses of the prophecy of Micah. 70 00:03:24,699 –> 00:03:29,419 Now, to tell you, I have felt moved and thrilled 71 00:03:29,419 –> 00:03:34,139 by Micah’s glimpse of the glory of Jesus, 72 00:03:34,139 –> 00:03:37,080 and it’s my prayer that that will be the experience 73 00:03:37,080 –> 00:03:42,080 of every one of us as we take a look at it with him today. 74 00:03:42,460 –> 00:03:44,660 Now, will you open your Bibles, then, 75 00:03:44,660 –> 00:03:47,039 at Micah, in chapter 7? 76 00:03:47,039 –> 00:03:49,360 There are many people for whom the death and resurrection 77 00:03:49,360 –> 00:03:51,839 of Jesus is really nothing much. 78 00:03:51,839 –> 00:03:53,520 You’ll learned it in Sunday school. 79 00:03:53,520 –> 00:03:56,000 Jesus died on a cross, Jesus rose again, 80 00:03:56,000 –> 00:03:58,759 been there, done that, now what’s next? 81 00:03:58,759 –> 00:04:01,320 That is honestly the attitude of many people, 82 00:04:01,320 –> 00:04:02,940 but Micah would not be among them. 83 00:04:02,940 –> 00:04:06,220 You look at verse 18, you’ll get his spirit 84 00:04:06,220 –> 00:04:10,139 as he looks forward, prophetically, to what God will do, 85 00:04:10,139 –> 00:04:11,880 and he says in verse 18, 86 00:04:12,300 –> 00:04:15,139 who is a God like you? 87 00:04:16,600 –> 00:04:20,220 Here’s a man who finds himself staggered, 88 00:04:20,220 –> 00:04:24,160 brought into worship, filled with a sense 89 00:04:24,160 –> 00:04:28,079 of overwhelming wonder as he considers God. 90 00:04:28,079 –> 00:04:31,760 Who is like you, he says, 91 00:04:31,760 –> 00:04:36,760 who pardons sin and forgives transgression? 92 00:04:38,279 –> 00:04:40,720 Now, this is extraordinary for Micah to be saying this 93 00:04:40,720 –> 00:04:43,320 because you know from these last 10 weeks 94 00:04:43,320 –> 00:04:48,160 that Micah’s whole ministry has been about exposing sin. 95 00:04:48,160 –> 00:04:50,880 It has been about shining the light into hidden corruption 96 00:04:50,880 –> 00:04:52,739 in the world of business and everywhere else. 97 00:04:52,739 –> 00:04:54,200 It has been about announcing 98 00:04:54,200 –> 00:04:56,980 the judgment of God that will surely come. 99 00:04:56,980 –> 00:05:00,519 But here at the end, we find him talking about God 100 00:05:00,519 –> 00:05:05,519 who despite all of this wants to pardon and to forgive 101 00:05:06,540 –> 00:05:08,779 a God who is still pledged to his covenant 102 00:05:08,799 –> 00:05:11,660 with men and women who have been so unfaithful to him, 103 00:05:11,660 –> 00:05:13,700 and he says, who’s like you? 104 00:05:14,899 –> 00:05:17,799 Who is like you God, who pardoned sin 105 00:05:19,040 –> 00:05:20,959 and who forgives transgression? 106 00:05:22,600 –> 00:05:25,160 Now Micah saw, and I want to grasp this today, 107 00:05:25,160 –> 00:05:27,040 that God’s pardon 108 00:05:28,000 –> 00:05:31,679 deals magnificently with three issues. 109 00:05:31,679 –> 00:05:35,339 The first is the issue of God’s anger. 110 00:05:35,339 –> 00:05:38,320 The second is the issue of your past 111 00:05:39,119 –> 00:05:42,440 and the third is the issue of your future. 112 00:05:42,440 –> 00:05:44,500 These three, and we’ll see them all, I think, 113 00:05:44,500 –> 00:05:46,440 in Micah’s words together. 114 00:05:46,440 –> 00:05:47,640 First of all, God’s anger. 115 00:05:47,640 –> 00:05:48,880 Look at verse 18. 116 00:05:48,880 –> 00:05:53,880 He says about God, you do not stay angry forever, 117 00:05:55,839 –> 00:05:58,940 but you delight to show mercy. 118 00:06:00,739 –> 00:06:02,959 Now you know, it’s difficult to think of any issue 119 00:06:02,959 –> 00:06:05,720 that causes more difficulty in the minds and hearts 120 00:06:05,720 –> 00:06:09,019 of many people than the anger of God, 121 00:06:10,160 –> 00:06:13,880 so I’m really glad that Micah speaks about it so directly 122 00:06:13,880 –> 00:06:16,119 and that we have that opportunity today. 123 00:06:17,339 –> 00:06:20,660 The idea that God might be angry 124 00:06:21,519 –> 00:06:25,279 really bothers us, so that our tendency 125 00:06:25,279 –> 00:06:27,000 is either to suppress it and say, 126 00:06:27,000 –> 00:06:28,880 oh, well, no, we couldn’t possibly believe that, 127 00:06:28,880 –> 00:06:31,279 or else just outright to deny it. 128 00:06:32,160 –> 00:06:33,920 I’ve lost count of the number of times 129 00:06:33,920 –> 00:06:35,579 I’ve heard folks in this church 130 00:06:35,579 –> 00:06:37,220 say something like this. 131 00:06:38,239 –> 00:06:40,640 I was brought up to believe in an angry God, 132 00:06:40,640 –> 00:06:42,519 but now I believe in a God of love. 133 00:06:44,079 –> 00:06:45,380 That sounds very good, 134 00:06:47,359 –> 00:06:49,920 but what about the passages in the Bible 135 00:06:49,920 –> 00:06:51,959 that speak of God’s anger? 136 00:06:53,320 –> 00:06:55,200 You can’t just dismiss it, can you? 137 00:06:59,239 –> 00:07:03,239 Some Christians live with an underlying feeling, 138 00:07:03,239 –> 00:07:06,779 actually, that God is constantly angry with them, 139 00:07:06,779 –> 00:07:09,440 and therefore that he doesn’t really love them at all. 140 00:07:10,559 –> 00:07:12,839 Any pastor finds this in his study 141 00:07:12,839 –> 00:07:14,880 and pastoral work over the years. 142 00:07:14,880 –> 00:07:17,380 That there are many, many Christian people 143 00:07:17,380 –> 00:07:18,760 who would at the one level say 144 00:07:18,760 –> 00:07:20,679 they don’t believe that God is angry, 145 00:07:20,679 –> 00:07:22,179 but they live with this feeling 146 00:07:22,179 –> 00:07:25,100 as if He were only ever angry with them. 147 00:07:27,440 –> 00:07:29,239 And if you find it difficult to believe 148 00:07:29,239 –> 00:07:30,899 that God really loves you, 149 00:07:31,739 –> 00:07:35,220 it may well be that you have this deep underlying feeling 150 00:07:35,220 –> 00:07:39,660 that the reality is that He must just be angry with you, 151 00:07:39,660 –> 00:07:41,540 and you don’t know what to do about it. 152 00:07:43,600 –> 00:07:45,519 So let’s face this issue head on 153 00:07:45,519 –> 00:07:48,920 so that we may have some biblical clarity 154 00:07:48,920 –> 00:07:50,399 with regards to it. 155 00:07:51,600 –> 00:07:53,119 The Bible makes it very clear 156 00:07:53,119 –> 00:07:58,119 that God is irreconcilably opposed to evil, 157 00:07:58,279 –> 00:08:02,079 and at the same time irrepressibly filled with love. 158 00:08:02,079 –> 00:08:05,640 That He is irreconcilably opposed to evil, 159 00:08:05,640 –> 00:08:08,920 and that He is irrepressibly filled with love. 160 00:08:08,920 –> 00:08:10,200 Now, of course, our problem 161 00:08:10,200 –> 00:08:12,119 is that it’s very difficult for us to understand 162 00:08:12,119 –> 00:08:15,160 how both of these things can be true at the same time. 163 00:08:15,160 –> 00:08:18,339 Our natural tendency is to grasp hold of one 164 00:08:18,339 –> 00:08:21,760 and then to lose our grip of the other. 165 00:08:21,760 –> 00:08:25,160 Some of us find it very easy, natural, instinctive 166 00:08:25,160 –> 00:08:29,500 to see that God is irreconcilably opposed to evil. 167 00:08:29,500 –> 00:08:32,239 If you grasp hold of that one and lose the other, 168 00:08:32,239 –> 00:08:34,599 it will quickly lead you to despair. 169 00:08:34,599 –> 00:08:36,200 Your mind will go like this. 170 00:08:36,200 –> 00:08:38,880 God is irreconcilably opposed to evil. 171 00:08:38,880 –> 00:08:40,580 There’s evil and darkness in me. 172 00:08:40,580 –> 00:08:43,239 That means God is irreconcilably opposed to me. 173 00:08:44,460 –> 00:08:45,320 Not only that, 174 00:08:45,320 –> 00:08:47,380 but as you begin to think that way about yourself, 175 00:08:47,380 –> 00:08:49,700 you will become increasingly judgemental 176 00:08:49,700 –> 00:08:51,400 towards other people. 177 00:08:51,400 –> 00:08:52,880 It goes like this. 178 00:08:52,880 –> 00:08:55,359 God is irreconcilably opposed to evil, 179 00:08:55,359 –> 00:08:57,760 there’s a great deal of evil in the people around me, 180 00:08:57,760 –> 00:09:00,020 therefore God is irreconcilably opposed 181 00:09:00,020 –> 00:09:00,840 to the people around me 182 00:09:00,840 –> 00:09:03,400 and I should be irreconcilably opposed to them too. 183 00:09:04,739 –> 00:09:07,260 We’ve all seen that, and maybe felt it. 184 00:09:09,099 –> 00:09:10,400 Others of us go the other way. 185 00:09:10,400 –> 00:09:12,719 We find it easier by our instinct 186 00:09:12,719 –> 00:09:16,460 to grasp that God is irrepressibly filled with love. 187 00:09:16,460 –> 00:09:18,820 And if you grasp that and lose the other, 188 00:09:18,820 –> 00:09:21,219 it leads you to arrogance. 189 00:09:21,219 –> 00:09:22,239 It goes like this. 190 00:09:22,299 –> 00:09:24,359 God is irrepressibly filled with love. 191 00:09:24,359 –> 00:09:26,400 That means He just can’t stop loving me, 192 00:09:26,400 –> 00:09:27,479 which is hardly surprising 193 00:09:27,479 –> 00:09:28,799 seeing as I’m so lovable. 194 00:09:30,440 –> 00:09:33,320 It also leads to false optimism. 195 00:09:33,320 –> 00:09:35,440 God is irrepressibly filled with love. 196 00:09:35,440 –> 00:09:37,679 That means He loves all the people all of the time, 197 00:09:37,679 –> 00:09:39,239 so everything will really be alright 198 00:09:39,239 –> 00:09:41,159 for everybody in the end. 199 00:09:41,159 –> 00:09:42,460 It’s called universalism. 200 00:09:42,460 –> 00:09:43,500 Everyone will be saved 201 00:09:43,500 –> 00:09:45,719 and the world will all be happily ever after. 202 00:09:46,719 –> 00:09:51,719 If you do not know how God’s love and his justice meet, 203 00:09:54,179 –> 00:09:55,859 you will not understand either 204 00:09:55,859 –> 00:09:57,159 his justice or his love. 205 00:09:57,159 –> 00:09:59,419 You’ll live your life in spiritual confusion. 206 00:10:01,599 –> 00:10:04,400 Either you will feel that his love is not really love 207 00:10:04,400 –> 00:10:05,799 because it’s really on a mask 208 00:10:05,799 –> 00:10:07,640 that’s covering a real anger. 209 00:10:09,760 –> 00:10:12,080 Or else you’ll feel that his anger isn’t really anger 210 00:10:12,080 –> 00:10:13,280 because it’s really only a mask 211 00:10:13,280 –> 00:10:15,659 that’s covering his smiley face of love. 212 00:10:16,520 –> 00:10:18,640 So we desperately need to know 213 00:10:18,640 –> 00:10:20,299 and to grasp from the scriptures 214 00:10:20,299 –> 00:10:22,299 how it is that both of these things are true, 215 00:10:22,299 –> 00:10:24,780 neither one nor the other, in isolation, 216 00:10:24,780 –> 00:10:28,960 we need to know how God’s love and justice meet. 217 00:10:31,580 –> 00:10:34,359 How is it that Micah can say, 218 00:10:34,359 –> 00:10:38,760 you do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy 219 00:10:38,760 –> 00:10:41,440 and will again have compassion on us. 220 00:10:41,440 –> 00:10:42,840 How does that hold together? 221 00:10:43,840 –> 00:10:46,719 Let’s take a look then at what we know 222 00:10:46,719 –> 00:10:49,520 from the scriptures about God’s anger. 223 00:10:49,520 –> 00:10:51,039 Let me give you a simple definition, 224 00:10:51,039 –> 00:10:56,039 God’s anger is His personal holy response to evil. 225 00:10:56,380 –> 00:10:57,119 That’s what it is. 226 00:10:57,119 –> 00:11:02,099 God’s anger, is His personal holy response to evil. 227 00:11:04,099 –> 00:11:06,679 Let’s just try and look at that a little more closely. 228 00:11:06,679 –> 00:11:08,000 First, it’s a response. 229 00:11:08,000 –> 00:11:10,440 That’s important because it reminds us 230 00:11:10,520 –> 00:11:14,919 that anger is not God’s nature. 231 00:11:14,919 –> 00:11:17,840 The Bible says that God is love. 232 00:11:18,760 –> 00:11:21,919 It never says that God is anger. 233 00:11:22,919 –> 00:11:24,979 See, love is in God’s nature. 234 00:11:24,979 –> 00:11:27,760 Love is not a response. 235 00:11:28,599 –> 00:11:31,280 See, it is not that God looks down from heaven, 236 00:11:31,280 –> 00:11:33,140 sees how wonderful we all are, 237 00:11:33,140 –> 00:11:35,760 and then simply feels overwhelmed by love. 238 00:11:35,760 –> 00:11:38,159 Love in God is not our response. 239 00:11:38,159 –> 00:11:39,719 No, love is in His nature. 240 00:11:39,719 –> 00:11:43,119 That is why He loved us, even while we were still sinners. 241 00:11:43,119 –> 00:11:44,419 That’s why He loves the world, 242 00:11:44,419 –> 00:11:46,119 even in its rebellion against Him. 243 00:11:46,119 –> 00:11:47,979 Because His love is not a response, 244 00:11:47,979 –> 00:11:50,239 otherwise there wouldn’t be the thing to respond to. 245 00:11:50,239 –> 00:11:51,559 It’s in His nature. 246 00:11:51,559 –> 00:11:53,679 His very nature is love. 247 00:11:53,679 –> 00:11:55,520 His love is unprovoked. 248 00:11:55,520 –> 00:11:59,859 It does not arise as a response to any good that is in us. 249 00:12:00,880 –> 00:12:02,419 But His anger is different. 250 00:12:03,760 –> 00:12:07,520 God’s anger is a response, and it’s a response to evil. 251 00:12:08,440 –> 00:12:11,000 In other words, it’s provoked. 252 00:12:12,119 –> 00:12:15,159 That makes what the Bible teaches us about God 253 00:12:15,159 –> 00:12:17,260 very very different from what you would read 254 00:12:17,260 –> 00:12:20,039 in the myths about paganism. 255 00:12:21,000 –> 00:12:26,000 See, most of the pagan gods were angry by nature. 256 00:12:27,580 –> 00:12:31,320 That is why they were always needing to be placated 257 00:12:31,320 –> 00:12:34,640 by more and more offerings, because they were always angry. 258 00:12:34,640 –> 00:12:37,080 So you always had to offer them something new 259 00:12:37,140 –> 00:12:39,400 and something more. 260 00:12:39,400 –> 00:12:41,500 Now you may know some people like that 261 00:12:41,500 –> 00:12:42,739 who are just always angry 262 00:12:42,739 –> 00:12:44,700 and constantly needing to be placated. 263 00:12:45,679 –> 00:12:47,780 But God is not like that. 264 00:12:48,719 –> 00:12:52,039 God’s anger is provoked. 265 00:12:52,039 –> 00:12:57,039 It is a response to human sinfulness and evil. 266 00:12:58,640 –> 00:13:02,440 Not only that, it is a holy response. 267 00:13:02,440 –> 00:13:04,479 In other words, God’s anger is not like ours. 268 00:13:04,520 –> 00:13:07,500 Our anger too often involves losing control, 269 00:13:07,500 –> 00:13:09,479 flying off the handle, losing your temper 270 00:13:09,479 –> 00:13:10,619 and so forth and so on. 271 00:13:10,619 –> 00:13:12,320 God’s anger is never like that. 272 00:13:12,320 –> 00:13:17,159 God is never overcome by anger or by rage. 273 00:13:17,159 –> 00:13:22,159 God’s anger is a just and measured response. 274 00:13:22,780 –> 00:13:26,799 It is, in other words, proportionate to the crime. 275 00:13:26,799 –> 00:13:28,960 If that were not the case, God would not be just 276 00:13:28,960 –> 00:13:32,340 and his anger is an expression of his justice. 277 00:13:33,260 –> 00:13:35,719 The Bible tells us that God is slow to anger 278 00:13:36,619 –> 00:13:38,780 but that his anger will continue 279 00:13:38,780 –> 00:13:43,020 as long as men and women defy him. 280 00:13:43,020 –> 00:13:46,940 And that of course is why it will continue forever. 281 00:13:48,140 –> 00:13:51,500 You see, the idea that wicked men, wicked women 282 00:13:51,500 –> 00:13:55,380 will come to love God just because they see him 283 00:13:55,380 –> 00:13:56,840 is completely unbiblical. 284 00:13:58,539 –> 00:14:00,020 It is foreign to the Bible. 285 00:14:00,039 –> 00:14:03,260 God’s anger will burn against sinners 286 00:14:03,260 –> 00:14:07,059 who continue in their sin forever 287 00:14:08,080 –> 00:14:12,119 because God will never be reconciled to evil. 288 00:14:13,820 –> 00:14:15,320 It’s his Holy response. 289 00:14:17,659 –> 00:14:20,559 Third, it is his personal response. 290 00:14:22,039 –> 00:14:26,119 All sin is a personal offense against God. 291 00:14:27,119 –> 00:14:31,119 The thing that makes sin so sinful 292 00:14:31,119 –> 00:14:34,460 is that we use the life that God gives us 293 00:14:34,460 –> 00:14:36,419 in ways that dishonor him 294 00:14:36,419 –> 00:14:39,659 and resist what he’s doing in the world. 295 00:14:40,940 –> 00:14:42,840 Now, if God didn’t care about you, 296 00:14:42,840 –> 00:14:45,539 this wouldn’t matter, but he does. 297 00:14:46,520 –> 00:14:50,000 How you live matters to him. 298 00:14:50,000 –> 00:14:50,840 He is a calling, 299 00:14:50,840 –> 00:14:54,239 he is a plan for your life and for this world, 300 00:14:54,239 –> 00:14:55,919 and if you’re off doing your own thing, 301 00:14:56,859 –> 00:14:58,979 he takes it personally as your creator. 302 00:14:58,979 –> 00:15:00,080 It offends him. 303 00:15:01,940 –> 00:15:04,200 So God’s anger is his personal, 304 00:15:05,340 –> 00:15:08,539 holy response to evil. 305 00:15:11,859 –> 00:15:13,460 Now, it won’t surprise you to know 306 00:15:13,460 –> 00:15:15,799 that over the years, some writers have tried 307 00:15:15,799 –> 00:15:20,719 to reinterpret what the Bible says about God’s anger. 308 00:15:21,539 –> 00:15:26,000 And I want us to grasp and to see 309 00:15:26,000 –> 00:15:28,419 whenever man tries to tamper with God’s truth, 310 00:15:28,419 –> 00:15:31,219 he always makes his own situation worse. 311 00:15:33,460 –> 00:15:38,179 A good example of this was a man by the name of C.H. Dodd 312 00:15:38,179 –> 00:15:40,299 who wrote a commentary on the book of Romans 313 00:15:40,299 –> 00:15:42,219 that was first published in 1932, 314 00:15:42,219 –> 00:15:45,280 a very famous landmark book that gave rise 315 00:15:45,280 –> 00:15:48,340 to a great deal of liberal thinking 316 00:15:48,340 –> 00:15:50,619 about this whole matter 317 00:15:50,619 –> 00:15:53,919 of God’s justice and of His wrath. 318 00:15:54,780 –> 00:15:59,299 Dodd reinterpreted God’s anger or wrath in this way, 319 00:15:59,299 –> 00:16:00,780 he didn’t like the idea you see 320 00:16:00,780 –> 00:16:02,559 that God could actually be angry. 321 00:16:03,500 –> 00:16:06,280 So what he said was this that when Paul talks about, 322 00:16:06,280 –> 00:16:09,260 the Bible talks about God’s wrath or God’s anger, 323 00:16:09,260 –> 00:16:13,380 what is really describing is an inevitable process 324 00:16:13,380 –> 00:16:17,080 of cause and effect in a modern universe. 325 00:16:17,080 –> 00:16:18,059 That’s what he said. 326 00:16:19,059 –> 00:16:20,700 In other words, it’s impersonal. 327 00:16:21,659 –> 00:16:23,099 He rejected the idea 328 00:16:23,099 –> 00:16:25,739 that God could actually be angry with people. 329 00:16:25,739 –> 00:16:28,559 He said, we should not be thinking in the 20th century 330 00:16:28,559 –> 00:16:30,780 when he was writing about God likes that. 331 00:16:30,780 –> 00:16:31,619 No, no, no. 332 00:16:31,619 –> 00:16:34,599 When the Bible talks about the wrath or the anger of God, 333 00:16:34,599 –> 00:16:36,659 it’s not saying that God’s actually angry. 334 00:16:36,659 –> 00:16:39,359 He’s just saying that that the world 335 00:16:39,359 –> 00:16:41,099 has been set up in such a way 336 00:16:41,099 –> 00:16:43,020 that there is an inevitable process 337 00:16:43,020 –> 00:16:45,260 of cause and effect in a modern universe. 338 00:16:46,239 –> 00:16:50,260 If you do good, good comes to you. 339 00:16:50,260 –> 00:16:52,179 If you do bad, bad comes to you. 340 00:16:52,179 –> 00:16:53,419 You reap what you sow. 341 00:16:53,419 –> 00:16:54,960 There is an inevitable process 342 00:16:54,960 –> 00:16:56,739 of cause and effect in a modern universe. 343 00:16:56,739 –> 00:16:57,780 That’s what God was saying. 344 00:16:57,780 –> 00:17:00,000 And there was a whole movement of thought 345 00:17:00,000 –> 00:17:02,320 that rejected the Bible’s teaching 346 00:17:02,320 –> 00:17:06,060 on the anger of God along these lines. 347 00:17:07,979 –> 00:17:09,880 Now God had good motivations. 348 00:17:11,339 –> 00:17:12,780 What he thought he was doing 349 00:17:12,859 –> 00:17:14,619 was to remove a barrier 350 00:17:15,699 –> 00:17:18,500 that keeps many people from coming to faith. 351 00:17:19,459 –> 00:17:20,859 He recognized there were some people 352 00:17:20,859 –> 00:17:23,780 who so disliked the idea that God could be angry 353 00:17:23,780 –> 00:17:25,160 that it kept them from faith 354 00:17:25,160 –> 00:17:27,099 and he wanted to take away that barrier. 355 00:17:29,079 –> 00:17:31,300 But actually, as I want us to see this morning, 356 00:17:31,300 –> 00:17:34,339 what he and those who think like him have actually done 357 00:17:35,380 –> 00:17:40,380 is to place an intolerable burden on every person. 358 00:17:41,119 –> 00:17:42,359 Let me explain. 359 00:17:44,140 –> 00:17:47,660 Come with me in your imagination to a place called Calvary 360 00:17:49,439 –> 00:17:51,479 where there are three crosses. 361 00:17:53,239 –> 00:17:55,760 Jesus is nailed to one in the middle 362 00:17:55,760 –> 00:18:00,219 and on either side there are two criminals, thieves, 363 00:18:01,380 –> 00:18:04,540 who are coming to the end of their wasted lives. 364 00:18:06,140 –> 00:18:08,939 One of them curses and swears to the last, 365 00:18:09,199 –> 00:18:10,900 he wants nothing to do with God. 366 00:18:12,219 –> 00:18:15,099 But the other one becomes more subdued 367 00:18:15,099 –> 00:18:17,020 as eternity comes closer. 368 00:18:18,880 –> 00:18:21,739 He has heard Jesus say, father, forgive them, 369 00:18:21,739 –> 00:18:23,619 they do not know what they are doing. 370 00:18:24,859 –> 00:18:27,520 He has somehow recognized in his own spirit 371 00:18:27,520 –> 00:18:30,900 some authority within Jesus and he begins to wonder 372 00:18:30,900 –> 00:18:32,540 if this man dying next to him 373 00:18:32,540 –> 00:18:34,479 might indeed be able to help him. 374 00:18:34,479 –> 00:18:39,479 And so in his own agony he turns somehow to Jesus 375 00:18:39,560 –> 00:18:44,520 and he says this, Jesus, remember me 376 00:18:44,520 –> 00:18:47,819 when you come into your kingdom. 377 00:18:49,060 –> 00:18:50,219 Now, think about this. 378 00:18:51,920 –> 00:18:56,119 If CH Dodd was right, Jesus’ answer 379 00:18:56,119 –> 00:18:58,280 would have to have been something like this. 380 00:18:58,979 –> 00:19:03,979 I’m sorry my friend, but it’s too late. 381 00:19:06,500 –> 00:19:09,819 You see, you’ve lived your life as a thief 382 00:19:12,160 –> 00:19:14,880 and there is an inevitable process 383 00:19:14,880 –> 00:19:19,880 of cause and effect in a moral universe. 384 00:19:23,739 –> 00:19:27,880 That’s devastating, right? 385 00:19:29,260 –> 00:19:34,260 And not only would it be devastating to the thief, 386 00:19:34,880 –> 00:19:36,640 it would be devastating to you 387 00:19:36,640 –> 00:19:38,479 and it would be devastating to me. 388 00:19:42,640 –> 00:19:45,839 Thank God Jesus did not talk to a man 389 00:19:45,839 –> 00:19:48,699 on the brink of eternity about inevitable processes 390 00:19:48,699 –> 00:19:50,819 of cause and effect in a moral universe. 391 00:19:52,920 –> 00:19:55,500 Jesus said to him, Amen, 392 00:19:56,459 –> 00:20:00,959 Today you will be with me in paradise. 393 00:20:00,959 –> 00:20:04,579 Now, how could Jesus say that to this man 394 00:20:04,579 –> 00:20:07,400 who evidently was not fit for paradise. 395 00:20:08,800 –> 00:20:09,780 Here’s the answer. 396 00:20:11,800 –> 00:20:16,800 God’s anger is his holy personal response to evil. 397 00:20:18,280 –> 00:20:21,459 And when Jesus died on the cross the sins 398 00:20:21,459 –> 00:20:23,680 of the world were laid on him. 399 00:20:24,660 –> 00:20:28,000 God’s anger was poured out on him. 400 00:20:28,000 –> 00:20:30,180 The Bible calls that propitiation. 401 00:20:31,699 –> 00:20:34,959 He endured hell on the cross. 402 00:20:35,819 –> 00:20:38,920 And when that happened, the sun was turned to darkness. 403 00:20:38,920 –> 00:20:42,780 All hell was let loose and Jesus cried out in agony, 404 00:20:42,780 –> 00:20:45,579 my God, my God, why have you forsaken me. 405 00:20:45,579 –> 00:20:48,719 Then the darkness passed and Jesus cried out, 406 00:20:48,719 –> 00:20:53,239 the Bible tells us in a loud voice, it is finished. 407 00:20:54,599 –> 00:20:57,060 What was finished? 408 00:20:59,219 –> 00:21:00,339 God’s anger. 409 00:21:02,180 –> 00:21:05,859 His personal, holy response to evil 410 00:21:05,859 –> 00:21:10,079 was spent on Jesus. 411 00:21:12,000 –> 00:21:13,920 Poured out on him. 412 00:21:16,500 –> 00:21:19,060 The verdict passed, the sentence served, 413 00:21:19,060 –> 00:21:21,900 the anger exhausted and here’s the central mystery 414 00:21:21,900 –> 00:21:24,079 of it all as we celebrate at Christmas. 415 00:21:24,079 –> 00:21:27,319 This Jesus is God with us, 416 00:21:27,319 –> 00:21:32,199 God bore the wrath of God. 417 00:21:32,199 –> 00:21:37,199 His love and his justice meet in himself. 418 00:21:40,599 –> 00:21:45,380 That’s why the way is open for a dying thief 419 00:21:45,380 –> 00:21:46,680 to enter paradise. 420 00:21:46,880 –> 00:21:49,300 See, what Jesus did, 421 00:21:49,300 –> 00:21:53,660 Jesus rescued this man from the inevitable process 422 00:21:53,660 –> 00:21:57,839 of cause and effect in a moral universe, right? 423 00:21:57,839 –> 00:21:59,979 Jesus rescued this man from God’s 424 00:21:59,979 –> 00:22:02,479 personal holy response to his thieving 425 00:22:02,479 –> 00:22:04,040 and all the other sins of his life 426 00:22:04,040 –> 00:22:07,599 and he’s able to do the same for you. 427 00:22:07,599 –> 00:22:11,579 Listen to how John puts it in John chapter three, 428 00:22:11,579 –> 00:22:13,300 one of the most famous chapters in the 429 00:22:13,300 –> 00:22:15,500 whole Bible where we have John 3.16. 430 00:22:15,520 –> 00:22:17,880 Listen to how the chapter ends. 431 00:22:17,880 –> 00:22:20,560 Whoever believes in the son, that is, in Jesus, 432 00:22:20,560 –> 00:22:22,719 the Son of God, has eternal life, 433 00:22:22,719 –> 00:22:25,760 but whoever rejects the son will not see life 434 00:22:25,760 –> 00:22:30,420 for God’s wrath remains on him. 435 00:22:32,560 –> 00:22:33,939 You see, you come to believe in 436 00:22:33,939 –> 00:22:36,040 the Lord Jesus Christ and he 437 00:22:36,040 –> 00:22:38,239 takes this wrath away from you. 438 00:22:39,439 –> 00:22:42,119 You stand at a distance from Jesus Christ 439 00:22:42,119 –> 00:22:45,339 and this wrath remains on you. 440 00:22:45,339 –> 00:22:46,859 That’s what John says, that’s the word. 441 00:22:46,859 –> 00:22:50,520 The wrath of God remains on him. 442 00:22:54,119 –> 00:22:55,599 And you know, you must play your part 443 00:22:55,599 –> 00:22:57,199 in this great reconciliation. 444 00:22:59,660 –> 00:23:04,380 It was G.C. Ryle that made the most incisive comment. 445 00:23:04,380 –> 00:23:06,619 He said, you know, thinking about that scene 446 00:23:06,619 –> 00:23:09,199 with two thieves on the cross, he said, 447 00:23:09,199 –> 00:23:13,060 one thief was saved that no one should ever despair 448 00:23:13,959 –> 00:23:17,199 and the other one was lost 449 00:23:17,199 –> 00:23:19,520 so that no one should ever presume. 450 00:23:21,640 –> 00:23:23,219 The tragedy of the other thief 451 00:23:23,219 –> 00:23:27,359 is that God’s wrath remained on him. 452 00:23:29,560 –> 00:23:33,319 You see, it is very possible to come close to Jesus 453 00:23:34,540 –> 00:23:36,400 and to go out into a lost eternity. 454 00:23:38,000 –> 00:23:41,520 You have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 455 00:23:41,599 –> 00:23:45,780 who died as the sacrifice for your sin. 456 00:23:45,780 –> 00:23:48,920 You have to ask that His sacrifice will cover you. 457 00:23:50,339 –> 00:23:52,060 You have to stand out from the crowd 458 00:23:52,060 –> 00:23:54,859 as that thief did when the crowd were rejecting Jesus, 459 00:23:54,859 –> 00:23:56,599 just as the crowd rejects Him today, 460 00:23:56,599 –> 00:23:58,680 and you have to take your stand with Him 461 00:23:58,680 –> 00:24:00,260 as one who believes in Him, 462 00:24:00,260 –> 00:24:01,560 who follows Him and trusts Him 463 00:24:01,560 –> 00:24:03,459 and worships Him, who obeys Him. 464 00:24:06,400 –> 00:24:09,540 God’s anger as far as your sin is concerned 465 00:24:10,439 –> 00:24:11,719 is in one of two places. 466 00:24:11,719 –> 00:24:14,260 It was either spent on Jesus 467 00:24:15,599 –> 00:24:18,660 or it remains on you. 468 00:24:19,699 –> 00:24:20,619 It can’t be both. 469 00:24:21,920 –> 00:24:23,640 Either through faith in Jesus, 470 00:24:23,640 –> 00:24:25,319 you’re in the position of being able to say 471 00:24:25,319 –> 00:24:28,900 there is now no condemnation because I’m in Christ 472 00:24:30,060 –> 00:24:32,920 or you’re standing apart from Jesus. 473 00:24:32,920 –> 00:24:37,339 And in John’s words, God’s wrath remains on you. 474 00:24:38,339 –> 00:24:40,540 Now if that’s where you are, 475 00:24:40,540 –> 00:24:42,880 I’m gonna lead in a prayer in just a few moments time 476 00:24:42,880 –> 00:24:44,560 in which I’m going to invite you to come 477 00:24:44,560 –> 00:24:46,680 and to ask Jesus to save you 478 00:24:46,680 –> 00:24:49,479 and to take God’s wrath away from you. 479 00:24:50,699 –> 00:24:53,060 He died so that that’s possible for you today. 480 00:24:55,599 –> 00:24:56,579 But just before we get there, 481 00:24:56,579 –> 00:24:58,619 I want us to have a grasp of what will happen 482 00:24:58,619 –> 00:25:00,359 if you do that, 483 00:25:00,359 –> 00:25:04,660 what happens for everyone who has put their trust in Jesus. 484 00:25:05,599 –> 00:25:09,280 Because Micah makes it clear that God’s pardon 485 00:25:09,280 –> 00:25:12,719 deals not only with this primary issue of His anger, 486 00:25:12,719 –> 00:25:14,479 but it also deals with your past 487 00:25:14,479 –> 00:25:16,439 and it deals with your future. 488 00:25:16,439 –> 00:25:18,079 Let’s look at these more briefly together. 489 00:25:18,079 –> 00:25:20,800 First your past. 490 00:25:20,800 –> 00:25:22,579 Notice how he says in verse 19, 491 00:25:23,479 –> 00:25:28,260 you will hurl all our iniquities 492 00:25:28,260 –> 00:25:30,880 into the depths of the sea, 493 00:25:30,880 –> 00:25:33,099 that is a marvelous word, hurl. 494 00:25:33,520 –> 00:25:36,439 I have been practicing to say that word all week, 495 00:25:36,439 –> 00:25:37,900 you understand, would you like to join me 496 00:25:37,900 –> 00:25:40,560 in saying that word, hurl, try it. 497 00:25:40,560 –> 00:25:42,099 Highly try it, give it a try here, 498 00:25:42,099 –> 00:25:45,119 one, after three, one, two, three, hurl. 499 00:25:45,119 –> 00:25:46,520 Okay, we’ve got that one now. 500 00:25:48,300 –> 00:25:49,760 It’s a wonderful word. 501 00:25:51,939 –> 00:25:54,079 I remember my Scottish pastor 502 00:25:54,079 –> 00:25:56,819 preaching at great lengths about this. 503 00:25:56,819 –> 00:25:58,239 I remember his image. 504 00:25:59,199 –> 00:26:04,020 God hurls your sins into the depth of the sea 505 00:26:04,020 –> 00:26:08,380 and then he puts up a big sign that says no fishing. 506 00:26:08,380 –> 00:26:10,219 I like that, I like that. 507 00:26:12,119 –> 00:26:15,400 When God forgives you, He takes your past, 508 00:26:15,400 –> 00:26:19,060 He takes your guilt and it’s gone 509 00:26:20,040 –> 00:26:21,420 in the depths of the sea. 510 00:26:23,619 –> 00:26:26,260 But there’s something more here that came fresh to me 511 00:26:26,300 –> 00:26:28,339 as I studied it more closely this week, 512 00:26:28,339 –> 00:26:29,959 I’d never really seen it before. 513 00:26:31,060 –> 00:26:33,739 But you see this phrase about God hurling 514 00:26:36,540 –> 00:26:37,800 something into the depth of the sea 515 00:26:37,800 –> 00:26:39,420 occurs really only one place earlier 516 00:26:39,420 –> 00:26:42,020 in the Old Testament and it’s very significant. 517 00:26:42,020 –> 00:26:45,300 It comes in the story of when God’s people 518 00:26:45,300 –> 00:26:49,780 came out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus. 519 00:26:49,780 –> 00:26:51,640 And you’ll see, and this is very significant 520 00:26:51,640 –> 00:26:53,579 if you look at verse 15, 521 00:26:53,579 –> 00:26:55,180 that the Holy Spirit caused Micah 522 00:26:55,500 –> 00:26:58,500 to think about the story of the Exodus from Egypt 523 00:26:58,500 –> 00:27:00,540 as he was writing these words. 524 00:27:00,540 –> 00:27:03,380 So we know from verse 15 that the Exodus 525 00:27:03,380 –> 00:27:06,780 was in Micah’s mind by the inspiration of the Spirit 526 00:27:06,780 –> 00:27:09,859 as he’s writing these words that we’re reading. 527 00:27:09,859 –> 00:27:12,280 As in the days when you came out of Egypt, 528 00:27:12,280 –> 00:27:15,099 I will show them my wonders, verse 15. 529 00:27:16,020 –> 00:27:17,800 Well now let me just briefly remind you 530 00:27:17,800 –> 00:27:19,979 of the story of the Exodus, 531 00:27:19,979 –> 00:27:23,680 which most children know very, very well. 532 00:27:23,760 –> 00:27:25,680 What I’m gonna do is to tell the story 533 00:27:25,680 –> 00:27:27,560 and then get one part wrong. 534 00:27:28,439 –> 00:27:31,579 And when I get a part wrong, especially for the kids here 535 00:27:31,579 –> 00:27:34,380 but frankly for anyone else, give me some response. 536 00:27:34,380 –> 00:27:36,959 I mean, raise a hand or shout out or something. 537 00:27:36,959 –> 00:27:40,239 I want us to identify where we’re getting the story wrong, 538 00:27:40,239 –> 00:27:43,140 but I’m gonna start out at least by getting it right. 539 00:27:43,140 –> 00:27:45,079 Okay, here’s the story of the Exodus 540 00:27:45,079 –> 00:27:47,719 that probably all the children know well. 541 00:27:47,719 –> 00:27:49,660 God’s people were slaves in Egypt. 542 00:27:50,520 –> 00:27:52,439 They were treated with cruelty 543 00:27:52,520 –> 00:27:55,020 and they cried out to God for help. 544 00:27:55,020–> 00:27:58,859 God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh, let my people go, 545 00:27:58,859 –> 00:28:00,800 but Pharaoh didn’t want to let the people go 546 00:28:00,800 –> 00:28:03,260 because he wanted to keep them as slaves. 547 00:28:03,260 –> 00:28:05,119 So God sent plagues, 548 00:28:05,119 –> 00:28:08,760 and eventually Pharaoh said that the people could go. 549 00:28:08,760 –> 00:28:11,359 So Moses led the people out of Egypt 550 00:28:11,359 –> 00:28:13,939 and they got as far as the Red Sea. 551 00:28:13,939 –> 00:28:15,719 But then Pharaoh change his mind 552 00:28:15,719 –> 00:28:19,339 and he sent his army to chase after the Israelites. 553 00:28:19,339 –> 00:28:21,920 Well, God did a wonderful miracle 554 00:28:21,939 –> 00:28:25,060 and he divided the waters of the Red Sea. 555 00:28:25,060 –> 00:28:29,020 He divided the waters, great walls of water on either side, 556 00:28:29,020 –> 00:28:32,640 and the people began to walk across the Red Sea on dry land. 557 00:28:32,640 –> 00:28:35,160 But when they were halfway across 558 00:28:35,160 –> 00:28:37,000 the Egyptians caught up with them, 559 00:28:37,000 –> 00:28:38,400 put chains on them 560 00:28:38,400 –> 00:28:40,859 and took them all the way back to Egypt, right? 561 00:28:42,359 –> 00:28:43,199 Thank you. 562 00:28:44,079 –> 00:28:45,819 That’s not the story. 563 00:28:45,819 –> 00:28:46,859 What is the story? 564 00:28:47,739 –> 00:28:49,260 The story of the Exodus 565 00:28:49,260 –> 00:28:54,260 is that God closed the waters over the Egyptians 566 00:28:55,000 –> 00:28:59,699 so that they could not bring God’s people back into slavery. 567 00:29:00,640 –> 00:29:03,920 And when God’s people got to the other side of the Red Sea, 568 00:29:03,920 –> 00:29:07,219 Moses and the Israelites began to sing. 569 00:29:07,219 –> 00:29:09,099 And if you want to flick to it very, very quickly, 570 00:29:09,099 –> 00:29:10,500 you’ll see our word, 571 00:29:10,500 –> 00:29:12,380 because they began to sing a song 572 00:29:12,380 –> 00:29:15,739 that God gave them in Exodus chapter 15. 573 00:29:15,739 –> 00:29:17,239 And it’s the one place 574 00:29:17,239 –> 00:29:18,739 at the beginning of the Old Testament 575 00:29:19,439 –> 00:29:20,839 where this very unusual word 576 00:29:20,839 –> 00:29:24,079 that you can say with a Scottish accent actually occurs. 577 00:29:24,079 –> 00:29:25,959 Exodus 15 and verse 1. 578 00:29:25,959 –> 00:29:27,819 I will sing to the Lord. 579 00:29:27,819 –> 00:29:30,040 The Israelites began to sing with joy 580 00:29:30,040 –> 00:29:34,079 for he has highly exalted the horse and its rider, 581 00:29:34,079 –> 00:29:37,040 he has hurtled into the sea. 582 00:29:37,040 –> 00:29:38,140 That’s verse one. 583 00:29:38,140 –> 00:29:39,959 And just to get into it, in verse four, 584 00:29:39,959 –> 00:29:42,439 they say, Pharos, chariots and his armies, 585 00:29:42,439 –> 00:29:45,699 he has hurled into the sea. 586 00:29:45,699 –> 00:29:48,099 Now, you see Micah takes up that picture. 587 00:29:49,079 –> 00:29:52,060 And he’s using it as an illustration. 588 00:29:53,520 –> 00:29:58,099 When God saves you, you know what’s gonna happen next? 589 00:29:59,020 –> 00:30:02,560 The very sins from which he has saved you 590 00:30:02,560 –> 00:30:04,339 will come chasing after you. 591 00:30:06,040 –> 00:30:10,079 Your past sins leads to present struggles, 592 00:30:10,079 –> 00:30:11,780 but here’s God’s promise. 593 00:30:13,079 –> 00:30:18,079 When your past sins start chasing after you 594 00:30:18,160 –> 00:30:21,280 in order to take you back into slavery again, 595 00:30:22,400 –> 00:30:23,939 God will be with you, 596 00:30:24,959 –> 00:30:28,079 and he will deliver you from the power of your past sins 597 00:30:28,079 –> 00:30:30,579 just like he delivered his people 598 00:30:30,579 –> 00:30:33,520 from the power of the chasing Egyptian army. 599 00:30:33,520 –> 00:30:38,079 He will hurl them into the depths of the sea. 600 00:30:38,079 –> 00:30:41,800 That’s what he’ll do with the sins that chase you. 601 00:30:43,099 –> 00:30:46,540 See, this is much more than forgiveness. 602 00:30:46,599 –> 00:30:49,439 This is deliverance, deliverance. 603 00:30:50,359 –> 00:30:51,599 We sing a hymn often, 604 00:30:51,599 –> 00:30:56,199 he breaks the power of cancelled sin, 605 00:30:56,199 –> 00:30:58,380 he sets the prisoner free. 606 00:30:58,380 –> 00:31:00,239 You see, if he’d just cancelled my sin, 607 00:31:00,239 –> 00:31:01,719 he would leave me defeated 608 00:31:01,719 –> 00:31:04,079 in the same old chains and the same old struggles. 609 00:31:04,079 –> 00:31:05,459 The gospel is more than that. 610 00:31:05,459 –> 00:31:08,520 He breaks the power of cancelled sin, 611 00:31:08,520 –> 00:31:10,099 he sets the prisoner free. 612 00:31:10,099 –> 00:31:13,880 He takes the sins that are chasing you, 613 00:31:13,880 –> 00:31:17,719 and he will huddle them into the depths of the sea. 614 00:31:19,920 –> 00:31:21,680 Are your past sins chasing you? 615 00:31:24,680 –> 00:31:27,439 Do you feel they’re catching up with you? 616 00:31:31,160 –> 00:31:34,459 Do you see pride and laziness and greed 617 00:31:34,459 –> 00:31:37,920 and lust over your shoulder? 618 00:31:39,719 –> 00:31:43,260 Do you feel them breathing down your neck? 619 00:31:44,880 –> 00:31:48,459 Are they coming after you to take you captive again? 620 00:31:48,459 –> 00:31:53,459 Listen, your Savior is able to hurdle them 621 00:31:55,040 –> 00:31:56,699 into the depths of the sea. 622 00:31:56,699 –> 00:32:01,699 He says, sin shall no longer be your master. 623 00:32:02,619 –> 00:32:05,900 That’s the gospel, Romans 6, 14. 624 00:32:08,439 –> 00:32:11,000 Deals with God’s anger, 625 00:32:12,180 –> 00:32:13,260 your past. 626 00:32:14,640 –> 00:32:16,939 And lastly, and very briefly, your future. 627 00:32:16,939 –> 00:32:19,520 Notice what he says in verse 19. 628 00:32:19,520 –> 00:32:23,719 You will tread our sins underfoot. 629 00:32:23,719 –> 00:32:25,819 What a marvelous statement. 630 00:32:25,819 –> 00:32:28,319 Oh God, he says, who’s a God like you? 631 00:32:28,319 –> 00:32:32,119 You will tread our sins underfoot. 632 00:32:33,439 –> 00:32:37,319 Now, if hurdling the iniquities into the depth of the sea 633 00:32:37,319 –> 00:32:39,880 refers to God’s deliverance from your past sins 634 00:32:39,880 –> 00:32:42,599 when they come chasing after you, 635 00:32:42,599 –> 00:32:45,579 then surely treading your sins underfoot 636 00:32:45,579 –> 00:32:48,020 must refer to overcoming temptations 637 00:32:48,020 –> 00:32:50,660 that still lie ahead of you. 638 00:32:50,660 –> 00:32:53,339 As you’re moving forward on this journey, 639 00:32:53,339 –> 00:32:57,819 God says he will tread your sins underfoot. 640 00:32:58,859 –> 00:33:00,760 Here you are going into another week, 641 00:33:02,579 –> 00:33:05,979 and Satan has already sets snares in your path. 642 00:33:05,979 –> 00:33:07,219 Your future path. 643 00:33:07,819 –> 00:33:10,900 Every one of us will be tested 644 00:33:10,900 –> 00:33:13,959 at some point where we are vulnerable this week. 645 00:33:16,199 –> 00:33:17,420 And here’s the good news. 646 00:33:18,479 –> 00:33:20,560 God is walking with you. 647 00:33:22,319 –> 00:33:24,260 And as you encounter the snares 648 00:33:24,260 –> 00:33:25,579 that have been laid by the enemy, 649 00:33:25,579 –> 00:33:27,380 the traps on your pathway, 650 00:33:27,380 –> 00:33:30,459 the temptations that even now you cannot predict 651 00:33:30,459 –> 00:33:31,859 but they will surely come, 652 00:33:33,180 –> 00:33:34,180 here’s his promise. 653 00:33:34,180 –> 00:33:36,760 He will tread. 654 00:33:36,839 –> 00:33:39,859 He will tread your sins underfoot. 655 00:33:39,859 –> 00:33:40,900 This is the gospel. 656 00:33:42,819 –> 00:33:45,819 Your past sins will not master you 657 00:33:47,199 –> 00:33:49,900 and your future temptations will not overwhelm you. 658 00:33:51,199 –> 00:33:52,800 God will walk with you. 659 00:33:52,800 –> 00:33:53,959 He will deal with both. 660 00:33:54,839 –> 00:33:56,280 He will be true to Jacob. 661 00:33:56,280 –> 00:33:57,979 He will show mercy to Abraham 662 00:33:57,979 –> 00:34:01,619 as he pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago. 663 00:34:03,140 –> 00:34:05,400 You know, if I think back to different reasons 664 00:34:05,479 –> 00:34:07,319 that I’ve heard why people hesitate 665 00:34:07,319 –> 00:34:10,379 to make a real life commitment to Jesus Christ, 666 00:34:10,379 –> 00:34:12,959 one of the most frequent is this, 667 00:34:12,959 –> 00:34:15,419 I don’t think I could keep it up. 668 00:34:17,419 –> 00:34:19,919 I’ve heard dozens of people say that over the years. 669 00:34:21,360 –> 00:34:23,100 If I was really to become a Christian 670 00:34:23,100 –> 00:34:25,219 it would mean such change in my life, 671 00:34:25,219 –> 00:34:27,320 I honestly don’t think I could keep it up. 672 00:34:30,080 –> 00:34:32,739 My past sins, in other words, you’re saying, 673 00:34:32,739 –> 00:34:34,060 would catch up with me. 674 00:34:34,879 –> 00:34:39,639 My future temptations you’re saying, would overwhelm me. 675 00:34:39,639 –> 00:34:43,120 Now listen, God has already thought about that. 676 00:34:44,500 –> 00:34:46,399 And He’s provided for you in Christ. 677 00:34:48,419 –> 00:34:50,500 The gospel is not just, 678 00:34:50,500 –> 00:34:53,040 I’ll forgive you now you try harder and do better. 679 00:34:55,080 –> 00:34:57,260 It is that God’s anger is ended. 680 00:34:57,260 –> 00:34:58,659 Your past is dealt with. 681 00:34:59,679 –> 00:35:00,939 And your future is secure. 682 00:35:01,899 –> 00:35:04,239 That’s what Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross. 683 00:35:04,239 –> 00:35:07,919 No wonder Mikah’s saying, who is a God like you? 684 00:35:11,919 –> 00:35:16,000 Here’s the very last thing, notice who God does this for. 685 00:35:16,000 –> 00:35:17,840 It’s very important not to miss this. 686 00:35:19,139 –> 00:35:23,520 Notice verse 18, God pardons sin 687 00:35:23,520 –> 00:35:26,399 and forgives the transgression of who? 688 00:35:27,560 –> 00:35:30,739 Of the remnant, oh, there’s another our word. 689 00:35:31,399 –> 00:35:35,479 I hadn’t noticed that, of the remnant of his inheritance. 690 00:35:36,379 –> 00:35:37,320 The remnant. 691 00:35:39,540 –> 00:35:41,040 Now, that’s very significant. 692 00:35:41,939 –> 00:35:46,000 You see, Mikah preached his message, the whole book, 693 00:35:46,979 –> 00:35:50,860 to the entire population of Israel, to the whole nation. 694 00:35:52,439 –> 00:35:55,919 The sad fact is that for the vast majority of people, 695 00:35:55,919 –> 00:35:58,780 Mikah’s message didn’t make a scrap of difference. 696 00:36:01,739 –> 00:36:04,379 Life went on exactly the same. 697 00:36:05,300 –> 00:36:06,899 They heard the message, then it was another day, 698 00:36:06,899 –> 00:36:08,560 another dollar or another shekel 699 00:36:08,560 –> 00:36:09,679 or whatever it was. 700 00:36:11,639 –> 00:36:14,600 The vast majority of people in Mikah’s day 701 00:36:14,600 –> 00:36:17,020 after they heard his message were still caught up 702 00:36:17,020 –> 00:36:18,500 in their own old sins, 703 00:36:20,500 –> 00:36:22,840 had no defense against future temptations, 704 00:36:22,840 –> 00:36:25,360 and God’s wrath remained on them. 705 00:36:29,060 –> 00:36:30,260 But there were a few. 706 00:36:31,300 –> 00:36:32,860 A few. 707 00:36:32,860 –> 00:36:34,760 A few in the crowd 708 00:36:37,100 –> 00:36:40,340 who realized that God was really speaking to them. 709 00:36:42,379 –> 00:36:43,600 And they sat up and they said, 710 00:36:43,600 –> 00:36:45,560 you know, God’s speaking to me 711 00:36:45,560 –> 00:36:47,459 and I’ve gotta do something about it. 712 00:36:48,739 –> 00:36:51,699 And they turned to God in repentance 713 00:36:51,699 –> 00:36:54,080 because they believed what Mikah said. 714 00:36:55,459 –> 00:36:57,459 They asked for God’s pardon 715 00:36:57,939 –> 00:37:00,719 and they prayed for God’s help 716 00:37:00,719 –> 00:37:03,379 for his deliverance to begin living 717 00:37:03,379 –> 00:37:05,080 different kind of lives. 718 00:37:05,080 –> 00:37:09,219 These people, they were called the remnant. 719 00:37:09,219 –> 00:37:11,179 That is, the group who remain. 720 00:37:13,179 –> 00:37:15,780 And Mikah says God pardons the remnant. 721 00:37:17,439 –> 00:37:19,479 He did not stay angry with them 722 00:37:19,479 –> 00:37:21,820 but He delighted to show them mercy. 723 00:37:21,820 –> 00:37:24,219 He had compassion on them, these folks. 724 00:37:24,219 –> 00:37:27,139 He treads their sins underfoot 725 00:37:27,179 –> 00:37:30,899 and He huddles their sins into the depths of the ocean. 726 00:37:30,899 –> 00:37:33,820 He fulfills His promise to Abraham in them 727 00:37:33,820 –> 00:37:35,580 and He walks with these folks 728 00:37:35,580 –> 00:37:37,979 in every circumstance of their lives. 729 00:37:37,979 –> 00:37:42,439 Not everybody, just the remnant. 730 00:37:45,340 –> 00:37:46,459 So the obvious question then, 731 00:37:46,459 –> 00:37:48,419 is are you part of the remnant? 732 00:37:50,020 –> 00:37:51,500 Or are you part of the crowd? 733 00:37:52,500 –> 00:37:55,540 Joining the remnant means standing apart from the crowd. 734 00:37:55,540 –> 00:37:57,300 It always does. 735 00:37:57,300 –> 00:37:59,820 In Micah’s day for the thief on the cross 736 00:37:59,820 –> 00:38:02,199 for you in your world, me in mine today. 737 00:38:04,860 –> 00:38:06,260 The crowd at school, 738 00:38:07,820 –> 00:38:09,639 the crowd at business, 739 00:38:10,620 –> 00:38:11,879 the crowd in the mall. 740 00:38:14,899 –> 00:38:16,600 But you can join the remnant today. 741 00:38:17,699 –> 00:38:19,580 That’s exactly what God wants from you. 742 00:38:21,959 –> 00:38:23,800 Nothing would bring him more delight. 743 00:38:25,639 –> 00:38:28,520 You can come to the risen Lord Jesus Christ today 744 00:38:28,520 –> 00:38:30,179 and you can say to him something like this, 745 00:38:30,179 –> 00:38:32,360 Do what you do for me. 746 00:38:34,000 –> 00:38:37,300 Remove the condemnation of God’s wrath from my life. 747 00:38:39,760 –> 00:38:42,459 Hurdle my past sins into the depth of the sea 748 00:38:42,459 –> 00:38:43,959 so they’ll not catch me again. 749 00:38:46,360 –> 00:38:48,979 Walk with me, teach me, lead me into a new life 750 00:38:49,439 –> 00:38:51,679 and will it please you, crush my future temptations 751 00:38:51,679 –> 00:38:52,520 under your feet? 752 00:38:52,520 –> 00:38:55,219 Because I can’t crush them under my own. 753 00:38:56,340 –> 00:38:58,739 And you know that’s what he wants to do for you. 754 00:38:59,959 –> 00:39:02,600 In fact he delights to do it. 755 00:39:04,699 –> 00:39:06,939 And when that reality becomes your experience, 756 00:39:06,939 –> 00:39:09,540 you will be taking your stand with Micah 757 00:39:10,679 –> 00:39:12,040 and you’ll be saying to God, 758 00:39:12,040 –> 00:39:14,820 who is a God like you? 759 00:39:16,540 –> 00:39:17,639 Who pardons sin? 760 00:39:19,760 –> 00:39:21,179 Who forgives transgression? 761 00:39:24,000 –> 00:39:25,699 He delights to show mercy. 762 00:39:27,540 –> 00:39:29,659 Who treads our sins underfoot? 763 00:39:31,280 –> 00:39:33,939 Who hurdles our iniquities into the depth of the sea 764 00:39:35,719 –> 00:39:38,120 and walks faithfully keeping his covenant 765 00:39:39,139 –> 00:39:42,020 with the remnant of his people. 766 00:39:43,280 –> 00:39:45,219 Let’s bow in prayer together, shall we? 767 00:39:49,020 –> 00:39:51,659 And, you know, if in your heart of heart you’re saying, 768 00:39:51,659 –> 00:39:55,879 it sounds to me like the wrath of God remains on me, 769 00:39:55,879 –> 00:39:57,459 then will you come and ask, 770 00:39:57,459 –> 00:39:59,500 believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, 771 00:39:59,500 –> 00:40:00,939 that it will be taken from you, 772 00:40:00,939 –> 00:40:03,800 that that cloud that hangs over you 773 00:40:03,800 –> 00:40:07,199 may be counted as having burst on Jesus? 774 00:40:09,439 –> 00:40:13,760 And that as you embrace him with repentance and faith 775 00:40:13,760 –> 00:40:15,939 and become his follower today, 776 00:40:16,479 –> 00:40:20,419 that the new reality of your life will be to say 777 00:40:20,419 –> 00:40:23,840 there is no condemnation for me in Jesus. 778 00:40:26,340 –> 00:40:30,520 And, Lord, as you do this miracle for me in Jesus, 779 00:40:34,399 –> 00:40:38,000 hurl my past sins into the depth of the sea, 780 00:40:39,560 –> 00:40:43,719 walk with me treading my future temptations under your feet, 781 00:40:43,939 –> 00:40:47,060 give me strength to walk a new life journey 782 00:40:47,060 –> 00:40:48,879 step-in-step with you, 783 00:40:53,080 –> 00:40:55,620 and right now, receive the worship, the love, 784 00:40:55,620 –> 00:40:59,439 the response of my heart because I cannot but 785 00:40:59,439 –> 00:41:03,020 from within say who is a god like you 786 00:41:04,260 –> 00:41:07,419 who would do all this for me in Jesus? 787 00:41:07,419 –> 00:41:11,020 Do all this for me in Jesus. 788 00:41:12,600 –> 00:41:16,120 Hear my prayer as I step from death to life, 789 00:41:18,379 –> 00:41:21,000 from darkness to light. 790 00:41:21,000 –> 00:41:24,139 In Jesus name, amen.