 The sermon title today is Who is a God like you? The first was not a sermon, but this is maybe your second sermon for Who is a God like you? From Micah 7 verses 14 to 20, by way of introduction. I'll tell you a parable as Mark's like to tell parables. There once was a master trumpeter, master trumpet player, who was going through and looking in different pawn shops for instruments that he could find it would be a steal. And he found a few different, very common, very cheap and somewhat broken trumpets. And he just selected one and he cleaned it, he maintained it, he worked on it. And so when he began to play that cheap, common, somewhat broken trumpet, the people who were able to hear him, who truly knew music well, were astonished at what a sound would come, such cheap, common instrument. And they would ascribe greatness to the trumpet player because of the worth of the trumpet player rather than the instrument. So we say today that as we leave, we are just cheap, common, somewhat broken instruments. But what a trumpet player we have, what a great king we have in Jesus Christ. And so we, I'll try and get through this faster guys, so don't worry. I'll pick up the pace. Let's focus now, not on our families, but let's focus on the God who we go to proclaim. Let's focus on the trumpet player, not on the cheap, common trumpet. Who is a God like you? We'll see in verses 14 to 15 of Micah chapter 7 that we see a God who shepherds his people. We will see a God who judges the nations. And we will see a God who pardons his people so that we may say together, who is a God like him? Who is a God like him? First off, now I would want you to understand some background into Micah. Micah is a book where there is a prophet Micah and he has ministered in the same time as Isaiah. He has been called by St. Clair Ferguson, he is Isaiah's country cousin. He lives out in the country, he's from that region, and he prophesies to Judah, and he prophesies in much the same way as Isaiah, much about Christ, much about sin and judgment. And the book of Micah comes in three main cycles. Chapters 1 and 2 is one cycle and in each cycle contains sin, judgment, hope, and Christ. And then chapters 3, 4, and 5 comes another cycle, sin, judgment, hope, and Christ. And then chapters 6 and 7 of Micah, same cycle, sin, judgment, hope, and Christ. It's as if Micah is someone who washes a window and he doesn't get it all cleaned the first time. So he goes again and again and again. So be clean by Micah, be clean by Micah and the many cycles in which he goes over you so that you may see and proclaim at the end who is a God like you. This book is where we see a covenant Micah serves as a covenant prosecutor. He knows the covenant that God has given and he knows the people are disobeying it. He knows that judgment is going to come and he knows their only hope is in the Messiah. Their only hope is in the Messiah. And so in chapters 6 and 7 we have the last cycle. And where our series of verses fits into that is the declaration and the hope. We are at the hope. You can see very quickly, you can see some of that judgment as in a cycle in chapter 6 when he says in verse 9, the Lord's voice cries to the city, wisdom shall see your name, hear the rod, who has appointed it. Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked? And the short measure, there's an abomination. Shall I count pure those with wicked scales and a bag of deceitful weights? For her rich men are full of violence and her habitants have spoken lies and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Hear the covenant prosecutor Micah, prosecutes the guilty people of Israel and he speaks of them, of their sin and the coming judgment. Look in chapter 7 in verse 1, Woe is me, for I am like those who gather summer fruits like those who glean vintage grapes. There's no cluster to eat of the first ripe fruit, which my soul desires. The faithful man has perished from the earth and there was no one upright among men. They all lie and wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with a net that they may successfully do evil with both hands. The prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bribe and the great man utters evil desires so that they scheme together. The best of them is like a briar. The most upright is sharper than the thorn hedge. The day of your watchman and your punishment comes. Now shall be their perplexity. Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence in a companion. Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonors father. Daughter rises up against her mother. Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own household. Therefore I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Here we see a taste of the cycle where he is pointing out the sins of the people. The sins have gotten so bad that you can't trust your own family member. And Jesus quotes this when he speaks of what will happen in a Christian's home when they go to follow the Lord. That their own home will be divided. And then so where is the hope? And where is the hope in this book? And where is our great hope? In verse 7, looking to God. Looking to the one that can be trusted. Looking to the one who you can put confidence in is God. And so then begins in verses 8-20 a prophecy. A prophecy where God begins to describe where our hope is. And he puts his hope in his final lasting work when he will come and return. And we see that in different stages. Verses 8-10, one stage. Verse 11-13, another. And then finally into our text. In verses 8-13 he describes how he will call his people. How the enemy won't be able to triumph over us because Jesus Christ is coming back. He's coming back and all of us will be able to say and see when he calls a great revival of the Jewish people and he brings them back to their homeland. And we as the Gentiles grafted in as one people of God, we are grafted in and we are included in those same promises. So we see the promises of that day, that day fulfilled. And that's where we pick up in verses 14-15. The God who shepherds his people. So first, who is a God like you? The God who shepherds his people. Read with me in verse 14. Shepherds your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage who dwells solidarily in Woodland in the pits of Carmel. Let them feed in Bation and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you come out of the land of Egypt I will show them wonders. God shepherds his people. God shepherds his people. First look and see all of the characteristics here in these verses about a shepherd. You see shepherd your people? How else? With your staff in verse 14? The flock of your heritage? The various places that are listed. Carmel, Bation, Gilead. These places you can Google them on your phone or later on. You can Google these places and you can see how they are places that even now you can see the sheep, the cows and the animals that pasture there now. These places are places of fruitful places where you would take your livestock. What is he saying? He is saying he is going to. In the time of Micah there is trouble on the horizon. The Assyrians have begun to invade the northern kingdom in Israel. If you remember your Bible with Sennacherib there is a great threat that Jerusalem will be destroyed and taken. In light of the context of the coming judgment with the Assyrians and then with a future prophecies in this book of the Babylonian captivity this is fulfilled in God bringing his people back from Babylon but then it is also fulfilled ultimately and then in Romans 11 in a prophecy of bringing one day a revival of the Jewish people and that will take place and they will turn to Christ in whom they have rejected and as one people of God we will worship him and he will care for us as a shepherd does his sheep. First see the cry. You see how Micah cries out to God to shepherd your people with your staff. He is crying out to God that he would take care of and nourish his people. We were reminded how Christ is our chief shepherd. We're reminded how the false shepherds in Micah's day that he speaks of are to be rejected but here is where our true care comes from. Here's where our true care comes from. It's from God Almighty. Sometimes beloved the greatest desire for someone to be cared for is not yourself but in someone else and that's the difficulty in leaving for me is that you will be cared for and where's my great hope for that come from? That God is the one who will shepherd you. God is the one who will take care of you and provide all that you need. The Lord is your shepherd and you shall not want. He leads you in pastures, green pastures. He will take care of you through the valley of the shadow of death. You won't have to fear any evil. God will be with you. He will shepherd you. In verse 15 notice the repetition from the end of verse 14 and then into the 15 as in the days of old. As in the days of old when you came out of the land of Egypt I will show them wonders. The repetition of this term as in the days of old brings back a remembrance to the exodus and how God with mighty acts of judgment and miracles delivered his people and time fails me but in Jeremiah 23 verses 1 to 8 and in Romans 11 you can see what he is describing here as in the days of old as a new exodus a new exodus that these promises will one day be fulfilled literally where there will be a new exodus of God's people as one people where there will be a revival coming at the end before Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ returns as in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt I will show them wonders these wonders this shepherding of God means something beautiful to his people but those who are not in Christ it means something different it means something different so as we see how God is the one who will ultimately shepherd his people God is the one who will ultimately shepherd you what do we see in verses 16 to 17 but that God is the one who judges the nations who is a God like you who judges the nations in verse 16 it says that the nations shall see and be amazed of all their might they shall put their hand over their mouth their ears shall be deaf they shall lick the dust like a serpent they shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth they shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of you here we see two main themes shame and fear in verse 16 you see the ashamed and what are they ashamed of all their might their strength in themselves verse 17 they're afraid because of who because of the Lord our God who is a God like you but he will judge all those who are not found in Christ he will judge and there's nothing left but shame and fear and all of the descriptions of how they act hand over their mouth covering their ears like they're deaf on the ground like a serpent or crawling from their holes they are afraid and they're ashamed afraid and ashamed in Micah we see if you read the book and you know the book by context you can see why they would be afraid and why they would be ashamed Micah speaks of the idolatry of the people how they've loved other things more than him and they worshiped other Gods he speaks of the greed of the people in chapter 2 verses 1 to 3 he speaks of the abuse of their authorities whether they're in government or whether they're in the temple in chapter 3 verses 9 to 12 he speaks of their violence and lies in chapter 6 verses 12 to 14 when you read through the book of Micah by the end you understand why judgment is coming because the people have rebelled against their God they've rebelled against God in many many ways they've rejected him as their God and so there when Christ returns in his return this prophecy will be fulfilled when all who see him who do not follow him will be ashamed and will be full of fear this is a fulfillment of Philippians 2 verses 9 to 11 where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess a manner in which that will take place for most people but in shame do you remember when Saddam Hussein was caught after running and then he's caught hiding in a hole with a large beard and then he's taken away to be judged by his own people in the same way in which he had to crawl out of a hole the unregenerate when Christ comes back and splits Mount Olives in two the unregenerate, the unsaved they will have to crawl out of their holes they will have to bow the knee and admit with the tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord who is a God like this who judges righteously and rightly none other than Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is the one who shepherds his people judge the nations he is the one that we go to proclaim you must ask yourself now will I be ashamed and fearful the sins that I've committed now or will I be ashamed and fearful when I face Jesus Christ in your death or in his return you will be ashamed of what you've done you will be fearful for what you have done it will come to you either now in salvation when you see your sin and you see that you deserve judgment and you put your only hope in Jesus Christ you will fear God and turn to him put your hope in him he is the one who pays for sin and when you or you will fear him when he returns or when you die here is the same description as Matthew 7 21 to 23 where people were trusting in their own might when the people who say Lord Lord they've put in themselves they've looked at their money in their careers and their accomplishments in their families and in their religion and they've put faith in them and we must see all of those things as worthless all of the things in your life that you see as valuable will blow away like leaves dried up before a heavy wind blown away false Christianity blown away all of the things you've prophesied blown away all of the mighty works against demons you've done blown away all of the wonders blown away every good religious thing blown away all that remains is what Jesus Christ has done so where is your hope where is your hope turn now to verses 18 to 20 we have seen God as one who is a shepherd we have seen in verses 14 and 15 God is shepherd in verses 16 to 17 God is a judge and in verses 18 to 20 we see God as one who pardons his people who is a God like you pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy he will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities you will cast our sins into the depths of the sea you will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham which you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old Micah now says Micah Micah uses his name as a description or as a play on words to be able to say who is a God like you Micah's name almost means exactly like that phrase who is a God like you and Micah begins to declare and praise God and look to him and worship him why? because of his great work of forgiveness if you turn in the scriptures and you look through the scriptures and you look for this phrase who is a God like you in the book of Moses when he delivers his people from the armies of Egypt you'll see it in Deuteronomy 33 26 and how he is a help to all those who come to him you'll see it in 1 Kings 8 23 where Solomon when the temple is dedicated how God keeps his promises no one is like him in Psalm 35 verse 10 you'll see how God because he delivers the needy in Psalm 71 19 you'll see that no one is like God in his righteousness in Psalm 89 verses 6 to 8 you'll see no one is like God in his faithfulness and that he's worthy to be feared you'll see in Psalm 113 verses 5 to 6 how he humbles himself to behold the things of earth no one is like him in his humility in Isaiah 40 verses 18 to 25 you'll see that no one is like him in all the nations in Isaiah 46 8 to 9 you'll see that no one is like him who knows the future and now in here in Micah there's something different there's a different type of declaration of who is like God not in what he does only in mighty acts in mighty deeds but here in what he does towards sin is not what you've lost in your 401k it's not that your house burns down or that if your child dies your greatest problem is your sin your greatest problem is your sin that brings the greatest judgment and that needs the greatest remedy only those who see and understand this truth can declare with Micah who is a God like you look at all the actions and attributes that are described here revolving all around the idea of the forgiveness of sins pardoning passing over not being angry having compassion subduing or stomping casting all the sins into the depths of the sea beautiful descriptions unforgettable striking in their beauty to the one who understands the seriousness of their sin to someone who treats their sin lightly they treat this forgiveness lightly they think it comes whenever you ask whenever they want to they can come up to God in heaven and simply recite and ask God forgive me for what I did last night and they think that forgiveness comes as cheaply as that it's much more costly first let's look at some questions who is being forgiven who is doing the forgiving what are they doing in the forgiveness why are they doing it and then how who it's God you see the declaration is addressed to God at first who is a God like you and then it begins to describe to the people about God how he passes over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage and how he doesn't retain his anger because of him in the third person and what he delights in and then it turns in 19 he turns and says he'll have compassion on us he turns it towards the first person plural saying us we equities and then he turns to God at the end of verse 19 and turns back to God about our sins you will cast our sins into the depths of the sea by the use of all these changes in the language he's escalating escalating up turning up the volume of the greatness of God in the description of what he does in the forgiveness of sins the one who forgives but God Almighty the promise keeping God the God who is unlike any other it is the same God who shepherds the same God who judges the same God we look to for the forgiveness of our sins that's the only thing that's worth declaring in here or in another country in Guatemala is about this God who is he forgiving then is it everyone but what does the text say in 18 who is a God like you pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage remnant is a key word in the prophets remnant is a word that describes the people who are genuinely repentant genuinely trusting in God to atone for their sins if you look in Micah Micah 212 Micah don't turn there now Micah just write it down Micah 212 Micah 4, 6 to 7 Micah 5, 2 to 5 Micah 5, 7 to 8 you will see that the remnant is the one who is cared for by the Messiah the remnant is the one who is shepherded by the great shepherd the remnant it is the repentant Christ-dependent people in Israel when Micah preaches he knows that there's many people listening there's a few Gentiles who need to be converted there are many unconverted Jews listening to him reading him there is few of the remnant who are genuinely Jews not just Jew in birth and Micah's goal is to call people from the mass whether Jew or Gentile call them into the remnant and now here at the end of the book he points to the remnant and saying that is the one the remnant of his heritage those are the ones who would receive this pardon and so I ask you are you part of the remnant today who is forgiving? God unlike any other who is being forgiven? the remnant what is God doing? look at some of these terms he's pardoning he is lifting up raising people out of their sin pardoning from their own iniquity he is passing over he's passing over he says if that horrible sin he goes by it he goes by it and treats you as if it was not there his anger he doesn't keep his anger he could be angry do you remember when Jonah in chapter 4 of Jonah when God extended mercy to the city of Nineveh what did Jonah have to say? I knew you would do it I knew you would do it because he knew that God was slow to anger and abundant in mercy what else does he do? he has compassion he cares you see that in verse 19 what else does he do? but he subdues he stomps out the sin he takes your sin and throws it into the sea you know if you take a rock and if you never want to see that rock again what do you do? you go on a cruise you go on a cruise and sometime you hang over the side and you drop that rock and you know you'll never see it again praise be to God who takes all of our sin past present and future and he throws it away it will never be seen again that is good news that is good news why? why? why does he do it? but verse 18 because he delights in mercy he delights in mercy who is the God? but in Isaiah 62.5 he rejoices over those who saves in Isaiah 65.19 he takes great joy in his people in the new heavens and new earth in Jeremiah 32.41 he rejoices over the people in the new covenant in Zephaniah 3.17 he rejoices over his people with singing in Luke 15 it describes over and over the rejoicing of God over the repentant one the one who turns to him the salvation of the lost God is rich in mercy and what makes God happy? if you look through the scripture he delights in mercy his hesed his loving kindness you see who forgives what he has done in forgiveness and why? from that alone do you understand the passage? I would say no you have to ask a very important question how? when I am crying now I am crying over the how you don't understand this passage if you don't connect it with the work of Jesus Christ you see our sins are pardoned because he took them he is able to pass over us because he didn't pass over Christ he holds back his anger from us because he gave it all unto Christ he is able to have compassion to us because he had no compassion with Christ he is able to stomp our iniquities verse 19 subdue them because he did that to Christ he is able to cast all our sins away because he cast them all on Christ he has fulfilled all the promises his great promises to Jacob and Abraham in the work of Christ you see in verse 20 the remembrance of the Abrahamic Covenant and it's fulfilled in the work of Christ and his application to us he forgives he holds back his anger he has compassion and he casts away our sin in his great promises of truth and mercy because of Christ who is a God like you and what comes to mine in the greatest clarity but Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is the one who is the center of Micah Jesus Christ is the One who is the center of this message Jesus Christ is the One who is the center of this church Jesus Christ is the One who is to be the center of Guatemala he will be declared as Lord he is Lord now And he will be declared as Lord over Guatemala, over Orlando, over every nation. He is the great king. He is our great shepherd who cares for us. He is our great judge who will bring and turn all wrongs right. He is our great partner, our great forgiver of all our sins. So now I want to close Micah. I want to close Micah and I want to speak to you in application of this. Why did I pick this text? Please forgive me for all the waterworks. Why now? Why would I want you to apply? Why would I go here for the last time that I would be able to preach to you as your pastor? I want to just take a few more minutes and say for application why I would say these things to you, okay? I have desired to be a faithful pastor for Cornerstone and overseeing your souls, preaching the gospel to you and intentionally seeking to give you a balanced diet of the word. I have desired and worked hard to tell you the truth. I have desired to feed you and protect you, to lead you by my life, by example, and to care for you. By the grace of God, I've not gotten rich off of you. Those of you who know me know that's true. I have not taken your cars or your wives. I have not lorded my authority over you. I have spoken to you gently. I have not been an immoral man in private or in public. No one made me become your pastor, but I did it willingly for joy's sake. And I would do it all over again. Now it's extremely difficult for me to leave because of how much I love you. But my comfort is in Micah 7, that I'm just one of your shepherds. You have a chief shepherd who will care for your soul. And he's cared for you by giving you other pastors. Follow their example. Submit yourselves to their teaching. Submit yourselves to one another. The Lord is your shepherd and you shall not want. That's why. Why else? What else to apply? In verses 16 to 17, why would I focus on this and give you this passage? Because I want to warn you once more about hell. I want to warn you once more about the utter foolishness of trusting in yourself, of not repenting. I want to warn you once more, one more time, that you cannot go on living a life in rebellion to him and then have assurance that you're a Christian. I want to call you once more to be ashamed and fear now. So that you will not be ashamed and be terrified then. I want you to ask, are you laughing now? Then you will mourn in hell. But who is mourning now? And shame of their sin now. Excuse me. I should have brought a trash can and a box of tissues. They were from the next time I visited. I want to plead with you once more that you would believe the gospel. Not worth is a mark to you, but just someone to preach the gospel to you, the good news of what Jesus Christ has done. He's coming. Trust him. Trust him for his ultimate victory. Trust him and think about his coming. That's why I went here to this passage. Many hard times will come for you. Many hard times will come for me in a short time. But we can trust that he's coming back. And that's something to take with you. To persevere. I want to see you all in glory. I want to worship with you all again. In glory. So I want to preach the gospel to you once more. That's why I went here to this passage in Micah. And I wanted to speak to you once more of Christ. I know I could have done it better, but I could not focus on anything else but him. This cheap, common, and sometimes broken trumpet wants to play one more song for you of Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that you would not look at that cheap, common, broken instrument, but rather the one who plays, the one who saves. What does the Lord want of you? He wants you to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before him. He wants you to do justly, turn from your sin and trust in him. He wants you to love mercy, to love what Christ has done on the cross and to trust in that work. Because of Christ, God is no longer angry with you, beloved. Because of Christ, he has compassion on you. Because of Christ, he has removed your stains of your sin and all your guilt. Your only hope is in him. Trust him who is all wise, all loving, all sovereign. God has made this possible because of Christ. He is your high priest. You need him because of your alienation from God. You need him because of the imperfection of your best service. He will reconcile you and present you acceptable to the Father. In light of our great God, in light of our great shepherd, our great judge, and our great high priest who forgives us, now I ask you Cornerstone, who else will go? Who else will hear the call? Who else will stand up and say, Christ deserves this God? Who else will stand up and say, who is a God like you? There are many other places that need churches, many, many. Who from among us will rise up and say, who is a God who judges, who shepherds and forgives like our God? Hear the call. Who among us men will rise up and be sent in another church? Let it just be the one of many. Let this name be forgotten out of so many that will be sent and so many. And let Christ's name be remembered. Who will rise up and go and reach this city and others? That's why I preach to you one last time from the book of Micah because we have a great God. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for the privilege of allowing us as the mudges and the roosters to be able to serve here in many different capacities and ways. And we exalt you. We lift up our voices and our emotions and our hands to you, expressing our love to you that you would save our souls, forgive our sins, shepherd our souls. You would judge Christ instead of judging us. We worship you. Thank you for all these things. Thank you for these dear people who have listened to so many long sermons from me or so many from others. Thank you for their patience. Thank you for their desire to obey you. I know that you have worked that in them. I know all the good that I've seen in them has resulted from you. So we thank you so much that you allow me to pastor here. I pray that you would shepherd these people, watch over them, please forgive their sins, continue to, or we pray that you please would help us to serve you and plan a flag for you in Guatemala. Thank you Lord. Amen.