Looking now to the Lord for us, help and his blessing, we'll turn again to Micah chapter 7 and read together the last three verses. Verses 18 to 20. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities. And thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. What is the question at which verse 18 opens, one of sheer amazement? Who is a God like unto thee? I am sure it is not without significance that Micah's name means, who is like Jehovah? Micaiah, Micah, who is like the Lord? Let's begin with a question. Friends, when were you, when was I, last amazed at the very thought of God? When were we last truly amazed at the very thought of God? It's maybe a very general way to put it. Or what is it about God that truly amazes you? Surely, friends, if we are believing men and women, if we are Christians, we will be amazed. Not just at what God does, but at what God is. We love God, in other words. Not simply for what he does, but for who he is. But what is it, friends, about the Lord that amazes you? Maybe you're amazed truly with the whole idea of God being eternal. An unfathomable aspect to his character. that He is beyond and above all the limitations of time. He had no beginning. He will have no end. There is no succession within His being. He is eternally God. Maybe it's His holiness, like Isaiah in chapter 6 of his prophecy. You may be amazed at the holiness of God. You're in absolute awe at this aspect of His being. It leaves you speechless. Maybe it's His justice following on from His holiness. Maybe the thought of God dealing with sinners is enough to leave you amazed, to leave you overawed. And all of these things, friends, and many other characteristics, perfections of God's character are all to amaze us. There is nothing about the God of the Bible The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One whom Jesus Christ was the revelation. The One of whom Christ was the revelation when He was in the world. There's nothing about Him that shouldn't amaze us. But there is one thing that truly amazed Micah. It wasn't his eternity, his holiness, his justice, but it was his mercy. Micah was truly amazed that God was merciful to sinners. In answering the question, what is it that amazes you about God? The answer that you give will give quite clear indication of the state in your Christian experience. The more you are acquainted with your own self, with your own heart, the more you will appreciate and be amazed at the mercy of God. This is what was true of Micah, not just in his own case, but in the case of Israel. The state of the covenant people, the nation, the people of God was such that the prospect of God having mercy upon these people truly amazed him. Before we look at these words, verses 18-19, we have to appreciate what exactly Micah is talking about. What is the background to everything that's here taking place? It would be easy, friends, to take these verses 18-20 and make them into a theological treatise. And that's good and well in its place because the doctrine of God's mercy is embedded here. But God didn't give these things in isolation from historical reality. And for that reason, friend, we mustn't sever these things from their historical reality. Micah was living in a time, as his book tells us, and as 2 Kings tells us, when Israel and Judah were in absolute rebellion. against the Lord. Micah tells us the three tiers or levels of society were absolutely abandoning all reference to God and to his law. He speaks about the religious men, the prophets and the priests. Earlier on, you read it in chapter 3, both of these offices, the men holding the office of prophet and priest, were only doing what the people wanted them to do. So long as the people would pay them and keep them satisfied, so long as their own self-interest was met, they would tell the people whatever they wanted to know. And one of the things the prophets were saying to these people, living in rebellion against the Lord, in flagrant disregard of the obligations they were under to God, They were telling them, it's alright. It's the Lord not among us. It's the Lord not with us. Carry on doing what you're doing, living as you are. There's nothing to fear. They were men-pleasers. The priests were the same. They taught, Micah said, for hire, for pay. So long as they were paid, they would tell you whatever you wanted to know. That is a grave situation. You know that yourselves. When those who are holding these offices on behalf as representatives and ambassadors of God, when they are becoming self-seeking, lying, unbelieving men, That is the most fearful sign for the rest of society. If a church, say, has ministers who are like this, and there are many all around us, we mustn't think that we're immune from such a thing ever happening, friends. If a church has men in office who are unconverted, these men will tell the people what they want to hear. They will tell lies in the name of the Lord. It's not so far removed from our own day, our own generation. Here were these office bearers' men, holding the authority of God, and they were telling lies in His name. But it wasn't just the prophets and priests. Micah, he also mentions the leaders, those who were ruling, the government, the men in office, the rich men at the top who had all the money. They were exploiting those who were poor. And it's very interesting, friends. We might think, well, what's so significant or important about that? The Lord speaks of these men in chapter 3 as being cannibals. If you're familiar with chapter 3 of Micah, you'll see the way the leaders are represented. It's men stripping the flesh of the poor, boiling the flesh and eating it. They're cannibals. They were exploiting those who were poor for their own benefit. What's the significance? Well, it starts with the men who were supposed to be telling them the truth. When the word from those representing God is not true, there will be no denouncing of sin, no message of condemnation, and the result is that men will live as they please. So that's what was happening. Here were these leaders in Israel, exploiting the poor like this, as though they were cannibals. They were savages. What's very frightening about this, friends, is these were the men who had all the money they could want, but they weren't happy with what they had. They wanted to strip those who had nothing of the little that they had. But there's a third thing, and you can see the order. If those who are meant to be preaching the word of God are telling lies, then those leading the people will start living like the most unruly, the most unjust people possible. But further than that, the common people will be just as bad. That's how it opens here in chapter 7. In one word, Micah was saying, you couldn't trust anyone. You couldn't even trust your mother or your daughter. Think about this, friends. And you might think, well, that's neither here or there. What's that got to do with me? Well, it's very worthwhile bearing in mind, friends, that all of this is being spoken of the covenant people of God. The people God chose from among all the nations of the world to be his own peculiar people. The people he took out of Egypt some 700 years before this. What is significant? To bring it maybe a bit closer to home. From the time when Israel came out of Egypt until the time they were living like this. was the same period of time, the same number of years roughly, as from the appearance in the world of John Wycliffe, the morning star of the Protestant Reformation until today, some 700 years. And in that period of time, those people who came out of Egypt and pledged themselves to be the people of God, had come to this point 700 or so years later to be even sacrificing their children to the devil. This is the backdrop. This is the background. This is what's happening here. And Micah is sent by the Lord into this situation where there are prophets and priests telling lies. Here comes a man of God, a younger contemporary of Isaiah, and he has a message from God to tell them, to warn them, that if they don't repent, The Assyrians are going to come, we read of them in the chapter, and they're going to destroy you and take you away. That's what subsequently happened. He has a message of warning, but blended with the message of warning is also the message of mercy, the assurance of forgiveness. It's very interesting that verse 18 begins with a sense of wonder and amazement. Now, you and I maybe would have thought that the people of God coming to this low degree, God would simply have said that He's had enough of them. And He would just destroy them and have nothing else to do with them. Sometimes our understanding of God would leave us thinking the same. Now, you as a Christian, if you're following the Lord, you can maybe find yourself at least to a very small degree, something like Israel and Judah at this time. You started off so well-meaning, you followed the Lord faithfully, but by and by things have crept into your life. Maybe just one thing, one sin you've opened the door to, and before you know it, you feel like your feet have gone. You may be looking back now and thinking, How am I going to get out of this? You might be finding that you're under a great awareness of having committed gross sin against the Lord. Unlike these people, your sin might be something secret, behind closed doors that nobody else knows about. And you may be trying to put on quite a brave face, a brave front to everybody else around you, but inside your heart is breaking. You know that you've sinned against the Lord and you can feel that you're not as you should be. And you might be thinking to yourself, will the Lord cast me off? Will the Lord leave and reject me now? Are you hearing the voice, maybe? You've gone too far this time. Maybe earlier in your Christian life you fell into certain sins and the Lord restored you, brought you out of them. But this time, you think, I've gone too far. You can't see the way out. Well, what hope is there for you? There's no minimizing, friends. of the true sinfulness, of the sins that even Christian men and women, you and me, commit. They are still sinful. We must never minimize that. But at the same time, we mustn't lose sight, no matter what we feel, friends, we mustn't lose sight of the character of God. This is where we turn. To what Micah is saying here about the Lord. Who is a God? Like unto Thee. There's three things here. Maybe one theme almost in each verse. Verse 18 tells us that God pardons great sins. Verse 19 tells us that God has power over great sins. And verse 20 would tell us God has promised to preserve and save his people. These three things, and hopefully friends, you and I will find something here, almost like a lifeline, to help us out of whatever situation we've got ourselves into. God pardons great sins. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity, passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. You may have noticed when we read the chapter, or when you've read it before, that there are three different words used in reference to sin. There is iniquity, verse 18, And transgression, again verse 18, and in verse 19 we have sins. What is the significance, if any, about the different use Micah makes of these words? There would be possibly misleading for us to strain these things too much. But there is a different shade of meaning between the words. When you think of iniquity, the context in which it's used, it has the meaning, the reference to willful deviation from the commands of God. It comes from a word that means to twist. To deviate and twist the commands of God. Very often when it's used, it's used in connection with punishment. It carries with it not only the idea of the sin committed, but also the consequent punishment that will inevitably follow. Iniquity. You think in Genesis, the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. You have there the idea of the sins, but also the resulting punishment that must come in the process of time. Transgression is slightly different. This is the idea of rebellion. Deliberate rebellion against the law of God. Not deviation from it, but deliberate rebellion, rising up against the demands of God and his law. But then you have sin, which is quite simply the idea of missing the mark, coming short of a high standard set before you. What's the significance here, friends? What I think we should take is not to try and press the different shades of meaning in these words, but to notice that Micah doesn't mention specific sins that you have, say, in the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue. idolatry and adultery and Sabbath-breaking. He doesn't mention all of these, but he uses these general terms, all-encompassing terms for sin, so that within the general is included the specific and the particular. That means, friends, Those sins, iniquities, transgressions that God pardons, passes by, and casts into the depths of the sea include the sins that you've committed. It's very easy for us at times to think, well, if the specific sin I've committed wasn't mentioned, then there's no assurance of pardon for me. But here Micah puts it all in the general. the different ways in which sin is committed, the different aspects to sin, rather than specific sins themselves. It's all-encompassing. Now, that should help you, friends. That should help me. But we can find ourselves there. He pardons iniquity. He passes by transgression. And he covers sin by the depths of the sea. You may be feeling, friends, that you're under a great sense of sin. You might be feeling that. And you might be craving the sense of pardon. And what you might be doing is waiting, with empty hands held up, waiting for some feeling, waiting for some experience. Now that is not, in an absolute sense, wrong. But what we have to do, friends, is be sure that our feelings and experiences come through the Word of God. If not, we're fanatics. If you and I are craving a sense of pardon, we must be searching for it through prayerful reading of the Word of God. What you and I have to do is grasp the reality of God's nature. You won't find, friends, in the Word of God a passage that says, with your name at the top, your sins are forgiven. What you and I have to do, friends, is embrace the revealed character of God, pleading for the blessing of the Spirit to accompany this. That we would have the assurance then in our hearts that we are forgiven our sins. We crave the peace of conscience. We crave the assurance of God's love. But be sure, friends, you're searching for it in the right way. What is it about God that is so glorious? That He discloses His character to us in the pages of His Word. And that's where we must rest and must never go beyond. Sin, iniquity, transgression. God pardons iniquity. He pardons it. That comes from a word that means to lift and carry away. He bears away our iniquity. He carries away, friends, not only the sin, but the guilt that goes along with it. He picks it up as it were and carries it away. It's interesting, the word we have here, pardon, to bear away, it's a similar use of the word you have in Isaiah 53 verse 11 where you read that Christ, He bore the sins of many. He carried our sins. They were laid upon Him and He carried them away. This is what we have to lay hold of, friends, in all our searchings for peace, to grasp the reality of what God has done in laying our sins upon Christ and Christ carrying them with Him to the tree. How do you find your relationship to Christ? On what basis does it rest? In the sense of day after day after day. Is it a relationship that is based on searching for Him in the Scriptures? Or is it somehow separate from the Scriptures? Are you and I searching and resting on the revelation God has given here? But He pardons sin. He carries it away from us. He lays it on Christ. Is this where you're resting, friends? Is this where I'm resting? He pardons iniquity. He passes by transgression. We'd be mistaken to think that the picture is of God turning a blind eye to sin. We know that God never does that. He cannot do that. He's of purer eyes. And to behold evil, he cannot look upon iniquity, but he passes by transgression. He doesn't hold it against those who have been forgiven. Sin continually they do. Just like you and I as Christian men and women, we sin again and again and again. But God does not hold the guilt of these sins against us. That's what happens when we are justified. The guilt of all our sins is taken away, no longer reckoned to us. It doesn't make us sinless, though. And when we're living the Christian life and fall into sin, though God doesn't hold the guilt of these sins against us, if He did, we would be condemned. We would go to hell. if God held the guilt of sin against us. That was what was laid to Christ's account when He went to the cross. He carried the guilt of our sins and He paid the penalty for it. God doesn't hold the guilt against us, but what doesn't go from the sins of Christians is the sinfulness of sin. There is in every sin that a Christian commits the same sinfulness as those committed by people who are not saved. But God passes by. Just like He passed by the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. When He saw the blood, He passed by. And God will only pass by the transgressions of His people because these transgressions were paid for by Christ. Think of that, friend. The Lord passing by your sins, not holding them against you. When you're feeling the grief and the weight of them, friends, reach out to this truth. This is the Word of God. This is what you and I must cling to. He pardons iniquity. He passes by transgression. And he casts sin, in verse 19, into the depths of the sea. The picture is quite clear. You throw something, not just into the sea, but into the depths, into the very bottom, never, as it were, to be brought up again. This is what the Lord does with the sins of His people. He casts them into the depths of the sea. He hides them, that is, buries them, and will never bring them up again to condemn. These are some truths when Micah is bringing to us. The Lord, through Micah, is bringing to us. But what is the reason? These are some of the things the Lord does. He pardons iniquity. He passes by transgression. He doesn't retain his anger forever. You notice that it does imply, and it's taken a step back a bit, that the Lord is angry when His people sin. He hates sin. He doesn't hold the guilt of it against His people. He doesn't approve of the sin either. But the difference, friends, is that He doesn't hold onto His anger. He doesn't retain the idea of holding onto something and never letting it go. This isn't the character of God. He doesn't retain His anger forever. He's not like us, friends. In our idea of godliness, we can at times be mistaken. Our sense of godliness and our attitude, especially to other Christians, can be very un-God-like. What is godliness? At very root, but god-likeness. And if we're not like God, then we don't really exhibit godliness. Here is one characteristic. You find it over and over again in the New Testament. Not holding grudges. See, friends, if God was to hold things against us, As we'll sing in the last psalm, we could never stand. When God pardons, when God forgives, it's over and done with forever. But we are so prone even to take small petty things that someone does to us, things that aren't even wrong, but just cross me. Go against what I like, and we'll hold it against that person, and we'll never forgive them. Even though it's not something wrong. You think of God forgiving you, forgiving me. What's the exhortation you have in the New Testament? That we're to be forbearing one another, forgiving one another. Why? Even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Here is a test of godliness. Are you merciful and forgiving? Am I? If we're not, if we think we can hold grudges and still be godly, we're grossly mistaken. He doesn't retain His anger forever because, here is the reason, because He delights in mercy. Our God is wonderful, friends, if only we could really grasp this truth. It's not just that God likes to show mercy, just like in the New Testament, it's not just that God is loving, that He is love. He delights in mercy, friends. He delights in it. And when you're feeling you're wallowing under a sense of guilt, a sense of sin, and you're feeling the Lord has cast you off. You don't know the peace that you once knew. You don't know the joy that you once knew. It's all gone from you. Take this word from the Lord Himself. In His word, He delights in mercy. He delights in it, friends. Can you picture God? The Eternal Holy One, delighting in mercy. The answer is in Christ. Because of Christ, He delights in showing mercy to His people. God pardons great sins. Friends, if you're a Christian today and you're struggling under the sense of sins committed, lay hold of this Word. He delights in mercy. He forgives great sin. He'll forgive you. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, so long as we forsake That sin and seek mercy will find it. He delights in mercy. But it might be, friends, that it's not so much the sense of any one particular sin or series of sins committed that's weighing you down. It might simply be the strength of sin you find in your own heart. You find the conflict, Paul speaks of in Romans 7 and Galatians 5, this conflict inside the flesh and the spirit, warring against each other, so that you find that you're brought into captivity almost by the power of sin. This is maybe your struggle today. There's a wonderful truth here. He will subdue our iniquities. Verse 19, God has power over great sins. He will subdue our iniquities. The idea here, friends, you'll find it in Joshua, the same word is used in reference to the land of Canaan. The whole land brought under dominion, subdued completely, all enemies gone as far as the conquest went. This is the same idea. And if you're finding your sin is raging against you, and it's bringing you into captivity time and time again, maybe weeks and weeks at a time. It could even be one sin. Maybe something you had difficulty with before you were a Christian. And for a number of weeks, months, even years, it didn't bother you. But now it's a plague. And now you're trembling. It's like Spurgeon once said, When he saw the sin rising in his heart, it's as though the Lord brought him to a very cliff edge, a precipice, and looked over the end of it. His hair stood on end. Are you finding that? The power of sin in your own heart. You feel it's too much for you. He will subdue our iniquities. Go to the Lord, friends. Me with you. Take this promise. This is the true basis for prayer, friends. We must always remember it. When we say, if it be thy will in prayer, if we take a promise of God, it is His will. And if we bring to the Lord, subdue my iniquities, He will subdue them. It's an idea, a picture, a representation of sanctification. The enemy's being subdued and brought into subjection. But we're not to be somehow passive in this either. You'll know that Paul in the New Testament, in maybe one of the most searching things he ever says, he says, this is a paraphrase, he says, I keep my body in subjection. Lest having preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. What is Paul saying? He's saying, I don't just sit back and let God subdue my sin when I do nothing about it. There are these two aspects in sanctification. The progress in dying to sin. We must be active friends, working out our salvation. But if you're struggling like this today, there is the promise. There is the promise. He will subdue. Even that sin that you're struggling with today, He will subdue it. Bring it to be under your feet. It might not be absolute before you leave this world. It might be for a period of time and then you find it comes up again. But He will subdue it. He will subdue it. We might also see an illustration here as well in verse 19. When we speak of He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea, We can think of that as the idea of pardon, pardoning iniquity and casting him into the depths of the sea, never to be brought up again. At the same time, you can also see the picture of what happened to Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea. Not only will God subdue and bring into subjection our sin, but he will also destroy them ultimately. just like Pharaoh and all the host, were following after Israel through the Red Sea, hot on their heels, bloodthirsty. And just as the Lord covered them over with the depths of the sea and destroyed them, the next day, wasn't it, their carcasses were found on the shore, dead and gone. The Lord will do this with your sin and mine as well. He will subdue our iniquities. He has power over sin. You might be thinking, that's all good and well. I believe the Lord pardons great sin. I believe that He has power over sin. But I want to be sure And you know, friends, the Lord gives assurance here in this word of that very truth. You see there in verse 19, the tense changes. from the present to the future. Read verse 18. Who is a God like unto thee that pardons iniquity, that passes by the transgression? He retains not his anger forever because he delights in mercy. It's all the present tense. Verse 19 turns to the future. He will turn again. He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities. And thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. What's the significance? Well, the significance is in verse 20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn, there's the past tense, unto our fathers from the days of old. What is Micah's plea with God? And what is the basis of his assurance that God will be merciful? It goes way back to Genesis. the promises that God made to Abraham and who made to Jacob. The promise involved, among other things, the preservation of the descendants of Abraham. Chapter 15, you may remember, the Lord promised that Abraham's seed would be as numerous as the stars in heaven. But as well as that, in the promises the Lord made to Abraham, He made reference to, as Galatians tells us, to a singular seed, a particular descendant of Abraham through whom and in whom the whole world would be blessed. Now that, of course, is Christ. So here you have Micah, centuries after the promises were made to Abraham, holding on to these promises again. And on the basis of these promises, he turns to God and he says, Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob. How clear did God make it to Abraham? This is something we could maybe pass by. Genesis 15, Abraham had a similar situation. The Lord brought him out, gave him the assurance, I am thy shield, thy exceeding great reward. Abraham then asked the Lord, who will be my heir? Seeing him childless, Abraham was concerned about the promise of the seed, the descendants. The Lord promised and brought them out there and said, look to the heavens, your descendants will be so numerous. Abraham said, how will I know this? The Lord told Abraham, you may remember the story, to take certain animals, to cut them in two, put half here, half there. And when the Lord made the promise, you remember there was the smoking furnace. The symbol, the picture of God's presence passing through between the pieces. Have you ever wondered what exactly that means? It's interesting that in Jeremiah, I forget the chapter just now, the explanation is given. God was here making a promise to Abraham. And he was confirming this promise. And in passing through between the slaughtered animals that were cut in two, God is saying, if I don't keep my word, let this that has happened to these animals happen also to me. See how God pledged himself. This is a covenant. This is an agreement between God and Abraham. God promises Abraham that he will keep his word. He verifies that promise with his sign. God is invoking upon himself the curse of a broken covenant. It is profound, friends. The Lord is wanting to assure Abraham, I will never break my promise to you. Micah, centuries later, is going back here and he's holding on to it. Friends, this is all you need as a Christian. It's all I need. We need nothing other than the Word of God, the promise that is given. And today, friends, when we're craving this, how do I know the Lord will forgive my sins? As a Christian, man, woman, It's in the promise. He will perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which he has sworn to our fathers from the days of old. The Word of God is most sure, friends. It's surer than anything you feel or experience. And this is where you and I as believers must rest. Can you, can I, enter something into Micah's amazement? Who is like unto thee that pardons iniquity? In face of everything that was going on, God is showing mercy. You might be an unbeliever today in thinking, that has no reference to me at all, Well, you know, friends, it does. Because this is a disclosure to everyone who reads and hears the Word of God of what God is really like. You might sometimes think that when you hear the Gospel preached that God is simply one who delights in condemning sinners. God will, dear friends, condemn sinners. We be sure of that. If we continue living without Christ, if we carry on living in disregard of everything that's laid upon us by the Lord, He will not pardon us. He will not pass by our sins. He will not cast our sins into the depths of the sea. It will all be held against us. And we will be condemned. But you know what the gospel is all about. It's all about, isn't it so simple, the good news. That God will forgive sinners. What was the first thing that came out of the mouth of Christ when he preached? Repent. Turn from your sins. You will find mercy, friends. If you're an unbeliever, the gospel call is addressed to you. The Lord calls you through His Word. And you will find a sin-hating God to become a sin-pardoning God when you come and receive the Savior. You might sometimes think, well, I've got to wait until I'm drawn to Christ. Where did Christ ever tell people to wait? He called them to come. He called them to repent. He called them to believe. You go into acts. Where do preachers ever say, wait? No. There's urgency, friends. There's an imperative in the Gospel. Never lose that. God commands all men, everywhere, to repent. That means you, friend. Why does He call you to repent? Because He delights in mercy. You repent. You turn from your sins. You come to the Lord. He will have mercy upon you. If you don't, you'll never find mercy, friend. Don't forget that. Let us pray. Gracious God, we pray Thy blessing might accompany Thy word, and would come to us according to our need. We thank Thee that Thou art able to do beyond our own feeble efforts. May Thou bring Thine own word to bear upon us and be glorified. Encourage Thy people, restore the backsliding, comfort the mourning, and build up the weak. For Thy glory and Thy name's sake.