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in Micah 7. Guess what? We're in the last chapter, last chapter of the book of Micah. And I took the title from the sermon there in verse number 8 that says, Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. Title of the sermon tonight is, When I fall, I shall arise. When I fall, I shall arise. I like that as a title, because you know what this is telling us, this is the prophet Micah saying these words. He says there are times that he will fall. All right, not I might fall or, you know, I hope not to, I guess he hopes not to fall, but he acknowledges that even as God's man, even as God's preacher over the nation of Judah, there are times that he's going to mess up in life and he's going to fall and he's going to be discouraged. But then he's saying, hey, but you know, my enemies, you know, you can't rejoice when I fall because I'm going to get back up again. And you know, that's a really good mentality to have toward life. And even as a Christian, sometimes people think that, Oh, the moment I get saved, my life is just going to be wonderful and no issues. And you know, it's not true because life is still gets in the way. We still have our sinful flesh. God still has to judge wickedness. And sometimes God has to judge an entire nation, which we see here in Micah 7. And as a result of judging a wicked nation, sometimes God's people that are in the midst of that nation also get affected negatively. It's just how it is being part of a sinful community or a sinful nation that Micah himself finds in. Now let's start there in verse number one, Micah 7, verse number one, Micah 7, verse number one. He begins by saying, woe is me. Woe is me. You know, he's been preaching against the southern kingdom Judah. He's been preaching against their wickedness. But finally in this last chapter, it's a really great conclusion to the book. He finally starts to reflect upon himself. And what we see in chapter seven is very much just the words and the feelings, the emotions of the prophet Micah. Don't forget just in the previous chapter, chapter six, he was preaching controversial things, things that were against society. He was just preaching God's word faithfully, but he recognised them to be very controversial in the world that he lived in. And so he's preaching the judgment of God, the wrath of God. And he finally gets to this point at the end of his book, woe is me. Why is it saying that? Woe is mean sorrow, right? Regrets and sorrows. He's feeling this kind of sensation upon himself. This is why he gives this example. He says, for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits as the grape gleanings of the vintage, there is no cluster to eat. So it says, look, I'm kind of like these people that have planted a vineyard, right? And you go, it's time to gather the fruits. It's time to eat of those grapes. It's time to drink of that nice juice, but he finds no clusters. He finds no fruits. And so, you know, he gives this sort of illustration and then he gets at the, at the end of verse, he says, my soul desired the first ripe fruits. Okay. Now he's not planting a vineyard, but he uses that example. He says, I am as when they, I am like this person. So when to think about that kind of person, who is that kind of person that goes and you spend all, you know, all year long, uh, you know, plowing the ground and, you know, getting the seeds and, and, you know, um, making sure that your, your vineyard has sufficient water, making sure that it's not being attacked by, uh, insects and it's, you know, it can flourish. You know, you put all your work in as, as you sow, as you, as you plant, as you, you know, you, you labour hard for the vineyard, you know, for the purpose of being able to rejoice from the fruits. What would happen though, if that's you like a farmer, that's your, that's your, those are your crops. That's your way of life. You know, that's what you're going to use to sell and make a living into, to, to enjoy and to, to be generous with and, and you find that when you get to your vineyard, there's no fruit. Aren't you going to feel a little discouraged? Discouraged, cast down and maybe you think of yourself as a failure. Like, man, I've worked so hard. Why is there no fruits in the vineyard? Discouraged, cast down. Micah says, that's how I feel. He goes, I've been laboring. Well, what's his job? He's a preacher, right? He's a preacher. He's the prophet being used by God. He's trying to warn a nation. You know, it's telling them, look, God's going to come hard on you, right? With the Assyrians and eventually we're going to see in this chapter, the Babylonians are going to be wiped out. Get your hearts right. You know, get right with the Lord, right? Like he's preaching these sermons and then when he looks at the end result of his ministry, he goes, it hasn't been fruitful. He goes, my nation is still wicked. Where's the fruits? I've labored so hard. I've worked so hard to serve the Lord, but the nation is just as wicked as they were before. There's no improvements. There's nothing that I can rejoice in. So that's how he starts. I feel sorry for him. Laboring so hard as a preacher. You know, we see the insight of a preacher. You know, I've shared with you before that one of the, probably the most, you know, the most thing that I enjoy the most as a pastor, as a preacher, is when I preach God's word and not that you just turn around and say, pastor, that was a good sermon, but that I see as time goes on, you know, your maturity, I see your growth. I see an improvement in your life. I see the changes that we see out in the Bible. I see you a little bit more like Jesus Christ. I see you more faithful. I see you more holy. You know, I see your maturity in Jesus Christ. It's when I see those changes, that's what gives me the greatest joy as a preacher. Like honestly, that's what gives me the most joy. But what if I were preaching sermon after sermon after sermon, year after year after year and we're just as corrupt as when we started, right? Oh, we're going backwards. You know, we've lost the love of the Lord. We've lost the zeal. You know, we've lost some even knowledge potentially because we've, you know, filled our minds with wicked corrupt earthly carnal things. Well, that's, that'd be a discouragement to me. So I can see where Micah is coming from because what gives me the greatest joy is seeing the fruit of my labour, which I'm sure you also gives you great joy, the fruit of your labour. When he says, man, I'm like these guys that planted a vineyard, but there's no fruit. I can just see his discouragement. You know, the nation is just as wicked as when his ministry began. And then he continues in verse number two. So he's looking at his people, the nation, right? No fruits here. He goes, the good man is perished out of the earth. There's less good people today than there were before when I started. They're perishing from the earth. And there is none upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood. They hunt every man, his brother with a net. We've seen this already in the previous chapters. The people on the land of Jude at that point, they were trying to take advantage of one of another. And instead of seeing someone else as just a fellow citizen, you know, being a help there, you know, they looked, how can I take advantage of this person? How can I violate, violate them? We've seen the rich men, you know, are violating and stealing people's lands and stealing people's possessions, forcing them into poverty. And he says, look, he looks at the nation, he goes, they're all the same, because where are the good men? They used to be good men, but they've all perished. They don't see them anymore, right? And he continues in verse number, sorry, I don't know if I finished verse number two. They hunt every man, his brother with a net. So like sport, like hunting, like how do I destroy? You know, how do I take their possessions? How do I turn this person into my own personal profit? My own personal benefit. Now I've shared with you before that Micah is a contemporary to Isaiah and Micah, the Book of Micah is like a tiny, like a very small book of Isaiah. So if you can keep your finger there and I want to take you to Isaiah. Come with me to Isaiah 57. Come with me to Isaiah 57. I want to show you that Isaiah is preaching the same thing as Micah. Isaiah is feeling the same way as Micah. Isaiah 57 please. Isaiah 57. Now remember Micah said the good man is perished out of the earth, but Isaiah gives us the reason why they're perishing. Like Isaiah goes into a bit more detail why that's happening. It's actually for their benefit, believe it or not. It's for the benefit of the righteous. You'll see this in a moment. Okay. In Isaiah 57 verse number one, Isaiah 57 verse number one, Isaiah says, the righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart. So he says, look, the good man, the righteous man, they're all dying. You know, they're perishing and no man layeth it to the heart. Like no one cares. He's looking at his nation and no one cares. Right. It's kind of like, how I think about it is, you know, I don't remember the days, but I've heard enough about it. I even heard about this in my own public school. When Sundays in Australia was about church and you could turn on the TV and the Sunday morning shows were churches. Okay. Maybe it was a Catholic church, maybe it was a Pentecost, I don't know, whatever. But the point is there was a time when Australians had a fear of the Lord as a general rule. Okay. And the shops were closed on Sundays. If you wanted to go and do some sports activity, they were closed. If you wanted to go to some big shopping center, there was no point, it's closed. The only thing you could really do on a Sunday morning was to spend time with your family or go to church or both together. And I remember hearing about this as a kid, like growing up in the eighties and eventually in the 90s, hearing about Australia was this way. And maybe even as a child, it was that way. Maybe I just don't recall, but I know it wasn't that long ago when Australia was very much that way. Is it that way today? No. When I went to Fiji for the missions trip, it was so amazing to be there on a Sunday and seeing the shops actually closed. To see no sporting activities on the fields, no one's playing soccer, no one's playing rugby, no one's playing cricket. Where is everybody? You're driving around in a taxi, all you hear, this corner, that corner, that corner is the singing of praises to God. And I just, you hear it, you hear it from the car. And so what, like, is this what Australia was like several decades ago? A fear of the Lord. Things have changed so dramatically. And I kind of think about this, it says that no man lay before us. Like we don't care. Like society has changed so much and no one cares. You know, we're seeing churches fail and no one cares. We're seeing the youth within churches leave the church. And it's just white hairs and older people. Praise God for older people. But you're seeing the youth of churches just leaving their church, not wanting to be pardoned, not wanting to follow the steps of their forefathers in the faith. But he goes like, Isaiah says, no one cares. And then he says this, this is why they perish. This is why the righteous perish. In verse number one, he says, the merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. There is evil coming. There is harm coming. Again, for Isaiah and for Micah, this is ultimately the Babylonian captivity, the Babylonian takeover. You know, and God is going to use Babylon to judge Israel, Judah severely, severely. It's going to be mayhem, destruction. Okay, there's going to be famine and violence and just mass death, you know, as the Babylonians come through. And God is saying, look, when the righteous perish, it says they've been taken away from the evil to come. God's allowing them to pass away. God is allowing them to just pass on, die in your sleep. Because that way, at least these righteous of this time, we're going to not be there for the destruction of Jerusalem, by the hands of the Babylonians. It continues in verse number two, he shall enter into peace. You're right, rest in peace, that same idea, right? They're going to heaven. They shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. I like that. Because even though they pass away, they're passing away on their beds, they're passing away in peace. They're not really passing away because they're still walking in uprightness. Okay, because they're in heaven, right? They're in heaven with the Lord, all right? And so they're still walking in uprightness. But the righteous, Isaiah is telling us, has been removed from the land. You know, God is allowing this sort of this last generation of godly people to pass away because Babylon. Judgment is coming and God's giving them the time to pass away. Back to Micah chapter seven, Micah chapter seven, Micah chapter seven in verse number three. I think it's probably concerning for a nation when we see the righteous diminish in the land. You know, the less the righteous are in the land, I think the quicker the judgment of God will come. You know, don't forget when God told Abraham that he's going to judge the city of Sodom. And we had Lot there and, you know, how Abraham starts to count down the number of the righteous. And God says even if, look, if there's 10 righteous, he's not going to destroy Sodom. There weren't even 10 righteous. You know, so as we see less and less believers, people that fear the Lord, that want to serve the Lord, less churches, less faithful people, you know, on the land, you know, that just shows us that the judgment of God is going to come closer and closer and closer on a wicked nation. But Micah chapter seven, verse number three. Again, talking about the wicked, that they may do evil with both hands earnestly. The prince asketh and the judge asketh for a reward. And the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire, so they wrap it up. So here we have the prince. So that's the politicians of the land. We have the judge asking, so the politician says to the judge, can you pass laws this way, whatever it is, right? Or can you make your decision this way? And the judge says, all right, where's my reward? Where's my bribe? Right, I'll do it. It says, and the great man, the great man's there, you know, people of a high social class, the rich men. All these people are, you know, like there's corruption on the land, right? They're all working together for their own benefit. They're not working for the benefit of the nation. They're working for their own benefits. And so it says he uttereth his mischievous desire, so they wrap it up. You know, they've got everything dialed in just right in the running of the nation to make them richer and to make people poorer. Verse number four. The best of them is as a briar. So the best of who? The best of the politicians, the best of the judges, like the best ones that you can see ruling the earth, even they are like a briar. And a briar is a thorny bush or thorny plant, something like that, right? Where you can hurt yourself. And if you put your hands in there, you might get stabbed. Like that's the best of them. So how much worse are the others that are ruling over Judah during this time? He continues that most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh, now shall be their perplexity. So the day of thy watchmen, the watchmen there, of course, were the prophets of old. The prophets of old that have been warning, you know, the nation of Judah, time and time and time again. You can add Isaiah, you can add Micah to the list now, okay? The day of their visitation has come. And it's coming again by the hand of the Babylonians. Look how bad it's gotten in Judah at this time. In verse number five, trust ye not in a friend. He goes, you can't even have friends. They're all going to betray you. Don't trust in a friend. Put ye not confidence in a guide. Don't ask even anybody for advice. They're all corrupt. They're all wicked. And this is the saddest part at the end of verse number five. Keep the doors of thy mouth, okay, that's refrain from speaking, from her that lieth in thy bosom. Who is her that lies in your bosom? Your wife. Micah is saying you can't even trust your wife. Don't open, don't share secrets with your wife. Because she's going to tattle against you. She's going to betray you. You don't have any friends. There are no friends. There are no counsellors. There are no guides. You can't even trust the one you're married to. What a horrible place to live. What a bad situation for the nation of Judah. You can see why Micah is like, whoa is me. Where's the fruit? I've been laboring. I've been preaching. Isaiah has been preaching. And you're all the same. You're just as wicked as before. Maybe even worse. And even the righteous that were here now, they will perish. God's saving them from the judgment to come. So this is the conclusion to the book of Micah. I feel bad for Micah. Boy, Micah, you've worked hard. You have. You've been faithful to the Lord. And there's sorrow upon you like, man. It's like sometimes preaching is not easy. Being a religious leader is not the most amazing job that's ever. Look, it's the best job I've ever worked. I promise you that. It's the most exciting job that I've ever had, but it can be hard sometimes. All right. And even when you're trying to help, people might see it as, you know, like as offensive language or they, you know, might think that you have hatred harbored towards somebody or, you know, you've got mischievous plans or something like that. When all you're trying to do is preach God's word faithfully. You know, trying to grow that vineyard for a little bit of fruits to be able to rejoice in the labor of your hands. It continues, verse number six, not only can't you trust your wife. Verse number six says, for the son, dishonor of the father. The daughter rides up against her mother. The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own house. Man, all infighting families, all fighting one among another. And yeah, boy, there's a lot of in-law problems that I hear about. Mother-in-law issues, father-in-law issues. And boy, when that's happening in your life, you're kind of like just as bad as the time of Judah. Like it's so wicked. Like families should care for one another. Like it should just be, you know, parents raising their kids to, you know, help their kids, you know, in life and give them the best that they can give children. For children to appreciate what their parents have done and, you know, for husbands to prioritize their wives, not their mothers. You know, husbands, you know, man, if you get married, you prioritize your wife over your mum. You know, you're one flesh with that woman. Don't allow conflicts to develop between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. But I don't know, it's just, it's, I don't know, because I think of my wife. I love my wife so much. Like she's, you know, God is number one, but like as far as a human being goes, she's number one to me. She's got to be number one because we're one flesh. We got to work together. We're a team. My mistakes are her mistakes. Her success is my success. We're one in the same. And Micah's looking at the families, man. It's like your families are all broken. You don't love each other. Now look, this language is also used by Jesus Christ. Okay, so let's have a quick look at Matthew chapter 10. Come with me to Matthew chapter 10, verse number 33, sorry, verse number 34. Matthew chapter 10, verse number 34. Matthew chapter 10, verse number 34. Matthew chapter 10, verse number 34. This is really sad because we're seeing how Micah is using this language about how corrupt Judah has become, right? That judgment's going to fall upon that nation. And then we might say, well, that's a really bad place to be in like how wicked this nation has become. But then Jesus Christ uses the same language here in Matthew 10, 34. He says, think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. What? Well, first of all, he is the Prince of Peace, right? Christ came and he died for us and rose again. He paid for our sins to bring us peace with God. You know what? Just that simple faith, that our simple trust in Christ alone being made children of God will sometimes cause a sword to be raised within your own family. Your own family will hate you just for being a believer, just for loving the Lord Jesus Christ, just for taking his Bible seriously, just for standing on his word. You know what? That's going to bring a sword even within your family. Like it's such a blessed thing. I just think about how blessed I am to grow up in a Christian home. Okay. I mean, you know, it's not like my parents were necessarily, you know, the most studious in God's word or, you know, but they taught me enough to understand the importance of going to church. They taught me enough about the importance of reading my Bible, right? I mean, they taught me enough how, you know, I need to fear the Lord. The Lord looks down upon my actions and he blesses me and he can judge me as well if I do wrong in his sights. And I appreciate that because I know that I can serve my Lord, you know, growing up in my household and I would not be rebuked for that. And I thank God that I found a woman who fears the Lord as well and, you know, wants to do what is right so we can serve God faithfully together as a household. And I'm thankful that my children, many of them are saved, God's saved at a very young age and, you know, they also have a great fear of the Lord. They love the Lord and they see his blessings in their life. I'm thankful for all of that. But for a lot of people, I mean, you might know this yourself. There is a sword. There is a division in your family simply for believing on Jesus Christ as your all-sufficient Savior, you know, as your salvation. And Christ says here in verse number 35, Matthew 10 35, For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. And it's that sad. That's a reality. Christ is just telling us the reality of the gospel, you know, that for many of you who have come from homes that are not Christian homes, you know, you've trusted Christ Savior. Maybe you've tried to lead your loved ones to the Lord. You tried to open their eyes and they've rejected you. They've hated you for it. That's just the reality of believing on Christ. I mean, it's so much. There's so much joy in Christ Jesus. And yet when you find that joy can cause the sword to fall upon your family. That's why I think it's so important that we, you know, if we're, you know, those of us that are saved here today is that we do teach our children, you know, the ways of the Lord. When I think about Micah here and the, and the, the good man or the righteous perishing, I'm thinking about, but what about their children? Like where are their children? Where are the families? And so like, I know these are good men. These are righteous men. They're saved men, but you can see that the next generation has really dropped the ball. Okay. The next generation has really dropped the ball. And you know, the challenge for us parents is to make sure that we raise a godly seed. You know, and you know, God's given me 12 great kids and you know, but I know that they're going to make mistakes. I know they're going to fall sometimes. That's why Micah, the title of the sermon tonight is when I fall, I shall arise. And we're all going to fall. We're all going to make mistakes from time to time. And we need to teach our children. When you fall, don't give up. When you fall, arise because even a godly man like Micah can fall. And he's lived in such a wicked world. He looks at his nation and goes, man, where are the righteous? And you know what, when we look around and we don't see the good man, when we look around, we don't see the righteous man that can cause us to go, then why should I even try? I mean, I'm thankful that I'm saved, but why should I even try? Why should I put the effort in when the rest of this nation is falling apart? No, when we fall, we need to arise. Come back with me to Micah 7. Micah 7, verse number 7, Micah 7, verse number 7. So I look at Micah 7, verses 1 to 6, kind of like Micah's just venting here. He's having a hard time. Just no fruits. Is it worth it? Where are the good men? Where are the righteous men? You know, that's it. It's all going to happen. You're all going to be taken over. You're going to be destroyed by the Babylonians. God's heavy hand of judgment is falling upon this nation. And he feels it. He feels it. And then we get to verse number 7, because this is the best part, because we can look at our nation and hope for the best, hope for improvement. But at the end of the day, our hope can only be on the Lord. And that's what Micah realizes in verse number 7. He goes, therefore, okay, because there's no fruits, there's no improvement, therefore, I will look unto the Lord. And that's what you need to do, brethren. When there's corruption all around you, when there's unfaithfulness all around you, when your own family have betrayed you, you know, when you can't even have a friend, you can't even share secrets with your spouse because she's going to betray you with those words. He says, well, therefore, I will look unto the Lord. That's the only solution here. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. And then he says, rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. And I think when it says when I fall, I think he has, like, I don't know, I just, I think verses 1 to 6, I think he's fallen at that point. I think he's really discouraged, really downcast as a preacher. Okay, maybe wanting to give up. I don't know. I don't know where his heart is right now. Okay, but it says when I fall, I shall arise. So it says to his enemies, people that are mocking him, laughing at him. Ah, what, see Micah, he wasn't worth serving the Lord. Ah, Micah, see, it wasn't worth being controversial. It wasn't worth preaching the truth. You should have just got along with everybody. You shouldn't have preached such hard sermons. You shouldn't have, you know, just given your best to the Lord. You've fallen, Micah, because now don't laugh at me. Because when I fall, I shall arise. He says when I sit in darkness, again, I get that picture of, you know, the press being, you know, just like not wanting to interact with society. I give up. I give up on Judah, you know, like me, like we turn around. We just give up on Australia. It's done. No one else is going to get saved. No one else cares. No one wants to hear hard preaching the truth of God's word. It says quit because no, he goes, when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. But he's waiting on the Lord. He's waiting for the Lord to shine that light once again, to encourage him once again, to lift him up once again. If you can keep your finger there, come with me to Proverbs 24. Come with me to Proverbs 24, please. Proverbs 24. And I don't know, maybe you're feeling like that tonight. Maybe you're feeling like, man, I've fallen past. I'm struggling to get up spiritually. I've lost the excitement. I've lost the zeal. I've lost the love that I once had serving my Lord Jesus Christ. I'd rather sit in darkness, pastor. I just, I'd rather just be a recluse and not interact with anybody because what's the point of it all? Maybe that's you tonight, right? The Bible is telling me here that the Lord will be a light unto you. But you have to look unto the Lord. You have to look to him. You have to say, Lord, I'm in darkness. Lord, I'm cast down. Lord, I've fallen. Can you shine a light upon me? Because everyone else has let me down. Australia has let me down. My own family has let me down. The enemies are laughing at me. I feel like I failed in the ministry. Lord, can you shine a light? And that's the only one, right? Look at Proverbs 24 15. Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous. Spoil not his resting place, for a just man fulleth seven times and riseth up again. But the wicked shall fall into mischief. The wicked shall fall into mischief. But brethren, the just man, a just man like Micah, a great preacher like Micah, he can fall seven times. Now again, just seven times. I think by now, if you know your Bible, number seven is often a number of completion, number of perfection. Obviously, seven represents more than seven. It's just that every time we fall, the multiple times that we fall, the Bible is telling us to get up again. The just man, get up again, rise up again. Don't stay downcast. Wait on the Lord. Look upon Him. Wait for Him to answer your prayers. Let the Lord come through with a shining light to give you direction in life, to encourage you. And look, if you're that person that rather sit in darkness, just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to anybody. Like, it's not like you're this horrible person because Micah was like that for a little while. You know, until, but the thing about that is, when you get downcast and you get sorrowful, right, the worst thing you can do is just to continue laboring on your sadness and think of your regrets and your bad decisions and this person doesn't like me and what am I going to do and nothing's working out for me. No, no, no, no, no, no. Look, sometimes we need to go to the quiet place, but Micah says, but I'm going to put my eyes, I will look upon the Lord, I'll put my eyes upon the Lord. That's what you do, right? When you need, there are times you may need to get away from everybody. That might, because people have let you down, whatever it is, okay? But again, you don't just drown in your sorrows, all right? You don't just go to the alcohol and start to drink it up and think that's going to be the solution. That's going to numb my senses. That's going to give me some type of joy or some type of wicked device like that. Now you set your eyes and you look upon the Lord and you do that and He promises us, He will shine a light. He will pick us up. He will lift us up. Even if it's the seventh time that you fall in a row, you get back up again. The Lord will lead you. Look at verse, sorry, Micah 7, Micah 7, verse number 9. Micah 7, verse number 9. So he's been preaching against the nation, but then he says these words, I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him. Isn't Micah a humble man there? Like he's preached against the nation, you're wicked, God's going to judge you. But then he realizes, but I'm a sinful man too. So I'm going to bear this judgment as well. I'm going to bear the anger of the Lord upon myself too. Like I told you, when God is judging a nation, many times the righteous, you know what I mean? Obviously God has His eyes on the righteous, don't get me wrong, but they're going to be affected as well. Okay. He says, because I've sinned against Him until He plead my calls and execute judgment for me, He will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold His righteousness. He's talking about being made right in the Lord, walking in the Lord, right? Confessing his sins before the Lord. He acknowledges, yes, Lord, I'm a sinner just as much as my wicked nation, this wicked nation is. But he says here that the Lord's going to bring him into the light. He's going to be forgiven for his sins. Okay. Now again, when I think about this, I think about, I think a lot about like Daniel, you know, the book of Daniel. Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And we have these great men, these great faithful young men in the Lord who've been taken into captivity. But what I'm reminded about those four guys, particularly, is that when God's judgment fell upon Judah, they too were put in chains. They too were carried out. They were taken away from their families. Okay. Their possessions were taken away from them. They lost their household. They've lost everything that belonged to them, you know, in Judah. And they were taken into captivity far away. Now the Lord's eye was still upon them, but we can't say that Daniel and his three friends were not affected by the judgment that fell upon the nation. Okay. And I just want you to be conscious of that, you know. If God ever decides to judge this wicked nation of Australia, we will be affected. Okay. But, you know, again, we need to set our sights on the Lord and know full well that his eyes are upon us and he'll bring us into the light. He'll give us direction. He'll give us purpose. Okay. And even if we lose all our possessions, we lose all our rights, and we're taken into by a foreign country somewhere else, we saw how Daniel and his three friends benefited. We see how they were blessed even in a foreign land. So God's eyes, don't forget, God's eyes will still be upon you, but sometimes when nations are judged, yes, even the righteous are affected in a negative way. Sorry, but what am I up to, guys? Verse number 10. Yeah, verse number 10. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her, which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her, now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. All right. So what I believe the enemy here asking, where is the Lord thy God? I believe the enemy is seen Jerusalem being destroyed by the Babylonians and asking, where is your God? And Micah is saying, well, you too are going to be trodden down as the mire of the streets. Because don't forget the Babylonian empire, the army, they didn't just take over Judah. You know, they took over the surrounding nations as well. Okay. And so, you know, you might have the enemies of Judah laughing at them, maybe like an Egypt or something, or the Philistines or something like that. Laugh, where's your God? Look at you guys being destroyed. Micah is saying, yeah, but you too, you too are going to be trodden on the foot by the judgment of God by the hands of the Babylonians. And then verse number 11 says, in the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. Again, as I understand it, this is the days of Nehemiah. When Nehemiah was sent, this is after 70 years of captivity. You know, in Babylon, they were brought back into the land to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. In that day, verse number 12, also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein for the fruit of their doings. So what verse number 12 is telling us that at the end of the captivity period, at the end of 70 years, there's going to be Jews coming from these different places, you know, from Assyria, from the fortified cities, from fortresses even to the river, from sea to sea, from mountain to mountain. At the end of that 70 year period, when they're able to come back into the land, they're going to have this, you know, Judah's going to be renewed, they're going to rebuild the walls, they're going to rebuild the temple, and they're coming back out of captivity. But then verse number 13 is saying, though even though that's the case, the land that's during the captivity period will be desolate, okay. Because of them that dwell therein, because of your wickedness. Yes, there's hope to come at the end of the captivity, but just because there's hope to come doesn't mean that judgment is not coming. Judgment is coming, and it's because of the wickedness of them that dwell on the land, of the people. Okay, so I feel like we've got this, now we have this final shift in verse number 14. These last words in this book are words of encouragement. Okay, words of encouragement. And then these words in verse number 14. Feed thy people with thy rod. Think about that, the shepherd's rod. And the rod, really when we think of the rod in the Bible, it's often an instrument of correction, isn't it? The rod of chastisement. And we're talking about feeding the people of God, you know, we often associate that with preaching His Word. You know, I want you to be able to leave tonight. I want you to leave this Wednesday night and says, I was fed God's Word. I've learned something in God's Word then. I've been encouraged in the Lord. You know, there's something I can take away from it. I want that for you. I don't want to be like Micah thinking, man, where's the fruit? Where's the benefit? Where's the labor? Labor's gone to nothing. I want you to be fed. But sometimes in order for us to be fed, we need to be fed with the rod, with correction. Okay, we're seeing the mistakes of the people of Judah. And then we need to also highlight our mistakes. Just like Micah, he's weak preaching against the wicked. But then he says, I'm a sinner too. You're a sinner too. You've messed up too. You've fallen too. But now that you've fallen, get up again. All right, when I fall, I shall arise. Feed thy people with thy rod, verse number 14. The flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. The idea is that those are places that were very fruitful, you know, like grassy areas where you could take your sheep and they could be fed there. You know, they're plenteous. In the days of old. What are those days of old that he's talking about? Verse number 15. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, will I show unto him marvelous things. So the days of old reference to you are like the days when they came out of Egypt. God is telling them, this is going to happen once again for you. Okay, and remember, when they came out of Egypt, sorry, at the end of 15 says, I will show unto him marvelous things. That's like the miracles, right? As they came out of Egypt, they saw these great miracles of God. They were being led by Moses. You know, God in Mount Sinai gave him the laws, gave him the commandments. You know, the books of Moses, this nation was getting direction. You know, it was being stabilized and they were being taught what is right and what is wrong. You know, they were being taught what is holy and unholy. And God was blessing the people, right? Like God is saying that these days are going to return for you. But you say, but what, when is that going to happen? Look, I know, I think out of all the pastors I know, and like I've sat under, when I talk about pastors I know, I'm talking about pastor I've sat under. I don't listen to a lot of online preaching just for your awareness, okay? But out of all the preachers that I know, I like by far, and not really intentionally, but I like by far preach the most on the millennium that I've heard of any other pastor. Like most pastors that I hear preach will talk about going to heaven and praise God, and praise God, I can't wait to go to heaven. I can't wait to go to heaven, right? Or we talk about sometimes the new heaven and the new earth. You know, the heavenly Jerusalem and amazing. I can't wait to see my father face to face, to have his name in my forehead. You know, to live in that new Jerusalem to come, where the sun is not needed, the light of the Lamb shines that place. Like I'm excited about that eternal state as well. But I feel like I'm always preaching the millennium. It's not like I'm trying to. It's not like I've got this hobby horse on the millennium. But what I'm trying to tell you here is that these days, what is being promised, this encouragement, this promise from God is about the millennium to come, okay? Just like those days, just like when you saw miracles, and these wonderful things happen in your life, it's going to happen again. And this is the last words of Micah. He looks at the millennium as this hopeful time, you know, to encourage people. Look, this is what we're looking forward to at the end of it all. In verse number 16, he says, the nations shall see and be confounded at all their might. They shall lay their hand upon their mouth. Their ears shall be death. So all the other nations at this point is going to be like, you know, like shocked. Like the hands on their mouth. Like what? Like, look at how Israel's developed. They're going to look at, look how Israel is blessed. And I'm going to tell you now why I don't think I've heard that many people preach about the millennium with these words. It's because a lot of these prophecies about Israel and Jerusalem, many dispensational pastors, they apply it to 1948 modern day Israel. It's crazy to me. It's like when we hear about them being gathered, regathered, you know, and sometimes they take principles that are from the captivity of Babylon and they're coming back to the land to rebuild the temple and the walls. And they apply that to 1948. All things that are clearly about the millennium, they'll again put it down to 1948. This is when God brought the people all together. You know, the whole Zionist movement. And so many pastors that I've sat on, because they're naturally dispensational, dispensational, and they want to see modern day Israel as that's the people we ought to bless and all of this, even though there's missiles flying back and forth, even though there's constant wars in that area. They want you to often believe that these verses are about that. It's not. Okay, this is about the millennium. This is about Christ ruling the earth. Okay. And it's not about a physical nation. It's about the spiritual nation, the Jew that is one inwardly, not outwardly. Verse 17, they shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of thee. Is that happening right now with modern day Israel? Do people fear? Are they afraid of the Lord our God? Are they fearful because of modern day Israel today? Look how God's blessed modern day Israel. I have fear of God. No, most people are looking at it's like, why are they constantly fighting? You know, the Palestinians of the land, why they've been driven away from their houses? Why is there constant war? Why are they constantly fighting? Because before, before 1948, people seemingly got along. And so people apply these passages, which are clearly about the millennium, about today. It's like, no, the nation of Israel is not blessed today. They're under a curse. They're under the curse of the Lord, of the Lord, because they rejected Jesus Christ. They rejected the Son. I'm sorry, you reject the Son, you are on your way to hell. That is what sends us to hell. We're all deserving of hell, but what sends us to hell is rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. I still deserve hell today, but I accepted the Son. And so I receive mercy and I receive grace and I receive forgiveness because of the blood of Jesus Christ. So it's called grace, undeserved. I don't deserve it. I deserve hell. I didn't deserve salvation. But that grace only comes through Christ. That modern day Israel today, Christ rejecting Jews are on their way to hell right now. And the worst thing we can do is say, you're being blessed by God. You're God's chosen people. They're not chosen if they're not saved. They're just like anybody else that is damned on their way to hell right now. But when I read my Bible, when I preach chapter by chapter, I don't intend to. I just see the wonderful hope of the millennium to come. And I get excited about it. Like I really get excited about it. To think that the righteousness of Christ is going to be on this earth. Micah's getting excited about it. Because again, he's looking at his nation. He's going, man, we're messed up. You're losers. There's no fruits. The preach is not working. But now it's like, but what about the millennium though? The millennium. You know, again, he's put his eyes on Christ. Because I can't wait for these days to come. Like the days of old when we've been led by Moses. When we've been led by the laws of God. That's what Micah is excited about. Verse number 18. 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 forever, because he delighteth in mercy. Praise God. Because then we got the best God, right? Because there is no one else like the Lord our God. Why? Because he pardons our iniquity. He shows us mercy. He doesn't stay angry with us forever. Praise God for that. I'm reminded of Psalm 103, verse number 12. For as far as the east is from the west, so far have he removed our transgressions from us. I'm thankful that the wrath of God, the curse of the Lord, fell upon Jesus Christ. He became the curse for us. I'm so thankful for that. I'm thankful that God doesn't have to be angry at me. You know, his anger, his wrath was put on Christ. But I know my walk, just like Micah, we sin, we fall. We need the light of the Lord to shine on us again, and to stand up to rise again. Okay. But Brevin, don't be discouraged. Micah's trying to get encouraged. He starts discouraged. He's trying to get himself encouraged. And his encouragement is coming by putting his eyes on the Lord and thinking about the millennium to come. So we should do the same. Be excited about the millennium to come, because we're going to be part of it. We'll be alive and walking in resurrected bodies, bodies without corruption, bodies without sin, and we can serve Jesus Christ and we'll never fall again. Never fall again. Verse number 19. Micah 7 19. He will turn again. This is the Lord. He will turn again. He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities and that will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. There's another way. All our sins, like in the depths of the sea, never to be brought up ever again. That will perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which thou has sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. Micah ends saying, everything you said, Lord, everything you've said through the patriarchs, through the prophets, the days of old, they're all going to come true. And it's all going to come true in the days of the millennium, when Christ is ruling this earth. So Brethren, title of the sermon was, When I fall, I shall arise. And Micah has kind of seen himself somewhat like the nation of Judah. The nation of Judah is going to fall and he falls. He sins too. Okay. But he's also seen that the nation of Judah will one day be re-established after the captivity. When they come back and rebuild the walls, they're going to be re-established. Again, that's a picture, you know, of rising from the ashes, rising up when you fall. And again, why is he excited? Why is he hopeful? Why does he end in courage? Because he's not trusting man. He's not trusting his nation. He realizes there are no good men on the earth. He sets his eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. And Brethren, I promise you, you set your eyes on Christ. He'll shine a light. He'll comfort you. He'll lift you up. I mean, we serve such a loving God. He'll forgive you for your sins and he'll never bring them up again. He's not like you and me. When we offend each other, we bring it up again in the past. So stupid sometimes. God's so good. We offend him every single day and he forgives us and he puts it to the depths of the oceans or the seas. Never to be reminded. Never brings up our past mistakes again. They're all forgiven. That's how the great God that we serve. And he promises a wonderful future in the millennium to serve, to rule and reign with Jesus Christ. All right, brethren, when I fall, I shall arise. Let's pray.