This is a study of Jesus being glorious. The prophet Micah writes a great deal about Jesus from His birth to His glorious reign over His people.

1. JESUS WAS GLORIOUS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Micah 5:4 4He will stand and shepherd his flock in the
strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of
the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for
then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Christ As The GreatShepherd Of Mankind
Micah5:3, 4
D. Thomas
Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath
brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children
of Israel. And he shall stand and feedin the strength of the Lord, in the
majesty of the Name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall
he be greatunto the ends of the earth. "Therefore will he give them up, until
the time when a travailing woman hath brought forth: and the remnant of his
brethren will return, togetherwith the sons of Israel. And he will stand and
feed in the strength of Jehovah, in the majestyof the Name of Jehovahhis
God; and they will dwell: for now will he be greatto the ends of the earth"

2. (Delitzsch). The following quotation from Delitzschon this passage we think
the David, out of which it is to spring, will have lost the throne and have fallen
into poverty. This could only arise from the giving up of Israel into the power
of its enemies. Micahhad already stated clearlyenough, in what precedes,
that this fate would fall upon the nation and the royal house of David, on
accountof its apostasyfrom the Lord; so that he could overlook this here, and
give prominence to the other side alone, viz. to the fact that according to the
counselof God the future Delivererand Ruler of Israelwould also resemble
his royal ancestorDavidin the fact that he was not to spring from Zion, the
royal city built on high, but from the insignificant country town of Bethlehem,
and that for this very reasonIsraelwas to remain so long under the powerof
the nations of the world." These words may be regardedas presenting to us
Christ as the great, Shepherd of mankind; and looking at them in this light
the following points come up to notice.
I. HIS INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD AS A SHEPHERD. "Therefore
will he give them up [that is, leave them to suffer their calamities], until the
time that she which travaileth hath brought forth." Christ came into the
world through sufferings that may be fairly representedas partarient. The
whole Jewishnation groanedand travailed togetheruntil he came;and
although the throes of his mother are perhaps specially referred to here, the
Hebrew people through all preceding times had struggled in agonyin order to
give birth to the Messiah. Hereinis a mystery - the world's Deliverer came
into the world through suffering. And does not all the goodwe have come out
of anguish? Every true enjoyment, like every birth, implies previous pain.
"Through much tribulation" we enter into kingdoms. "Our light afflictions,
which are but for a moment," etc.
II. HIS QUALIFICATION FOR HIS WORK AS A SHEPHERD. "He shall
stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the Name of the
Lord his God." Observe:
1. His attitude. "He shall stand." The word "stand" here may mean one of
two things - either a commanding position, by which he canobserve and
direct all, or stability, indicating his endurance and unswerving perseverance.
He is settledand fixed in his work as a Shepherd. Both these ideas are true. It

3. is true that Christ, as a Shepherd, has a commanding view of all, and a
controlling powerover all; and it is also true that he stands immovable as a
Shepherd. "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, until he hath set judgment in
the earth" (Isaiah 42:4).
2. His Divinity. "In the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the Name of the
Lord his God." He is endowedwith the strength of Omnipotence, he is
invested with the majestyof God himself. He is "Almighty to save," he is the
Image of the invisible God. Here is a competent Shepherd!
III. HIS BENEFICENCE IN HIS WORK AS A SHEPHERD. He "shallfeed
in the strength of the Lord." The word "feed" means both "feed" and" rule;"
indeed, feed implies rule, for human souls canscarcelybe nourished without a
wise and merciful control. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall
gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently
lead those that are with young" (Isaiah 40:11); "Theyshall not hunger nor
thirst, neither shall the heat or the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on
them shall lead them, even by the springs of watershall he guide them"
(Isaiah 49:10).
IV. THE EXTENSION OF HIS FAME ON THE EARTH AS A SHEPHERD.
"Fornow shall he be greatunto the ends of the earth." His authority on the
earth as a spiritual Shepherd is limited today, but is wider than it has been;
and it will widen and widen until it fills the earth. His Name will one day be
above every name on the earth. All other names will be esteemedas mean and
contemptible unless they reflecthis.
CONCLUSION. "All we like sheephave gone astray," etc. But a Shepherd
from heaven has come to seek andrestore us. Would that all heard and
responded to his Voice! "Come unto me, all that are wearyand heavy laden."
"GoodShepherd, hastenthou that glorious day,
When we shall all in the one fold abide with thee for aye!" D.T.

4. Biblical Illustrator
He shall stand and feedin the strength of the Lord
Micah5:4
The Mighty Shepherd
Homilist.
I. HIS ACTIVITY AND ZEAL. "He shall stand." We read of idle shepherds,
who lie down and sleepand neglecttheir flock. This attitude of standing shows
—
1. Dignity. He is the Royal Shepherd.
2. Observation. He who stands can survey all around.
3. Attention. He does not withdraw His eyes. He that keepethIsraelneither
slumbers nor sleeps.
II. HIS REGARD. "He shall feed." The term feedis not confined to providing
food. It applies to all the duties of a shepherd. And this office consists of
unwearied care, suchas —

5. 1. Causing them to rest. The weary child of God must pause, and the wise
Shepherd selects the time and place.
2. Leading them. The Easternshepherd treads the ground before his flock.
3. Restoring the wanderers. There are always the erring and wandering —
headstrong, foolish, daring.
4. Healing the wounded.
5. Defending the weak and securing the flock.
III. HIS ABILITY. "In the strength of the Lord." This does not mean
"borrowed" strength;the strength of the Lord is His own. And power is
needed. Who can realise the danger and difficulties of the Church on earth, or
the trials of a struggling soul?
IV. HIS DIGNITY. "In the majestyof His God." Majestycombined with
strength. How majestic was Christ, even in His humiliation! Majesty
combined with simplicity; majesty and gentleness.But Christ is terrible in
majesty, terrible to His foes. Who shall abide His day? Yea, He is terrible to
the foes of His flock.
(Homilist.)
The Shepherd and His mission
William Jay.
"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Many other things were
predicted in the Scriptures; but incidentally, relatively, subordinately; this
testimony was the fixed subject and steady aim of the whole. All the prophets
testified of Jesus, though not all in the same way or in the same degree. They
did not always understand their own predictions. From this prediction
consider—
I. HIS IMPLIED CHARACTER. It is that of a shepherd. The characterof a
shepherd now is far less respectable thanit was in early ages, andespeciallyin

6. the East. The characterof a goodshepherd has been applied to a goodruler.
Christ is calledthe GoodShepherd, the Chief Shepherd, the Great Shepherd,
and God's Shepherd. And we are told that both His kindness and His love are
unexampled.
II. OBSERVE HIS WORK. "Stand and feed." The pastures in which He feeds
His people are His Word and ordinances. We are not to restrain the work of
this Divine Shepherd to feeding only. He affords repose;for His flock need
rest as well as provision. A shepherd also guides them. Christ guides His
people by His Word, by His Spirit, and by His providence. By His Word He
shows them the way in which they should go. By His Spirit He gives them the
inclination, and works in them to walk in the way of His pleasure. By His
providence He arranges all, and fixes all their circumstances in life for the
advancementof His own glory and their real welfare. As a shepherd He
restores;for they sometimes, nay often, go astray. As a shepherd He heals
their sicknesses. He renders all His ordinances and all His dispensations
salutary. As a shepherd He defends them all, else they would be destroyed.
III. HOW HE IS TO PERFORM HIS WORK.
1. He will do this attentively. "Stand and feed."
2. Powerfully. "In the strength of the Lord."
3. Nobly or gracefully. "In the majesty of the...name of the Lord His
God...Power...is notalways, dignity; authority, when it is not softenedby
condescension, has in it something harsh and repelling.Some who feeltheir
strength, think of nothing else. Christ is mild and gentle. He exerted His
powermildly, kindly, if you will, majestically.
IV. THE SAFETY OF THE FLOCK. "And they shall abide." To abide is to
continue, to endure, to be able to withstand any foe, and to go forth againstit.
There is, however, a difference betweenthe fact and the comfort of it. The
believer is often filled with fear, and is ready to suppose that God is going to
destroy us. At other times Christians are able to realise this fact by faith.
V. THE EXTENSION OF HIS OWN RENOWN. "Now shallHe be greatunto
the ends of the earth." In order to this He must be known, and to make

7. Himself known is all that is necessaryto this. The more He is known, the more
will He be loved and adored. And does He not deserve to be known? The
Christians' grief is that Christ is so little knownand adored. There are,
however, two things to console them.
1. That it is not so in the other world.
2. They know that it will not be so always, nor long, evenin this world.They
know that He shall have "the heathen for His inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for His possession."
(William Jay.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(4) He shall stand and feed—i.e., He shall stand with the majesty of an assured
sovereignty, uniting the dignity of king with the tenderness of a shepherd’s
care—a thought which, underlying the notion of a Jewishmonarch (see Psalm
78:70-72), becomesa distinguishing attribute of the King Messiah(Isaiah
40:2; see also Note on Ezekiel34:2).
His God.—The Messiahwas to be subordinate to the Father in heaven—“My
Father is greaterthan I”—and they—i.e., His subjects—shallabide. It is
impossible to conceive this prophecy as satisfiedby any event short of that
which is the foundation of the Christian faith.
BensonCommentary
Micah5:4. And he shall stand and feed — Or rule as the word ‫,הער‬ here
rendered feed, often signifies:that is, he shall go on, he shall continue to rule,
or feed, his people. Christ shall diligently perform the office of a shepherd, or
governor, over his church. In the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the

8. name of the Lord — God, or the indwelling Deity, strengthening and exalting
his human nature. The expression, the name of the Lord his God, might be
intended to signify the Messiah’sacting by commissionfrom the Father, in
whose name he came, preached, wrought miracles, and instituted his gospel
church. And they shall abide — His church, made up of convertedJews and
Gentiles, shall continue; the gates ofhell shall not prevail againstit. Fornow
shall he be greatunto the ends of the earth — Some interpret this as signifying
the making the true God knownover all the earth: but it seems rather to be
intended of the Messiah;for the angel, who foretold his conceptionto his
virgin mother, as is related Luke 1:32-33, seems plainly to allude to this
prophecy, saying, He shall be great, and shall be calledthe Son of the Highest,
&c. And he is dignified with such titles as were never given to any creature, as
the apostle proves at large, Hebrews 1:4-14.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
5:1-6 Having showedhow low the house of David would be brought, a
prediction of the Messiahand his kingdom is added to encourage the faith of
God's people. His existence from eternity as God, and his office as Mediator,
are noticed. Here is foretold that Bethlehem should be his birthplace. Hence it
was universally knownamong the Jews, Mt 2:5. Christ's government shall be
very happy for his subjects; they shall be safe and easy. Under the shadow of
protection from the Assyrians, is a promise of protectionto the gospelchurch
and all believers, from the designs and attempts of the powers of darkness.
Christ is our Peace as a Priest, making atonementfor sin, and reconciling us
to God; and he is our Peace as a King, conquering our enemies:hence our
souls may dwell at ease in him. Christ will find instruments to protect and
deliver. Those that threaten ruin to the church of God, soonbring ruin on
themselves. This may include the past powerful effects ofthe preachedgospel,
its future spread, and the ruin of all antichristian powers. This is, perhaps, the
most important single prophecy in the Old Testament:it respects the personal
characterof the Messiah, and the discoveries ofhimself to the world. It
distinguishes his human birth from his existing from eternity; it foretells the
rejectionof the Israelites and Jews for a season, their final restoration, and
the universal peace to prevail through the whole earth in the latter days. In

9. the mean time let us trust our Shepherd's care and power. If he permits the
assaultof our enemies, he will supply helpers and assistanceforus.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
And He shall stand - The prophet continues to speak of personalacts of this
Ruler who was to be born. He was not to pass away, not to rule only by others,
but by Himself. To stand is the attitude of a servant, as Jesus, althoughGod
and Lord of all, said of Himself, "He shall come forth and serve them" Luke
12:37;"The Sonof Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister"
Matthew 20:28. "He shall stand" as a Shepherd Isaiah 61:5, to watch, feed,
guard them, day and night; "He shall stand," as Stephen saw Christ
"standing on the Right Hand of God" Acts 7:55, "to succorall those who
suffer for Him." : "Forto sit belongs to one judging; to stand, to one fighting
or helping." "He shall stand," as abiding, not to pass from them, as Himself
saith, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" Matthew
28:20 : and He shall feed His flock by His Spirit, His Word, His Wisdom and
doctrine, His example and life; yea, by His own Body and Blood John 6. They
whom He feedeth "lack nothing" Psalm 23:1.
In the strength of the Lord - He, who feedeth them with divine tenderness,
shall also have divine might, His Father's and His own, to protect them; as He
saith, "My sheephear My Voice, and I know them and they follow Me,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My Hand. My Father Which gave
them Me is greaterthan all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My
Father's Hand. I and My Father are One" John 10:27-30. With authority, it is
said, "He commandeth even the unclean spirits and they come out" Luke
4:36. His feeding or teaching also was "with authority, and not as the scribes"
Matthew 7:29.
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God - As John says, "We beheld
His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begottenof His Father" John 1:14; and He
saith, "All poweris given unto Me in heaven and in earth" Matthew 28:18;so
that the divine glory should shine through the majesty of His teaching, the
powerof His Grace, upholding His own, and the splendor of the miracles
wrought by Him and in His Name. "Of the Name of the Lord;" as He saith

10. again, "Holy Father, keepthrough Thine own Name those whom Thou hast
given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in Thy Name" John 17:11-12. : "Whoeverthen is sent to
feed His flock must stand, that is, be firm and unshaken; feed, not sell, nor
slay; and feed in might, that is, in Christ." His God, as our Lord Himself, as
Man, saith, "Unto My Father, and your Father, and to My Godand your
God" .
But that MajestyHe Himself wields, as no mere man can; He Himself is
invested with it. : "To ordinary kings God is strength Psalm28:7; Psalm
140:7, or gives strength 1 Samuel 2:10; men have strength in God; this Ruler
is clad in the strength of the Lord, that same strength, which the Lord hath,
whose is strength. Of Him, as Israel's King, the same is said as of the Lord, as
King of the whole earth Psalm 93:1; only that the strength of the Messiahis
not His own, but the Lord's. He is invested with the strength of the Lord,
because He is Man; as Man, He can be invested with the whole strength of the
Lord, only because He is also God."
And they shall abide - (Literally, sit, dwell) in restand security and unbroken
peace under Christ their Shepherd and their King; they shall not wander to
and fro as heretofore "He, their Shepherd, shall stand; they shall sit." "The
word is the more emphatic, because it stands so absolutely. This will be a
sitting or dwelling, which will indeed deserve the name. The original promise,
so often forfeited by their disobedience should be perfectly fulfilled; "and ye
shall dwell in your land safely, and I will give peace in the land, and ye shall
lie down, and none shall make you afraid" . So Amos and Micahhad before
promised . And this is the result of the greatness ofthe promised Ruler, as the
like promise of the Psalm is restedon the immutability of God; "Thou art the
Same, and Thy years shall have no end. The children of Thy servants shall
dwell, and their seedshall be establishedbefore Thee." Psalm102:27-28.For
it follows,"
For now - (In the time which Micahsaw as did Abraham with the eye of
faith,) "now," in contrastto that former time of lowliness. His life shall be
divided betweena life of obscurity, and a life of never-ending greatness.

11. Shall He be greatunto the (very) ends of the earth - embracing them in His
rule, (as David and Solomonhad foretold ,) and so none shall harm those
whom He, the King of all the earth, shall protect. The universality of
protection is derived from an universality of power. To David God says, "I
have made thee a greatname, like the name of the great that are in the earth"
2 Samuel 7:9. Of Uzziah it is said, "His name went forth far; for he was
marvelously helped, until he was strong" (2 Chronicles 26:15, add 2
Chronicles 26:8); but of the Messiahalone it is said, that His powershould
reachto the ends of the earth; as Godprophesies of Himself, that His "Name
should be greatamong the pagan" Malachi1:11, Malachi1:14. So Gabriel
said to His Mother, "This," whom she should bear, "shallbe great" .
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
4. he shall stand—that is, persevere:implying the endurance of His kingdom
[Calvin]. Rather, His sedulous care and pastoralcircumspection, as a
shepherd stands erectto survey and guard His flock on every side (Isa 61:5)
[Maurer].
feed—that is, rule: as the Greek word similarly in Mt 2:6, Margin, means
both "feed" and "rule" (Isa 40:11;49:10; Eze 34:23; compare 2Sa 5:2; 7:8).
in the majesty of the name of the Lord—possessing the majesty of all
Jehovah's revealedattributes ("name") (Isa 11:2; Php 2:6, 9; Heb 2:7-9).
his God—Godis "His God" in a oneness ofrelation distinct from the sense in
which God is our God (Joh 20:17).
they shall abide—the Israelites ("they," namely, the returning remnant and
the "children of Israel previously in Canaan) shall dwell in permanent
security and prosperity (Mic 4:4; Isa 14:30).
unto the ends of the earth—(Mic 4:1; Ps 72:8; Zec 9:10).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
He, the Ruler born in Bethlehem, the Messiah, shallstand: sometimes this
posture denoteth the ministry of a servant, but here it speaks the readiness,

12. cheerfulness, firmness, and stability of both the ruler, his government, and
kingdom.
Feed;as a Shepherd that does diligently watch over, guide, preserve, and feed
his sheep, or as rulers are calledshepherds. Christ is that goodShepherd,
John 10:14; and he is the righteous and holy Governor, and his government
shall have no end, Isaiah9:7.
In the strength of the Lord; in the assistance whichGod shall give him, for
Christ-man was carried through this greatwork, redeeming, setting up,
establishing his church by the power of the Father, who was with him, and
upheld him, as was promised, Isaiah 61:1-3. All power in heaven and earth
was given to Christ our Mediator, who being eternalGod, of equal power with
his Father, doth in his ownstrength overcome all enemies, removeth all
difficulties, gathereth and governethhis church, and will do so to the end of
the world; such visible, convincing tokens of a Divine power and glory
working in him, and with those he sendeth to preach the gospel, I mean
apostles, andall managedto the glory of God.
In the majesty of the name; by commissionfrom the Lord, in whose name
Christ came, preached, wroughtmiracles, and instituted his gospelchurch.
Of the Lord his God, i.e. God the Father.
They shall abide; his sheep, his subjects, his redeemedIsrael, his church made
up of convertedJews and Gentiles, shall continue, the gates ofhell shall not
prevail againstthem.

13. For; the church is so redeemedand established, that Christ the Messiahmight
be glorified; God will give him a glorious name, therefore these things are
disposedin this manner.
Now, either ere long, or in due time, at the settime,
shall he, Messiah,
be greatunto the ends of the earth; whose redeeming grace shall be published
to the ends of the earth, said his dominion, his spiritual kingdom, shall be
enlargedwide as the world itself. All here spokenin this verse is too greatany
way to be applied to Zerubbabel, as some Jews themselves confess.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord,.... The ruler in Israel,
before described and prophesied of; the Messiah, as Kimchi himself interprets
it, and other Jewishwriters. Kimchi's note is,
"afterthe affliction, the King Messiahshallstand and feed Israelin the
strength of the Lord;''
and so R. Isaac (t) paraphrases the words exactlyin the same way: wherefore,
as another learned Jew (u) observes, these expressions evince thatthe ruler
here spokenof can be no other than the Messiah;not Zerubbabel, who never
attained to this height and happiness. He is both King and Shepherd, and to
eachof these the actof feeding is ascribed. The same word, in the Greek
language, signifies both to rule and to feed and is used by Matthew, Matthew
2:6; and kings are often comparedto shepherds. Christ feeds his people, his
brethren, his flock, his sheep, and lambs all truly converted ones;and this
takes in the whole office of a shepherd, and the care he has of his flock;he
takes an exactaccountof them, goes before them, and leads them out into
goodpastures;sets under shepherds over them; protects them from, all their

14. enemies;looks afterwhat is lostor driven away; heals the sick, strengthens
the weak, binds up the broken, and watches overhis flock continually: he
feeds them with, himself, the bread of life, with his flesh and blood, which are
meat and drink indeed; with the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel;and
which are found to be spiritual, savoury, strengthening, satisfying, and soul
nourishing food: and he "stands" and does this, being raisedfrom the dead,
and possessedofall powerin heavenand in earth; which designs not the
position of his body, but the ministration of his office, and his alacrity and
readiness to perform it, and his constancyin it: and all this "in the strength of
the Lord"; in his own strength, as a divine Person, which is the same with the
strength of Jehovah; and in the power and strength that is dispensed to him as
Mediator; and with his Gospel, the rod of his strength, and in such manner as
to defend his flock from all that would devour them:
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; Jehovahthe Father is the God
of Christ, as is Mediator;and his name is in him, even the majesty of it; for, as
a divine Person, he has the same nature and perfections with him; and as
man, exaltedat his right hand, has a name above every name in this world, or
that to come;and it is by authority from him, in his office capacity, that he
rules and feeds his people, having all judgment committed to him:
and they shall abide; that is, his people, his flock, his sheep fed and ruled by
him; these shall continue and persevere under his care and keeping;in him, in
whom they are chosenand preserved; in his love, from which they cannever
be separated;in his hands, out of which none can pluck them; in his church,
where they shall ever remain; and so may be consideredas a promise of the
perseverance ofthe saints in faith and holiness to the end: or, "they shall sit"
(w); quietly and securely, being freed from persecution, with which the
Christians were at, ended in the first three centuries:this beganto be
accomplishedin the times of Constantius Chlorus, who helped the Christians
in the times of Dioclesian, andwith whom the persecutions ended, and peace
and prosperity followed:
for now shall he be greatunto the ends of the earth; as, he was in the times of
Constantine, and will be again. Christ is greatin himself, in, his person and
offices;and will appear to be so unto all men, even unto the ends of the earth,

15. when his Gospelshallbe preachedand spread, everywhere;when his
kingdom shall be enlarged, and be from sea to sea, and from the river to the
ends of the earth; even then shall he appearto be a greatKing over all the
earth, and, the greatShepherd of the sheep, the man, Jehovah's fellow; and to
have such a flock, and so large, as never any had; when there will be one fold,
and one shepherd; for this prophecy respects the latter day glory. Kimchi's
gloss is,
"the name of the Messiahshallbe magnified, after the judgment of the
wicked.''
(t) Ibid. (Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1. p. 281.)(u) Tanchuma apud Pocock in loc.
(w) "sedebunt", Tigurine version, Vatablus, Drusius; "considebunt",
Cocceius;so R. Isaac, "theyshall sit safelyin his time", as is said above, ch. iv.
4. "they shall sit every man", &c. Chizzuk Emunah, ut supra. (par. 1. p. 281.)
Geneva Study Bible
And he shall {e} stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of
the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be
greatunto the ends of the earth.
(e) That is, Christ's kingdom will be stable and everlasting, and his people, the
Gentiles as well as the Jews, willdwell in safety.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
4. And he shall stand and feed] viz. his flock, as a shepherd. Over this restored
and regenerate people the Messiahshallpreside in the plenitude of Divine
power. ‘Stand,’ as a shepherd amidst his flock, Isaiah 61:5.
in the majesty of the name, &c.] This is not at all an otiose feature of the
description. The ‘Name’ of Jehovahis an appellation of the self-revealing
aspect(one might almostsay, Person)of the Godhead. Comp. Isaiah 30:27,
‘Behold, the Name of Jehovahcometh from far … his lips are full of

16. indignation,’ &c. In fact, the Messiah, who is ‘God the Mighty One,’may be
said to be an incarnation of the Name of Jehovah.
abide] i.e. remain undisturbed in their land.
now shall he be great]‘Now,’from the point of view of the fulfilment of the
prophecy (instead of ‘then’).
unto the ends of the earth] The Messiah’skingdomwill more than supplant
Assyria’s; comp. Psalm 2:8; Psalm72:8. Obs. how the Messianichope
developes and gathers strength in the atmosphere of Assyrian conquest.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 4. - He shall stand. The Ruler, Messiah, shallstand as a goodshepherd,
guiding and ordering his flock, watchful and ready to aid and defend (comp.
Ezekiel34:23;John 10:11). Septuagint, στήσεται καὶ ὄψεται, "shallstand and
see." Feed;i.e. his flock. Septuagint, ποιμανεῖ τὸ ποίμνιοναὐτοῦ. In the
strength of the Lord, with which he is invested and which he displays in the
care of his people. In the majesty of the Name of the Lord his God. Messiah
shall rule in all the power and glory with which God hath revealedhimself on
earth (comp. Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 28:18;John 1:14). They shall abide;
Septuagint, ὑπάρξουσι "they shall be." The children of Israelshall sit, dwell,
in rest and peace in their own land (Micah 4:4; Leviticus 26:5, 6; Joel3:20;
Amos 9:14, 15). The Vulgate, from a different pointing of the Hebrew,
renders, convertentur. With this the Chaldee and Syriac agree. But this idea is
already expressedin ver. 3. Now shall he be great. When the prophecy is
fulfilled and Messiahis feeding his flock, his dominion shall extend unto the
ends of the earth (comp, Malachi1:11, 14;Psalm 2:8; Psalm 72:8; Luke 1:32).
Keil and DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament

17. Such wickednessas this would be severelypunished by the Lord. Amos 8:7.
"Jehovahhath sworn by the pride of Jacob, Verily I will not forgetall their
deeds for ever. Amos 8:8. Shall the earth not tremble for this, and every
inhabitants upon it mourn? and all of it rises like the Nile, and heaves and
sinks like the Nile of Egypt." The pride of Jacobis Jehovah, as in Hosea 5:5
and Hosea 7:10. Jehovahswears by the pride of Jacob, as He does by His
holiness in Amos 4:2, or by His soul in Amos 6:8, i.e., as He who is the pride
and glory of Israel: i.e., as truly as He is so, will He and must He punish such
acts as these. By overlooking suchsins, or leaving them unpunished, He would
deny His glory in Israel. ‫,חכׁש‬ to forget a sin, i.e., to leave it unpunished. In
Amos 8:8 the negative question is an expressiondenoting strong assurance.
"Forthis" is generally supposedto refer to the sins; but this is a mistake, as
the previous verse alludes not to the sins themselves, but to the punishment of
them; and the solemnoath of Jehovahdoes not contain so subordinate and
casuala thought, that we can pass over Amos 8:7, and take ‫לע‬ ‫תאז‬ as referring
back to Amos 8:4-6. It rather refers to the substance of the oath, i.e., to the
punishment of the sins which the Lord announces with a solemn oath. This
will be so terrible that the earth will quake, and be resolved, as it were, into its
primeval condition of chaos. Râgaz, to tremble, or, when applied to the earth,
to quake, does not mean to shudder, or to be shocked, as Rosenmllerexplains
it after Jeremiah2:12. Still less canthe idea of the earth rearing and rising up
in a stormy manner to castthem off, which Hitzig supports, be proved to be a
biblical idea from Isaiah24:20. The thought is rather that, under the weight of
the judgment, the earth will quake, and all its inhabitants will be thrown into
mourning, as we may clearlysee from the parallelpassage in Amos 9:5. In
Amos 8:8 this figure is carried out still further, and the whole earth is
representedas being turned into a sea, heaving and falling in a tempestuous
manner, just as in the case of the flood. ‫,ּהּלּכ‬ the totality of the earth, the entire
globe, will rise, and swelland fall like waters lashedinto a storm. This rising
and falling of the earth is compared to the rising and sinking of the Nile.
According to the Parallelpassage inAmos 9:5, ‫ּהאר‬ is a defective form for ‫,ּהאאר‬
just as ‫לּול‬ is for ‫אּוּול‬ in Job40:20, and it is still further defined by the
expression‫רוראּכ‬ ‫,ּהאאצר‬ which follows. All the ancient versions have takenit as
‫,אאצר‬ and many of the Hebrew codd. (in Kennicott and De Rossi)have this

18. reading. Nigrash, to be excited, a term applied to the stormy sea (Isaiah
57:20). ‫החׁשה‬ is a softenedform for ‫,החׁשעה‬ as is shown by ‫חׁשעה‬ in Amos 9:5.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Micah5:4 - And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the
LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will
remain, Because atthat time He will be greatTo the ends of the earth.
Arise Mic 7:14; Ps 23:1,2; Isaiah40:10,11;49:9,10;Ezekiel34:22-24;John
10:27-30
Shepherd Matthew 2:6;
in the majesty Exodus 23:21;1Chronicles 29:11,12;Ps 45:3-6; 72:19;93:1;
145:12;Matthew 25:31;John 5:22-29;10:38;14:9-11;Revelation1:13-18
the Lord John 20:17;Ephesians 1:3
shall remain Matthew 16:18;1Peter1:5; Jude 1:1
Will he be greatPs 22:27; 72:8; 98:3; Isaiah49:5; 52:10; Zechariah9:10;
Luke 1:32; Revelation11:15
MicahResources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
And He will arise - Naturally, this begs the question "Who is "He?" In context
this refers to the Messiah(cfMic 5:5a and Eph 2:14-note)When Messiah
returns (see SecondComing), He will be the Great Shepherd (Zech 10:3, cf
Mic 2:12, 7:14, Jn 10:11, Mt 26:31, 1Pe 5:4-note, Heb 13:20-note;see Jehovah

19. Roi = Shepherd) of the sheep (believing remnant), and will rule over the world
with rod of iron (Rev 12:5-note, Rev 19:15-note).
G Campbell Morgan- With loins girt about, and lamps burning, we must wait
for the flaming of the glory of His advent feet; and we must watch, not
gloomily, but with sunlight in the heart, and confidence in the life, knowing
that at last He will abolish chariots and horses, cities, strongholds, and all the
things of the dust in which men put their confidence;and establishthe
Kingdom of God in the eternal strength of righteousness. (Living Messages -
Micah)
And they will remain ("They will live securely" NET), because atthat time He
will be greatto the ends of the earth (cf Messiah's rule in Zech 14:9) - At the
time of the establishmentof Messiah'sMillennial Kingdom, Israelwill remain
(be secure)because Messiahis their protecting Shepherd (cf Zech 14:11)Who
is "mighty to save." (Isa 63:1b-note).
Tony Garland: Scripture record’s two pregnancies in relation to Messiah. The
first labor (Mic 5:3) terminates in the First Coming of Messiah(Rev12:2-4-
note). The secondlaborterminates in the ushering in of the Millennial
Kingdom. It is this secondperiod of labor, subsequent to the going forth of
Messiahfrom Bethlehem, which Micah5:4 sets forth. This secondlabor leads
to the millennial age “at that time He will be greatto the ends of the earth.”
The time of Jacob’s trouble describes the labor pains associatedwith the
second"pregnancy."
CALVIN
Verse 4
There is no doubt but that the Prophet continues here to speak ofChrist; and
though the Jews shamelesslypervert the whole Scripture, they yet cannot
deny that Micahcalls here the attention of all the godly to the coming of

20. Christ, yea, of all who hope or desire to obtain salvation. This is certain. Let
us now see what the Prophet ascribes to Christ.
He shall stand, he says, and feed in the powerof Jehovah The word, stand,
designates perseverance, as though he had said, that it would not be for a
short time that God would gather by Christ the remnant of the people; that it
would not be, as it often happens, when some rays of joy shine, and then
immediately vanish. The Prophet shows here that the kingdom of Christ
would be durable and permanent. It will then proceed;for Christ will not only
rule his Church for a few days, but his kingdom will continue to stand
through unbroken series ofyears and of ages. We nor then understand the
Prophet’s object.
He adds in the secondplace, He shall feed in the strength of Jehovah, in the
greatness ofthe name of Jehovahhis God; by which words he means, that
there would be sufficient power in Christ to defend his Church. The Church,
we know, is in this world subject to various troubles, for it is never without
enemies;for Satanalways finds those whom he induces, and whose fury he
employs to harass the children of God. As then the Church of God is tossedby
many tempests, it has need of a strong and invincible defender. Hence this
distinction is now ascribedby our Prophet to Christ, — that he shall feed in
the strength of Jehovah, and in the majesty of his God. As to the word feed, it
no doubt expresseswhatChrist is to his people, to the flock committed to him
and to his care. Christ then rules not in his Church as a dreaded tyrant, who
distresses his subjects with fear; but he is a Shepherd who gently deals with
his flock. Nothing therefore canexceedthe kindness and gentleness ofChrist
towards the faithful, as he performs the office of a Shepherd: and he prefers
to be adorned with this, title, rather than to be called and deemeda kings, or
to assume authority to himself. But the Prophet, on the other hand, shows,
that the power of Christ would be dreadful to the ungodly and wicked. He
shall feed, he says, — with regardto his flock, Christ will put on a character
full of gentleness;for nothing, as I have said can imply more kindness than the
word shepherd: but as we are on every side surrounded by enemies, the
Prophet adds, —

21. He shall feedin the power of Jehovahand in the majestyof the name of
Jehovah;that is as much poweras there is in God, so much protection will
there be in Christ, wheneverit will be necessaryto defend and protectthe
Church againsther enemies. Let us hence learn that no less safetyis to be
expectedfrom Christ, than there is of powerin God. Now, since the power of
God, as we confess, is immeasurable, and since his omnipotence far surpasses
and swallowsup all our conceptions, letus hence learn to extend both high
and low all our hopes. — Why so? Becausewe have a King sufficiently
powerful, who has undertaken to defend us, and to whose protectionthe
Father has committed us. Since then we have been delivered up to Christ’s
care and defense, there is no cause why we should doubt respecting our safety.
He is indeed a Shepherd, and for our sake he thus condescendedand refused
not so mean a name; for in a shepherd there is no pomp nor grandeur. But
though Christ, for our sake, put on the characterof a Shepherd, and disowns
not the office, he is yet endued with infinite power. — How so? Becausehe
governs not the Church after a human manner, but in the majesty of the name
of his God (147)
Now, that he subjects Christ to God, he refers to his human nature. Though
Christ is God manifestedin the flesh, he is yet made subject to God the
Father, as our Mediator and the Head of the Church in human nature: he is
indeed the middle PersonbetweenGodand us. This then is the reasonwhy the
Prophet now says, that Christ has power, as it were, at the will of another; not
that Christ is only man, but as he appears to us in the personof man, he is
said to receive powerfrom his Father; and this, as it has been said, with
respectto his human nature. There is yet another reasonwhy the Prophet has
expresslyadded this, — that we may know that Christ, as the protectorof the
Church, cannotbe separatedfrom his Father:as then God is God, so Christ is
his minister to preserve the Church. In a word, the Prophet means that God is
not to be viewed by the faithful, except through the intervening Mediator; and
he means also that the Mediatoris not to be viewed, exceptas one who
receives supreme power from Godhimself and who is armed with
omnipotence to preserve his people.
He afterwards adds, They shall dwell; for he shall now be magnified to the
extremities of the earth He promises a secure habitation to the faithful; for

22. Christ shall be extolled to the utmost regions of the world. We here see that he
is promised to foreignnations: for it would have been enoughfor Christ to
exercise his supreme powerwithin the borders of Judea, had only one nation
been committed to his safe keeping. But as God the Father intended that he
should be the author of salvation to all nations, we hence learn that it was
necessarythat he should be extolledto the utmost borders of the earth. But
with regard to the word dwell, it is explained more fully in the next verse,
when the Prophet says—
Verse 5
Micah, as I have said, confirms his former statement. By the word dwell, he
no doubt meant a quiet and peaceable inhabitation; as though he had said,
that the children of God would, under Christ, be safe and secure. Now he
adds, And he shall be our peace. It might have been asked, “Whencewill come
this secure dwelling? Forthe land has been very often wasted, and the people
have been at length driven to exile. How then can we now venture to hope for
what thou promises, that we shall be quiet and secure?”Because, he says, He
shall be our peace;and we ought to be satisfiedwith the protection of the King
whom God the Father has given us. Let his shadow, then, suffice us, and we
shall be safe enough from all troubles. We now see in what sense the Prophet
calls Christ the Peace ofhis people or of his Church; he so calls him because
he will drive far awayall hurtful things, and will be armed with strength and
invincible power to check all the ungodly, that they may not make waron the
children of God, or to prevent them in their course, should they excite any
disturbances.
We further know, that Christ is in another way our peace;for he has
reconciledus to the Father. And what would it avail us to be safe from earthly
annoyances, if we were not certain that God is reconciledto us? Except then
our minds acquiesce in the paternal benevolence of God, we must necessarily
tremble at all times, though no one were to cause us any trouble: nay, were all
men our friends, and were all to applaud us, miserable still would be our

23. condition, and we should toil with disquietude, except our consciences were
pacified with the sure confidence that God is our Father. Christ then can be
our peace in no other way than by reconciling God to us. But at the same time
the Prophet speaksgenerally, — that we shall lie safelyunder the shadow of
Christ, and that no evil ought to be feared, — that though Satanshould
furiously assailus, and the whole worth become mad againstus, we ought yet
to fear nothing, if Christ keeps and protects us under his wings. This then is
the meaning, when it is said here that Christ is our peace.
He afterwards subjoins, When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and
when he shall tread in our palaces thenwe shall raise up againsthim or on
him, seven shepherds and eighty princes of the people (148)The Prophet
intimates that the Church of God would not be free from troubles, even after
the coming of Christ: for I am disposedto refer this to the intervening time,
though interpreters put another construction on the words of the Prophet. But
this meaning, is far more suitable, — that while the help which God promised
was expectedand yet suspended, the Assyrians would come, who would pass
far and wide through the land of Israel. Hence he says, that though Assur
should come to our land, and break through, with such force and violence that
we could not drive him out, we shall yet setup for ourselves shepherds and
princes againsthim. It must at the same time be observed, that this prophecy
is not to be confined to that short time; for the Prophet speaks generallyof the
preservationof the Church before as well as after the coming of Christ; as
though he said, — “I have said that the king, who shall be born to you, and
shall go forth from Bethlehem, shall be your peace;but before he shall be
revealedto the world, God will gatherhis Church, and there shall emerge as
from a dead body Princes as well as Shepherds, who will repel unjust violence,
nay, who will subdue the Assyrians.”
We now see whatthe prophet had in view: After having honored Christ with
this remarkable commendation — that he alone is sufficient to give us a quiet
life, he adds that God would be the preserverof his Church, so as to deliver it
from its enemies. But there is a circumstance here expressedwhich ought to
be noticed: Micah says, that when the Assyrians shall pass through the land
and tread down all the palaces, Godwould then become the deliverer of his
people. It might have been objected, and said, “Why not sooner? Wouldit

24. have been better to prevent this? Why! God now looks as it were indifferently
on the force of the enemies, and loosens the reins to them, that they plunder
the whole land, and break through to the very middle of it. Why then does not
God give earlierrelief?” But we see the manner in which God intends to
preserve his Church: for as the faithful often need some chastisement, God
humbles them when it is expedient, and then delivers them. This is the reason
why God allowedsuch liberty to the Assyrians before he supplied assistance.
And we also see that this discourse is so moderated by the Prophet, that he
shows, onthe one hand, that the Church would not always be free from evils,
— the Assyrians shall come, they shall tread down our palaces, — this must
be endured by God’s children, and ought in time to prepare their minds to
bear troubles; but, on the other hand, a consolationfollows;for when the
Assyrians shall thus penetrate into our land, and nothing shall be concealedor
hidden from them, then the Lord will cause new shepherds to arise.
The Prophet means that the body of the people would be for some time
mutilated and, as it were, mangled; and so it was, until they returned from
Exile. For he would have said this to no purpose, We shall setup for ourselves,
if there had been an unbroken successionofregular government; he could not
have said in that case, After Assur shall come into our land, we shall setup
princes; but, There shall be princes when Assur shall come. The word set up
denotes then what I have stated, — that the Church would be for a time
without any visible head. Christ indeed has always beenthe Head of the
Church; but as he designed himself to be then seenin the family of David as in
an image or picture, so the Prophet shows here, that though the faithful would
have to see the head cut off and the Church dead, and like a dead body cast
aside, when torn from its head; yea, that though the Church would be in this
state dreadfully desolated, there is yet a promise of a new resurrection. We
shall then setup, or choose forourselves shepherds.
If any one raises anobjection and says that it was God’s office to make
shepherds for his people, — this indeed I allow to be true: but this point has
not been unwisely mentioned by the Prophet; for he extols here the favor of
God, in granting againtheir liberty to his people. In this especiallyconsists the
best condition of the people, when they can choose, by common consent, their
own shepherds: for when any one by force usurps the supreme power, it is

25. tyranny; and when men become kings by hereditary right, it seems not
consistentwith liberty. (149)We shall then set up for ourselves princes, says
the Prophet; that is, the Lord will not only give breathing time to his Church,
and will also cause thatshe may setup a fixed and a well-orderedgovernment,
and that by the common consentof all.
By seven and eight, the Prophet no doubt meant a greatnumber. When he
speaks ofthe calamities of the Church, it is aid, ‘There shall not be found any
to govern, but children shall rule over you.’ But the Prophet says here that
there would be many leaders to undertake the care of ruling and defending
the people. The governors ofthe people shall therefore be sevenshepherds
and eight princes; that is, the Lord will endure many by his Spirit, that they
shall be suddenly wise men: though before they were in no repute, though
they possessednothing worthy of greatmen, yet the Lord will enrich them
with the spirit of power, that they shall become fit to rule. The Prophet now
adds —
And he shall be ourpeace:
The Assyrian —when he shall come into our land,
And when he shall tread in our palaces,
The raise shall we againsthim
Sevenshepherds and eight anointed men.
‫אדּכ‬ ‫,הסאכא‬ literally anointed of men; but it is a phrase signifying men in
authority, princes or sovereigns. ‫ּכאכאסה‬ is rendered dukes in Joshua 13:21, and
princes in Psalms 83:11, and Ezekiel32:30. It is not necessaryto say“eight
princes of men,” but, “eight princes,” or “eightanointed men.” — Ed.
Dr. Thomas Constable

26. Verse 4
This Redeemerwill arise and shepherd Yahweh"s flock (Israel) in Yahweh"s
strength and majesty in harmony with His character(cf. Micah 2:12; Micah
7:14; Zechariah 10:3). Contrastthe failure of Israel"s leaders in Micah"s day
( Micah3:1-11). The Redeemerwill worship Yahweh as His God, another
indication of His humanity. In the ancient NearEast, kings frequently
referred to themselves as the shepherds of their people. [Note:The New Bible
Dictionary, 1962ed, s.v. "Shepherd," by R. A. Stewart.]It is the pastoralrole
of Israel"s messianic King, leading and caring for His people, that is in view
here. The Israelites will remain in their secure and glorious position because
He will be so great;His greatness willguarantee His people"s security(cf.
Zechariah 14:11). People throughout the world will acknowledge His
greatness (cf. Malachi1:11).
Christ Is Glorious—Let Us Make Him
Known BY SPURGEON
“And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty
of the name of the Lord His God. And they shall abide: for now shall He
be greatunto the ends of the earth.”
Micah5:4
You have a very vivid idea of the sufferings of Christ. Your faith has seenHim
sweating greatdrops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. You have looked
on with amazement while He gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to
them who plucked off the hair and He hid not His face from shame and
spitting. With sorrowfulsympathy you have followed Him through the streets
of Jerusalem, weeping and bewailing Him with the women. You have sat
down to watch Him when He was fastenedto the tree. You have wept at His
bitter complaint–“MyGod, My God, why have You forsakenMe?” And you
have rejoicedin His shout of victory–“It is finished!”

27. With Magdalene and Nicodemus you have followedHis dead body to the tomb
and seenit wrapped about with spices and left to its lonely sleep. Are your
perceptions quite as keenconcerning the Glory which did follow and is
following? Can you see Him quite as distinctly when on the third morn the
Conqueror rises, bursting the bonds of death with which He could not be
held? Can you as clearly view Him ascending up on high, leading captivity
captive? Can you hear the ring of angelic clarions, as with dyed garments
from Bozrah, the Victor returns from the battle, dragging Death and Hell at
His chariotwheels?
Do you plainly perceive Him as He takes His seatat the right hand of the
Father, from this time forth expecting until His enemies be made His
footstool? And can you be as clearthis morning about the reigning Christ as
you have been about the suffering Christ? Lo, my Brethren, “the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, the Rootof David, has prevailed to open the Book and to loose
the sevenseals!” At this hour He goes forth, riding upon His white horse,
conquering and to conquer. Lo, at His girdle swing the keys of Heaven and
Deathand Hell, for “the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His
name shall be calledWonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace.”
“Godalso has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every
name: that at the name of Jesus everyknee should bow.” BeholdHim, my
Brethren, in His present plenitude of Glory and endeavor to getas cleara
perception of it as you have had of His shame. Not only weepat His burial,
but rejoice atHis Resurrection!Notonly sorrow at His Cross, but worship at
His Throne! Do not merely think of the nails and of the spear, but behold the
imperial purple which hangs so nobly upon His royal shoulders and of the
Divine crownwhich He wears upon His majestic brow!
I want to conduct you in such a frame of mind through the glories ofmy text.
First, bidding you observe the perpetual reign of Christ–“He shall stand and
feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His
God” Then I shall beg you to observe that flowing from this is the perpetual
continuance of His Church–“and they shall abide.” And then proceeding both
from His continued reign and from the Church’s consequentperpetual
existence comes the greatness ofour King–“for now shall He be greatunto the
ends of the earth.”
1. At the outset, observe carefully THE PERPETUALREIGN OF
CHRIST. He lives, He reigns, He is King over His people. Notice first
that His reign is shepherd-like in its nature. The kings of the Gentiles
exercise lordship over them, but our MasterwashedHis disciples' feet.

28. Earthly monarchs are often tyrants. Their yoke is heavy and their
language domineering. But it is not so with our King. His yoke is easy
and His burden is light, for He is meek and lowly of heart. He is a
Shepherd-King.
He has supremacy, but it is the superiority of a wise and tender Shepherd over
His needy and loving flock. He commands and receives obedience,but it is the
willing obedience ofthe well-cared-forsheep, rendered joyfully to their
beloved Shepherd, whose voice they know so well. He rules by the force of love
and the energy of goodness.His powerlies not in imperious threats, but in
imperial loving kindness. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King, for
“men shall be blessedin Him: all nations shall call Him blessed.” Neverpeople
had such a king before!
His service is perfect freedom! To be His subjectis to be a king! To serve Him
is to reign! Blessedare the people who are the sheep of His pasture. If they
follow in His footsteps their road is safe. If they sleepat His feet no lion can
disturb their peace. If they are fed from His hands they shall lie down in green
pastures and lack nothing. If they abide close to His Personthey shall drink
rivers of delight. Righteousnessandpeace are the stability of His Throne. Joy
and gladness are the ornaments of His reign. Oh, how happy are we who
belong to such a Prince! You King in Jesurun, we pay You homage with loyal
hearts. We come into Your Presencewith thanksgiving, and into Your courts
with praise, for You are our God and we are, by Your Grace, the people of
Your pasture and the sheep of Your hands! Notice that the reign of Jesus is
practicalin its character. It is said, “He shall stand and feed.” The greatHead
of theChurch is actively engagedin providing for His people. He does not sit
down upon the Throne in empty state, orhold a scepterwithout wielding it in
government. No, He stands and feeds. The expression“feed,” in the original is
like an analogous one in the Greek, which means to shepherdize, to do
everything expectedof a shepherd–to guide, to watch, to preserve, to tend as
well as to feed.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatHead of the Church, is always actively
engagedfor the Church’s good. Through Him the Spirit of Godconstantly
descends upon the members of the Church. By Him ministers are given in due
seasonandall Church officers in their proper place. When He ascendedup on
high He receivedgifts for men. “And He gave some, Apostles. And some
Prophets. And some Evangelists. And some pastors and teachers, forthe
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ.” Our Lord does not close His eyes to the state of His Church.

29. Beloved, He is not a listless spectatorofour wants. He is, this day, standing
and feeding His people. They are scattered, I know–wide as the poles
asunder–but our mighty Shepherd can see every sheepand lamb of His flock
and He gives them all their portion of meat in due season. He it is that like a
mighty breaker, goes forthat the head of His flock and they follow where He
clears the way, “He shall stand and feed.” Oh, blessedcarefulness and Divine
activity of our gracious King! Always fighting againstour enemies and at the
same the shedding His kind and gracious influences upon His friends.
Consideragain, for it is in our text, that this active reign is continual in its
duration. It is said, “He shall stand and feed,” not, “He shall feednow and
then and then leave His position.” Not, “He shall one day grant a revival, and
then the next day leave His Church to barrenness.” Beloved, there is no such
pastor as Christ. “I know My sheep,” He can say, in a very high and peculiar
sense. He knows them through and through. He feels with them. In all their
afflictions He is afflicted–He is one with them eternally. There is no such
wakefulwatchman as the Lord Jesus. Is it not written, “I the Lord do keepit.
I will waterit every moment: lest any hurt it. I will keepit night and day.”
Those eyes never slumber and those hands never rest! That heart never ceases
to beat with love, and those shoulders are never wearyof carrying His
people’s burdens.
The Church may go through her dark ages, but Christ is with her in the
midnight. She may pass through her fiery furnace, but Christ is in the midst
of the flames with her. Her whole history through–whereveryou find the
Church–there you find the Church’s Lord. The Head is never severedfrom
the body, nor is the watchful care of this gracious Husband towards His
spouse suspendedfor an instant. I beseechyou, labor to realize the noble
picture! Here are His sheep in these pastures this morning and here is our
greatShepherd with the crown upon His head, standing and feeding us all.
No, not us all alone, but dispensing His tender mercies to all the multitudes of
His electthroughout the whole world!
He is at this moment King in Zion, ruling and overruling, present everywhere
and everywhere showing Himself strong in the defense of His saints. I would
that our Churches could be more influenced by a belief in the abiding power,
Presence andpre-eminence of their living and reigning Lord! He is no dead
King whose memory we are bid to embalm, but a living Leader and
Commander whose behests we must obey, whose honor we must defend. Do
not fail to discern that the empire of Christ in His Church is effectually
powerful in its action–“He shallfeed in the strength of Jehovah.”

30. “WhereverChrist is, there is God. And whateverChrist does is the act of the
MostHigh. Oh, it is a joyful Truth to considerthat He who redeemedus was
none other than God Himself! He who led our captivity captive was
JehovahJesus!He who stands today representing the interests of His people is
very God of very God! He who has sworn that every one of His people whom
He has redeemed by blood shall be brought safe to His Father’s right hand, is
Himself, essentialDeity!
O my Brethren, we rest upon a sure foundation when we build upon the
Incarnate God. And O you saints of God, the interests of eachone of you and
of the one great Church must be safe because ourchampion is God! Jehovah
is our Judge, Jehovahis our Lawgiver, Jehovahis our King! He will save us!
How can He fail or be discouraged? WhenHe makes bare His arm, who shall
stand againstHim? Let us rehearse the mighty deeds of the Lord and tell of
His wonders of old. Remember how He got victory upon Pharaohand the
pride of Egypt? Pharaohsaid, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice
to let Israelgo?” Tenplagues of terrible majesty taught the boasterthat the
Lord was not to be despisedand the humbled tyrant bade the people go their
way.
With a high hand and an outstretched arm did the Lord bring forth His
people from the house of bondage. When the proud high stomachof Egypt’s
king againrose againstthe Most High, the Lord knew how to lay His
adversary lowerthan the dust. I think I see the hosts of Mizraim with their
horses and their chariots hurrying after the Lord’s fugitives! Their mouths
are foaming with rage. “The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will
divide the spoil. My lust shall be satisfied upon them.”
See how they ride in all their pompous glory, swallowing the earth in their
fury! O Israel, where shall be your defense? How shall you escape from your
tyrannical master? Be still, O seedof Jacob!Sons of Abraham rest patiently,
for these Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see no more forever. With
their horses and their chariots the fierce enemy descendedinto the depths of
the sea, but the Lord lookedupon them and troubled them. “You did blow
with Your wind, the sea coveredthem: they sank as lead in the mighty
waters.” “The depths have coveredthem. They sank into the bottom like a
stone.”
“Let us sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and
his rider has He thrown into the sea.” Surelyit shall be so at the lastwith
Jesus our King and all His saints. We also shall sing “the song of Moses, the
servant of God and of the Lamb,” in that day when the arch-enemy shall be
overthrown and the hosts of evil shall be consumedand they who hate the

31. Lord shall become as the fat of rams. Into smoke shall they consume, yes, into
smoke shall they consume away.
One other word remains–our Lord’s kingdom is most majestic in its aspect.
You will observe it is written by the Prophet–“He shall feed in the majestyof
the name of the Lord His God.” Jesus Christ is greatly to be reverenced. The
familiarity with which we approachHim is always to be tempered with the
deepestand most reverent adoration. He is our Brother, bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh, but still He counts it not robbery to be equal with God. I
know He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a
servant, and He calls Himself today our Husband and makes us to be
members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
But yet we must never forgetthat it is written, “Let all the angels ofGod
worship Him,” and, “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in
Heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth. And that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.” Yes, Christ is majestic in His Church. I would, Brethren, we always
thought of this. There is a Glory and a majesty about all the Laws of Christ
and all His commands, so that whether we baptize at His command, or break
bread in remembrance of Him, or lift up His Cross in ministry–in whatever
we do in His name, which is in fact, what He does through us–there is an
attendant majesty which should make our minds feelperpetually reverent
before Him.
O that the world could see the Glory of Christ in the Church! O that the
world did but know who it is that is in the midst of the few, the feeble, the
weak, the foolish as they call them. O Philistia! If you did but know who is our
Champion, your Goliath of Gath would soonhide his diminished head! O
Assyria, if you did but know that the ancient might of Him who smote
Sennacheribstill abides with us, your hosts would turn their backs and yield
us an easyvictory! There is a true and mysterious Presence ofChrist with His
people, according to the promise, “Lo I am with you always, evenunto the end
of the world.”
It is because the world ignores this that she despises and sneers at the Church
of God. There is our comfort and our glory–we have a majesty about us, if we
are the people of God, which is not to be denied. Angels see it and wonder–a
majesty of indwelling Godhead–forthe Lord is in the midst of us for a Glory
and around us for a defense.
II. We will now occupy one or two minutes with THE CONSEQUENT
PERPETUITYOF THE CHURCH. Becauseofthe unseen but most certain

32. Presence ofChrist as King in the midst of His people, His Church ABIDES–so
says the text. Here reflectfirst, that a Church exists. What a wonder is this! It
is, perhaps, the greatestmiracle of all ages that God has a Church in the
world! You who are conversantwith human history will hear me out when I
say that the whole history of the Church is a series ofmiracles–a long stream
of wonders!
A little spark kindled in the midst of oceans andyet all her boisterous waves
cannot quench it! Here is the great wonderwhich John saw in vision and
which history reveals in solemn, sober fact. A woman, “being with child, cried,
travailing in birth and pained to be delivered. And there appearedanother
wonder in Heaven. And behold a greatred dragon… stood before the woman
which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soonas it was
born.” The Man-Child who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron was
brought forth and caught up to God and to His Throne.
As for the woman, the Church, she fled as on eagles'wings to her wilderness
shelter prepared of God, until, in greatwrath, the dragon pursued and
persecutedher. Apt enough is that metaphor, “The serpent castout of his
mouth wateras a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried
awayof the flood. And the dragon was angry with the womanand went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keepthe Commandments of
God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ.” Yet, my Brethren, as surely as
that glorious Man-Child, the Lord Jesus, lives and sits upon the Throne, so
surely shall the woman, the poor afflicted Church, live on until the dragon’s
time is over, and the King shall reign upon the earth!
To what trials, my Brethren, has not the Church of God been subjected?
What new invention canSatan bring forth? The fire, the rack, imprisonment,
banishment, confiscation, slander–allthese have been tried–and in them all
the Church has been more than conqueror through Him who loved her. False
doctrine without, heresyand schism within! Hypocrisy, formalism, fanaticism,
pretences of high spirituality, worldliness–thesehave all done their worst. I
marvel at the wondrous ingenuity of the greatenemy of the Church, but I
think his devices must nearly have come to an end. Can he invent anything
further?
We have been astoundedin these ages by the prodigy of an infidel bishop! We
have been struck dumb with sorrow and amazement at a decree which
declares that a Church professing to be a Church of Christ must permit men
to be her ministers who deny the Inspiration of Holy Scripture! This is a new
thing under the sun. Poperyand infidelity are to be both legalized and
fosteredin a Church professing to be Christian and Protestant!What next?

33. And what next? But what of all this? The Church, I mean the company of the
Lord’s calledand faithful and chosen, still exists. The Lord has His elect
people who still hold forth the Word of Truth and in the most reprobate
Church still He may say, “I have a few names even in Sardis which have not
defiled their garments. And they shall walk with Me in white, for they are
worthy.”
Observe, the text says, “she abides,” whichmeans not that she exists now and
then by starts and spasms, but she exists always. This is wonderful! Always a
Church! When the full force of the PaganEmperors came like a thundering
avalanche upon her, she shook offthe stupendous load as a man shakes the
flakes of snow from his garment and she lived on uninjured. When papal
Rome vented its malice yet more furiously and ingeniously–whencruel
murderers hunted the saints among the Alps–orworried them in the low
country. When Albigenses and Waldenses pouredout their blood in rivers
and dyed the snow with crimson, she lived still and never was in a healthier
state than when she was immersed in her own gore!
When after a partial reformation in this country the pretenders to religion
determined that the truly spiritual should be harried out of the land–God’s
Church did not sleepor suspend her careerof life or service. Let the Covenant
signed in blood witness to the vigor of the persecutedsaints. Hearkento her
Psalmamidst the brown heath-clad hills of Scotlandand her prayer in the
secretconventicles ofEngland. Hear the voices of Cargilland Cameron
thundering among the mountains againsta false king and an apostate people!
Hear the testimony of Bunyan and his compeers who would soonerrot in
dungeons than bow the knee to Baal!
Ask me “Where is the Church?” and I can find her at any and every period
from the day when first in the upper room the Holy Spirit came down even
until now. In one unbroken line our Apostolic successionruns–not through
the Church of Rome–notfrom the superstitious hands of priest-made popes,
or king-createdbishops, (what a varnished lie is the apostolic successionof
those who boastso proudly of it)! But through the blood of goodmen and
true, who never forsook the testimony of Jesus–throughthe loins of true
pastors, laborious evangelists, faithful martyrs and honorable men of God–we
trace our pedigree up to the fishermen of Galilee and glory that we
perpetuate, by God’s Grace, that true and faithful Church of the living God,
in whom Christ did abide and will abide until the world’s crash.
Observe, dear Friends, that in the use of the term, “Abide,” we have not only
existence and continued existence, but the idea of quiet, calm, uninjured
duration. It does not sayshe lingers, hunted, tempted, worried–but she abides.

34. Oh, the calmness ofthe Church of God under the attacks ofher most
malicious foes!You crue1 adversary, the virgin daughter of Zion has shaken
her head at you and laughed you to scorn! She abides in peace when the world
rages againsther. It is most noteworthy how in most instances the Church of
God still keeps her foothold where she has been most savagelypersecuted.
In modern times we find in Madagascar, afteryears of exterminating
persecution, the Church of God rises from her ashes like the phoenix from the
flames. The chief wonder is that she abides perfect. Not one of God’s electhas
gone back!Not one of the blood-bought has denied the faith. Notone single
soul which ever was effectually calledcan be made to deny Christ, even
though his flesh should be pulled from his bones by hot pincers, or his
tormented body flung to the jaws of wild beasts. All that the enemy has done
has been of no avail againstthe Church. The old rock has been washedand
washedand washedagainby stormy waves and submerged a thousand times
in the floods of tempest, but even her angles and corners abide unaltered and
unalterable!
We may sayof the Lord’s tabernacle, not one of the stakes there has been
removed, nor one of her cords been broken. The House of the Lord, from
foundation to pinnacle, is perfect still–“The rain descendedand the floods
came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not.” No, nor a
single stone of it, “for it was founded upon a Rock.” Butwhy all this, dear
Friends? Why is it that we have seenthe Church endure to this day? How is it
that we are confident that even should worse times arrive, the Church would
weatherthe storm and abide till moons shall ceaseto wax and wane? Why this
security?
Only because Christ is in the midst of her! You do not believe, I hope, in the
preservationof orthodoxy by legalinstruments and trust deeds. This is what
too many Dissenters have relied upon. We certainly cannot depend upon
creeds. Theyare goodenough in their way, as trust deeds are, too, but they
are as broken reeds if we rely upon them. We cannotdepend upon
Parliament, nor kings, nor queens. We may draw up the most express and
distinct form of doctrine, but we shall find that the next generationwill depart
from the Truth of God unless God shall be pleasedto give it renewedGrace
from on high.
You cannot, by Presbytery, or Independency, or Episcopacy, secure the life of
the Church–I find the Church of God has existed under an Episcopacy–a
form of government not without its virtues and its faults. I find the Church of
God flourish under a Presbytery and decayunder it, too. I know it canbe
successfulunder an Independent form of Church government and candecline

35. into Arianism quite as easily. The fact is that forms of government have very
little to do with the vital principle of the Church! The reasonwhy the Church
of God exists is not her ecclesiasticalregulations, herorganization, her
formularies, her ministers, or her creeds–butthe Presenceofthe Lord in the
midst of her!
And while Christ lives and Christ reigns and stands and feeds His Church, she
is safe. But if He were once gone, it would be with her as it is with you and
with me when the Spirit of God has departed from us–we are weak as other
men and she would be quite as powerless.
III. But now, thirdly, flowing from both these, from the perpetual Presenceof
Christ and from the continued existence of His Church, is THE GREATNESS
OF OUR KING. “Now shallHe be greatunto the ends of the earth.” “Christ
is greatin His Church.” Oh, how greatin our hearts where He reigns
supreme! My heart, it does leap at the sound of His name–
“Jesus, the very thought of You,
With rapture fills my breast.”
O for crowns!Forgolden crowns!Let us crownHim King in Zion! O for a
well-tuned harp and for David’s feet, to dance before the ark at the very
mention of Jesus'name! Now shall He be great, indeed, in our hearts! But He
is to be greatto the ends of the earth. That is a promise of which we will say it
is accomplishedin a measure even now. Christ is made great till the
conversionof every sinner. When the suppliant penitent cries, “Godbe
merciful to me a sinner,” and the peace-speaking bloodcomes dropping upon
the troubled conscience andthe soul bows meeklyto acceptthe finished
righteousness, thenis Christ great!And He is greatin the consecrationof
every one of His blood-bought saints–whenthey live for Him. When in their
prayers they make mention of Him. When they give Him their heart’s music,
their life’s light and their lips' testimony.
When they feel that tribulation is joyous if endured for Him and the sternest
toil a dear delight when undertaken for His sake–thenChrist is great. Think,
my Brothers and Sisters, this morning, how many ships are now furrowing
the blue sea in which there are hearts which love the name of Jesus. Hark!
Across the waves of the Atlantic and the Pacific I hear the sound of prayer
and praise from many a vesselbearing the British flag. From many an islet of
the sea the song is borne upon the breeze. And there across the waters in the
land of our American Brethren, now so sadly chastenedwith war, multitudes
of hearts beat as high as ours at the mention of the Savior’s name!. Here
across yonnarrow Channel, in Holland, in Sweden, in Germany, in

36. Switzerland and even in France and Italy,how many own His name and praise
Him this day! We speak of our Queen’s dominions and say that the sun never
sets upon them. We may in truth saythis of our Lord Jesus–menofall colors
trust in His blood. They who look upward to the southern cross and they who
follow the Polarstar alike worship His dear name. And when England ceases
her strain of joy, in the hush of night, Australia takes up the song and so from
land to land and from shore to shore, a sacrifice of a pure offering is brought
to His shrine! It is accomplished, in some degree, but oh, how small the degree
when we think of the thick darkness which covers the multitude of the people.
Again, it is a promise which is guaranteedas to its fulfillment in the fullest
sense. Courage!Brethren, courage!The night is not forever, the morning
comes!Watchman, what do you say? Are there not streaks reddening the
east? Has not the God of Day, the Lord Jesus, beganto shootHis Divine
arrows of light upwards into the thick darkness? Itis evenso. As I think of the
signs of the times, I would fondly hope that we shall live to see brighter and
better days. “Now,” says the text, “shall He be great unto the ends of the
earth.”
Prophet, I would that your “now” were true this day! Now, even now, let Him
reign! Why does He tarry? Why are His chariots so long in coming? Will it be,
my Brethren, that Christ will come before the world is converted? If so,
welcome, Jesus!Or will the world be convertedfirst? If so, thrice welcome the
mercy! But whether or not, this we do know, He shall have dominion from sea
to sea and from the river even unto the ends of the earth. They who dwell in
the wilderness shallbow before Him and His enemies shall lick the dust. The
day shall come when the fifth greatmonarchy shall be co-extensive with the
world’s bounds and everywhere the GreatShepherd shall reign.
But remember, dear Friends, that while this promise is thus guaranteedas to
its fulfillment, it is to be prayed for as to its accomplishment. “I will yet for
this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them” (Ezek. 36:37). The
mountain of the Lord shall be in the latter days, but mark you, though there is
no sound of trowel or a hammer, there will be heard the sound of prayer and
praise, as upward the mountain of God’s House shall ascend!
You know the picture. The Prophet had seenthe Lord’s House standing, as it
were, in a valley and as he lookedupon it, presently it became a little hill. The
ground beganto heave and by-and-by it had swollenfrom a little hill into a
lofty mountain and up it rose and grew more greatbefore his eyes, till Alps
were dwarfed and Himalayas were stunted and up it still went–not the House
only–but the mountain, too, till infinitely higher than the projectedtower of
Babel, which man meant to be the world’s center!This House stoodout clear

37. and sharp above the clouds, having pinnacles high up in God’s Heaven and
yet deep foundations in man’s earth and all nations began to flow to it as to
the greatcenter.
What a dream! What a vision! Yet such shall it be. The Church is, as it were,
in a plain just now–she begins to move. Oh, stupendous movement! She begins
to rise, her mountains swelland grow. She attracts observers. She cannot be
held down. Who can attempt to restrain the swelling mass? Who shall prevent
the gigantic birth? Up rises the mountain, as though swollenby some inward
fire–and up it swells and swells and swells–tillEarth touches Heavenand God
communes with men. Then shall be heard the great hallelujah! The
Tabernacle ofGod is with men and He will dwell with them!
But then, and this is the conclusion, and I hope God may help me to press it on
your hearts. All this is to be labored for as well as prayed after. My soul pants
and pines to see Christ glorious in the eyes of men. Lives there a Christian
here with soul so dead that he does not desire the extensionof his Master’s
kingdom? Sirs, is there one among you who counts it little to see Jesus Christ
lifted up in men’s hearts? I know I speak to a people–andthe Lord knows it–
to many of whom Christ is the dearestof all which is beloved, the fairest
among ten thousand and the altogetherlovely. Now, if Christ is to be glorified,
He must be glorified by you. If His kingdom is to come, it must come through
you.
God works, but God works by means. He works in you “to will and to do of
His own goodpleasure.” Souls are to be saved, but they are not savedwithout
instruments. The feastis to be furnished with guests, but you are to go into the
highways and hedges and compelthem to come in. I know my Masteris to
have many crowns, but they are to be crowns for which you race and which
you have fought–whichyou have won through His Divine Grace–andyou
place at His feet that He may honor you by wearing them upon His brow.
Now we, as a people, have been greatlyblessedand helped of God and I
believe the Masterhas a very high claim upon us. We, above all the Churches
in the world, are indebted to the Grace and mercy of God and we ought to be
doing something for the extensionof the Savior’s kingdom. We cannotboast
of wealth. We cannot profess to build all over London a multitude of
Churches as the Bishop hopes to do. Any scheme of raising three millions of
money by us must be lookedupon as being entirely a dream. We cannot
attempt such a thing.
If London is to be convertedby money we must give up the task. We have no
mitered bishops, no queens to subscribe and no nobles and dukes and the like

38. to add their thousands and their tens of thousands of pounds. We are a feeble
folk. What, then, can we do for God? Why, do as much as the strong! What
can we do for God? Do as munch as the mighty! No, my Brethren, our very
weakness andwant of power shall be our adaptation to God’s work! And He
who often puts by the swordof Saul and the armor of the son of Kish will use
David and his sling and his stone and strike Goliath’s brow.
I have been musing all this week upon that celebratedscene in ancient history
which seems to me to be so much like the state of our Church just now. The
story of Gideon, the son of Joash, threshing wheatin the winepress, because
he was afraid to be seen. The Midianites having spoiled the land. Now we, as
Baptists, have generallybeen too much afraid to be seen. We have threshed
our corn somewhere awayin the winepress–upa back court–downa narrow
street. Any dirty hole would do to build a Chapel in–so long as people could
not find it–the site was thought advantageous.
And if nobody could ever see it that was the place for our fathers and for some
who still linger among us. It was threshing wheatin the winepress, to hide it
from the enemy. Well now, I think the time has come that we should not be
afraid of these Midianites any longer. Long has the Church of God been
oppressedand kept back. She has been content to let the world devour her
increase. There have been few additions to the Churches. They remain very
much what they were twenty or thirty years ago.
But, my Brethren, some of us think that we have seenour fleece wetwith dew,
while all around was dry. And we believe the Lord has said to us, “The Lord
is with you, you mighty men of valor.” We think we have had the Lord’s
commission, “Go in this, your strength.” We do not expectall of you to go
with us, for the people are too many. We expect that there are many of the
trembling and faint-hearted who will step back from the battle–men who are
took ill for their families, and must provide for them. Men who are saving up
money and grudge their sovereigns and so on–these, ofcourse, will stand back
and so let them–such men encumber our march.
We fearthat you are not all men who lap. But we have a few who care very
little for the ease and repose oflife and who snatcha hasty draught as they
run and with heat and zeal and passionate earnestness run to meet the
adversary. Now these we expectto go with us to the fray. In the name of the
Lord, I proclaim a new crusade againstthe sin and vice of this huge city!
What are we to do? The hosts of Midian are to be counted by millions. Here in
this greatcity we have three millions of people and what if I were to say, two-
and-half millions of them do not know their right hand from their left in
matters of religion?

39. I believe I should speak too charitably–for if I could believe there were half a
million true Believers in London, I should have vastly greaterhopes of it than
I have now. But, alas, that is not the case.Millions–millions are gathered in
the Valley of Indecision who are not upon the Lord’s side! What canyou and I
do? We can do nothing of ourselves, but we cando everything by the help of
our God. Where Christ is, there is might and where God is, there is strength!
Let us, therefore, in God’s name, determine to plant new Churches wherever
openings occur. Like Gideon’s men let us rally under our Church officers and
follow where a warm heart leads the way.
Gideon took his men and bade them do two things–covering up a torch in an
earthen pitcher, he bade them, at an appointed signal, break the pitcher and
let the light shine and then sound with their trumpets, crying, “The swordof
the Lord and of Gideon! The swordof the Lord and of Gideon!” This is just
what all Christians must do. First, you must shine! Break the pitcher which
concealsyou! Throw aside the bushel which has been hiding your candle, and
shine! Let your light shine before men! Let your good works be such that
when men look upon you, they shall know that you have been with Jesus!
There is much gooddone by the shining.
Then there must be the sound–the blowing of the trumpet. O dear Friends, the
greatmass of London will never hear the Gospelunless you go and blow the
trumpet in their ears!Many who are members of this Church never heard a
Gospelsermonuntil they heard some of you preaching in the street. “Why,”
said one, “I never went to a place of worship. But I went down a streetand
there stooda young man at the corner. I listened to him and God was pleased
to send the arrow to my conscienceandI came into the House of God
afterwards.”
Take the Gospelto them! Carry it to their door! Put it in their path! Do not
suffer them to escape it! Blow the trumpet right againsttheir ears!In the
name of God, I pray you do this! Remember that the true war cry of the
Church is Gideon’s war cry, “The sword of the Lord!” God must do it. It is
God’s work! But we are not to be idle–instrumentality is to be used–“The
swordof the Lord and of Gideon!” Mark you, if we only cry, “The sword of
the Lord!” we shall be guilty of an idle presumption and shall be tempting
God to depart from His fixed rule of procedure.
This is the cry of every lazy lie-in-bed. What goodever comes ofsaying, “The
Lord will do His own work, let us sit still”? Nor must it be, “The sword of
Gideon,” alone, for that were idolatrous reliance on an arm of flesh. We can
do nothing of ourselves. Not, “The swordof the Lord,” only–that were
idleness. But the two together, “The swordof the Lord and of Gideon.”

40. O my Brethren, God help you to learn this lessonwell and then you will go
forth shining and sounding, living and teaching, testifying and living out the
Truth of God! You shall most assuredlymake the kingdom of Christ to come
and His name shall be honored if you will do this. It seems to me that now is a
glorious opportunity. There is a spirit of hearing upon the people. Almost
anyone may geta hearing who is willing to preach Christ. Now or never!
Sons of Jacob!You are to be like a lion among the flock of sheepand will you
lie down and slumber? Up and every man to the prey! Sons of Jacob! You are
to be as dew upon the grass and will you tarry for men and wait for the sons
of men? No. In God’s name go forward and let something be done for God,
and for His Christ, for a perishing age, for a dark world, for Heaven’s Glory,
and for Hell’s defeat. Up, you who know the Lord! You swordsmenof our
Israel, up and at them and God give you a greatvictory and deliverance!
I want you to make some practical point of these things today. God has been
pleasedto put a swordinto my hand and to give me my lamp and my pitcher.
My College ofyoung men is now become, in the Lord’s hands, a marvelous
powerfor good. A blessing greaterthan I could have expectedrests on this
work. We are continually sending them out and God owns them in the
conversionof souls. I have never seenany agencymore blessedto the
conversionof souls than the agencyof our College. Without saying anything to
depreciate other efforts, I do believe God has conferredon our Institution a
crowning and specialblessing and will continue to do so yet more and more.
I want you all, both hearers and readers of my sermons, to feel that this is
your work and to help me in it while I continue to cry, “The swordof the Lord
and of Gideon!” God works and therefore we work. God is with us and
therefore we are with God and stand on His side. Inasmuch as many of these
men raise Churches, we want you to help to build the places where the new
congregations canbe accommodatedafterwards.And to that end we have
strived to raise a fund of five thousand pounds to be lent out to these new
Churches on loan to be repaid by installments without interest.
It is but a small sum, but it is as much as I think we can do and frugal care
will turn it to goodaccount. Some three thousand pounds have been promised
by our sevenshepherds and principal men. But there are many who have not
promised anything yet and we shall be glad if they will come forward, for
otherwise this useful fund cannotbe raised. When this is done with, once and
for all, we will go on and do something else for Jesus. Do break this pitcher!
Get this done and let the light of this thing shine! We must be doing something
for God.

41. I speak to you now upon the practicalpoint and come to it at once. If you are
content to live without serving God, I am not. And if you are willing to let
these hours roll by without doing something to extend the kingdom of Jesus,
let me be gone from you! Let me be gone from you to those of warmer spirits
and of holier aspirations, for I must fight for God! There must be victories
won for Him! We must extend the range of the Gospel!We must find places
where souls canbe brought to hear the Word. Hell shall not forever laugh at
our inactivity and Heaven shall not eternally weepat our sloth!
Let us be up and doing and let this thing be done by the many–the few have
already done their parts! Promises reaching over five years are askedof you,
you canall do something. And then, every one of you, when you have done
your share in this, go out personally and serve with your flaming torch of holy
example and with your trumpet tones of earnestdeclarationand testimony–go
out and serve your Lord! And God shall be with you and Midian shall be put
to confusion and the Lord of Hosts shall reign forever and ever. “He that
believes and is baptized shall be saved. But he that believes not shall be
damned.” Hear that note, O dead Souls, and live!
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
SERIES:WHO IS A GOD LIKE THEE?
By Doug Goins
Micahof Morashethwas burdened with a prophetic gift of discernment from
God. Almost in spite of himself, Micah saw Godat work behind the dramatic
changes onthe national scene as wellas the international scene, allof which
affectedhis people deeply. Micah saw judgment coming, first on the northern
kingdom of Israel. He foresaw the fall of that nation to Assyria in 722 BC.
God warned him of the fall of Jerusalemand the southern kingdom which was
going to come from the Babylonians in 586 BC. Micahtried to callhis people,
the Jewishnation, back to faithful worship and sincere, loving obedience to

42. God and his covenantrelationship with them. But the people refused to listen.
We have seenhow he pleaded for socialjustice. He askedhis people to be
more concernedabout the poor and helpless among them, but the people
wouldn’t repent. They didn’t pay any attention.
The book of Micah is organizedaround three messagesthatcome from the
Lord. Chapters 1 and 2 are a warning message:Divine judgment is coming on
both Israeland Judah. Micah’s secondmessage, atthe heart of the book in
chapters 3-5, is a message ofpromise focusing on the nation’s future. He
announces hope—a deliverer is coming to captive Israel, and he will restore
and reunite Judah and Israel. We come to the conclusionof that message
today in chapter5 as we look at “the once and future king.” Chapters 6 and 7
contain Micah’s final message. Thatfinal messageis one of challenge to us.
Are we going to do something with this incredible vision that God has given us
for the future? Can we trust God? Canthat trust in him then lead us in
obedience to live the lives he has calledus to live now?
Micahurges his people to repent. He warns them that the only waythey will
escape judgment, experience God’s blessing, and be able to be used by God in
their surroundings is to respond to what they have come to understand as
true. Micah’s passionis the same in all three of these messages:He wants his
people to abandon idolatry. He wants them to return, which means repent,
and embrace sincere faith in the Lord.
We know from biblical history that Judah, under King Hezekiah, did respond
to part of Micah’s message in chapter3, and God delivered Jerusalemfrom
an Assyrian invasion in a siege afterthe fall of the northern kingdom. That
spiritual revival was shallow, however, and short-lived, as was another which
occurredlater under King Josiah. Within a hundred years of Micah’s
preaching, Jerusalemwas completelydestroyed by the Babylonians.
This issue of superficial religious responses continues in our day. A recent
New York Times article by Laurie Goodsteindescribes this well:
Americans, who after the September 11 terrorists attacks turned to religion in
an outpouring that some religious leaders hailed as a spiritual great
awakening, have now mostly returned to their former habits. Frank Newport,

43. editor and chief of the Gallup organization, the Gallup Polls, says, “Ijust
don’t see much indication that there has been a greatawakening or a
profound change in America’s religious practices. It looks like people were
treating this like a bereavement, a shorterterm funeral kind of thing where
they went to church or synagogue to grieve, but now the grieving is over.” (1)
The Once and Future King, Micah 5:1-15, Catalog No. 4726 – page 2
The future King of Zion
Micahspeaks to that sensitivity. The first verse of chapter 5 focuses our
attention on impending disaster. It introduces a scene ofdistress that is either
already upon them or imminent. It’s very much like our experience of the
September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. He writes,
Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops; They have laid siege
againstus; With a rod they will smite the judge of Israelon the cheek. (Micah
5:1)
This is the third in a series of invitations to look at what is going on around
them. In chapter 4 we heard two other similar statements that beganwith the
word “now”:
Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you, Or has your
counselorperished, That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?...
And now many nations have been assembledagainstyou Who say, “Let her
be polluted, And let our eyes gloatover Zion.” (Micah 4:9, 11)
The third instance appears in verse 1 of chapter5, “Now muster yourselves in
troops, daughter of troops....”
All three of those images graphically depict coming national disasterfor
Judah. Before Micahintroduces the good news—the hope of this once and
future king, the focus of the first five verses—he requires the people to
considerthe presenthumiliation of the earthly kings or judges of the nation.

44. He says they will be struck across the face. This represents a national leaders’
inability to defend himself. Sennacherib verbally humiliated King Hezekiah
during the Assyrian invasion and he required enormous financial tribute from
the nation’s treasury. During the Babylonian invasion, Nebuchadnezzar
physically violated King Zedekiahafter he tried to escape fromthe city of
Jerusalem. After he was captured, his sons were brought in and executed
right in front of him. Then they put out his two eyes and draggedhim off to
Babylon in chains.
In verse 1, Micah is re-emphasizing the point he made in the rhetorical
question we read earlier, “Is there no king among you?” Israelwould never
find her true king, her true deliverer, in human leadership. All the kings born
in Jerusalemhad failed in their spiritual leadership of the nation, but Micah
knew that a true king was coming. A small spark of hope had been kindled in
his heart at the end of that first message, the last two verses ofchapter 2,
I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob. I will surely gather the remnant of
Israel. I will put them togetherlike sheepin the fold; Like a flock in the midst
of its pasture They will be noisy with men. The breakergoes up before them;
They break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it. So their king goes on
before them, And the Lord at their head.
The Once and Future King, Micah 5:1-15, Catalog No. 4726 – page 3
That spark of hope was fanned into flame by the glorious vision we saw in the
beginning of chapter 4, of God’s promised Messianic King and the kingdom
that was coming. Now his hope for the future blazes as God gives him some of
the most specific and most important prophecies in the entire Old Testament
about the coming of Messiah, Jesus Christthe King. Beginning in verse 2,
Micahlooks sevenhundred years ahead to the birth of Jesus and describes the
future rule of this Messianic King.
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of
Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings
forth are from long ago, Fromthe days of eternity.” Therefore, He will give
them up until the time When she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the
remainder of His brethren Will return to the sons of Israel. And He will arise
and shepherd His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the

45. name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, Becauseatthat time He
will be great To the ends of the earth. And this One will be our peace. (Micah
5:2-5a)
Verse 2 tells us that his beginnings are humanly insignificant. The birthplace
of the King was not in the greatcity of Jerusalem, but in the little village of
Bethlehem, nestled in the hills southwestof Jerusalem, a village too small to
attract the attention of foreignconquerors. As we know from the gospel
stories, his birth was in the barren simplicity of a stable.
But the secondhalf of verse 2 also tells us that his beginnings are divinely
significant. Messiahis the eternal God. The apostle John wrote of him, “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). Jesus steppedout of
eternity into human history, sent by his Fatherfor a purpose: to die for the
sins of the world. Again the apostle Johnwrites, “We have beheld and bear
witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviorof the world” (1 John
4:14).
Jesus was Godbut he was also man, truly man. He was born as a human child
and laid on the straw of the mangerat his birth. Again the apostle John bears
witness that “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His
glory, glory as of the only begottenfrom the Father, full of grace and
truth”(John 1:15). That is the Christmas miracle of incarnation. Jesus comes
as one, Micahtells us, who will be in submission to his heavenly Father. God
says through the prophet Micah, “One will go forth for me.” The King didn’t
come to serve himself, unlike all the Jewishkings before him in the line of
David cleardown to Micah’s time. The Messiahcame to serve the Lord in
perfect, loving obedience to him.
His roles in ministry, this one to come, are summarized in this little
paragraph. And here’s where we as Christians are finally folded into this
encouraging prophetic book. In verse 2, Jesus was proclaimedas our ruler,
our sovereign, the Lord of our lives. In verse 4 he is our goodshepherd, and in
verse 5 he is our peace.