Theological term
Vengeance of the Covenant
2 sermons · All terms
Free Grace Baptist Church - November 20, 2016 PM
Micah 5:2–5a announces the coming Christ in the midst of righteous covenantal judgment, and this sermon traces four features of that messianic promise: the royalty that emerges from obscurity, the eternality of the ruler who is God Most High, the divinely ordered timing of his advent, and the character of his reign as shepherd-king, universal sovereign, and bringer of true peace. The sermon sets these themes against the backdrop of Micah's announcements of doom upon disobedient Israel and Judah, demonstrating that promise and judgment are never separated in the biblical witness. Hearers are called to marvel at the wisdom of God, to exercise patience under his providential timing, and — if outside of Christ — to reckon honestly that enmity with God can only be resolved through the one who is himself peace.
The Prophet of God's Wrath
Zephaniah 1:14–2:15 portrays the Day of the Lord as an inexorable visitation of divine wrath from which no earthly resource — strength, silver, or gold — can purchase escape. The sermon expounds two realities from verses 14–18 (the wrath of God and the sinfulness of man) before turning to the threefold exhortation of chapter 2 (seek the Lord, seek righteousness, seek humility), showing that the only refuge from the wrath of God is flight to God Himself through faith in Christ. A sustained closing application urges preachers and hearers alike not to strip the Gospel of its necessary foundation in divine wrath, since good news presupposes bad news, and the beauty of justification by grace through faith is inseparable from the terror of the judgment it averts.