Let's open our Bibles to the book of Micah, Micah chapter two. Our primary text tonight will be found in verse seven, Micah chapter two, verse seven. Oh, thou that art named the house of Jacob, the Lord speaking, to his people. Is the spirit of the Lord straightened?

Are these not his doings? Now I know the word not is not there, but that's the meaning of this next phrase, this next question. Are these not his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? I've titled this message, Three Rhetorical Questions.

As you know, a rhetorical question is really a statement put in the form of a question in order to emphasize the obvious answer. Our Lord used it often. There's basically two responses to a rhetorical question. One is to draw the confession of those who agree with the statement that's being made. It's not really a question, it's a statement. It's a statement. It's framed as a question in order to draw out from those who agree with the statement and have them confess, yes.

Pray that will be our response tonight. When the Lord asked Peter after his resurrection there on the Sea of Galilee, Peter, lovest thou me? Three times, lovest thou me? It was a rhetorical question. The Lord knew the answer to the question. Peter knew the answer to the question. Yea, Lord, Lord, you know I love you. The Lord was drawing from Peter a confession to agree with what the Lord was saying.

In John chapter 11, when When the Lord said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Martha, believest thou this? Believest thou this? Oh, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ that should come into the world. Lord, I believe that you are the hope of my life. You are my life. And your resurrection is the hope of my resurrection.

When the Lord asked the disciples, whom do men say that I am? Well, some say that thou art Elijah, Some say that I were John the Baptist, one of the prophets. Whom do you say that I am? Whom do you say that I am? And the Lord's using this question to draw from his disciples a confession as to who he was. Peter, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. We know and are sure of this.

And yet there's other places where our Lord would ask these sort of questions, not in order to draw out a confession on those who agree with the statement that's being made, but rather to expose the hypocrisy of those who refuse to admit the truth. By what authority do you do these things? Matthew chapter 21, after the Lord had had cleansed the temple and chased out the money changers. The Pharisees demanded to know what authority he had to come in and do such a thing. The Lord said, I ask you a question before I answer that question. If you answer my question, then I'll answer your question. John the Baptist.

Was he from heaven or was he from men? They got together and they couldn't come up with an answer. If we say that he's from heaven, then everybody will wonder why we didn't believe him. Because clearly he pointed to this man as the Christ. If we say that he was a man, then we will anger the people against us.

We cannot tell. Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. I think the Lord's teaching us in that rhetorical question that we have no obligation to argue with or to defend the gospel against the hypocrite who refuses to admit the obvious. Refuses to admit the obvious. They want to divert the attention away to something else.

In another place, the Lord asks the Pharisees, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Well, he's the son of David. Well, if he'd be the son of David, Psalm 110, why did David say, the Lord, God the Father, said unto my Lord, the Christ, the Messiah, Sit thou here at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. If David called him Lord, then how can he be the son of David? He's the son of David only according to the flesh.

No man durst ask him any more questions. The Lord shut the mouth of the gainsayers with questions that in fact were statements. Now, I want to make that point because faith believes the answer to the question. It not only believes the answer to the question, but rejoices in the answer to the question. Unlike the Pharisees, faith is not made uncomfortable by a piercing question. To the contrary, faith receives its comfort by agreeing with what the Lord's point is in the question. And such we have tonight in Micah chapter two, verse seven, three questions for Jacob. that Jacob rejoices in agreeing with what the Lord is saying in these rhetorical questions.

Is the spirit of God straightened? Is he? This word straightened means limited. Does the spirit of God have any limitations whatsoever? Is the Holy Spirit not all-powerful, omnipotent? Amen. Yes, He is. Yes, He is. Many would not answer that way. Micah asked the second question. These things that are being done, is it not His doing? Amen. It's the Lord. I can rejoice in that. I can rest right there. And are not all of his words good for you? Yes. Yes. I can rejoice in every word. That's how Jacob responds to these questions. And if that's our response to these questions, We have a good hope that we're sons of Jacob.

I love how the Lord laid out the church in Romans chapter 9 when he said, not all that are of Israel are Israel. For not all the descendants of Abraham are the children of God. And the Jews had to agree, well, that's true, because Abraham had another son, Ishmael. And we would never claim him to be in the lineage of our blood. So you're right. Not all the children of Abraham are of Israel. And then the Lord goes on in Romans chapter nine, he says, and not all the children of Isaac, Abraham's child born of promise, the seed, not all of the descendants of Isaac are of Israel. For Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated.

Am I one that the Lord's speaking to here when he says, O thou that art named the house of Jacob, the house of Jacob. Now, let's go back to verse 6 because this kind of verse 6 kind of summarizes and gives a background for verse 7. Micah has been prophesying the judgment of God against Israel for their idolatry. And he has been revealing God's word of bondage that will take place when the Babylonians come in.

And verse six, the false prophets, the false prophets prophesy ye not, say them that prophesy. So the false prophets of Israel are saying, don't listen to Micah. They shall not prophesy to them that they shall not take shame. We don't wanna hear that, is what verse six is saying. We don't wanna hear that. We don't wanna hear about a God who is angry with us. We don't want to hear about a God who is holy. We don't want to hear about a God who is just. We don't want to hear about a God who is sovereign.

You're causing shame in Israel. You're causing men to have to admit that they're wrong. One of the things I've learned over the years with myself and with people in general is one of the hardest things for us to do is to admit when we're wrong. It's just saying, I'm sorry. No excuse, no defense. I was wrong. Please forgive me. No conditions to it.

Men will walk away from lifetime relationships Men will walk away from marriages before they will admit their error. And that's how deep our pride goes. Men will destroy nations. Men will destroy businesses before they will admit that they were wrong. I'm not going to suffer that shame.

Don't prophesy this to me. And so what did the false prophets say? The false prophets say, don't listen to Micah. He's just trying to make you feel guilty. Ah, it's not gonna happen. Peace, peace, when there is no peace. That's what the false prophets say. The gospel says there is a God with who we must do. There is a law that God will not compromise. There is a holy justice that must be satisfied. A law that must be kept to the letter. And you've broken every bit of it. And you have no power or ability to remedy the problem. Oh, don't say that to us. You're making us feel ashamed.

Prophesy something good. I remember Bert told me one time he had a friend, he was talking about the church, trying to get him to come to church with him. And the first question they asked, well, is your preacher a positive preacher? Bert said, I knew exactly what they meant when they asked me that question. Is he a positive preacher?

We don't want to hear about sin. We don't want to hear about judgment. We don't want to hear about justice. We don't wanna hear about sovereignty. We don't wanna hear about election. We don't wanna hear about those things. Just tell us lies. False prophets are always trying to shut up those true prophets that are sent by God. And they will do whatever they can to shut them up or to change the narrative.

It began with Cain and Abel. Able? Type of Christ? Able? Believe the gospel? Able? A prophet in the sorts? Testified to the grace of God? Cain couldn't stand it. He was made a shame when he saw that God had regard for Abel, his brother's sacrifice, but had no regard for his own. and would begin this carnage, if you will, of the false prophets with murder. And nothing's changed. All the way through the Old Testament, we have story after story of false prophets. There's a story in 1 Kings chapter 22.

Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, goes to Ahab, the king of Israel, He says, we want to go up against Ramoth Gilead where the Syrians are. Do you have any prophets that can prophesy whether or not God will bless this battle? And Ahab said, oh yeah, I got 400 prophets. And he brought the 400 prophets together and they all together agreed. They said, go. And Jehoshaphat knew that they weren't prophets of God. He said, don't you have a prophet of God here that will tell us the truth?

Ahab said, yeah, his name is Micaiah, but I hate him for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but only evil. Every time I go to Micaiah, he won't tell me anything good. He just tells me evil stuff all the time. Well, let's get Micaiah in, they got Micaiah in. Micaiah said, you're gonna go up, but you're gonna die.

So Jehoshaphat got the smart idea, well, I will disguise myself as the king. Because when the Syrians came against the Israelites, they said, just don't worry about anybody but Jehoshaphat, go against him. Jehoshaphat said, I'll disguise myself so they don't know I'm a king.

And that's the story where the Bible says that an archer, the archers would just shoot arrows up into the sky. hoping that they hit something. And an archer, just by happenstance, shot an arrow up into the sky and it landed right between the shoulder blades of Jehoshaphat and he died right there in the chariot. I don't want to listen to him. He doesn't tell good things about me.

Jeremiah chapter 28, Jeremiah said, you're going into exile and you're going to be there for 70 years. And a man by the name of Hananiah came to Jeremiah. Jeremiah wore a yoke around his neck, symbolizing the yoke of bondage that the children of Israel were going to be in. And Hananiah came and took the yoke off of Jeremiah's neck and broke it and said, no, it's only going to be two years. 70 years.

This is the setting for this. Micah has prophesied. If you go to Hebrews chapter 11, you know they're just story after story of Old Testament saints and prophets that would not be listened to. Some were sawn asunder, some were killed, some were drowned.

They just, whatever we can do to get rid of the the voice of God. We don't want to hear it. That's the verse six, prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy, they shall not prophesy to them for they shall not take shame. Don't put us to shame. When the Lord Jesus in John chapter six says, no man can come unto me except the Father which sent me draw him. People said, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? Who can hear it? People just don't want to hear hard sayings. What are you talking about?

We don't have a free will. You know about we're dead in our trespasses and sins and we can't choose God? I don't wanna hear that. That robs from me my power, my dignity. You're shaming me, you're shaming me. That's exactly what verse six is saying. Don't listen to a prophet that shames you. Well, the true prophet of God does shame man. Shames the flesh, tells him the truth. And the true believer, rejoices in being shamed. For then and only then do they find all the hope of their salvation in another. Only then do they cry out for mercy. Only then do they see that all of their righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

We don't want to hear about election. When the Lord Jesus went to Nazareth to begin his public ministry and opened up the scroll to Isaiah 61 and read that passage and said to those people, this day, this passage, this scripture has been fulfilled in your eyes. But then he went back to the Old Testament. He talked about that Naaman the leper, the Syrian, and talked about that Shunammite woman, and they were Gentiles, and the God had mercy on them and had no mercy on the children of Israel. What was the Lord saying?

I'm sovereign in this thing of salvation. I don't want to hear that. This is a hard saying. And they tried to stone the Lord. So much of the gospel, the natural man doesn't want to hear. Prophesy ye not, say to them that prophesy. They shall not prophesy to them that they shall not take shame. We don't hear about a Christ who who died for a particular people, a God who doesn't love everybody, a grace that is irresistible, invincible, effectual. I don't wanna hear about all that.

So now that's the setting. And then the Lord asked the questions. Look at verse seven again. Now he's gonna, you gonna listen to these false prophets? Let them tickle your ears. Let them tell you what you want. Let them make you feel good about yourself. Deny you any hope of salvation.

Or are you going to prove yourself to be of the house of Jacob? and say, is the spirit of the Lord straightened? Isaiah chapter 59, verse one says, behold, the Lord's hand is not short. That's the same word, straightened, translated here. The Lord's hand is not short that it cannot save, nor his ear deaf that he cannot hear. This word straightened is just an old English term. It means to be limited. It means to not be able to do something. Is the spirit of God straightened? Is he short?

Is he not able? Is he not able to make you willing in the day of his power? Is he not able to give you spiritual life? Is he not able to speak to men and give to them an infallible word from God and record that in a book? Is God not able to preserve a testimony of his gospel to every generation of his people? What does the unbeliever would just pick and choose what part of the Bible they want? Is he not able to reveal Christ to you?

You know, I'm sure that teachers struggle when they have an obstinate, unteachable, incorrigible student that they wonder, well, you know, they try to figure out a way that they can teach that student. And when the student refuses to learn, they wonder, well, maybe there was something I could have done different to get to that child. And perhaps in a relationship between a human teacher and a human pupil, there's perhaps some blame to be had on both the teacher and the pupil. God's never had that problem.

Is the spirit of God straightened? When we're incorrigible, when we're unteachable, when we're unwilling, is he unable to get to us? Is he unable to teach us and make us willing and bring us down and reveal himself to us? Is there any limitation that he has?

And the sons of Jacob say, no, thank God he has no limitations. Because so oftentimes I'm unteachable. So oftentimes I'm obstinate. So oftentimes I have my heart in so many different places. No, he has no limitations. And that's my salvation. That's my hope.

The unbeliever will limit the Spirit of God, the power of God, the ability of God to man's will. Don't listen to those who prophesy. They make you feel ashamed. Lord, if you have to shame me, if you have to Humble me, and he does, to one degree or the other, he does. Just be a work of grace in the heart brings us to the end of ourselves again and again and again, to bow before him and say, Lord, you're right, I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

Is the spirit of God straightened in his ability to comfort you in the midst of your trials and troubles? Is it not the spirit of God that brought these things? Can he not speak peace to our hearts? Can he not bring us to the throne of grace and enable us to come before our God to find help in our time of need? Can he not comfort us regardless of our circumstances, however difficult they might be?

Is he straightened? Is he limited? Is his hand short? Is there anything he can't do? Well, you just don't understand. Maybe I don't, and maybe we don't understand each other. But God forbid that we should ever go before him and make such a statement. He's not straightened.

He understands us, oh, so, so much better than we understand ourselves. He understands our circumstances so much better than we understand our circumstances. He sees it all from beginning to end. Is the spirit of God straightened, sons of Jacob? No, he's not. No, he's not. I can come to him.

Is he not able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the throne of God? Is it not the spirit of God that brings conviction of sin? Is it not the spirit of God that reveals Christ? Is it not the spirit of God that comforts and brings joy and peace? He's called the comforter. Is he straightened?

Is he limited in his ability to meet any of our needs? No, he's not. He has no limitations to His power whatsoever. Now look at the second question. Are these not His doings? Is everything not His doing? Is there any reason for us to get Anxious about the circumstances of this world or do we watch the news in order to see what the hand of God's doing? Everything we see happening he's doing it And he's working it all together for good for them that love him are these not his doings Is it not the fact that we have a sovereign? omnipotent God who's seated upon the throne of eternity, ruling and reigning over the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of men that gives comfort to our hearts. We don't know what he's doing. We can't figure out the beginning to the end, but we know who's doing it. Is this not his doing, sons of Jacob?

And unbelief will blame everything onto the sun. You've done it yourself. I do it all the time. We have enough unbelief in ourselves to accuse one another and accuse situations and circumstances of bringing about things that are difficult for us. When Samuel told Eli about the judgment and wrath of God against his family, Eli made this statement, it is the Lord. Let him do whatsoever seemeth good unto him. Oh, that's our confession.

Do I always feel that way? Do I always react that way? No, but do I believe that? Absolutely. Absolutely, I believe it. And it's the foundation of that belief that enables me in those times of fear and doubt and uncertainty to come back to that foundation and sit right there and say, my God reigneth. My God reigneth. Are these not his doings? Yes, they are his doings.

Turn with me to Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52. In our slumber and in our sleep, spiritually speaking, the Lord says, awake, awake. Put on thy strength, O Zion. Put Christ on. He's your strength. Put on thy beautiful garments. That's the righteousness of Christ. Oh, Jerusalem, the holy city, from henceforth there shall no more come unto thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust. Oh, we're so thankful the Lord said that I remember that they're made of dust. He remembers. Now we wallow in the dust so many times, and the Lord's saying, put on your garment, wake up, shake yourself from the dust, arise and sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughters of Zion. How come we become captive to our fears and to our unbelief? And God says to us, here's the rhetorical question, Are these not his doings? Is this not the Lord doing this?

For thus saith the Lord, you have sold yourself for naught and you shall be redeemed without money. We sell ourselves for naught, for nothing. What accomplishment do we have at the fear of unbelief and the pleasures of sin. It's just selling ourselves for naught. But you're going to be redeemed without money. You'll be redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.

For thus saith the Lord God, my people went down afore into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrians oppressed them without cause. Oh, how oftentimes we go back to Egypt. for the leeks and the garlics and the melons, those things that come from the, only to experience the bondage and the whip of the taskmasters again and again and again, going to the law. The Assyrians oppressed them. Now, therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for naught?

They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord, and my name continually every day is blasphemed. How we are brought, the Lord doesn't cause his children to howl, he causes them to rejoice. Therefore, my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak, behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. In light of these struggles that we all have with our own sin and with this world, our own unbelief and all of our fears and uncertainties. Now the Lord says, I'm gonna redeem you and I'm gonna bring you messenger and how beautiful are his feet going to be he's gonna bring you good tidings he's gonna publish peace he's gonna bring good tidings of good and publish salvation and he's gonna say unto Zion three simple words thy God reigneth oh I can rest there I can rest there over the armies of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth and no man can stay his hand, yes. My God's omnipotent, my God is sovereign, my God has ordained this, my God is in this, my God is over this and my God will bring me through this, yes.

Is this not the Lord? That's the question. Is the spirit of God straightened? That's the first question. What does the sons of Jacob say? No, he is not. He has no limitations. The second question is, is this not his doing? Yes, it's his doing. And I can rest in knowing that it's he that's doing it. Third question. Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?

What did the prophets, the false prophets say? Don't listen to Micah. And they changed the message. Like the king in the Old Testament took his penknife, cut out the parts of the Bible they didn't like, he didn't like. Don't listen to that part. That'll just make you feel bad. That'll just shame you. That's a negative preacher.

We need a positive preacher. There's nothing more positive than the gospel. There's nothing more positive than being made nothing and know that Christ is everything in salvation. There's nothing more positive than know that he has redeemed us and he is with us and he will keep us And he is accomplishing his purpose in all things. And that his hand is not short and the spirit of God is not straightened in any way. This is his doing and all of his word. What do we say?

Tell me, Paul, when he was talking to the elders of Ephesus in Acts chapter 20, he said, to tell you the full counsel of God. Told you everything. I didn't just tell you the part you wanted to hear. Told you everything. What does faith say? Lord, tell me everything. I wanna hear the truth. I wanna hear the whole truth and I wanna hear nothing but the truth. Faith says, show me from scripture. that I might believe. I want to know what God says about it. His word, His whole word. Here's the question. Go back with me to our text in Micah chapter one. Look at the last question. Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? That walketh in faith?

The word walk is, that's our pattern of life. That's not just, It's not just our position. Our position in Christ, if we're believers, is always in Christ. Nothing can change that position. But our posture, our posture in faith is walking after him, is looking to him.

And that's what the word walk here is referencing. Do not my words do good to him that walketh It has a posture that's looking to, walking after Christ. Lord, enable me to have such a posture. Lord, I find myself stumbling, losing that posture so often. This is not a permanent posture, like our position is in Christ. That's permanent. This posture, it kinda comes and goes, doesn't it?

Right now, right now. Spirit of God's not straightened. This is His doing. And all His word is profitable to me, every word of it. Lord, don't keep any of it from me. I wanna know everything. May the Lord, as we rejoice in believing these things now and hearing these things, may the Lord, by his Holy Spirit, bring to our memory what we've been able to rest and rejoice in these few minutes. All right, let's stand together, Tom. 75 in the heart, back to him, but let's stand together.