There are occasions in the lives of well meaning believers when God seems to be silent and this often perplexes people. Some are dejected and become despondent. Others are tempted to quit praying; and therefore we need to look in to the word of God to get an explanation about such occasions.
The classical example of the silence of God is found in the life of our Lord Himself. We know that Jesus our Lord always lived close to the Father while here on earth and He could boldly say at the tomb of Lazurus “And I know that Thou hearest Me always” (Jn. 11:42). What a confidence! Truly this can be the confidence of every child of God who lives and prays in the will of God. But then, look at our Lord when He was crying on that cruel cross. Heaven was silent. There was no response from the side of God the Father. Of course, we know the reason. There on that cross Jesus the sinless Son of God was representing the sinful humanity. Until the sin problem was dealt with, Heaven was silent. But thanks be to God. On the third day He rose again victorious. And the sin problem was once and for all dealt with. To day heaven is open to any repenting sinner!
In the life of a believer it is possible that sin can block the way to God. Listen to what the prophet has to say. “Behold the Lord’s hand is not short that it cannot save; neither is His ear dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear (Is.59:1,2). There are ever so many besetting sins (Heb.12:l) and presumptuous sins (Ps.19:13) which might creep into our lives unawares and block the way to God. If a praying believer experiences the silence of God, it is high time for such a person to let the spirit of God search our hearts to see if there be any wicked way in us and let Him lead us to everlasting ways (Ps.139:23,24). Silence of God will be broken and God will become once again active in our lives. But sin has to be identified, confessed and rejected before this can happen.
The people of Israel were witnessing mighty acts of God until they reached the small city of Ai. There they experienced a lamentable failure. Achan had sinned. Listen to what the Lord said to a praying Joshua. “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned…“(Josh.7:lO,ll). No amount of praying can rectify the situation. Sin has to be identified and dealt with before God can act again on our behalf. Just one disobedience and Adam lost the garden. Just one sin and Saul lost his kingship. Just one sin Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives! Remember: God takes sin seriously and He cannot be a partner where sin is concealed. Has God been silent in your life in spite of the many prayers you have been praying? Search your heart to see if any sin blockage is in your life. Confess and reject it. Make restitution if necessary (cf Lk.19:8; Phile.v. 18) and see how God will become once again active in your life. Listen to the prophetic word. “I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face” (Hos.5:15).
Amen!
Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!
Peace to you,
Tim
Maranatha. Our Lord is coming!
Even so, come Lord Jesus. Amen.
Quote from the Topic: “There on that cross Jesus the sinless Son of God was representing the sinful humanity. Until the sin problem was dealt with, Heaven was silent. But thanks be to God. On the third day He rose again victorious. And the sin problem was once and for all dealt with. To day heaven is open to any repenting sinner!”
Hi
We Ahmadi peaceful Muslims believe that Jesus, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Socrates and Muhammad etc were all Messengers of GodAllahYHWH and hence were sinless or innocent persons. It is a sin to believe in god-head of Jesus; that is why we Muslims don’t believe that Jesus was god or son of God or that he died a cursed death on Cross. He survived a cursed death on Cross;but he died a respectful and natural death in India, where he migrated after the event of Crucifixion.
Please visit my blog for details in this connection or for any questions.
Thanks
Hi…,
Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Socrates and Muahammad never claimed that they were innocent persons. How could you possibily make that claim on their behalf?
You said, “that is why we Muslims don’t believe that Jesus was god or son of God or that he died a cursed death on Cross. He survived a cursed death on Cross;but he died a respectful and natural death in India, where he migrated after the event of Crucifixion”.
Could you possibily furnish us with some evidence for your belief? Should we believe eye-witness accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus or what some one who had no association with Jesus said centuries later?
I prefer an eye-witness account. I do not know what you prefer.
Hi empyrean!
Presently I give hereunder an argument from Bible, presented by the PromisedMessiah 1835-1908:
Let it be noted that though Christians believe that Jesus (peace be on him) after his arrest through the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, and crucifixion — and resurrection — went to heaven, yet, from the Holy Bible, it appears that this belief of theirs is altogether wrong. Matthew (chapter 12, verse 40) says that just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so the Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the bowels of the earth. Now it is clear that Jonah did not die in the belly of the fish; the utmost that happened was that he was in a swoon or a fit of fainting. The holy books of God bear witness that Jonah, by the grace of God, remained alive in the belly of the fish, and came out alive; and his people ultimately accepted him. If then Jesus (on whom be peace) had died in the belly of the ‘fish’, what resemblance could there be between a dead man and the one who was alive, and how could a living one be compared with one dead? The truth rather is, that as Jesus was a true prophet and as he knew that God, whose beloved he was, would save him from an accursed death, he made a prophecy in the form of a parable, revealed to him by God, in which he hinted that he would not die on the Cross, nor would he give up the ghost on the accursed wood; on the contrary, like the prophet Jonah, he would only pass through a state of swoon. In the parable he had also hinted that he would come out of the bowels of the earth and would then join the people and, like Jonah, would be honoured by them. So this prophecy too was fulfilled; for Jesus, coming out of the bowels of the earth, went to his tribes who lived in the eastern countries, Kashmir and Tibet, etc. viz. the ten tribes of the Israelites who 721 years1 before Jesus, had been taken prisoner from Samaria by Shalmaneser, King of Assur, and had been taken away by him. Ultimately, these tribes came to India and settled in various parts of that country. Jesus at all events must have made this journey; for the divine object underlying his advent was that he should meet the lost Jews who had settled in different parts of India; the reason being that these in fact were the lost sheep of Israel who had given up even their ancestral faith in these countries, and most of whom had adopted Buddhism, relapsing, gradually into idolatry. Dr. Bernier, on the authority of a number of learned people, states in his Travels that the Kashmiris in reality are Jews who in the time of the dispersal in the days of the King of Assur had migrated to this country.
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/jesus-in-india/ch1.html
I think it is reasonable and it is fom the Bible
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim
I respect your religion.
You are welcome to differ with me with reasaons
Hi friend,
Thank you for your very kind words. I respect you as a fellow human being and I pray that the Almighty will be gracious to you. I did visit your blog and I am happy that you are doing a good job at that. Kindly see my experiences in prayer in my site http://www.mathewpaul.org and post a comment there. Thanks.
But I have very strong questions about your faith. You did not answer my question “Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Socrates and Muahammad never claimed that they were innocent persons. How could you possibily make that claim on their behalf?”
Then you are quoting some one who lived in the 19th century to prove that Jesus did not die.
Do you really believe that all the ten disciples of Jesus were out-right liers and they propagated a lie and died for that lie in ten different parts of the world as martyrs? Remember they were mature men; not brain-washed youths like today’s suicide bombers. I think that ‘lie’ must be believed if people were willing to lay their lives for that.
Fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, the Jewish authorities could not disprove His resurrection. Could any one do it today? Right in the very place where He died and rose again thousands became believers on the fiftieth day of His resurrection. God forbid any one to challenge it now.
Two Holy books say that Jesus is going to come back to judge the world. Any thing is confirmed with two or three witnesses. One witness is rarely ever accepted. Yes, indeed Christ is coming back as the Judge of the whole world. The Bible says that today He is willing to act as our advocate (1Jn.2:1-2). Don’t you think it is a wise thing to adopt tomorrow’s judge as your advocate today? I have done it for myself. I think any wise person will do it as well. May God bless you.