#6God's "Why"
that it cannot save;
neither his ear heavy,
that it cannot hear:
Isaiah 59:1-2
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#6God's "Why"
that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: Isaiah 59:1-2 |
| THE trouble is never with the Lord. His power is just as great today as it always has been; His love has never changed in one little degree. He so loved the world, and He still so loves the world; His ear is just as open to the heart-cry today as it was yesterday, for Jesus is ever the same. He changes not. God tells us in the above verse why He does not hear many times. It is not because He cannot, but because He will not. God will not hear when there are iniquities between us and God. He will quickly remove the iniquities, but many times we want Him to hear our cries while we still hold on to some sin of this world, and the Lord is not that kind of a Lord. He died to remove iniquities, but He cannot and will not answer until the sins have first of all been removed. God could not bless the army of Israel under the leadership of Joshua as long as sin was in the camp. Achan had to be removed and destroyed before God could afford to continue to bless. Neither could the Lord bless Saul as long as Saul was so jealous, sinful and selfish. Saul never really confessed his sins to God, therefore his testimony was, "Behold, I have played the fool." When God had looked down upon the open sins of the world as long as He could, and the people would not repent and get right with God, then the Lord sent the flood and destroyed them from off the face of the earth; but before He destroyed it He let Noah preach to the people for one hundred and twenty years warning them of the coming judgment. God cannot and will not listen to people until the people are willing to listen to Him. There are many churches today that are probably praying for souls, but very few souls will ever be won until first of all the church confesses its own sin before God. The people of the nation are crying for relief, and for many other things, but we still have God's word for it. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." That is the promise of God. His hand is not shortened that He cannot save, but your iniquities are so great that He will not save. His ear is not heavy that He will not hear, but your iniquities are so black that He will not hear. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) Then, and not until then, "Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." The abiding in Him precedes the blessings from Him. We cannot abide in Him, and let His Word abide in us, while, at the same time, we are abiding in sin. The Lord died to save and He longs to hear. Let Him remove the iniquities so that He can save and hear.
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ALL ABOUT THE AUTHOR Evangelist and Pastor, Dr. Marvin Lewis
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