RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-09-28	Does God Sometimes Withdraw From Believers? (He.13:5)
		The best questions concern how things fit in the Bible. Some of the best lessons from the Bible is seeing when things seem to not fit together. This forces us to dig deeper into God's Word. We need to think about the different kinds of presence with the Lord. The Bible talks about different kinds of His presence. Now the Bible does teach that God is omnipresent. There is no place where God is not. Act 17:28  for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Paul is quoting a pagan poet to show that everyone agrees that all are held in being by God. Jer 23:24  Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD. So in the most basic sense God is everywhere. Now there is this special New Covenant kind of God's presence. Heb 13:5  Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU." Jesus said before ascending back to heaven, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.” And Paul says, “I am persecuted, but not forsaken” (2Co.4:9). We have these New Testament promises that God is never going to abandon the believer in Christ. So there is a presence of God. It is a keeping and a staying with that will never fail for those in Christ. Now there is a different kind of presence the Bible refers to (Ps.69:17). Psa 69:17  And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily. Psa 143:7  Answer me speedily, O LORD; My spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, Lest I be like those who go down into the pit. Isa 64:7  And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities. Yes, these are Old Testament prayers, but we are New Covenant people, would we ever pray like that? Yes, consider the following. Our main text of Hebrews 13:5 is a quote from Joshua 1:5. Jos 1:5  No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Notice that Paul is quoting an Old Covenant promise and applying it to his New Covenant readers. Plus the Old Testament abounds with promises of God not forsaking His covenant people. 1Sa 12:22  For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people. Psa 37:28  For the LORD loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. Psa 23:4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Theologians refer to the “manifest” presence of God. Manifest refers to the presence of God that is experienced and known by His children. This is distinguished from the omnipresence of God in general for believers and unbelievers alike. Sometimes God withdraws His presence from us. This does not mean we are forsaken. What this means is that the manifestation of His presence is not felt. God does not withdraw His covenant commitment or sustaining grace with His children. What God withdraws is the sweetness of His fellowship with us. Sometimes we need to feel our desperate need for Him even as believers so we will draw closer to Christ. Allow me to give some examples when God's manifest presence is no longer felt for a time. Psa 66:18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. This is referring to prayer, but if you sense God is not hearing you, you are not experiencing His manifest presence. He may seem far away. Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. Sin in our lives can “separated” us from God's manifest presence. Again God does not withdraw His covenant commitment or sustaining grace with His children. But it is clear sin can cause us to not sense or feel the manifest presence of God. 1. Sometimes God allows us to go through tough times to draw us closer to Christ 2. Sometimes God does not answer prayer giving us the sense that He is far from us. 3. Sometimes sin will separate us so God's manifest presence is no longer felt. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

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