Restoration 2018:  Our Picture of God

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Restoration Ministry

Dee Casper

The Silence of God

Sweet Jesus, thank you that we can come into your presence in prayer.

Thank you for ministering to us through this precious heavenly music.

And I'm asking now that you would condescend into this room, and that you would minister to each heart present, including my own.

I can't do justice to this topic, and so I'm praying that you would share your side of the story, and that you would do something this evening that we would not soon forget.

Show us your glory, I pray, and I ask this now in Christ Jesus' name.

We prayed for someone to remain with us and they're no longer with us.

We prayed for healing and we didn't receive healing.

We prayed for the pain to go away and the pain remained, the silence of God.

I'd like to begin this evening by talking about the story of John the Baptist, which is a historical account, not just a story.

He had a very special calling on his life from the very beginning and was given a message, a powerful message of repentance to bring the nation to reform and to repentance.

And his message was so powerful that we're told that Satan feared for the safety of his kingdom when John preached.

Then whenever John is given the amazing privilege to baptize Jesus, which he was very hesitant to do.

I'm not even worthy to untie this man's shoes.

Jesus says we must do this to fulfill all righteousness, and when he sees Jesus after the baptism, he says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

It's very clear what the mission of Jesus is.

John is fully cognizant of this and broadcasts it to the world.

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, actually hears this charge and decides to follow Jesus and tells Peter, hey, you should check this guy out.

So while Jesus is baptized, John also sees this supernatural manifestation where the Holy Spirit descends and bodily forms like a dove upon Jesus as he comes out of this water, lots of amazing things are being witnessed, seen, and proclaimed by John the Baptist.

But then John is convicted for good reasons that Herod is doing things that he ought not to be doing, and he ought not to be doing them, right?

He confronts him on this and it doesn't go over well.

Eventually John is thrown into prison and he ends up being in this lonely prison cell with no visitation from Jesus.

He's wrestling, he's thinking something will change, he's hoping for that to take place.

John is getting reports about Jesus, but he's getting no visit from Jesus.

And just imagine if your life mission is to prepare the nation to receive the Messiah, you're wanting to see the Messiah get busy, Right?

You want to see the kingdom restored to Israel, which is what he thought it would be.

And as soon as Jesus's ministry is coronated, very soon afterwards, he's thrown into a prison cell and he's just getting like carrier pigeons telling him messages.

He's getting grumblings from his disciples, but he's not getting a physical visit from Jesus, and it's heartbreaking to him.

And it gets worse because the disciples of John start murmuring about Jesus.

If this guy really is who he claims to be, why is he letting John just sit here and rot?

This is what we're told in Desire of Ages.

They questioned why the disciples of John the Baptist, if this new teacher was the Messiah, He did nothing to affect John's release.

How could he permit his faithful herald to be deprived of liberty and perhaps of life?

And these questions were not without effect.

Doubts which otherwise would never have arisen were suggested to John.

These were not the thoughts on the tip of John the Baptist's mind, but they're put there suggestively by the very people he's discipling and investing in.

And Satan rejoiced to hear the words of these disciples and to see how they bruised the soul of the Lord's messenger.

He fears for the safety of his kingdom when John preaches.

And there's times whenever you and I are hurting and a wrestling and the feedback that we get from those around us are kind of Like the friends of Job their counsel is worth nothing Maybe even less than nothing.

You ever been in those situations The very people you thought would be there for you and the counsel they offer you is trash.

Well John the Baptist, a righteous man, is well acquainted with this.

He's been through a situation just like this and she continues on this thought.

She says, Oh, how often those who think themselves the friends of a good man and are eager to show their fidelity to him prove to be his most dangerous what?

How often instead of strengthening his faith, their words depress and dishearten.

Now here's why this was bad and why it was difficult.

John had expectations about the work of Jesus that were not in harmony with the Word and will of God.

He had expectations that the nation of Israel had, that Jesus is going to come, he's going to take over the kingdom and reestablish it to the nation of Israel.

And Because of this, it set John up to be disappointed and hurt.

Many of us go through the same thing, that we set expectations on Jesus that are not in the will of God, and we ask Him to do things for us that may not be in our best interest.

When they don't happen, we get disappointed in Jesus.

We're disappointed for something that Jesus didn't actually promise us, but we thought that he would.

And this is a situation that John found himself in.

So if you've ever been there, you're in good company, right?

Jesus says there was no prophet like John the Baptist, no 1 more honored than him.

But this also caused John to doubt the success of his work, because shouldn't there have been more results?

Have you ever invested in somebody, maybe your children or a student, someone you're discipling or giving Bible studies to, and you're sure, like, all right, they can stand on their own, they're doing better now, and then hardship comes and they just lose faith.

Like, I thought they were stronger than this.

These are the thoughts that are going through the mind of John the Baptist while he's enduring the deafening silence of God, wrestling with the silence of God.

Angels were actually sent to remind John the Baptist of all the promises of God and the hand of God in his life, and he refused to express his doubts to his disciples, and instead he sends 2 of them to go get a report from Jesus.

If I send them to go speak with Jesus, they're going to then see what Jesus is doing and their faith will be reaffirmed in his ministry.

He figures this is the best thing he can do for them, so he sends them.

And they say, you know, so they show up to Jesus and they say, so are you, we're coming from John, and are you the guy or should we be looking for somebody else?

Well, what happened to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?

And his disciples are wrestling, and here's what transpires.

But listen to what we're told about Jesus' experience here.

It was keenly bitter and disappointing to Christ's human nature.

If John the faithful forerunner failed to discern Christ's mission, what could be expected from the self-seeking multitude?

These are the thoughts going through Jesus' mind.

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The Silence of God

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