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11_18_2018_GodHidesThings_DonRuhl

 

 

God Hides Things

Why does God hide some things and why does He hide Himself?

Proverbs 25.2

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • November 18, In the year of our Lord Christ, 2018

Persuasion:

  1. God Hides Things
    1. When you read Revelation 10 you will discover
      1. that God revealed a something but
      2. just enough to let us know
        1. that He was going to keep some things back, because
        2. you will also find that John was told not to write what he heard.
      3. Earlier Jesus had told John to write what he saw:

        11 “What you see, write in a book…” (Rev 1.11).

        19 “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this” (Rev 1.19).

      4. John did as Jesus told him to do.
        1. Then you come to chapter 10, and
        2. John wrote this:

          1 I  saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them” (Revelation 10.1–4).

          1. Who are the seven thunders?
          2. Where did they come from?
            1. What did they say?
            2. John got to hear it!
              1. Why can’t we know what they said,
              2. at least while living on the earth?
    2. Second Corinthians 12 records an experience that Paul had.
      1. He had actually died and
      2. Acts 14 records a time when he had.
        1. Then he had an interesting experience.
        2. He also heard something, but he could not repeat it:

          1 It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter (2 Corinthians 12.1–4).
  2. God Hides Himself
    1. After Adam and Eve sinned,
      1. they hid themselves, but
      2. now God hides Himself.
    2. Atheists want to see God before they will believe that He exists.
      1. However, the Book of Exodus shows what that would be like.
      2. Just before the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses recorded this:

        16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. 19 And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice (Exodus 19.16–19).

        1. After God gave the Ten Commandments,
        2. listen to what the people said:

          18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20.18–19)

          1. If God came out of hiding and showed Himself to the atheist,
          2. they could not handle the experience.
      3. Think of whom or what He has to be
        1. to have created the heavens and the earth, the universe.
        2. Could the atheist have witnessed the so-called Big Bang?
          1. There would be no way to survive such an experience.
          2. It would be the same way with the God who created all things!
    3. However, Romans 11 shows
      1. that we can learn some things about God, but
      2. that we cannot find Him out completely:

        33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

        34 “For who has known the mind of the LORD?
        Or who has become His counselor?”
        35 “Or who has first given to Him
        And it shall be repaid to him?”

        36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11.33–36).

    4. The Book of Psalms
      1. 10.1

        1 Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?
        Why do You hide in times of trouble?
        (Psalm 10.1)
      2. Various psalmists ask that question repeatedly:
        1. 13.1
        2. 27.9
        3. 44.24
        4. 69.17
        5. 88.14
        6. 89.46
        7. 102.2
        8. 143.7
  3. God Reveals Things
    1. What is the Bible?
    2. In comparison to what could be known,
      1. surely the Bible reveals a small amount, but
      2. it is enough
        1. that it challenges us,
        2. that we can know of our need for salvation, and
        3. that He has provided the way of salvation.
  4. God Reveals Himself
    1. Who do we discover as the main character in the Bible?
    2. What about Jesus of Nazareth?
      1. Many people could see His deity.
      2. Thomas after the resurrection.

Exhortation:

  1. Proverbs 25.2 provides valuable insight:

    2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
    But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
    (Proverbs 25.2)

    1. He shows us enough that we know He knows more.
      1. He has given us vast amounts of knowledge in all fields of study and
        1. the more we search in those areas,
        2. the more we realize that more knowledge exists.
      2. However, He conceals many things.
        1. He does so to remind us that we are not God.
        2. Could we handle the information
          1. if He revealed everything to us,
          2. everything that He knows?
    2. It is for God to conceal, but
      1. it is for us to reveal.
      2. Since a king is not God,
        1. that king or any human does better
        2. to find out what he can.
      3. For example, diseases exist, but
        1. we have to find the cures or better yet, the prevention.
        2. We do better to search those things out.
  2. Deuteronomy 29 reveals a reason for why God does reveal some things:

    29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29.29).

    1. Some things we shall never discover by searching.
      1. If God chooses to reveal those things,
      2. then we can know them.
    2. How much will He reveal when we are in His presence?
    3. However, some things God has revealed now.
      1. Some of those things take very little effort to find.
      2. Some of those things take more effort.
        1. However, why has He revealed some things to us?
        2. What are we supposed to do with what he has revealed?
          1. Moses said that the Lord our God revealed those things
          2. that we may do all the words of His law.
            1. He wants us to do the right thing and
            2. He wants us to quit doing the wrong thing.
  3. Psalm 51 shows
    1. that sometimes we want God to hide.
    2. There are some things we do not want Him to see:

      9 Hide Your face from my sins,
      And blot out all my iniquities.
      (Psalm 51.9)

      1. However, He does see our sins.
      2. He knows them very well.
  4. Psalm 130 declares this bold truth:

    3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
    4 But there is forgiveness with You,
    That You may be feared.

    1. Imagine God revealing to you every sin that you have ever committed.
      1. Every theft
      2. Every burst of anger
      3. Every curse
      4. Every immoral thought and deed
        1. Remember back on how you responded
        2. when someone exposed just one of your sins and
          1. you became angry or
          2. embarrassed or
          3. weighed down with guilt!
    2. However, the psalmist assured us that there is forgiveness with God.
  5. Ecclesiastes 12.13–14
    1. Romans 2.15–16

      15b …their thoughts accusing or else excusing them 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel (Romans 2:16)
    2. First Corinthians 4.5

      5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God (1 Corinthians 4.5).