When Sin Keeps God from Answering
Isaiah 59
Let’s turn to Isaiah 59. If you need a Bible go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Isaiah 59 is on page 618 in the Bibles we are passing out.
When we receive Jesus into our lives, there will be times when we will experience God making His presence real to us and answering our prayers. But there will be times when we won’t. The Bible teaches that there are times when we won’t sense God’s presence in our hearts or see God doing what we ask Him to do.
Now why is that?
Sometimes it’s a mercy from God. Sometimes in His mercy God withholds His presence so we become even more hungry for Him. Sometimes in His mercy God brings us something different than we asked for which is even better. So sometimes this is a mercy from God.
But not always. Sometimes it’s a warning from God. Sometimes when God withholds His presence or doesn’t answer prayer it’s because we are continuing in some unconfessed sin – and He’s warning us to stop clinging to sin, and to confess it, receive forgiveness for it, and trust His power to free us from it.
That’s Isaiah’s message to Israel, and to us, in Isaiah 59. Let’s dig in.
Isaiah starts off answering the question -- what was going on with Israel? Look at what he says in vv.1-2 –
1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 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.
Notice that Israel had been praying. Israel is crying out to God for His presence, for His help, for His favor – but God “does not hear.” Picture it. Here’s Israel praying – and here’s God – intentionally choosing not to listen.
But why was God not listening? It’s clear from v.2 --
2 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.
So the reason God was not listening was because of Israel’s sins. And in vv.3-8 Isaiah lists the various sins Israel had been pursuing –
3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one enters suit [lawsuits] justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5 They hatch adders' eggs [adders are poisonous snakes]; they weave the spider's web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
6 Their webs will not serve as clothing; men will not cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8 The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace.
So Israel was praying for God’s presence, God’s help, God’s favor – but because of Israel’s sin, God was not listening.
And how did this affect Israel? She was devastated. You can see that in vv.9-11 –
9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us [God was not helping her]; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. [She was not experiencing the light of God’s presence nor of Him helping her.]
10 We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. [No spiritual life. No joy or peace. Just empty, dead hearts.]
11 We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.
So Israel was devastated. She was praying and seeking God, but because of her sin, God did not answer.
She cried to God for His nearness – but God did not come.
She cried to God for rain to water her crops – but no rain came.
She cried to God for wisdom – but she received no wisdom.
She cried to God for her flocks to multiply – but they became sick.
She cried to God for protection – but the invaders conquered.
She prayed and cried to God – but because of her sin – God did not answer.
But this raises a crucial question. Every one of us in this room sins every day. So does this mean God won’t answer our prayers? To have God answer our prayers – do we need to be sinless?
Think about some of the people in the Bible. Take David. David sinned – committing adultery and murder. And even though God did not answer his next prayer about sparing the life of his newborn son, and David faced many trials, we see God continuing to answer David’s prayers – causing a famine to stop, and conquering the Philistines.
Or take Peter. Peter sinned – publicly denying Christ three times. But God answered Peter’s prayers – bringing 3,000 to faith through Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost, and healing a man lame from birth in answer to Peter’s prayer.
So David sinned – and God answered his prayers. Peter sinned – and God kept answering his prayers. But Israel sinned – and God stopped answering her prayers. So there must have been something about Israel’s sin that caused God to close His ears to her prayers.
So what was it about Israel’s sin that caused God to not answer her prayers? I think Isaiah anticipates and answers that question in vv.12-15. What I saw in these verses was that Israel was sinning without any confession, without any repentance, without any remorse. Start with v.12 –
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities [so she knew full well that she was sinning]:
13 transgressing, and denying the LORD, and turning back from following our God [so Israel was knowingly turning from God without any repentance], speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
14 Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
So the problem with Israel’s sin was that she did not confess her sin to God, repent of her sin before God, trust God to forgive and change her.
That’s what David did – as we read in Psalm 51. After David’s sin, he confessed his sin before God, he repented of his sin before God, and he cried out for God to forgive him and change him -- and God did all that and continued hearing his prayer.
And that’s what Peter did. When Peter denied Christ three times, he repented, he confessed his sin before God, he cred out to God to forgive him and change him – and God did all that and continued hearing his prayer.
But that’s not what Israel did. When Israel sinned, she did not repent, she did not confess her sin before God, she did not cry out to God to forgive her and change her – so God stopped hearing her prayer.
So here’s what we learn from this passage: sometimes the reason God withdraws his presence and doesn’t answer prayer is because we are continuing in willful sin.
Let me give you some other Scriptures to back this up.
Look at Psalm 66:18 (p.481) –
[The psalmist writes] If I had cherished iniquity in my heart [cherishing iniquity means clinging to unconfessed sin], the Lord would not have listened.
And then look at 1 Peter 3:7 (p.1015) –
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered [if we husbands do not show honor to our wives, and if we continue in this without repentance, our prayers can be hindered – God may not listen to them]
But now we have to ask – does this mean that every time I pray for something and it isn’t answered there must be unconfessed sin?
No. Remember Paul’s thorn in the flesh? In 2Cor 12 we read that three times Paul prayed for this terrible physical problem to be removed – and God did not answer that prayer. But it had nothing to do with Paul’s unconfessed sin. It was because God had something even better for Paul than removing the thorn in the flesh – God was going to give Paul even more of His nearness than Paul would have had if the thorn had been removed.
So if you are praying earnestly for something – and God is not answering in the way you are asking – that does not necessarily mean you are clinging to unconfessed sin. But it might mean you are clinging to unconfessed sin. So how can you tell?
What I’ve seen in my own life is that I already know when there’s unconfessed sin. Years ago when I was a pastor in So Cal I got interested in economics and money and investing – so much that I was more excited reading and talking about that – than about reading and talking about Jesus.
At the same time – I felt God’s nearness disappear from my life, and God stopped answering prayers. I knew it. I could feel it. And I knew what the problem was. I ended up turning back to Christ in full repentance, and He forgave me and changed my heart and once again poured His presence upon me.
Usually we already know when there’s unconfessed sin. If you are holding a grudge against someone – you know. If you are clicking on porn – you know. And if you aren’t sure – earnestly ask God to show you – and He will.
So remember the principle -- sometimes the reason God withdraws his presence and doesn’t answer prayer is because we are continuing in willful sin.
But why does God do this? The main reason is because He loves us and wants us to see the seriousness of our sin so we repent. When we are continuing in willful sin, it’s absolutely crucial that we repent.
But why? Why is it so crucial that we repent? Isaiah tells us in vv.16-21. There’s two reasons.
First, because if we don’t repent, if we continue in willful sin, that will show we are not trusting Jesus and we will face God’s judgment. That’s the point of vv.16-19 --
16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.
17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
18 According to their deeds, so will he repay, wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies; to the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the LORD drives.
But second, because if we do repent, then we have a Redeemer. You can see that in vv.20-21 --
20 "And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression [to those who repent]," declares the LORD.
A Redeemer will come to those who turn from transgression. What’s a redeemer? When cultures had slaves, a redeemer was someone who would go to the slave market and buy the slave to set him or her free.
When we sin -- turning from the full and lasting joy of knowing God to try to find joy in greed or pride or lust – it’s like we are selling ourselves into slavery. We are slaves to the guilt of our sin and the power of our sin – and in ourselves there’s nothing we can do to get free.
But if we will turn from transgression – which means we turn to God and repent and confess and ask Him to forgive and change us – then we have a Redeemer – Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ came to earth 2,000 years ago to show us who God is, to teach us how to come into relationship with Him, and to die on the Cross so we can be freed from sin’s guilt and power.
So if we will turn from transgression – then Jesus Christ our Redeemer will free us from sin’s guilt and power. Now don’t misunderstand. It’s not that we free ourselves from sin first and then come to Jesus. No. We come to Jesus first and He frees us from our sin.
But we must turn our hearts from the transgression, and turn to Jesus in faith – confessing our sin before Him, telling Him we are sorry, asking Him to forgive us, and asking Him to change us. And if we mean it – He will. The chains of sin’s guilt will fall off – the chains of sin’s power will fall off – and we will be freed.
And look at what else He will do -- in v.21 --
21 "And as for me, this is my covenant with them [those who repent]," says the LORD: "My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring," says the LORD, "from this time forth and forevermore."
This is a bit cryptic. Part of it is clear. When we genuinely repent of our sin, God promises to work in our hearts by the Spirit and the Word to keep us persevering in the faith until heaven God will keep us from stumbling in a final way. The good work God starts, He will continue.
That’s clear. The fact that God will do this for our children’s children – the Bible does not teach that God saves all believers’ children – so I think this must mean something about how God will work through us to bear lots of spiritual children.
But the main point is that if we repent, then we will have a Redeemer who will save us from sin’s guilt and power.
Questions?
So what does this mean for us? If you are continuing in willful sin, God has you here this morning to warn you. He cares deeply about you. And He is telling you that if you do not repent, then you will face God’s wrath and vengeance, but if you will repent, then you will have the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, paying for all your sins and keeping you on the road to salvation until glory.