The Prayers of Sinners

Introduction

Made me think of where I plan to be, Lord willing, three weeks from tonight, because I’m going to be in a meeting in New Albany, Indiana, where I grew up. See, folks that I’ve known my whole life. And I’m going to be preaching Sunday night. Wait on the Lord. And when I preach that in a meeting, I always request that we sing that song.

So I’m looking forward to that. I must tell you about tonight’s lesson that it was inspired by and not Holy Spirit inspired, but the result of an article that I read recently written by Kyle Pope. And if that name sounds familiar, you may remember Curtis Pope, who preached in this neck of the woods down at Kleinwood until he moved off to Kentucky. Kyle is his younger brother. And I’ve only gotten to know Kyle in the last few years and discovered that we were born only days apart. And since I’ve gotten to know him, I just threw this out here for you tonight because he’s Lord willing again, planning to hold us a meeting next year. And so many of you will be introduced to Kyle for the first time, a guy that I have a great deal of respect for.

1. The Healing of the Man Born Blind

During the ministry of Jesus. It’s really one of the more lengthy texts that deal with a specific miracle that Jesus did. The whole world could not contain the books that could be written in regard to just the miracles of Jesus alone. While it seems like we read about a lot of miracles that he performed, trust me, the stories that we have recorded in the Bible just barely touched the hem of the garment as to the extent and extraordinary nature of Jesus’ miracles. But this one is told in some length. And of course, the blind man that we’re introduced to has been blind from his birth. And so a question was immediately raised in regard to this person. Is he blind because of his sin or the sin of his parents?

So he said, where in the world does that come from? Obviously, Jesus debunks that myth specifically in verse 3 when he says, it was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. Well, that’s all wonderful, but I’m sure to this man, it’s like, you know, I had to be blind my whole life to get to this point so that I could be the recipient of this work of God. But the point is that Jesus says he’s not blind as the result of any sin on his own part, or even that of his parents. Perhaps some of that mentality flows out of the idea of visiting iniquity that we read about in the Ten Commandments down to the third or fourth generation, perhaps where that’s where they get the idea that if you suffered from a malady like this, that’s where it comes from.

And it’s also interesting that Jesus, now, could he have done this? Could he have said, You’re healed. Could Jesus have just said the word? You know, some miracles he performed. This was not a matter of the clay. There were some magical properties in the clay that Jesus used. He had just the right mud. And when he wiped it on his eyes, it just worked so perfectly that it had nothing to do with that. Why the physical demonstration? Now, I don’t have the answer for that. There’s several things tonight I don’t have the answer for. I don’t have the answer to that, but perhaps it drew attention and drama to the situation to go through the steps of doing this physical demonstration, maybe much like the prophets when Ezekiel would lay on his side for so many days and then flip over and lay on his other side for so many days, and that meant something.

Perhaps in the vein of prophets, we have a physical demonstration here in regard to how he is healed. Didn’t have to do it that way. Jesus chose to do it this way. Well, there’s some other issues in the story. Just so happens that this miracle occurs on the Sabbath day. And as a result of that, the Pharisees say in verse 16, this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath.

But others were saying, how can a man who is a sinner perform such signs? And there was a division among them. And I would just say very briefly about that Jesus on another occasion suggested that he was Lord of the Sabbath. And I will say this as a way of clarification of that statement, and I’ve said this to you before, but this is just in case you missed it the first time. Jesus is not saying when he says, I am Lord of the Sabbath, that I’m the king and I can do whatever I want. And I know he’s not saying that because he kept the law and kept it perfectly without sin. You mean God institutes a law that he doesn’t have to observe when he’s in human flesh because he’s the Lord?

That’s not what he means. Instead, this is what Jesus means. My showing compassion on this particular day to someone who is suffering from this kind of malady and providing sight is not a violation of do no work as it is legislated in regard to the Sabbath. And when he says, I’m Lord of the Sabbath, he is saying, look, if anyone knows Sabbath law, it’s the one who instituted it. And I am not violating it by performing this and similar miracles. So the Pharisees are all up in arms. Jesus is not the kind of Messiah, didn’t do things the way they wanted them done, and certainly to do miracles on the Sabbath. Heaven forbid that somebody should receive his sight who has been blind his whole life.

They can’t, you know, and that’s really the interesting thing in the story is that they can’t rejoice in what’s happened to this man because of their blindness in regard to Jesus. And so not only are they going to interrogate him ultimately in the story, but at first they’re going to interrogate the parents. Well, that puts the parents between a rock and a hard place. And I guess I’m a little bit disappointed. I don’t know that we can read too much into this necessarily, but they sort of dodge the whole issue in verse 22 because they were afraid of the Jews, that’s probably not a good sign. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.

Perhaps they thought, well, if we really say what we think here about the fact that they’re really happy that their son, who was born blind, can now see, and that a miracle has taken place at the hands of Jesus, no less. If we really acknowledge that, then we could be in trouble. And so they say, He is of age. He is of age, let him speak for himself. Now I would have liked a little more from the parents here. But that sets the stage for the discussion that now unfolds between the man who is really glad to be seeing for the very first time and is in the midst, he’s seeing them, these Pharisees who have called him on the carpet in regard to the miracle that has been done for him.

And the really extraordinary thing is the very simple logic that he employs. And so I want you to begin reading with me back in verse 17. They said, therefore to the blind man, What do you say about him? Since he opened your eyes. And he said, He is a prophet. Not very hard to put two and two together. It’s not like he had seen or even heard of a lot of blind men receiving their sight. He said, I think he’s a prophet. This guy’s extraordinary. I know that. And so then when he’s called for a second time in verse 24, and they say, Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. He therefore answered, whether he is a sinner, I do not know.

You want me to make a statement about his standing before God? I don’t know anything about his life, really. One thing I do know is that I was blind, and now I see. Again, it’s pretty simple logic. When the day started, I couldn’t see a thing. And now, miraculously, this was a miracle. Miraculously, I do see.

Now we know that God has spoken to Moses, they said, but to this man, we do not know where he is from. Well, that’s true. They didn’t know he was from God. But the man answered and said to them, or that he was God in human flesh as well. The man answered and said to them, Well, here is an amazing thing. Now he’s talking to the religious leaders of the Jews. Well, here is an amazing thing that you do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God fearing and does his will, he hears him. And since the beginning of time, it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.

That’s prophetic stuff. Isaiah talked about this. This is not commonplace stuff that has happened here today. And then look at the simple logic of verse 33. I love it. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.

Jesus has already said, this is not because of his sin that he is blind. But what did the Pharisees say to him? You are entirely in your sins. Wrong answer. We don’t like your simple logic. Wrong answer. And they put him out of the synagogue. And Jesus goes and finds the man. And that’s the short version of the healing of John chapter 9. But did you notice? And if you’ve been paying attention to what I’m going to be preaching tonight, and saw it either on Facebook, as Scott so diligently does that for me every week, puts the sermon topic on Facebook, and at least three of you like it. Or as I put on the slides telling you what I’m going to preach tonight, and at least three of you see it.

You know that I’m going to be looking at verse 31 tonight. And the statement that the blind man makes about the prayers of sinners. So, what kind of conclusion are we to draw from this man’s statements about the prayers that God hears or he does not hear? This becomes a theological argument of some debate that every congregation I’ve ever been a part of has talked about at some point during my time there. Does God hear the prayers of, and we add the word alien sinner? Because we’re all sinners. We’re talking about people who have never been baptized into Christ, who are not covenant people of God, who pray to God, who think perhaps that they’re in a right relationship with God, or they’re seeking that, and they pray to God.

2. The Blind Man's Statement as a Point of Theology

Is there any circumstance or situation that God hears their prayer? And whenever that discussion is raised among the Lord’s people, John 9 31 always gets referenced. Because he says, We know, we know. Okay, that’s pretty confident. We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God fearing and does his will, he hears him. So what did the scripture say about God hearing those who are in sin? I want to talk first tonight about the statement of the healed blind man as a point of theology. And what I mean by that is, we might go to a statement like this. He says, We know that God does not hear the prayer of sinners, and then we can construct this whole view of what God hears and what he doesn’t hear based upon the statement of the blind man in the story.

I mean, he’s pretty convinced, and sounds like a reasonable argument to me also. But we need to be careful when we do that. And the reason why is because the John narrative is simply telling us a story and parts of the story, and certainly not everything that people say in the conversation is right. The Pharisees are saying some things about Jesus in the story that we automatically dismiss, don’t we? And we say, that’s not right. Now, this is all an inspired text in John chapter 9 revealed by the Holy Spirit, but that doesn’t mean that every statement recorded is a thus saith the Lord, in the sense of this is a theological statement. Again, the Pharisees have said, we believe Jesus is a sinner. We know that’s not true.

Right. And what about in the just another example, the Job narrative? Is everything that is said in the Job narrative to be emulated or imitated? I like to make this point because it’s really easy to see, because Job’s wife said what? Curse God and die. Now, I don’t recommend you follow her example and use those words to someone who is suffering. And that’s not the point of quoting her. I believe the only reason that she’s quoted there is because she says, Do you still hold fast your integrity? And that’s really the issue in the book of Job. Or one of the main issues that Job is holding fast his integrity. But I don’t know all the reasons why she might have been quoted, and that’s her one statement in the book of Job.

Not so glorious way to be remembered, but that’s her statement in the book of Job. And then there’s Job’s friends. A lot of what they said could have been right under certain circumstances, but the problem was that they were applying it all to Job because they believed he was suffering because of his sin, and we know that’s not true. So even all the things said by his friends who need sacrifices by Job on their behalf at the end of the story, so God wasn’t really pleased with them, now was he? And so some of the things they’re saying are not accurate and should not be regarded as theology. And I’ve made those points to say, and I might even add some of the imprecatory statements of the Psalms.

I don’t believe are recorded for us. Every statement in the Psalms is not intended to be a, oh, we can do that in our lives kind of thing. And just one that I would give to you, because I think this one’s troubled me for a long time. Psalm 137 and verse 9, when it says, How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock? Now that’s not a sentiment I’ve ever prayed in regard to my enemies. When we’re instructed to love our enemies, I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to say, Well, you gods smash their little ones against the rocks. But in the time that is written in those circumstances, little different scenario than our time, and we’ve got to understand contextually things that are going on.

And just an analysis of the statement itself. How many of us would regard ourselves as, and I’m not asking for a real show of hands? We would regard ourselves as sinners. Okay, we’ve all sinned in our past, right? But do you expect God to hear your prayer if you’re in Christ? And plus, if God never hears the prayers of sinners under any circumstance, then what do we do when we commit sin when we’re instructed to go to God in prayer and ask for forgiveness, like Simon the Sorcerer was instructed to do? I mean, sometimes we go to God with sin on our hands and in our hearts, and we have to ask God for forgiveness. So we have to be careful in regard. Now, we could make an argument about whether we should see ourselves as sinners, but that’s that’s another sermon, and I preached it another time.

3. A General Statement About the General Course

I think we’re defined by sin no longer. But there is a sense in which we can sin, in that sense we need to be turned from the error of our way, James chapter 5, verse 20. Didn’t mean to go there, but threw that in. Now, back to this. What can we make of the blind man’s statement if not a point of theology? He’s just making a general statement. A general statement that someone who is on a sinful course and persistent in that kind of a course, God isn’t gonna hear him. We know that. And don’t look at the context. What are they saying? Give glory to God. This man is a sinner. And the point he’s making, you know, if this guy’s as bad as you say he is, then how in the world is he doing these miracles?

How in the world did he give me sight when I was born blind if this man doesn’t have God on his side? So really it’s about being on God’s side or being against God, and the Pharisees are saying, you’re against God, and he’s against God, isn’t he? Well, no. He can’t be against God in doing what he does. So I think if we’re going to be consistent with what the scriptures say about prayer and the prayers that God answered, what we’re saying about this man’s statement is he’s just simply describing the general course. And I would take you to 1 Peter chapter 3 in this regard. Very common passage that we’ll often go to in this discussion. Quotations from Psalm 34, which actually was in our sermon this morning.

But the concluding part in verse 12. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. And you might conclude after reading 1 Peter 3 and verse 12, like this statement of John 9 and verse 31, there’s no circumstance whatsoever that God can hear a prayer of someone who is outside of Christ. But that’s not really the point Peter is making in 1 Peter chapter 3. Again, he’s talking about the general course of a person. And this is a general statement that the wicked really have no expectation or assurance that God will respond to their prayer. It’s like what God says to even his own covenant people in Isaiah 59.

The Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save. Or his ears dull that he cannot hear. He said, Your sins and iniquities have separated you from your God. And Isaiah is saying, in your present condition, God isn’t responding to your prayers. He’s not listening. He’s tuned you out because the general course of your life is wicked and not righteous. On the other hand, the sincerely striving Christian should have great confidence in the audience that he or she has before God. And just throwing some passages in that demonstrate this to be so.

And that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. We can have a confident assurance that God is listening to our prayers if the general course of our life is righteous. What does it say? The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Again, the general course, that’s the general course. A lot can be accomplished through prayer. We’re not ready to get to that. I want to say something about sincerely striving first. Really, that’s redundant, right? I was hoping you’d catch that. Because if you’re truly striving, you’re sincerely striving. And if you’re sincere about your faith, then you’ll strive. So really it’s redundant. But I’m being redundant for a reason. So that we get it. Prayer is for the righteous. And then we tell you who the righteous are.

They are sincerely, they are striving to serve God in their life and to submit themselves to his will. That’s who has assurance or confidence in prayer. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil. I’m saying this is really off subject, but I’m saying this because it’s important and you need to hear it. Great inconsistencies in our lives will cause us to not be heard at God’s throne. Acts of worship. Assembling regularly should not produce confidence in our prayers being heard before God just by themselves. And I always quote 1 Peter 3 7 in this regard, because the fellow who doesn’t dwell with his wife in an understanding way. Peter says his prayers will be hindered. Now, fellas, that’s addressed to men for a reason and not women.

Now, I think women need to deal with their husbands in an understanding way as well. But this is a particular pitfall for men. Like lust is a particular pitfall of men, and thus men are addressed. Like modesty becomes extremely important for a female, and thus she is addressed. Sometimes it’s addressed to one sex over the other because of a particular care that needs to be expressed in that particular principle. And I think in this regard, in 1 Peter 3 and verse 7, it is very difficult for men to men to get consumed in their activities and to totally neglect the wife. And he says, now, if you’re going to do that, it could hinder your prayer. And let me tell you this. We talked about this very recently.

4. Did God Hear Cornelius's Prayer?

Don’t need to belabor it. Also, the attitude you have toward your brothers and sisters in Christ can affect. Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed in truth. That also can affect whether God hears our prayer. You know, God doesn’t hear the prayers of murderers. And that’s one who hates his brother in 1 John chapter 3. So all of just because we’re pretty religious and devout isn’t a guarantee. Again, let’s go back to sincerely striving here. Alright, so that’s an important point. Now let’s go on to Corneas, because that’s the one that always gets brought up in this regard. Here was somebody who was not yet in Christ, where it says in Acts chapter 10 and verse 4, his prayers came up to God as a memorial.

But that doesn’t say he answered his prayers. That says that there was a memorial. Well, I think we might be splitting hairs about this. And also, this was sort of a unique time. There were no Gentiles in the kingdom yet. Corneas has not even heard the gospel preached. Peter comes to deliver the message of salvation in Christ. And he was being a good Gentile. And that’s what Acts chapter 10 begins with. I mean, he was doing all the things you would expect a Gentile to do to incur God’s favor. And so that’s one of the reasons why he was the perfect candidate for the gospel. But, yes, to be a covenant person, there are some things that he must yet do. Incidentally, the must do phrase is only found in the King James Version of the Bible.

Long story there. But whether or not that’s a part of the original text or not, there are going to be some things that he must do to be in Christ. Because he was ordered to be baptized in the name of Jesus in Acts 10 and verse 48. And he had never been instructed in that. Furthermore, when Peter recounts the story later, he says to those Jews about his conversion, about Cornelius and his household, is that he was to speak words by which they would be saved. They needed to be saved by the instruction that Peter presented, and then in verse 18, it says that they were granted the repentance that leads to life. Acts chapter 10 doesn’t mention the word repentance anywhere, but implied in Acts 11 and verse 18 that Cornelius believed the message of Jesus and thus repented of his sins of his past and was baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of his sins.

And so they were granted the repentance that leads to life. So the question is, then here’s the theological question. Did God hear Cornish’s prayer? The word memorial. This was somebody still outside of Christ, but again, it was a unique time. A unique time. Did God hear his prayer or not? Now, got to do a little side note here on the word here. Part of the problem in this theological discussion we have about God hearing prayers is what do we mean? What do we mean exactly? The word here is used accommodatively to speak of God’s answer or response to prayers. Because there is a sense in which God hears everything, does he not? He knows things that are on our minds before they ever come to our lips, the psalmist says in Psalm 139.

He knows our thoughts. And so if some wicked person is praying somewhere, there is a sense in which God hears it, but we need to clarify what we mean. When we talk about God hearing sinners’ prayers, we launch from John 9 and verse 31, and we’re not all thinking the same thing because we haven’t defined the question. What we’re really asking is, can God, does God respond only to those who are covenant people? Only to those who are in Christ. Well, Acts 10 would be an example. I know it’s unique circumstances where there was something about Cornea’s prayer that came up as a memorial before God. So as we wrap this up and get to the conclusion here tonight, as I give you some things to think about, let’s talk about what we do know and what we don’t know.

5. What We Do Know and What We Don't Know

And I hate to say this because we don’t tend to like this very much when we may not be able to answer the question as clearly and perfectly as we would like. So is answered prayer, again, hearing in terms of answering, is answered prayer reserved for those in Christ only? That’s really what we’re concerned about. Is it a special privilege for the Christian? Has he reserved it just for those who have been baptized into Christ? Everybody else, it doesn’t matter how much praying they do. God doesn’t hear or answer in any regard. Well, but there might be an exception, we say. Possible exception. This is where the debate comes in. What about those who are seeking to know the Lord’s way? Maybe if they’re praying, God help me to find the truth.

Perhaps if that’s the prayer that they’re praying, God hears that. Now here’s the punchline. You ready? You still awake? What does it matter? Well, you always want an answer to this issue that gets raised in the Bible class. My answer is, what does it really matter?

Can I say this? I want God to respond to whomever he wants to respond. And in whatever way he needs to for their salvation. And I just got to say. Sometimes I think we start whittling on God’s end of the stick as to how he does things. We don’t know all of that. And I’ll tell you about answered prayer. I don’t know how that works. I just know that there’s these assurances that prayer changes things. The effectual verb prayer of a righteous man avails much. I don’t know how that works. And I’ll tell you, if we saw what God actually did and orchestrated to respond to our prayers, it probably would blow our minds to pieces.

It’s knowledge that’s too wonderful for us. I don’t have to know all that. Revel in the access that you’ve been promised as a sincerely striving person. Revel in the access that you have at God’s throne and take full advantage of the privilege. You know, we could debate this until the cows come home. But if we don’t spend any time in prayer, what difference does it make? We’ve just really debated something that doesn’t matter. A hill of beans.

In our own lives. I don’t have all the answers to this. And I God doesn’t explain all this to us. And we’re going to have to be content to let it be that way. I can’t pontificate tonight about how God is responding to our prayers and what exactly He’s doing. I know this, though. In Acts 18 and verse 10, something very interesting is said here. Just thrown in, oh. Oh, by the way. Paul is in Corinth, and we studied this very recently. And the Lord says to Paul in the night by a vision, don’t be afraid. Go on speaking. Do not be silent. He said, I’m with you. And no man will attack you in order to harm you. You’ve got the green light in Corinth, and then he says, For I have many people in this city.

Those are people that are not yet in Christ. Already chalking them up. Remember, God sees the future. God knows what’s going to happen by the preaching of the gospel. And he says, I have many people in this city. And that may affect what he does or does not do in relation to prayer. But here’s the point. Let me tell you about something we do know, and this is important. What we know for sure, there’s some things I don’t know, but what we know for sure is prayer is not the means by which one becomes cleansed by Christ’s blood.

Now that I know for sure. And yet that’s what is commonly taught that the sinner’s prayer will result in your salvation. Just let Jesus come into your heart, into your life, say a prayer to that effect, and you’re saved at that point. That is not what the scriptures teach. We are released from our sins by the blood of Christ when we are baptized into his death. And that is taught consistently throughout the book of Acts and in Paul’s epistles. That’s the thing we need to understand about prayer that prayer, as wonderful as it is, cannot be the means by which we come into Christ. And so that we know for sure. All right. That’s the end of that discussion. Now let’s end on a very practical note by looking at this little gem I found from Psalm 107 this week.

Conclusion

These are what the righteous do. They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still so that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet. So he guided them to their desired haven. Isn’t that a wonderful passage about prayer? And what we have in our access at God’s throne. If you are in Christ, may I admonish you. Realize what we have in prayer.

And that if you will trust in God, regardless of how painful your circumstances may be at the time, regardless of how disillusioned you might be at what’s unfolding in your life, rest assured that the righteous God is directing to a desired haven. And no other haven compares. Prayer for the righteous is a shield to the soul. It’s a sacrifice to God. It is a sanctuary to the troubled, and it is a scourge to the devil. Realize how important and powerful prayer is. It is for the righteous, for the sincerely striving. It is the acid test of devotion.

If you’re not praying, you’re not doing very well spiritually. That’s how critical it is. And so I want to admonish those of you in Christ this week to realize what a special thing that we have, that God assures us that we can cast our cares upon Him and come to Him for assistance. He can help us like no one else can. And if you’re not in Christ, if you do not, like Cornelius, if you have not been baptized into Christ, prayer, I know this, can only do so much. It can’t cause you to be cleansed from your sins. You must respond and submit yourself completely to the will of God. Can we assist you in doing that tonight? Let’s stand and sing together.