TRUE AND NOT TRUE


A. "NOW WE KNOW THAT GOD HEARETH NOT SINNERS: BUT IF ANY MAN BE A WORSHIPPER OF GOD, AND DOETH HIS WILL, HIM HE HEARETH." - John 9:31
  1. Background to our text:
    1. The healing of the blind man on the Sabbath by Christ.
    2. The interrogation of this blind man by the Jewish leaders.
  2. The firm testimony of the man that was healed:
    1. No bias by the Pharisees could persuade him to deny what had been done for him.
    2. His steadfastness for the truth caused the Jews to cast him out of the synagogue.
B. TRUE AND NOT TRUE: "NOW WE KNOW THAT GOD HEARETH NOT SINNERS"
  1. True: It is true that God does not hear sinners -
    1. Said the Psalmist, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." - Ps. 66:18
    2. Iniquity separates men from God so that He cannot hear - Isa. 59:1, 2
    3. If one refuses to hear God's law, even his prayer is an abomination - Prov. 28:9
    4. "They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not." - Ps. 18:41
    5. That was true of King Saul in the day of his great calamity - 1 Sam. 28:6
  2. Not true:
    1. God heard the prayer of the thief on the cross, yet he was a criminal at the time of this prayer - Luke 23:26-44
    2. If the Lord refused to hear sinners, then no prayer from men could be heard because we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
    3. Read these scriptures prayerfully - Rom. 3:23; Gal. 3:22; Rom. 3:19; 5:12-19
    4. Since sin is, in fact, enmity against God, He cannot accept the prayers of His enemies, as such, yet Christ died for us while we were enemies of God - Rom. 5:10 C. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
  3. It is true that God does not hear the prayer of sinners for seven good reasons:
    1. They are His enemies at heart, and so long as the heart rebels against God, He will not and cannot hear their prayer - Jer. 17:9; Matt. 15:19
    2. They rebel against God's law, He therefore cannot hear their prayer - Prov. 28:9
    3. They are not truly penitent and God cannot hear their prayer - Matt. 6:3-6
    4. They do not even call upon the Lord and have no desire to do so, as Esau did - Heb. 12:16
    5. They reject God's counsel, and for that reason God cannot hear them.
    6. They refuse the plan of salvation, and they are for that reason without hope.
    7. Sinners, as such, are by their very nature without God and without hope - Eph. 2:11, 12
  4. The answer of the prayers of sinners, as all God's promises, is conditional:
    1. God does hear the cry of a penitent sinner - EXAMPLES -
      1. David had sinned grievously against God, yet all his Psalms are open testimonies to God hearing and answering his prayers - Ps. 32; 50; 55
      2. Saul of Tarsus had been party to the murder of Stephen and many other Christians, yet God heard his prayer - Acts 9
    2. God invites sinners to call upon Him, and He promises to hear their prayer - Isa. 1:17-20
  5. God has made provisions to clear the way for sinners to come to Him:
    1. He has set up a mercy seat for sinners - Heb. 4:15, 16
    2. He has provided an advocate for them - 1 John 2:1- 3; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25-27
    3. The Lord has made an atonement for our sins - Christ died for us, who are sinners by nature.
    4. John assures sinners that they will not be refused if they come to the throne of grace - 1 John 1:7-9
    5. How wonderful it is to know that God hears sinners; and how wonderful it is to know that He has made provisions to save us from our sins - Matt. 1:21


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