Does God Hear the Prayers of the Unsaved?

Welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a 30 minute walk through the Scriptures, teaching in-depth Bible truths that change people's lives. Now here's your host, Les Feldick. Okay, once again I want to welcome all of our television viewers and for those of you who may have never caught our program before, we're just an informal Bible study. We're not associated in our television ministry with any particular group, we're just trying to open the Word for whatever background you may have come from, and learn to appreciate the Word of God. Over the years I've used it so often that when Tyndale attempted to get the Scriptures into England, he wanted it to be in the hands of every plow boy in England. And you want to remember that back in the 1600's plow boys probably just had enough education to read, but nevertheless it was enough to warrant their having a copy of the Scriptures. And so this is what it's for. We've got our Bibles in our homes, not to collect dust, but to be studied and read, and hopefully this is what we're helping folks to do. So we're going to pick right up in a moment where we left off in our last program, but in the meantime I want to remind you that every last program is available in video on the audio cassette package as well as the little printed booklets. Now we've done it a little different I guess than most. We put 12 of these half hour programs on one 6 hour long video, and we've done that for two reasons. To keep the cost down, and to keep your shelf space down. It's a lot easier to shelf space one videotape than it would be three. So anyway, these are all formats of 12 programs, and the same way with the audio and the little booklets. All right, let's get right back to where we left off in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 20. And for those of you who maybe just tuned in in the last few days or a few weeks or whatever, remember that these epistles of Paul, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, were written from prison in Rome. And that's why they're many times referred to as the prison epistles. And as I put it on the board when we started our study of Ephesians, that when you come through Romans, and Corinthians and Galatians, that's pretty much down at the elementary or the basis of Paul's teaching, and then all of a sudden you just sort of jump up another tier and get into the deeper aspects of Paul's doctrines on these prison epistles. And so Colossians is one of these little epistles written to a congregation of which he did not have a part of founding himself. No doubt it was some of his converts from Ephesus who had gone on over to the city of Colossae, which is not too far south and a little east of Ephesus, and the same way with the city of Laodicea. And so Colossians is a letter that is written by the apostle to people whom he had never met personally. But the admonitions in these chapters are just as real as in any of his other letters, and we'll be coming to some of the warnings. Now you want to remember that a good share of Paul's writings were not only to teach us the plan of salvation, not only to teach us how to live as Christians, but to warn us of the dangers that are constantly besetting Christianity. In fact when I look back at history and the paganism of the Roman Empire, and then all the religious differences that have permeated the human race, they always have to come away grace of God, Christianity would have never survived. And it's amazing that it survived, but it did. And so we now read these little epistles with all that in mind, yes it's bringing forth the plan of salvation, it's teaching us how to live, but it's warning us what to be aware of all around us. Now coming down into verse 20, and having made peace through the blood of His cross. Now I'm going to have to stop there in the word peace. Now when the world thinks of peace, what do they think of? Absence of war, absolutely. The world is always talking about peace. Peace in the Middle East, peace in Yugoslavia, peace in Africa, wherever there's turmoil, the world's politicians are always talking about peace. Well they're not talking about a relationship between God and men, they're talking about the absence of warfare between human beings. But the word peace here is talking about God's relationship with sinful men. And so having made peace through the blood of His cross. Remember several programs back I made mention of the verse in Hebrews that without the shedding of blood there is no remission, and I called it an absolute. It's an absolute. There is absolutely no way of being restored into fellowship with the Creator God, short of the shed blood. It's an absolute. Now I'm going to bring you back to Romans chapter 5, because it's a word that Paul uses quite freely in his writings, this peace with God. Now the secular world out there is not at peace with God, they're His enemies, and we'll show that in Romans chapter 8 in just a moment. But for you and I who believe, we are at peace with God. We are not in a spiritual warfare against Him, we have peace with God. This verse shows it so clearly, Romans chapter 5, verse 1. Romans 5, verse 1. Therefore being justified by faith, which of course is a Pauline term, we have peace with God. Now that's quite a statement isn't it? God no longer has a controversy with the believer. God is absolutely content that the moment we believe and He finished the work of justification, there is no longer any reason for Him to have enmity between us and Him, because He is now giving us that peace that only He can give. And it's not just an absence of war, it is a relationship of love. So being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and now since we're justified and we have peace with God, it's that same One then who gives us access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. So you can't separate salvation from grace, because none of us deserve salvation, none of us deserve what Christ did for us. And it's all of grace, and how few even believers understand that. Another place where Paul uses this peace with God, is in Philippians, and we looked at that not too many weeks ago, Philippians chapter 4, and it is in relation to our prayer life as we make requests, Philippians chapter 4, and we always like to start verse 6, my two favorite verses when it comes to prayer. I'll get it, Philippians chapter 4, dropping down to verse 6, where he says, Philippians 4, and let your requests be made known unto God. In everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. There are no strings attached there, that is a free access into the throne room, and to let all of our supplications and requests known with thanksgiving. But then verse 7, that regardless of how God answers, He may not spare our loved one who may be terminal. He may not grant healing to them. He may not save something that we think needs to be saved, a financial empire or a marriage or something like that, and the Lord may not answer the way we think He should. But the next verse is the answer, and that is that the peace of God, that which was imparted to us the moment we believed. That we are no longer in a warfare against Him, we are no longer His enemy, but we are at peace with Him, and we have a peace that passeth all understanding. In other words, you can't explain it. There's no way we can explain this peace with God, it's beyond it. But we know it's there, and so it will keep our hearts and minds. Now I said I will show you the other side of the coin, the flip side, and that's back in Romans chapter 8, and it's been a long time since we taught Romans. My goodness I didn't realize it was years ago. Do you know that? Boy we taught Romans back in 1993 I think, and so I guess it won't hurt to dip back into it and review some of these things. Romans chapter 8, beginning at verse 5. Now there are some stark statements in here, and they're shocking. Romans 8. "...for they who are after the flesh," in other words the lost world around us, "...they who are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh." That's all they can think about. But they who are after the Spirit, in other words the believer, they mind the things of the Spirit. Romans 8. "...for to be carnally minded, in other words to be constantly wrapped up in things, is death." There's no spiritual life in things. But to be spiritually minded is life and what again? Peace. See that same peace with God. Now verse 7. This is why it is the way it is, "...because the carnal, or the unsaved, unregenerate mind is enmity." Now do enemies have peace? No. They're in a constant warfare, whether it's nations, or whether it's communities, or whatever. When you've got warfare, you've got a lack of peace, and so here again, there is no peace between God and the lost individual, because he is carnal, and he is an enemy against God. And the carnal mind is not subject to the Law of God, and neither indeed can be. Because there's nothing that is compatible. They are totally separated. That's why in a little bit we get back to Colossians, and we're going to see the word reconciliation. But here there is no reconciliation between God and the lost person, because they are fleshly minded, and they have no interest in the things of the Spirit. Colossians 2.8 So then they who are in the flesh, they have never been justified by faith, they have never been reconciled, and so they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Do they like to pray? Well you bet they do. Whenever they've got a need, they pray. Well do you think God is interested in their prayers? No because they're enemies. He's not going to answer the prayer request of an enemy. They're not His children. Now I've always made the statement that when a lost person cries out for salvation, God hears him. Absolutely He does, before he even calls, Isaiah says, but in everyday mundane things when the lost person prays, God doesn't hear him. He's an enemy. You know I've used the illustration years ago on the program, I know I did. If your neighbor's kid comes up to you some day and says, Hey I want a new bike, will you get me one? I think he'd be a rare individual to say, Well come on son, let's go down and I'll buy you one. No, what would we usually say? Well that's your dad's job. That's not my responsibility to buy you a bicycle, your dad can do that. I'll buy my kids one, but I'm not going to buy you one. Why? Because they're not our kids. Well you see that's just normal. Now that's not being mean spirited or anything like that, it's just simply good economics. You can't buy bicycles for all the kids up and down the block. But hopefully you can buy one for your own. Now God doesn't treat the human race much differently. If there is no love for Him, and there are enemies for Him, He's not going to be hearing their prayers, until of course they call for salvation, and then He becomes the God of everything. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. And then you come down to verse 13, and it sort of winds up this little dissertation about people who are still in the flesh, who have never been saved. Verse 13. And verse 14 Paul writes, "...if you live after the flesh, if all you're concerned about is the things of this world, you have no concept of eternity." Now there again, Iris and I talk about this so often as we travel, and the highways are packed with people, and we can't help but wonder. You can't judge, and I never try to. But I can certainly wonder, how many of these people that we're meeting on these freeways, or on the streets of our cities, how many of these people ever for a moment, consider eternity? How many ever stop to think of something of the spiritual? I don't believe it ever enters their mind for the most part. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't believe it does. They're so wrapped up in the things of this world, and so this is their future. That if all they're living for is the flesh, in other words that home that is probably beyond their budget, those cars that are beyond their budget, and their credit card bills that are beyond their budget, they're living for the flesh. They're under all the pressures of the world. They've got no time for God, and they've got no time for the spiritual. And so Paul says, if that's your lifestyle, you shall die spiritually. You've got no hope for eternal life. But the flip side, if you through the Spirit do put the death, in other words put these things of the flesh out of your thinking, you shall live eternally. And so it becomes then quite an option. Are you going to live for the flesh, and die for eternity? Or are you going to live spiritually here, and maybe miss out on a few of the things that the world thinks they have to have, and live eternally? It's quite an option. It's a choice. Alright, back to Colossians. I guess I can finish the next half hour on the next word, can't I Jerry? Reconciliation. It's another one. I mean these are doctrinal terms that too many people never consider. But they are so basic to our faith. Reading on now in verse 20. Colossians 2. by him to reconcile all things unto himself, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. In other words again, where does it put Christ? In the preeminence. Everything is under His control. Everything as you saw back in one of these earlier verses, were created for His pleasure. You and I were created for His pleasure. And so the whole idea of the work of the cross was to grant us justification, to give us peace with God, and now the next one is to reconcile us. Now the true Greek meaning is to turn from something totally in the opposite direction, and be reconciled over here. Now a lot of times we speak of reconciliation in married couples, who may have a marriage that's just simply as we say today, going on the rocks. But hopefully, and I know I've been instrumental in a few of them, and it just thrills us to death when you can bring that estranged husband and wife, and you bring them back together. And what do we call it? Reconciliation. They've turned from their direction of going apart from each other, and they have turned 180 degrees, and they have come back together. We call it reconciliation. Well that's exactly what God has done with us. Every one of us as a believer has been reconciled to God. We were going away from Him, we had no thought for Him, we had no love for Him, but there came a time when all of a sudden, the power of God just literally hooked us, and just brought us to Himself. And in the process of that, He reconciled us to Himself. Now the best portion of Scripture to define that is 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5, and we'll jump in at verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5, and we'll drop down to verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5, and we'll drop down to verse 17. and old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new." Well that doesn�t need any comment, it�s self explanatory. Now verse 18, and all things are of God. Why? Because He�s the Creator of everything. You know we�ve been studying the life of Joseph in a couple of our classes here in Oklahoma the last several nights, and I�ve seen it before, but it never just struck me quite so hard as it has this time. All those bad things that happened to young Joseph, what did Joseph tell those brothers over and over? God was in it! God was in it! And see this is what we have to realize even for us as believers today. Not one moment of our life is without God�s awareness and control. We�re in His control. God is above everything, and this is what we have to understand. Even the bad things, God is in it to fulfill His own purposes. Now in the story of Joseph of course it was so evident. Had Joseph not been sold into slavery, had Joseph not ended down second man of Egypt, Jacob and the other sons wouldn�t have had the opportunity to go and cash in on the granaries of Egypt. But since Joseph was there, had the grain, the family survived. And that�s why Joseph said, you didn�t do it, God did it. Now that�s hard for us to comprehend isn�t it? And you�ve heard me make the statement over and over, especially those of you who are in my Oklahoma classes. One of the hard things to comprehend is that when God began this whole system of the human race, and He set Adam and Eve out of the Garden, and He set them free with a free will, and He did the same thing with nations, and so men of nations have been coming through human history, making their own decisions pretty much. There is no puppet on a string involved whatsoever. And yet here we are 6,000 years removed, and where are we in God�s time table? Right on the minute. The whole world after 6,000 years is exactly where God blueprinted it. And yet He never took away the freedom of men and nations to pretty much do as they thought they wanted to do. Amazing isn�t it? Now the same way here, all things are of God. Now don�t ever stop and try to tell me, Oh there�s too many people for God to keep track of. Oh listen, there�s more stars out there, and as I mentioned in the last half hour, none of them ever bump into each other. There�s far more stars to keep track of than there are people. And that�s why the Scripture can even bring it on down that He knows the number of hairs on our head, of every individual. So don�t ever limit God. Don�t ever say, Well He doesn�t know about me. Oh yes He does. And so all things are of God. But for us who believe, it�s the God who has reconciled us to Himself. In other words, as we were going away, and away, and away from God, He in His mercy and grace just literally brought us back to Himself. You know I guess I�ve got time. I had an I think it was from West Texas, I�m not sure. But he called, and he was well up into his 70�s if I remember correctly, and he said, I have just all of a sudden as a result of your program gotten a hunger for the Word. It�s the first thing I do when I get up in the morning, and the last thing I do before I go to sleep. And he said, to think that I wasted all those years with no interest in the spiritual things. And I said, You know you remind me, and I�ve shared it with some of the people in Oklahoma in the last week. I said, You remind me of something that Winston Churchill said. And you�re going to smile because you�re going to remember when he said it. He said, Youth is wonderful, but what a pity that it had to be wasted on young people. See and isn�t that exactly what we�ve done? They waste all those good productive years just simply spending them to satisfy the flesh, and then when they get older they suddenly realize, hey this is far better. Why couldn�t I have experienced this for the last 40 years? Well it�s one of the questionable things I guess of the human experience. Well anyway, all things are for God who hath reconciled Himself by Jesus Christ. But it doesn�t stop there. Now as soon as we are reconciled, what has God given us? The ministry of reconciliation, in other words we�re to help others be reconciled. And there�s no more thrilling thing that you can do. Now like I�ve already mentioned, if you can bring an estranged husband and wife together, and maybe there�s some little that are torn beyond this, my is there anything more thrilling than to reconcile those two people and save the home, and recreate a joy and a happiness? Well the same way you can do this with a lost person. If you can be instrumental in bringing that person to a knowledge of salvation, and to be able to say, hey I�ve been a part in reconciling someone to God. And so this is our ministry, that we are to be reconciling lost people to their Creator God. Well let�s see, I think I�ve got half a minute left, and so you come back to Colossians, and again we are to reconcile all things unto himself, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven, and then verse 21, and you who were at one time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He, Christ Jesus, has what? Reconciled. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick. 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