We have ears to hear

Brother Beck

(Kichijouji Bible Study Meeting, 2012/05/22)
Quotation: Acts, 10:33
33Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.

Acts, 16:25-34
25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
29Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
34And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

The very verse we just read, 10:33, is such a wonderful testimony and confession. It was good of you to come. All of us are here now in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has ordered you to say.
This means that everyone there had ears to hear and were so eager to know what the Lord had done, not what they had to do.
When people talk about what men have to do, it can't help but lay a heavy burden on them. We all worry about what we need to do. However, what is really important is not what we are supposed to do or what we should believe in, but what the Lord did for miserable humans. It is the only thing that sets us free.

Let's read Chapter 16, Verse 31 again.

Acts, 16:31-34
31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
34And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

All members of their family finally repented and believed in Jesus' words. Salvation of the whole family is the most important, rather than salvation of just some of the family members. If you see that some of your family members are left unsaved, you may still have pain inside your heart.
However, it is clearly promised to us that: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will be saved. This is one of the most beloved and most emphasized verses. We have all prayed with this verse many times and we have believed these words. Nevertheless, we all have to admit the fact that not all of our family members are yet saved.
Why is that? Does it mean that some prayers remain unanswered? Our Lord certainly opens the eyes of the heart of his believers and performs his miracles at the time of his choosing. However, we read in the Bible that some prayers are not received. We need to think about the reasons for that. There are seven reasons.

The first reason is disobedience, or unbelief. These two words actually point to the same thing in the original language, which relates to faith and belief.
So many people are not yet saved; this is because of the disobedience and unbelief of the saved people.
There is a very famous verse from Mark, Chapter 6, but it sounds a little strange to me. Jesus could do no mighty work. A man of the almighty could not do anything there. It was because of disobedience and unbelief of the people there.

Mark, 6:1-5
1And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
2And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
4But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
5And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

Isn't this surprising? Some people were healed right away. Jesus wanted to encourage and comfort all the agonized people, and wanted to heal all the sick people; but somehow he couldn't.

Mark, 6:6
6And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

It seems that unbelief is the worst obstacle to understanding the Lord.
I am going to quickly read some other verses from the Old Testament. They revolve around the sin of disobedience and unbelief of the people of Israel.

Deuteronomy, 1:42-45
42And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
43So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
44And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
45And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.

Why was that? The Lord wanted to help them. He wanted to let them win the battle. But, they did not obey. After all, people of Israel were not obedient to the Lord.
The Lord does not turn his face towards disobedient people. The people of Israel were finally destroyed in the wilderness. I cannot imagine the sadness of the Lord God when He had to do this.

1 Samuel, 14:37
37And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day.

1 Samuel, 28:6
6And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

Although King Saul was chosen and anointed by God, because of his disobedience the window in the heaven was closed, and the Lord God did not bless him anymore.
How was the end of his life? The king killed himself out of desperation. What a tragedy!
The importance of obedience to the Lord is repeatedly emphasized in the Bible.

Acts, 5:32
32And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

When you obey, you are blessed generously.
As described in this verse, the Holy Ghost is given to us. Disobedient Christians cause the Holy Ghost to grieve. If you disobey intentionally, the Holy Spirit will leave you.
As I just said, the first reason that some prayers are not answered is disobedience.

The second reason is hidden sins. It is repeated in the Bible that whoever hides his transgressions will not succeed. Some people may think that some sins have to be hidden to avoid troubles. But this is wrong. You cannot hide your sins forever|they will be revealed someday.
David understood this from his own experience and wrote in Psalm 66, Verse 18, "Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not listen to me."
Earlier in his life, he did not care, and he committed terrible sins. He thought that he had to hide them from everyone. However, hiding his transgressions actually led to serious pain in his heart.

Matthew, 5:28
28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

The sins, the Lord mentioned here, are sins committed in eyes, sins inside your thoughts or corrupt motives. It may seem less critical, but this is actually one of the major reasons that your prayers are not answered.
I hope we can reveal all of our sins in the light of the Lord, so that the Lord can richly answer our prayers.
In a gathering of brothers and sisters, just associating with each other instead of holding a meeting ruled by the Holy Spirit is another kind of hidden sin.

There are so many reasons for your prayers not being answered. We have so far seen disobedience and hidden sins.
The third reason is indifference|indifference of the saved people.

Proverbs, 1:24-33
24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Still many believers do not pay much attention to the salvation of their family, relatives or friends.
In the Revelation, the Lord commanded us to pay diligence to repentance. We should always repent diligently so that we can be awakened from the sin of our indifference.

Isaiah, 62:6-7
6I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
7And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

There are so many reasons that your prayers are not answered, among which I have mentioned disobedience, hidden sins and indifference.
The fourth reason is found in the disregard for the laws of the Bible. It is because people do not respect the Bible, which is the word of the Lord, that their prayers are not answered.

Proverbs, 28:9
9He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

If you refuse to follow the word of the Lord obediently and end up distraught and miserable, it is because you have been depending on your own values and emotion.
For those who pray, the Bible is the most important treasure. Without living by the words from the Bible, we cannot live a life that fulfills the will of the Lord.

The fifth reason that the Lord does not answer your prayers is your stubbornness. It is your closed mind.

Zechariah, 7:11-13
11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.
13Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

"Also they will cry out, and I will not listen." Why did the Lord say this? It is because the people did not have the ears to hear and they did not want to be humble.
We all have the nature to transgress the laws of the Lord God. It is our nature to close our minds to the Lord. Our ego is a monster, and we cannot control it by ourselves.
Paul knew this all too well from his own experience. He made this famous confession in his testimony in Romans.

Romans, 7:19
19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Romans, 7:24
24O wretched man that I am!

Have you ever found something inside of yourself and had a fear? Something you cannot control by yourself?
John the Baptist said, "He must become more important, but I must become less important". We will be blessed if we can sincerely say the same thing as John did.
Then the Holy Spirit will give us the freedom inside us, so that we can really start to pray the prayer in the Holy Spirit. The prayers in the Holy Spirit are always answered.

The sixth reason that your prayers are not answered is the instability of your mind.

James, 1:6-7
6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

"Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." Why is that? It is because one who has doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Very often, we feel unsettled because of the circumstances, words and emotions of other people, or because of something our eyes can see. This is just like a wave in the sea. This kind of feeling also hinders the answers to our prayers. This might be the reason that some people are still not yet saved, although we have been keeping them in our minds and praying for their salvation.
So far, the reasons your prayers are not answered include disobedience, hidden sins, indifference, disrespect for the bible, your stubbornness and an unstable mind.

The seventh and last reason is impure motives.

James, 4:3
3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

If your prayers are self-centered they will never be answered. Only if we glorify the Lord and pray for His glory will our prayers be answered. It will make miracles happen.
If we cast out these seven sins I just mentioned, and pray together with the Lord, the roaring of the devil can do no harm to us. We will achieve victory.
Let's look at Jeremiah, Chapter 33, Verse 3. It is such a wonderful promise that is cited very often. This is what the Lord provides us. It is not a suggestion, but His command.

Jeremiah, 33:3
3Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. These words are the burden given to us from our Lord. How wonderful would it be if all our family members were all saved one day?
It is no wonder that your family has not understood salvation until today. Jesus said:

Matthew, 10:25
25It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Matthew, 10:34-39
34Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

This is the love of Jesus. How was Jesus' attitude against His own family?

Matthew, 12:47-50
47Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
48But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

What does the Lord want from us? Jesus said, "This is my Father's will: That everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life."
These are the ever-lasting calls from Jesus: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest." "Everything the Father gives me will come to me, and I'll never turn away the one who comes to me."
While Jesus was alive, none of his family members believed in Him except Mary. However, they all came to believe in Him after His death.

Acts of Apostles, 1:14
14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

There will be no salvation as long as we make compromises with our family. If you keep testifying about Jesus through your own experience, salvation will come.
These testimonies to your family must come from true faith in Jesus, and not just be empty stories coming out of your mouth. Otherwise, they will never be effective.
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will be saved. We have to believe in this verse and stand firm in our faith. Only then will we experience the truth. The Lord will never fail to answer our prayers and make the impossible possible.



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