Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, and I encourage you to do so, I'm going to be
preaching from John chapter 8, the last part of that chapter
in the Gospel of John, concerning this subject, hearing God's words. hearing God's words. And I take
that title from verse 47, where the Lord said, he's speaking
to a religionist here, false religionists, the Pharisees and
their followers. And he says in John 8, 47, he
that is of God, heareth God's words. And then he said to them,
you therefore hear them not because you're not of God. In other words,
they're lost in their sins. They're spiritually deaf. And, you know, the Bible speaks
a lot about what we can call the seeing eye and the hearing
ear. And, you know, the Lord Jesus
Christ, when He was speaking to Nicodemus back in John chapter
3, He said, you must be born again or you cannot see the Kingdom
of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the same thing. And
what he's talking about there is spiritual sight, and we would
put with that spiritual hearing. Because man by nature And I feel
like I always have to explain this because I'm not trying to
insult people's intelligence or anything, but this may be
the first time you've heard this program or heard me preach. But all of us by nature, and
when I say by nature, I mean as we are naturally born in sin. And that's what the Bible teaches
about us. We fell in Adam. Fell into a state of sin and
death and depravity. And that sin simply means that
we are all sinners. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. That death is spiritual death. We come into the world alive
physically And we have, even in the physical realm, we have
a conscience, we have a mind, we have affections, we have a
will, we have a heart. But all of those faculties that
we come into the world naturally are fallen and under the dominion
of sin. And then I use the word, and
being spiritually dead, which means that we do not have the
spiritual capacity to be submitted to the things of God, especially
God's way of salvation. And that's why we need salvation.
We don't, by nature, we are spiritually deaf and spiritually blind to
the ways of God in salvation, which involves how God saves
sinners, and how we can have a right relationship with God,
and how we can maintain that relationship. And so in order
for us to see and to hear that spiritually, the right way, God
has to give us spiritual eyes and spiritual ears to hear. For example, the Bible says in
1 Corinthians, I believe it's chapter one and verse 18, that
the preaching of the cross, which is the gospel, the preaching
of the glorious person, finished work of Christ, salvation by
the grace of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, through his
merits, his works, The preaching of the cross, Christ's finished
work on the cross, is to them who are perishing, that is in
a state of perishing, it's foolishness to them. But it goes on to say
to us who are being saved, literally, it's the power of God, it's the
wisdom of God. And so, there's a difference
there that God made. And it's made in the new birth.
You must be born again, else you cannot see these things.
You have physical sight and physical hearing. You can hear the gospel
preached, for example. But until you're given spiritual
hearing in the new birth by the Holy Spirit, under the preaching
of the gospel, What you hear will mean nothing to you. It'll
be foolishness, or you'll walk away unaffected. It will not
be brought to faith in Christ. And that's why the Bible says
in Romans 1 16, that the gospel, and Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek also. And to those who
believeth, they are the ones who have been given by God in
the new birth by the Holy Spirit through Christ, spiritual hearing,
spiritual ears. The Bible says in Romans 10 and
verse 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
And so Christ here in John chapter eight is dealing with that subject.
He talked about spiritual liberty, freedom. He said that the truth
will set you free. Now that's not just hearing the
truth with the physical ear, it's hearing the truth with a
spiritual ear. And what that means is you hear
those words and they're valuable to you. This is your life, this
is the way of salvation. You believe it, you cherish it,
you guard it. God has written it on your heart.
It has been made the power of God unto salvation to you. Christ told his disciples that
when they asked him about speaking in parables. They asked, why
do you speak in parables? And he said it was a judgment
against those who refused to believe his words. He said they
have ears, but they don't hear. They have eyes, but they don't
see. They close their eyes to the truth. They shut their ears
to the truth, lest they be converted. Because they don't want to believe
what he's saying, because it would demand that they would
turn away from that which they naturally value. You know, Christ
said in Luke chapter 16 and verse 15, I believe it is, he said,
that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to
God. Well, what is highly esteemed
among men when it comes to salvation and a right relationship with
God? Well, people by nature believe salvation is conditioned on their
works. or on their character, or on
their wills, their decisions. But the gospel shows us that
salvation is not conditioned on sinners in any way. It's all
conditioned on Christ. And that Christ fulfilled those
conditions to ensure the salvation of all those for whom he died
was buried and arose again the third day. The gospel is a revelation. That verse in Romans 1 16 is
followed by verse 17 which says that in the gospel therein is
the righteousness of God revealed. from faith, that's the gospel
knowledge revealed, heard, and then to faith, that's the gospel
doctrine, truth, knowledge, believed, received, for the just shall
live by faith. Well, the gospel reveals that
salvation is based upon not the righteousnesses of men, not the
works of men, not the characters of men, but the work, the righteousness,
the character of Christ, because Christ is the righteousness of
God. His work on the cross can be summarized in that phrase,
the righteousness of God. And so in 2 Corinthians chapter
five, In verse 20, Paul writes concerning this subject, he says
that as ambassadors of Christ, preachers of the gospel, we beseech
you, be reconciled to God on one ground. And he states that
ground in verse 21. For God the Father, for He there,
it says for He, that's God the Father, have made Him, that's
God the Son incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be sin for us
who knew no sin. And the who knew no sin goes
back to Christ, not us. We know sin very well. But Christ
knew no sin. He was not a sinner. He was never
contaminated or corrupted by the sins of people on earth. So for God made him to be sin
who knew no sin for us, Christ, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. So he's showing there that God
made Christ sin, and how did he do that? By the imputation. That's the biblical word, imputed. That means that God the Father
made Christ, God the Son, to be the surety of the covenant
of grace before the world began. And He charged, accounted, reckoned
the demerit, the debt of the sins of His people, His chosen
people, the elect, to Christ. Christ was made the surety of
the covenant. And because he was the surety
of the covenant, and he willingly did that, Christ willingly, joyfully
became the surety of God's elect, the church, his people, all who
come to believe the gospel. Because he was made their surety,
he had to come into the world and become incarnate. Now what
that means is that he was made flesh, he became a man. It's not that God turned into
a man, or that God changed into a man, and it's not that man
was made to be God. It's simply that God the Son,
the second person of the Trinity, who is divine equally with the
Father and the Son and every attribute of deity, took into
union with himself a perfect, sinless humanity, human body
and soul. that was created for him by the
Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. And that's called
the incarnation. The old writers, the old theologians
called it the hypostatic union of the person of Christ, within
the person of Christ. That means he's God and man in
one person. And there's no mixture of the
two natures, the divine nature and the human nature, but there's
a union of those two natures. And so Christ is God manifest
in the flesh. Fully God, fully human without
sin. Isn't that amazing? That's the
kind of person that it took to save us from our sins. See, The
righteousness in which we stand before God if we're saved, justified,
is the righteousness of God. But in order for Christ to work
out that righteousness, he had to be made flesh and die on the
cross. The Bible says in Hebrews 2.14,
it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might
reconcile us to God. And that word behooved is the
Greek word for debt. He was indebted to do that because
he was the surety of his people. Well, all of that, see, that's
the gospel doctrine. That's the gospel truth. The
gospel truth that sets sinners free. And so my question to you
and to myself would be, do we hear it? Do we hear God's words? And not just do we hear the words
with the physical ear and walk away unaffected. But do we hear
it with the spiritual ear? Is it life and death to us? Has God used it to bring us to
faith in Christ, to love Him, to follow Him, to submit to Him
as the Lord, our righteousness? And He's my only hope. My hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
Do I hear it with the spiritual ear that causes me to turn away
from everything else that would rival Christ? All those things
which were highly esteemed to me as a natural, lost, unregenerate,
unbelieving sinner. My works, my efforts, my decisions,
my experiences. It's all an abomination to God.
I come before God in the righteousness of His Son. That's what I want
to hear. That's what I love to hear. That's
my life. That's what motivates me to obedience. Not the legalism of the law.
Not a mercenary spirit as if I can earn my way into God's
favor or earn my rewards, as people say. No, no. Listen, I hear and believe and
love the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness
without works. And so Christ, in speaking to
the Pharisees here in John chapter eight, he says in verse 47, he
that is of God, he that has been chosen by God before the foundation
of the world, the elect, he that has been justified by God. Bible says who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies. He
that has been given to Christ by God. Christ said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. He that has been redeemed by
the blood of Christ. You see, the Bible doesn't teach
that Christ died for everybody without exception. Christ said
it over in John chapter 10, right here close to where we are. He says in John chapter 10 in
verse 11, listen to this. He said, I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Who are the
sheep? That's the ones he redeemed on
the cross by his precious blood. That's the ones whom God chose.
Their names were written in the Lamb's book of life before the
world began. That's right. And they were given
to him. He's their surety. He's their
substitute. He was made flesh for them. As
again, Hebrews 2, 14, it behooved him to be made like unto who?
His brethren. And how are they his brethren?
Because he's their representative. He's their surety. He's their
elder brother. He died for their sins. He was
buried. He arose again because of their justification. Their
sins are forgiven. So those who are of God are those
whom He redeemed by His blood. And those who are of God are
those whom He sends the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, into the world
to bring them under the preaching of the gospel, the gospel message,
that they must hear, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the
Word of God, they must hear it. You see, you gotta hear the gospel.
And you gotta hear it with the spiritual ear. And he brings
them under that gospel and he gives them life from the dead. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. It's life from the dead, spiritual
life given as he imparts the knowledge and the spirit and
the power. He gives us a new heart, the
scripture says. See, naturally speaking, our
hearts are deceitful, desperately wicked. Our minds, our affections,
our wills are under the power of sin and death and depravity.
Left to ourselves, we will not hear and come to God, come to
Christ. But the Spirit gives us a new
heart. He gives us new life, a new spirit. And he writes the word of God
on our hearts and brings us to see and to hear the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. and he gives us faith. Faith
is the gift of God. It's not natural to you to have
faith. If you truly have faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ for all salvation, that's a miracle of God's power
and grace given to you. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. You see that? And so you have
faith in Christ and you repent of those things which were before
highly esteemed. But now you agree with God. You
take sides with God against yourself. Lord, I'm a sinner. Be merciful
to me, the sinner. I have nothing in myself and
can do nothing from myself to recommend myself to God. I have
one hope. And that hope is Christ. Paul
said, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. And
what have I committed unto him? My whole salvation, from beginning
to final glory. And so Christ says, he that is
of God, verse 47, heareth God's word. And so he looked at these
Pharisees who did not believe Him. They shut their ears. They
closed their eyes. They didn't want that gospel
because it required them to turn away from everything that they
loved and highly esteemed. In other words, they had to come
to Christ and believe in Him and repent of their dead works.
Admit that they were lost, even in their religion. even in all
their cherished experiences. Because you see, without Christ,
it's all sin. So he says, you therefore hear
them not. You don't believe them because
you're not of God. Well, let's look at the rest
of it. He says in verse 48, then answered the Jews and said unto
him, say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil? Now that's what they said of
him because he preached a gospel that exposed their evil deeds
and their lost condition. They said, well, you're a Samaritan.
That was a term of derision. And you have a devil. And verse
49, Jesus answered, I have not a devil, but I honor my father
and you do dishonor me. Christ honored the father. Now
they claim to honor the Father, but they didn't. And the proof
of that is they dishonored the Son. You cannot honor God the
Father and dishonor God the Son. And you might as well mark it
down. He that, listen, the Father,
God the Father, is holy and just and righteous, and He will accept
no sinner He will save no sinner, He will
commune with no sinner, apart from Christ, the one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Outside of Christ,
there is no love from the Father. There's only hatred. And that's
a just hatred now, it's not an evil hatred. God hates all workers
of iniquity, we read in Psalm 5. Well, aren't I a worker of
iniquity? Somebody said, not if I'm in
Christ. Now, I'm still a sinner, but
that iniquity means that I don't measure up. I don't equal the
righteousness of the law because the righteousness of the law
can only be found fulfilled in Christ. But in Christ, I measure
up, not by my works. and not by my believing, only
because his righteousness has been imputed, charged, accounted
to me. And so Christ tells him, he says,
you don't honor the Father. I honor the Father, he said.
And he says in verse 50, he says, and I seek not mine own glory,
there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Now Christ is to be
glorified. But what he's saying here is
this, as the servant of God, servant of Jehovah, the servant
of the covenant, he came to glorify the Father. And in his high priestly
prayer over in John 17, he even made this statement, he said,
Father, glorify thou me with the glory that we had, I had
with thee before the world began. But he's talking about his work
as the servant of the covenant for the salvation of his people,
and it was to honor the Father, to show forth the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. He says in verse 51, verily,
verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never
see death. Now, what is it to keep his saying? Somebody says, well, that means
we've got to obey his law. Well, my friend, If obeying His
law is what delivers you from death, you're a dead person. Because we cannot keep the law.
We're sinners, all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. To keep His saying is to believe
Him, believe His gospel. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
repent of dead works. cling to Christ, plead his righteousness
alone for all salvation. And verse 52 says, then said
the Jews unto him, now we know that thou hast a devil. He said,
Abraham is dead. Now this goes back to what he
was talking about Abraham first. He said, if you believed Abraham,
you'd believe me. You seek to kill me. Abraham
didn't do that. Abraham looked forward to Christ.
And they said, Abraham is dead and the prophets, and thou sayest,
if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. But now
Abraham is dead. Well, verse 53, they ask, art
thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead, and the
prophets are dead? Whom makest thou thyself? Who
do you think you are? That's what they're saying. And
verse 54, Jesus answered, if I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father that honoreth
me of whom you say that he is your God. You claim God is your
father. Well, the father honored Christ.
Remember at his baptism, he spoke from heaven. He said, this is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Later on, he said, hear
ye him, hear ye him. That's what he said. But you
don't know him, Christ said. Later on there he said, before
Abraham was, I am. Abraham rejoiced to see the day
of Christ and he saw it and he was glad. Abraham heard the word. Do you hear it? Hearing God's
word, that's what it's all about. God's word in the gospel, wherein
Christ is revealed in the glory of his person. and in the power
of His finished work. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.