You would open your Bibles to
John chapter 5. John chapter 5 and we'll look
this evening at verse 25. John 5 verse 25. The title of the message is From
Death to Life. From Death to Life. Here we read, Verily, verily,
this is our Lord speaking. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. Now here we read of a resurrection,
a resurrection from death to life, from spiritual death to
spiritual life. Now the world and the religion
of this world declares this of salvation. They say that salvation
is a choice. that salvation is an exercise
of man's so-called free will, that salvation is walking to
the front of the church while the music's playing and shaking
hands with the preacher. That's what this world says.
That's what the religion of this world says. They say that salvation
is a decision, that God cast His vote and the devil cast his
vote, and now it's up to you. Some would say this, that salvation
is simply repeating a prayer that some man came up with, the
sinner's prayer. But that's just not the case. That sounds easy enough, doesn't
it? Any of those things sound easy enough, but listen. Think about that. Making a choice.
Exercising your free will. Walking up and shaking the preacher's
hand. Making a decision. Saying the sinner's prayer. But
here's the problem. Each and every one of those things
is dependent upon what the man does. All those rely on man and
what he does. All these things are completely
dependent on the sinner doing something. But here's the problem. A dead man can't do any of those
things. A dead man can't do anything. A dead man can do nothing. But
true salvation, God's salvation, the salvation of the Bible is
the resurrection of a dead soul to life. Life in Christ. And I'd like us to see three
things here in this passage this evening. And the first one is
this, the condition of the sinner. What is the condition of the
sinner? Where does Christ find us? We read this, the hour is
coming and now is when the dead shall hear. The dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. That's what the scriptures declare
of us. We're dead in trespasses and sin. And again, a dead man,
he can't take any steps, can he? Let alone the first step.
A dead man can't make a decision. A dead man can't say or repeat
anything, let alone a sinner's prayer. And a dead man can't
make a choice. He's dead. Like that infant that
we read of back in the Old Testament. That infant that was cast out
into the open field. That infant's helpless. That
infant's hopeless without someone coming along. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Look at beginning with verse
1. Here we read, and you hath he
quickened. You hath he given life who were
dead, dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in times past you
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others, but God. But God, who
is rich in mercy for his great love wherein he loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, by grace are you saved. Every one of us, dead in sin,
separated from God, without God, without Christ. Ephesians 2 verse
12, we read that at that time you were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the
covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in this
world, the condition of the sinner. Romans 5.12 says, Wherefore,
as by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Back
there in the garden, back in Genesis chapter 2. Turn there
with me. Genesis 2. beginning with verse 16. The Lord God commanded the man,
he told Adam, he said, of every tree of the garden, thou mayest
freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And that's
where we're found, dead. Dead as a result of the fault. Dead because of Adam's fault.
Dead because of Adam's sin. But listen, we can't just point
back and just blame Adam for that. It's our sin. It's Adam's sin, but it's our
original sin, but it's our sin. It's my sin. David said, wash
me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. It's my sin, the condition of
the sinner. This is where we're found, dead
in trespasses and sin. Second, turn back to John chapter
5, verse 25. We read in our text the command
of the Savior. The dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God. Those that are dead shall hear."
Isn't that good news? The dead shall hear. Not just
anything. Not just anyone. They'll hear
the voice of the Son of God. Now, there are those who will
not hear. The Scriptures are clear about that. God's Word
is clear about that. There are those who will not
hear. Do you still have John chapter
5? Look at verse 37. The Father Himself which hath
sent me hath borne witness of me. You neither heard His voice
at any time nor seen His shape. You have not His Word abiding
in you. Eyes that won't see, ears that
won't hear. The Scriptures declare in Acts
3 verse 23 that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall
be destroyed from among the people. But to His elect, to His sheep,
He speaks life. Oh, there's life in His Son.
We read here, the dead shall hear. He speaks in power and
He speaks life. In the Scriptures, we read the
promise of life. The promise of life in Christ
Jesus. Christ who is our life. Colossians
3 verse 3, you're dead and your life is hidden with Christ in
God. Place of safety, a place of refuge,
life. This is eternal life that they
may know you, that they may know thee. The only true God in Jesus
Christ who now has sinned. Christ who is our life. Paul
writing to the church there at Colossians, he said, When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, we'll appear with Him also in
glory. Oh, what good news. And listen,
to that infant, that infant cast out there in the open field,
what did we read? It was a time of love. A time of mercy. What did He
say to that infant? He said, live. He spoke in power
and He said, live. He said, I pass by thee. It was
a time of love. And what did He do? He covered
her nakedness. He clothed her. She was made perfect through
His completeness. That's the believer in Christ. The command, live. Jairus was
a ruler in the synagogue and he fell down at the Lord's feet.
He said, my little daughter, she lied at the point of death.
He said, I pray that you come lay your hands on her, that she
might be healed. He said, if you do that, she'll
live. And while they were heading to
the house, there were a couple of other things that happened
that delayed them. But somebody from Jairus' house
come out and he said, trouble the master no more. Your daughter's
dead. She's dead. Don't trouble him
any further. And our Lord heard what that
man said. And he said to Jairus, he said,
don't be afraid. He said, only believe. Believe. Can she live again? Can his daughter
live again? Job asked that question. All
the way back there in the book of Job, he said, if a man died,
can he live again? And our Lord told Jairus, and
He told those around Him, He said, she's not dead. She sleepeth. And those folks, when they heard
that, they laughed at Him. They laughed at Him. They laughed
Him to scorn. But He spoke to Jairus' daughter.
He said, Talitha Kumai. Damsel, arise. And straightway, there wasn't
any waiting period, but straightway, she arose. To Lazarus, he just
spoke the command. He said, Lazarus, come forth. We read that he that was dead
came forth. Turn with me to the book of Hebrews,
Hebrews chapter 4. Our Lord speaks in power. Look
at verse 12 of Hebrews 4. For the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest
in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do. A sinner, a dead sinner must,
must hear the Word of the Lord. You know, I was thinking about
if the only voice you hear this evening is my voice, we've not
heard anything. If that's all you hear is a man
speak, we must hear Christ speak. We must hear Him speak through
His Word. all that God would be pleased.
This evening and every time we gather together, whoever stands
in this place to preach, that he would speak through his servant,
that he would speak to the hearts of his people, that he would
speak in power, speak in power to us, everyone. It's the power of God. In the
Scripture, in the Word, the power of God unto Salvation. That's why we speak
from His Word. That's why the men that stand
here in this pulpit aren't up here telling stories and reading
things out of a book. We preach from God's Word. God says He'll bless His... That's
what He said He'd bless. He'll bless His Word. It's by
His Word that the Gospel is preached. The dead shall hear the voice
of the Lord. Eli said to Samuel, he said,
you go lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that you
say, speak, Lord. Oh, speak, for thy servant heareth. The voice of the Lord, the voice
of love, of grace, of mercy, of life, of liberty. We read,
if the Son shall make you free, you'll be free indeed. A voice
of peace. He speaks peace to the heart.
A voice of pardon, of righteousness, a voice of salvation. And listen,
His sheep, here's another great thing, His
sheep hear His voice when He speaks. The dead shall hear the
voice of the Lord. And then third, turn back there
to John chapter 5, here we see the certainty or the success
of His command. They that hear shall live. They that hear shall live. It
doesn't say they might live. It doesn't say that they should
live. It says they shall live. He shall save His people from
their sin. The blood of Jesus Christ, His
Son, cleanses us from all sin. They shall hear, the dead. The
dead shall hear and they shall live. Turn with me to the book
of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 37. Look at verse 1 of Ezekiel 37. The hand of the
Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord,
and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full
of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about. And behold,
there were many in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. dead in sin. There's no sign
of life here, is there? These bones have laid out in
this open field. They're dry. And doesn't that
point to our fallen state? Doesn't that point to us? Doesn't
that point to the sinner, dead in trespasses and sin? There's nothing out there in
that field but dead men's bones. No feeling, no will, no fear,
no love, no righteousness. no repentance, no life, nothing
but death. And God asked the prophet, He
said, can these bones live? Look at verse 3. He said unto me, Son of man,
can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou
knowest. That's the answer right there.
O Lord God, thou knowest. Can a living Breathing bodies
stand where these dead bones lie. Isn't that the question
of the Scriptures? Can an Ethiopian change his spots? Can a leper change his spots? Can an Ethiopian change his skin? Can we that are accustomed to
doing evil, well, that comes natural to us, doesn't it? Can
we that are accustomed to evil do good? Can the smell of a rose
come forth from a grave? Can this tongue that curses God,
can it praise Him? And the prophet said, Lord, only
You know. Only You know the answer to that
question. Lord, Thou knowest. You know, it's not in the preacher. It's not in the dead bones we
preach to. A dead sinner has no more power
to give Himself spiritual life than a man laying in the grave
can give Him power to come up out of that grave. The Scriptures
declare this, no man can come unto Me except the Father which
has sent Me draw him. And He's commanded here, He said,
Preach to these bones. Look at verse 4. Again, He said
to me, prophesy upon these bones, saying to them, O ye dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord. Well, He wasn't working on their
ego there, was He? He wasn't paying them a bunch
of compliments, telling them all the good things that they
had done or could do. He said, you're dead bones. Isn't that what we declare from
the Scripture? That man is dead. It's dead and trespasses in sin.
And then look at verse 5 and 6 there. He said, Thus saith
the Lord God of these bones, Behold, I'll cause breath to
enter into you. You shall live. And I'll lay
sinners upon you and bring up flesh upon you and cover you
with skin and put breath in you. And you shall live. You shall
know that I am the Lord thy God. I will. I will and ye shall. And what was the grand result
of all this? Look at verse 10. So I prophesied
as He commanded, and the breath came unto them, and they lived.
And they stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. That's what we're reading here
in God's Word. From death to life. John 5, 25. The condition of
the sinner. Dead. Dead in trespasses and
sin. He said the dead shall hear.
The command of the Savior. Live. Live. There's life in His
Son. And we read, they shall hear
the voice. They shall hear the voice of God. And then the certainty
or success of that command. They that hear shall live. They shall hear and they shall
live. How certain is that? Look at
verse 25 with me. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
these words are the words, listen, these are the words of our Lord.
He says, verily, verily, most assuredly, God who cannot lie,
there's coming and now is. When is that? That's right now.
Today. Today is the day of salvation.
Today, if you'll hear His voice, harden not your heart. Look at
John 11. Turn to John 11 real quick. Beginning with verse 21. Then said Martha unto Jesus,
If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know that
even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it
to thee." She knew of his sovereignty, of his authority. And Jesus said
unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him,
I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last
day. Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, Yet shall He live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Isn't that
a good question to consider? Believest thou this? Do we believe
what's written? You know, a lot of people ask
a lot of questions. But I ask you, do you believe
this? Do you believe Christ? That's
who's speaking here. Do we believe Him? Christ, listen to what He said.
He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He said, he that
believeth in Me, though he were dead, he'll live again. He said, whosoever liveth and
believeth in Me shall never die. Do I believe Christ? What is
it to believe Christ? I got this from Henry. I'm looking
at an old message. He said, it's to believe the
record that God hath given concerning His Son. It's what's recorded
in His Word. The Scriptures declare Christ. They all speak of Him. These
things are written that you might believe that Jesus Christ He's
the Son of God. You might believe Him, and believing,
you might have life through His name. Believing Christ is resting. It's relying and depending on
Christ alone. You boys are saying, what shall
wash away my sin? Nothing. Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. Nothing else needed, is there?
but nothing else that can cleanse us from our sin. He's my wisdom. He's my righteousness. He's my
sanctification and redemption. Do we believe Christ? Listen, it's to receive Him,
to believe Him and trust in Him as He's revealed in His Word. He's prophet, priest, and king. He's not a partial saint. He's
not a partial anything. He's a complete Savior. The Scriptures
declare that Christ is all. And to believe Christ is to continue
to believe Him. To continue to trust in Him. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief departing from the
living God. Believest thou this. That's what
our Lord said. Believest thou this. If there
was a man in Mark 9, and he brought his son to the Lord to be healed. He said this to the Lord, he
said, if you can do anything, oh, if you can do anything, have
compassion on us. Help us. And the Lord Jesus Christ
said to that man, he said, if you can believe all things, All things are possible
to him that believeth." And that fellow cried out. He said, I
believe. Help thou mine unbelief. I can
enter into that, can't you? I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. The hour is coming. And now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Lord. the voice
of the Son of God, and they that hear, all those that He gives
ears to, they that hear shall live. I pray the Lord would grant
us ears to hear, that He'd give us a heart to receive His Word,
He'd give us faith to believe His Word, or that He'd give us
life in His Son, in Christ, and that He'd bring us Just as He
did in all these inscriptions, He'd bring us from death to life. All right. Thank God for His
Word. You're dismissed.