Listen. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to speak this morning. The Lord is going to speak. John chapter five, verse 25,
he says this. 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. Let me read another verse to
you. This verse is found in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 25. Bear in
mind what we've just said. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to speak this morning. He said, the time is coming.
It now is, the hour is now. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. Not me, that's not talking about
me. I have the privilege this morning of taking your attention
and hopefully your ear for the next few minutes. It's a privilege
that I am grateful for and that I hold seriously. It is something
that as we gather together and share this time together. We
are aware of that we give ear to these words week by week,
but let us not doubt that this is more than merely a man's voice
or a congregation's audience. This is the Lord that speaks. We believe that when we gather
together, when we come into his presence, it is with the purpose
and intent of hearing his voice. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we
turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. Your soul's eternal welfare is
the greatest responsibility that you have today. Your soul's eternal
welfare. Will you turn away from the Lord
Jesus Christ when he speaks? What is more vital than to hear
God's words? We only have a short time here
this morning, an hour. But that short time that we have
is just a picture of the short time that we have in this world.
Ask the old guys. Come and speak to me about how
little time we actually have and how quickly it passes. And
the most important thing that we can address this morning is,
what is the state of my eternal soul? Because eternity will never
pass. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh from heaven. Moses spoke on the earth. That's who the reference in Hebrews
is most directly appertainable to. Moses spoke on earth and
he gave the commandments of God. He gave commandments of God to
a people who were a stiff-necked people, who were people that
had cloth in their ears. They wouldn't listen. Their hearts
were desirous more to pursue after the lusts of their own
flesh. They had grand ideas of their
self-importance. Religious ideas. They thought
if God is going to do this to us as a people, why do we have
to give hearing to Moses? We have a direct relationship
with God ourselves. We don't need to listen to this
man. Moses spoke on earth, and there were some present in the
time of Moses who resisted him and who refused to listen to
the things that he was saying. Read it for yourself in Numbers
chapter 16. Read it with the light on, because if it's dark,
you'll get scared. The things that happened to those
men who turned their back On the word that God spoke through
his servant Moses were terrible, fearful. The earth opened up and consumed
them. Them and their wives and their
children all fell down into the pit alive. And that's what the
writer to the Hebrews is referencing. He is saying, if that's what
happened to men who wouldn't listen to a man on earth, think
what is going to happen if we refuse to listen to the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. Much more shall we not escape. If we turn away from the Son
of God, He who speaks from heaven, He who speaks clearly in the
gospel, He who speaks words of truth, He who gives hope to hopeless
men and women, He who declares forgiveness to those who can
find no forgiveness in their own hearts when they reflect
upon the things that they have said and the things that they
have done. Oh, guilt is a problem. Guilt
is a problem that besets us day after day after day. We look
back and we think about the people that we've hurt. We think about
the offence that we've caused. We think about the places that
we've gone and the things that we've done and the damage that
has come from it. And we wonder if there is such
a thing as peace in our own conscience and forgiveness with God. There
is one who speaks peace to the hearts of men and women, no matter
what you've done, no matter where you've been, no matter what you've
said. The Lord Jesus Christ comes and
he speaks words of hope and he speaks words of forgiveness.
He declares mercy available to a sinful people who deserve none. He gives meaning to our lives
and teaches us how to understand ourselves and our relationship
one with another and our relationship with God. He talks of grace and
love and peace, wonderful themes, glorious themes, high themes,
important messages that come from the Lord Jesus Christ in
heaven. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. See that we listen when the Lord
Jesus Christ speaks to us today. Another verse in Hebrews says,
Chapter two, verse three. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? Where are you going to find salvation
in this world if it's not in the Lord Jesus Christ? Where
are you going to find salvation? Where are you going to find peace
What course of action are you going to pursue to deal with
the sin that's in your heart? With the lusts that rise up constantly
in your own soul? Where are you going to find release,
liberty from that if you will turn your back? on the Lord Jesus
Christ who speaks from heaven to our souls today. How shall
we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first
began to be spoken by the Lord? At the first, let me tell you
something about this salvation. Salvation isn't a novelty. It's
not a new idea. It was spoken of at the first. What was first? What was the
very first thing that was ever said? In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and
void. Darkness was upon the face of the earth. No, it wasn't let
there be light. That wasn't the first thing that
was ever said. Before that. There was a conversation,
a conversation in heaven before the earth was ever formed. A
conversation that took place between the persons of the Godhead. A conversation about a love that
God had for his people. Of a desire that God had to gather
a people to himself. of a will that God had to have
communion with those who were of flesh and blood. Staggering,
amazing, wonderful, majestic truths. that are revealed to
us about the eternal God, He who needs nothing, He who is
self-existent, self-satisfied in everything, who is beyond
our concept or understanding, who nevertheless speaks, who
speaks to men, who speaks to sinners, and He says, here am
I, send me. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
spoke from the beginning. in the eternal covenant of peace,
that he would represent his people, that he would represent those
that God gave to him. The word we speak of him, John
says, in the beginning was the word. The word was with God. He was the word because he spoke.
He's the word because he's the voice. He is the amen. the one who declares that it
will be, the one who declares truth from God. And at the first,
he spoke in the covenant of peace before creation. And he spoke
of a plan that was devised by the Godhead, that was foretold
by prophets, that was fulfilled in time, that was accomplished
by the very person of Jesus Christ himself. And he spoke of a people
bestowed by God to him, committed into his care. And he spoke of
a salvation that would be applied by God, the Holy Spirit, that
would bring to men and women peace and glory and joy. Well, might the writer to the
Hebrews say, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord. It is a great salvation. See
that we refuse him not that speaketh of this great salvation. I want
to draw our attention for a little while today to this 25th verse
of John chapter 5. 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. Let's take it from the top. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Do you know what hadn't dawned on me, and this is more to my
shame than anything else because I'm probably not teaching you
anything, but there are 20 occasions exclusively in the Gospel of
John where the Lord Jesus Christ says these words, verily, verily,
I say unto you. Now there's nearly 100 recordings
of this type of statement. But in all the other Gospels,
it's verily I say unto you. John is distinct in that in each
of the 20 times where he writes this phrase down, he doubles
up the verily. The Lord Jesus Christ said, as
John recorded it, on 20 occasions, verily, verily I say unto you. And I just want to pause for
a moment and say, have you ever had anyone else using those words? Never, never in the history of
humankind has anyone spoken like this man speaks. Never has anyone
said, truly, truly, I say unto you. That word verily is the
same word amen. So when we say amen at the end
of our prayers, or when the gospel writers write amen at the end
of the gospels, They are testifying to the truthfulness and the veracity
of the things that they have heard. Here's a little aside
for you. If you ever find yourself in
the company of someone who's praying and you think to yourself,
this man or this woman doesn't know the gospel. This man doesn't
know God. This man doesn't know by the
things that he is saying the truth of the revelation of God. Don't say Amen at the end. Just
don't say it. Because how can you give your
agreement to these things that are not true? Amen is an important
word. It's important when we say amen
that we recognize that we are giving assent to the things that
have been said. Verily, verily, amen, amen. This is true. This is true. It's
emphasizing the need for us to hear the things that the Lord
Jesus Christ is saying. It speaks of authority. It speaks
of faithfulness and trustworthiness. It speaks of these qualities
that the Lord Jesus Christ has that no other man could possibly
take to himself. Everything that the Lord Jesus
Christ said was true. Everything that he said was dependable. And when he says, verily, verily,
he's telling us to think about these things as being the absolute
truth of God revealed by himself. He says, verily, verily, I say
unto you, the Lord Jesus Christ is about to say something important. Verily, verily, I say unto you. And if he's saying something
important to his disciples, you may be sure that he is saying
something important to you and something important to me. It
is our obligation to hear him, to turn not away from him who
speaketh from heaven. The Holy Spirit has specifically
recorded these words for us, intentionally, purposely given
us this construction of phrase in order. I guess what we would
do nowadays is that we would put it in bold or we would underline
it with a different color of text. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ
did something simpler than that. He said, listen to this, because
what I'm about to tell you is true, so true. The Lord Jesus
Christ speaks. And what I say doesn't matter
very much. What I say really doesn't matter.
Listen, I've lived long enough to know that most of my opinions
are wrong. And most of the things that I
think are probably drawn from inadequate information, prejudiced
thinking processes, a sinful heart that construes and constructs
my own worldview according to what pleases me. I only need
to listen to my son. and the way in which he exposes
all the fallacies of my ideas and thoughts to know that, you
know what? Stop talking. Just shut up. It's amazing how young people
know all the answers, isn't it? Until they learn that actually
they're just the same as their dads and their mums. I might like to think that I've
got something important to say to you. And I hope I'm not bursting
any balloons, but I'm pretty sure you all like to think that
you've got something important to say as well. The truth is
that it's this man that we need to hear. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ that we need to hear. And our opinions and our ideas,
they're not worth a thing. we need to hear the words that
the Lord Jesus Christ speaks. What he says matters immensely,
because he has the words of eternal life. What he says matters to
you this morning, and it matters to me, because this is the matter
of life and death. This is the matter of our soul's
eternal well-being. Don't ignore it. Don't turn away. Don't neglect these things. Your
soul depends upon it. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
say? He said, the hour is coming and now is, and now is. So he's not talking about the
hour that's coming someday in the future when the graves will
be opened and the resurrection trumpet will sound and God will
come back, the Lord Jesus Christ will come back and all men will
go and stand at the judgment. That day is coming, that day
is coming. make no mistake about it, there will be a judgment
and all men will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and
the Lord Jesus Christ himself into whose hand all judgment
has been given. He will declare those that are
his and those who must depart from out of his presence for
all eternity. It will be a terrible day, it
will be a terrible hour for those who have no saviour, who have
no peace with God. And what a joyous hour it will
be for those who love the Lord. But it's not that hour that we're
speaking about. The hour is coming, he said,
and now is. He's speaking with an urgency.
He's speaking with an immediacy here. The hour is now. It now
is. It's this hour here today. It's
not history. It's not past times. It's not
old folk that this is meaningful for. It's not for your granny.
It's not for grown-ups and adults. It's for you. It's for me. It's now. It's important now
that we hear the things that the Lord has to say. We imagine
that it was simpler back then. You know, we maybe have an old
Bible in the house and we look at it and there's the old folks
writing in there and there's testimony to their faith and
we think it was simpler back then. It wasn't any simpler back
then. If anything, we've made our lives
simpler, more complicated in their simplicity. But it was
hard back then, but people heard, people heard the word of the
Lord and they trusted in Him. And so for every one of us, there
is an appointed time. The Lord Jesus Christ was talking
almost 2,000 years ago, but now is now. The hour is coming and
now is. And what hour is this? Well,
you don't need to turn around, it's 11.30. It's the 30th of
April, it's 2017. And here, we need to give that
audience to the words of Christ and hear them. Because this moment
will never be repeated. You'll never be back here again. This is it, this is the present,
this is now. and soon it will be lost forever. And we might look back someday
and think, I wonder what would have happened if I had listened. I wonder what would have happened
if I had given ear, given place, heard the voice of Christ. What happens in this hour will
have eternal, everlasting, enduring consequences for your soul. The disciples, the apostles to
whom these words were spoken were being primed by the Lord. They were being told to be prepared
for what the Lord Jesus Christ was about to do. These words
that he speaks are words that change men's hearts. They're
words that convict souls, that challenge that convert, that
change, that make a difference. The Holy Spirit, He takes these
words of the Lord Jesus Christ and He opens the heart. He opens
the heart. If your heart ever has to be
opened, I hope there's a very talented surgeon standing above
you at the time. because our heart is so important
to the well-being of our physical bodies. But the heart, because
of its importance, is used scripturally, spiritually, to speak about the
whole man or the whole woman, about who we really are, about
what we are, and it's the Holy Spirit that has to take and open
that heart, that has to touch us in the depths of our being,
show us who we are, really are, deep down, and to teach us something
of these truths that the Lord Jesus Christ speaks. True, these words are. The Lord Jesus Christ uses words
to change men and women's hearts. He uses the gospel. It's an amazing
thing. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
could use lightning. He could use anything. He could
speak to us like he spoke to Paul with a Damascus Road experience. He could blind us, just like
that. He could cripple us. He could
so illate us that we have an experience that is out of the
body. Do you know, he could do anything he wants. He's God. But amazingly, he has chosen,
purposefully, to speak to men and women with the simplicity
of words. Just words. The gospel. Don't go around looking for some
dramatic experience. Don't think that you're going
to hear something or see something that is going to be so charismatically
phenomenal that it just changes your life forever. This is the
hour. This is the moment. These are
the words. This is the gospel. This is the
man, Christ Jesus, who speaks. And it is God, the Holy Spirit,
that opens the hearts of sinful men and women touches them and
changes them and that's what the Lord is here speaking about. The hour is now, the hour is
now and the disciples were being prepared to carry this message
with boldness, this message of the gospel, this message of the
Lord Jesus Christ and salvation through him and so each gospel
preacher Men that take the responsibility and are given the responsibility
of declaring the gospel in these days, they carry the same boldness
with them into the pulpit when they're preaching every time,
or they should. That the hour is now when men
and women will have their hearts opened and the gospel will be
poured in in eternal significance to their souls. The Lord does not say that the
dead might hear. He says that the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. There's the confidence that the
preacher has every time he brings the gospel to men and women,
that the dead shall hear, and they that hear the voice of the
Son of God shall live. In hours such as this, the gospel
goes forth, and it goes forth to fulfil the purpose whereunto
it was sent. This gospel is the message, you
must hear it. For your soul's eternal well-being,
you must hear it. And I trust that the Lord will
give you grace by the power of the Holy Spirit to receive these
truths. The Lord says, the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God. Now let me tell you this,
I'm not what is sometimes called a universalist. I don't believe
that everyone is going to heaven. I don't believe that salvation
was intended for everyone. I don't believe that there is
a universal love of God, a universal grace of God, a universal mercy
of God that is going to come to all men at the end anyway,
because how could a God of love ever send people to hell? I don't
believe in that nonsense. That's not what the Bible teaches.
If we're going to hear the word of Christ, we must hear it and
believe it as it is given. There are those who are dead
in sins. That's the consequence of our
humanity. We're born in sin. Because of
the sin of Adam, because of the rejection that Adam made all
those years ago, there is a consequence which has fallen upon every single
man, woman, boy, girl. There is a sin that afflicts
us, and the Bible calls that sin a deadness. A deadness. A deadness towards
spiritual things. It's as if our souls are dead. And sometimes you'll meet someone
and you'll think to yourself, that person's so vacant. There's
no affection, there's no feeling, there's no warmth in that person.
That person, it's almost as if their soul's dead within them. We use such language when we
encounter people. But this is deeper than that. This is not talking about some
sort of vacantness or some sort of slowness or lack of interest. This is talking about a disease
that has come into our souls that has caused us to have no
ability to understand spiritual things. And men and women are
born into that state, so a change has to be made. A radical alteration
has to be made. And the purpose of using the
phrase, the word dead in sins, is to suggest to us and to teach
us by suggesting this to us that there's nothing that we can do
just as a dead corpse can't do anything of itself. So there
is nothing that we can do of ourselves to remedy that deadness,
that lack of spiritual understanding, which is part of our makeup.
And yet the Lord says that the hour is coming and now is when
the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. We're not
talking about everyone. And maybe this morning there's
a whole host of people in this room who've got dead souls. And maybe this word will just
come to one. Maybe it's you. Maybe it's you. It's a strange phrase, isn't
it? The dead don't hear a thing.
But this is no ordinary voice. And we're talking spiritually
here about a spiritual change, a reformation, an alteration,
a conversion that God alone accomplishes. This is the voice of the Son
of God. This is the voice of He who Himself
is the resurrection and the life, who Himself died and rose again. The Lord Jesus Christ in his
own ministry raised the dead. There are three distinct occasions
when he raises dead people. And those whom he raised are
given to us, recorded in the page of scripture to show us
that he has power over physical life and death. We're given that
picture of his power over physical life and death in order to reinforce
and authenticate the power that he has over spiritual life and
death. The physical life and death isn't
the biggest thing. It's the fact that he can speak
a word which changes our souls, that enters our hearts. Your soul needs a miracle. just as altogether amazing and
wonderful as the Lord Jesus Christ calling forth the dead during
his own lifetime. It is his voice that brings the
power of salvation, the voice of Jesus Christ, the voice of
Jesus Christ in the gospel. And what does he say? What does
he say? He says this. He says, I know
that you're a sinner. I know that you're a sinner. This person here might not know
that you're a sinner. And this person here might have
an idea, but pretty low key. But the Lord Jesus Christ knows
the true color of your heart. He knows your works. He knows
your words, He knows your thoughts, He knows your motivation, and
He knows that you are not fit for His presence. I know that
you are a sinner. I know that you are dead in your
soul, dead in your sin, and I know that you are unable to help yourself. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
says to you this morning. But He also says this, He says,
I have come to save sinners just like you. I have come to save
sinners by taking away that sin. He says, when I died on the cross,
I took all the sin of all my people All that people, remember
about that covenant when he spoke in that eternal covenant and
God the Father gave him a people committed into his care, a people,
a people whom the Father loved from before time. He said, I
have taken the sin of all that people that were committed into
my hand, into my care, And I paid the price. I took that sin away
on my own, in my own body on the cross. I paid the debt of
sin with my blood. I satisfied justice. I redeemed my people. I brought
in mercy. And now he says, now he says,
in the appointed hour of mercy, In the appointed hour of love
and grace, I am visiting each one for whom I died, and I am
whispering words of love into their souls. That's what the
Lord Jesus Christ says. That's the words. That's the
voice. Though dead in sin, he says,
the hour is coming when they shall hear the voice of the Son
of God. How is that possible? The dead
can't bring themselves to life. It's foolishness to think so.
But the Holy Spirit quickens. He makes alive. He calls in power
with the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Lazarus, come forth! And those who are dead in their
sins, hear, hear. Lazarus is just an example. What's
your name? What's your name? Do you know? Lord Jesus Christ says to Timothy
chapter two, verse 19, the Lord knoweth them that are his. He
visits and he knows. Remember the man that was there
lying at the pool with Seda? 38 years he'd been lying there. A certain man. The Lord knew
his name. The Lord knew who he was. The
Lord went to that place to find him. Such a pitiful statement. The Lord says to him, would you
be a mate? Holy Sith. He said, mister, I
don't have anybody to carry me down to the water when the angel
comes to trouble the water. Oh, he says, I try. I try. I try. But as I try, somebody
steps down before me, always steps down before me. And for
38 years, I have lain here. The Lord knew him. The Lord knew
his name. The Lord knew him from eternity.
The Lord recognized him as one of those that had been given
to him by his father in the eternal covenant of grace. And the Lord
came and he saved that man's soul. He said, thy sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more. I'm glad
he didn't say, go and sin no more and your sins will be forgiven. He said, your sins are forgiven.
Now go and sin no more. And oh, to know that forgiveness
in our souls. Oh, to hear that voice. Oh, to
have that experience of grace flood in upon us, to know forgiveness,
to know peace with God. John 10 three says, to him the
porter openeth. and the sheep hear his voice,
and he calleth his own sheep by name, and he leadeth them
out. Lazarus, come forth. Put your
own name in there. Can you hear the voice of the
Lord? Is this the hour? And they shall hear and live. The Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed
his people by his blood. He has pardoned their sins, He
has cleansed them of their sins, and He has justified them. He
has equipped them, He has made them righteous, He has prepared
them for the presence of His Father. And now He comes in regenerating
power, He comes with a new life, and they that hear shall live. The voice of the Son of God is
heard in the gospel of grace. And while the general call goes
out every time the preacher preaches faithfully the truths of the
word of God, that special call, that secret
call, that effectual call, that personal call comes to the heart
of an individual. It might miss the people on either
side, but it will strike where it is intended. And if God the
Son and God the Holy Spirit, if God speaks to us today, then
do not turn away. Don't turn away. How will we
escape if we neglect so great salvation? To whom else can you
turn? He has the words of eternal life. If God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit has spoken, Do not turn away. Where else will you go? Here is great salvation. If God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit has spoken, don't turn away. This is the appointed time. This is the day. This is the
hour of salvation for you. If God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit has spoken, Do not turn away, but come, come to Christ. Jesus says, come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And in John 6, 37, all that my
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. God grant us grace. Show us mercy. Whisper thy love to our hearts
today. Speak with power, with the power
of the voice of the Son of God. Cause the dead to rise, the deaf
to hear, and bring the children of promise home. Amen.