I invite you this morning to
turn with me to the Gospel of John, John chapter 5. John chapter 5 begins with the
Lord's healing a paralyzed man. Imagine, my grandfather had a
heat stroke in his middle age working in the fields there in
southern Ohio. a heat stroke and it paralyzed
him. If you just took a pencil and
drew a straight line down his body, his whole right hand side
was paralyzed. He couldn't use it at all. And
it looked like almost like two different people side by side
laying in a bed. And he was like that for 14 years. But this man was 38 years. And here he is, lying there,
unable to move, and his whole body is paralyzed. Not just half,
but the whole body. He couldn't walk. He couldn't
talk to amount to anything. He couldn't use his hands. He couldn't crawl. He couldn't
roll. And here's this pool. And as it's stated in the Scripture,
Angels of God would come down and trouble those waters. And
the first one into the water was healed. But he couldn't get
to the water. He was paralyzed. And our Lord come along and He
healed this paralyzed man. He didn't use the waters. He
was the waters. And He healed this paralyzed
man. And this miracle He performed
on the Sabbath day. On the Sabbath day. Now the Sabbath
was to the Jew a day of rest. Nothing was to be done on that
day other than worship and reflection on what you'd heard, and reflection
on the Word of God. The law says in Exodus 20, I'm
going to read it to you, six days shalt thou labor and do
all thy work. But on the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that's within thy gates. For
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that
in them is, and rested on the seventh day. Wherefore, the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Now, the Lord had several
reasons for doing it. He didn't do this. It wasn't
an accident. It wasn't circumstantial. He
did these things on purpose, just as He does today. And the
Lord had several reasons why He performed this work on the
Sabbath day. In Mark chapter 2, verse 27,
He told the Pharisees, the Sabbath was made for man and not man
for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is
Lord also of the Sabbath. Our Lord healed this impotent
man to demonstrate that He is the rest. He is what the day
spoke of. He's Lord. When He talks about
His Lordship, being Lord of the Sabbath, yes, He's talking about
His authority as Lord and His making of the Sabbath, but He's
talking about more than that. He's talking about Himself as
the fulfillment of the Sabbath. And this is what he's telling
these people. He's the only way that man can
keep the Sabbath. Faith in Christ is the only way
he can rest from his labors and worship the Lord. The Son of
Man, our representative and substitute, is Lord also of the Sabbath. And then the second reason he
performed this work on the Sabbath day was to establish himself
as the Son of Man. The Son of Man is a phrase that
refers to the Christ, the promised Redeemer. When you read about
it in the Scriptures, talking about the Son of Man, that's
what they're talking about. They're talking about this coming
Redeemer. And He's called the Son of Man
because He is the first begotten of man of His chosen race. He's called the Son of Man because
He's the first begotten from the dead. He's called the Son
of Man because He's the second Adam. And Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. And then the third reason
he performed his work on the Sabbath was to declare himself
to be the son of God. This is God. Now they might sit
and argue with him about the Sabbath day. Religious folks
like to argue about stuff. They'll stand and argue and debate
back and forth about the Sabbath day. But listen to what he tells
them here in verse 17. He said, My father worketh hitherto,
and I work. Verse 21, For as the father raiseth
up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom
he will. Therefore the Jews sought the
more to kill him, because he not only broke in the Sabbath
day, but said also that God was his father, making himself equal
with God. What about you here this morning? What about you here this morning? The Christ you look to and rest
in and hope in, is He equal with God? Is He equal with God? Is He God? Is He God? Does He work where He will? When
He will, upon whom He will, how He will, is He God? My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work, and I work. They knew exactly
what He was saying. Does your relationship with Him
yield some assurance in your soul that you have this same
relationship with the Father? You notice that scripture I read
to you a while ago in John chapter 6? It relates that truth. It declares that truth. He that seeth the Son, and believeth
on him who sent him, who sent me. Our Lord prayed in His high
priestly prayer that all those given to Him of His Father might
be one as the Father was with Him and in Him. As thou art in
me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the
world may believe that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them
as thou hast loved me. Does your relationship with the
Christ you profess to believe leave you assured in your heart
that the living God loves you as He loves His Son? My soul, you think about that.
What a declaration. that God in heaven, the all-glorious
God, the all-knowing God, all-powerful God, should love me as He loves
His Son. And He does if I'm in His Son,
because I'm one. I'm one. Jesus Christ is God come into
the flesh. He's come to save His people
from their sins, to redeem them unto God by His own precious
blood, to clothe them in His righteousness and intercede for
them in glory. And you and I have no way of
perceiving the living God except by way of His Son. John said, we know that the Son
of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know Him that is true, and that we're in Him that is true. This
is the true God in eternal life. Are you with me so far? You see
what's going on here in this chapter? Jesus of Nazareth is
none other than the Son of God. If He's not the Son of God, He
cannot save you. He cannot present you faultless
before the presence of His Father's glory if He be not God. Now watch
this. Our Lord takes this up another
notch. John 5, 21. For as the Father raises up the
dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He
will. For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Now, what the Lord
is telling us here, telling these men that are here, that the Father
judgeth no man apart from the Son. Apart from the Son. The Son is involved in all God's
judgments. All His judgments. God judged
this world in Adam. In Adam all die. He judged this
world. But not without Christ. Not without
Christ. Even so, in Christ shall all
be made alive." This world was judged by God Himself in the
garden, and all men fell. By one man, sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men. But in that garden there was an altar, and a lamb was
slain on that altar, and a promise given of Christ at the fall of
man. And so it is with all the judgments. God overthrew this world. He
overturned this whole world and destroyed it with a flood, but
not without Christ. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And the Lord gave him instruction
how to build this ark. And eight souls entered that
ark. God judged the nation of Israel,
but not without Christ. His presence was with them in
the cloud. It is with Him in that rock that
followed Him, and that rock was Christ. God judged Sodom and
Gomorrah, but not without Christ. Just lot was delivered. And God
judges this world in their love of darkness over light, and in
their love of sin over righteousness, but not without Christ. For the
Son quickeneth whom He will. You think about that. All judgment,
He said, He judges no man apart from Christ. John 5.23, here's
why he does it. That all men should honor the
Son even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father, which is sin. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that
sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life." By hearing his word, he's
talking about his doctrine concerning himself as the promised redeemer. Believing, according to the Word
of God, that Jesus Christ, being one with the Father and thus
equal with God, voluntarily accepted the office given to Him by His
Father to be the surety of this everlasting covenant of grace.
That He should assume accountability for all those given to Him by
the Father. To do for them all that God demanded
and required. that He came and accomplished
the redemptive will of God, and bore their sins in His own body
on the tree. And the man who hears these things,
and believes these things, and rests in the Son of God, the
Son of Man, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." Now here's
my text. Verily, verily, verse 25, I say
unto you, the hour is coming. It's coming. And now is, when
the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. My message to you this morning
is this. The hour that now is. The old prophets prophesied of
the grace that our Lord is here declaring to the people. And
it was revealed to them that not unto themselves, but unto
us they did minister the things which were to come. You can read
about it in Hebrews 11. You can go through there and
you can read about it, how they searched diligently. And then
over there in Hebrews 11, all these All these men that he mentions,
Enoch and all down the line, but he said, these having not
received the promises saw them afar off. They saw this hour
that he's talking about right here. They saw that way off. And they embraced it and embraced
Him who was yet to come. And these things are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven. There's coming an hour. This
hour was prophesied of, inquired about, and looked for. The hour
is coming. Oh, blessed hour. Think of what
this world would be without that prophecy. Think of what this
world would be. Think about where would this
race be without that promised hour that was yet to come. It's
coming, our Lord said. The hour's coming. It's been
coming since the beginning of time. This is that hour that
was set into play, set into effect in the council halls of eternity,
for lack of a better word. From everlasting, this hour was
dictated. This hour was canceled. All creation
comes behind this hour. They would have taken Christ
and threw Him off a hill, but His hour wasn't come yet. That's
this hour He's talking about. The hour is coming. It's coming. It's been coming. And believers
have been looking for it, and looking to it, and inquiring
about it for thousands of years. It's coming. Oh, that blessed
day in the synagogue at Nazareth, when our Lord stood up for the
read, and they handed Him the scrolls of Isaiah, and they found
that place where it was written in Isaiah 61, the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."
And then he looked all around the room and he said, this day
is the Scripture fulfilled in your ears. To preach the acceptable The
year of the Lord. The hour is coming, our Lord
said, and now is. And now is. His appearance marked the beginning
of the Gospel age, the New Testament age, the age of light and life
and revelation. No more types and symbols and
days and ceremonies. No more priests and sacrifices
and Sabbath days. 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 very quickly, I want to give
you several things here. I think we have time this morning
for five things that must come to pass in this hour that now
is. First of all, he tells us that
the dead shall hear. The dead. Now those that are
running around who think they live, not going to hear. Not
going to hear. But the dead is going to hear.
The dead is going to hear. You hath he quickened who were
dead. Death is the ultimate expression
for sin. You want to know what sin is?
Death. That's what it is. Death. Do
you know that the everlasting punishment and all the the corruption,
that pit of fire, all those things that Hell described. Do you know
what it's called in Scripture? The second death. Death is the
ultimate expression for sin. Sin entered and death passed. Sin, when it's finished, bringeth
forth death. Death is the ultimate expression
for sin. And he's not here talking about
the physically dead. He deals with them down in verse
28. Some of them are going to be raised too. He deals with
that down in verse 28. But here he is talking about
the nature of sin. Men and women not dead physically,
but dead spiritually. They have minds with which to
think, and emotions to feel, and eyes to see, and ears to
hear. They have feet to walk, but they
are dead spiritually. Their mind is enmity against
God, not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Their
throat is like an open grave, exposing the putrid mass within. What comes out of the mouth originates
in the heart, our Lord said. Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts and adulteries and all of those things. Destruction
and misery are in their ways. It's the way of man, the way
of rebellion, the pride and covetousness and greed that makes him so miserable. No fear of God before his eyes. How often have I seen men and
women gather in this very place, be here one time, maybe twice,
and never see him again, and preach these glorious truths
from the Word of God, and have them to turn and have them to
read these very Scriptures, and I look at them, and there's no
feeling whatsoever in them eyes. There's no tears, there's no
fear, there's no fear of God before their eyes. None whatsoever. Man does not fear his concept
of God, the God of his imagination, the imperfect, changeable, compromising
God, the God who is pleased with anything that man is willing
to offer him, anything men have to say and do in the name of
religion. Stephen didn't tell the Jews.
They were mixed up in their doctrine, and they were wrong-headed. That's not what he told them.
He said, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always resist the Holy Ghost. You are a bunch of rebels. That
is what he told them. A bunch of rebels. Man is dead
spiritually. And unless he hears Him speak
who is Lord of the dead and the living, dead they are going to
stay. Dead they are going to stay.
But oh, listen to this glorious promise. There is coming an hour
And now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. And then secondly, they're
going to hear the voice of the Son of God. We're told in Hebrews
chapter 1, that God who spoke to our fathers through the prophets
hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He is
appointed heir of all things. by whom He made the world, who
is the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person,
who, upholding all things by the word of His power, when He
by Himself purged us from our sin, purged our sin, and sat
down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Now, when he says that the Lord's
spoken unto us in these last days. He is not talking about
things that our Lord said, though that could well be included in
it. But He is talking about His appearance, His coming into the
flesh, His righteous obedience, His accomplished work, His suffering
and death, His resurrection and ascension into glory. Christ
came. Christ came. The Son of Man came. He who was promised came. accomplish
what God sent him to do, and now sits at the right hand of
God. God spoke through that. He spoke
through that. And these things are the blessed
fulfillment of all that the prophet said before him. He tells us
in Acts 10, verse 43, to him, give all the prophets witness
that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive
remission of sins. None other name given unto heaven
whereby we must be saved. The voice of the Son of God is
heard through His coming and accomplishing the redemptive
will of God. God has spoken through Him in
His coming. And then thirdly, the text here
in John said, the dead shall hear. They shall hear. There is not going to be any
life apart from hearing. Isn't that what he is saying
here? Dead are going to stay dead until they hear from the
Son of God. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. And men who do not or will not
hear go on in their spiritual deadness until God one day makes
it permanent. The dead have no... Now I want
you to hear me. We're talking about spiritually
dead. I'm talking about the condition of this unregenerate world. The
dead have no potential of life. None. None. I told folks out in California,
I had this old 51 Ford truck when I was just a kid. And I
inherited it after my dad and my older brothers had bought
flap out. Hey, some of you in here old
enough know what I'm talking about. We used to, when the battery
didn't work, we'd push it and jump in and pop the clutch and
get it running. And half the time, that's how
I drove around town, this old six-volt battery, and there's
always something going wrong with it. But you could push it
and jump in there and pop that clutch and it'd turn that engine,
get it started, and away I'd go, you know. And I just kept,
I'd change plugs on it and sandblasted plugs and I'd do all this stuff
to it and finally one day it just wouldn't run. And my brother
came over and he helped me and we pulled it down the road and
it wouldn't start. We put new plugs in it and it
wouldn't start and we put new points in it and it wouldn't
start. And daddy said, well I know the head mechanic up here at
the Ford dealer and let's get him down here and he'll look
at it and tell us what it needs. So I waited and a few days later
that man come down and he looked it all over and run some tests
on it and check this and check that. Him and daddy had a little
conversation and he came over to where I was sitting and said,
your dad wanted me to give you news about the truck. He said,
the old truck's dead. It's dead. It's gone. Man's gone. He's gone. You can't push-start him and
pop the clutch. You can't rev him up spiritually
and get him running. You can't jump him, jump-start
him. You can't do those things. He's
dead. He's dead. Oh, my soul, the dead are going
to hear. And there's not going to be any life apart from here.
And there's no potential of life in him. The dead have no sense
of life. They have no sense of life. They
don't know what it is to rejoice in Christ. They don't know what
it is to worship God. They don't know these things.
It's alien to them. There's no sense of life in the
dead. The dead have no benefits of
life. smile, God loves you. I can't say that. That's a lie. God loves His elect. Now, I don't
know who they are. I do know this. They're all going
to believe. I do know that. But the dead
have no benefits of life. The dead have no evidence of
life. Dead men can't worship God. How are you going to worship
God apart from Christ? Jumping up and down and wiggling
your fanny to the music, that's not worshiping God. You can't
worship God except through Christ. The dead have no evidence of
life and the dead have no perception of life. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead, the spiritually dead, shall hear. They're going
to hear what they never heard. They're going to hear with a
power never before experienced. And they're going to hear with
their head, and they're going to hear with their heart. And
they're going to be moved. They're going to be moved. And
then fourthly, they shall hear the voice of the Son of God. Now wait a minute, preacher.
You're saying God's going to let it go through life, going
about their business, and one day they're out in a bass boat
going down the lake, and they hear a voice. No, that's not
what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying. Out
in the woods somewhere. No, sir. Turn with me to Luke
chapter 10. I know this goes against the
grain of modern religion, and it runs contrary to some of the
old writers, and it may even be contrary to some men's experience,
but it's so anyway. And it's a plain declaration
of the Word of God. Our Lord here sent out 70 preachers. Seventy men. He called them. He equipped them. He gave them
instruction. And He sent them out. And listen
to what He tells them here in Luke 10, 16. He that heareth
you, heareth Me. Boy, that don't really mean that.
It don't? Our Lord said it did. He that
heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you despiseth
me. And he that despiseth me despiseth
him that sent me. 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. And fifthly, what do they hear? What do they hear? Colossians
3.3. Listen to what Paul tells them.
He said, you're dead. You're dead. And your life is
hid with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. They hear that salvation is in
Christ alone. He is all in all. Isn't that
what Paul wrote to those heathen idol worshippers down there at
Colossae? Christ is all and in all. Christ in you, the hope
of glory. There is nothing else in there
to give you any hope except Christ. That's what it is when the sinner
hears. He has no hope. He's got no potential
of life. He's got no evidence of life.
He's got no perception of life. And then he hears Christ. And
he sees Him seated at the right hand of God. He sees Him who
accomplished the very things that God demands. He sees Him
bearing His sins in His own body on the tree. He sees everything
that He needs and everything that He desires. He sees it in
Christ and embraces Him. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Your hope's not your hope. Christ
is your hope. People talk about that all the
time. I get sick of hearing it. Christ is your hope. There is
no other hope. There's nothing else in there.
It's just an empty box. Just an empty vessel. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. I tell you this, you find a believer
and he'll tell you real quick that he's nothing. You don't
want to start bragging on him. Whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute.
You're not talking about me. I'm a sinner. I'm nothing. He's everything. He's everything. They hear that salvation is in
Christ alone. He's all in all. Christ in you. The hope of glory. And they embrace
Him. Do you know why they embrace
Him? There's nothing else to embrace. They've done discovered
by the Holy Spirit what's in them. Nothing. Nothing. He's everything. He's everything. That's what they hear. Religion
don't hear that. If you don't believe me, go sit
down and listen to them. I'll tell you what you're going
to find out when you've listened to them. If you have any knowledge
at all of the Word of God, the first thing you're going to say
is, Reckon that man's ever even read the Bible? Reckon he's even read the Bible?
I know he's been to seminary, but reckon he's ever read his
Bible? Does he not know who Christ is? Does he not know why he came,
what he did, where he's at? Does he not know that Christ
is all? Then why are you talking about my works? Isn't that what Satan said in
his heart that called God to cast him out of glory? He said,
I'll sit on the throne. I'll sit on the seat of the congregation. I'll be the leader. I'll be the
one. I'll take the glory. That man, he's doing the same
thing. Same thing. He's a sinner. But oh, I tell
you, the hour is coming, our Lord said, and now is when the
dead shall hear. I tell you, if I didn't believe
that, I wouldn't preach. I wouldn't waste my time. I wouldn't waste
my time. Because I tell you right now,
sinners ain't going to receive this. They receive not the things
of the Spirit of God. Their foolishness unto them,
neither can they know. They're not subject to the law
of God. There would be no need to preach except for this promise
right here. The hour is coming and now is.
Now is. I tell you, I don't want anybody
to sit in this place this morning A few weeks ago, I think about
three weeks ago, I brought a message and I emphasized the necessity
of preaching the gospel. And I emphasize it a lot because
our generation's ignorant of it just like Paul's was. If you
read these epistles he wrote, you'll find in the beginning
of every epistle where he tells them what a preacher is and that
he is a preacher and that he is sent of God. And there's no
other way for you to be saved than to hear what he had to say.
Every one of them he tells that. The Ephesians, the Colossians,
the Corinthians. He goes, Romans. He tells them
that. Our generation is ignorant of
that. They think you can be saved out here fishing on a lake. And
I don't want anybody to come in this place and just listen
to me and think of me as just another debate, another religious
discussion. There coming a time, he said,
the hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son
of God, and they that hear shall live. And he told his preachers,
he that hears you, hears me. Why? Because they carry his message
of Christ. I'm not pointing you to me, I'm
pointing you to him that I preach. I'm pointing you to Christ. And if a man don't point you
there, you need to get rid of him and find somebody that does.
Because he's just wasting his time. He's just wasting his time. May the Lord give you some understanding
of what I've said.