Tonight, we will observe the
Lord's Table together, and I am going to preach on this subject,
Extreme Sin, Extreme Grace. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Dead Shall Hear His Voice. Verse 25 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. Verse 28. Marvel not at this
for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves
shall hear his voice. Now the hearing spoken of in
verse 25 is different from the hearing spoken of in verse 28. The hearing spoken of in verse
25 has to do with being given spiritual life so that you will
hear his voice. The voice spoken of in verse
28 is that voice that will call everyone from the grave, the
day of resurrection. That is an awesome thing to think
about. Everybody that's ever died. How
many billions of people? Everybody that's ever died is
going to hear His voice and be raised from the dead. Now the
voice spoken of in verse 25 is to the elect. Those are the ones
who will hear this voice and they'll be given spiritual life.
They'll live. Verse 28 represents every individual
to ever live. Now notice in verse 25, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is. Don't miss that right now. Oh, I pray that the dead will
hear his voice right now. 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, if my voice is the only
voice that's heard. No good will be done. There will
be no benefit. No life. The Lord uses the analogy of
the dead hearing his voice. This is the Lord's words. You know where Paul learned,
and you have he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins?
From the Lord. He's the one who uses this analogy
of being dead. The dead shall hear his voice. Now that's strong language, dead,
and it's what the Lord employs. Dead. Dead. What's that mean? The hour is coming when the dead
shall hear his voice. And he's not talking about the
resurrection at this point. He's talking about spiritual
resurrection. When the dead are raised, hearing
his voice. Now what's meant by dead? Well,
didn't The Lord say to Adam, in the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. Now we know he didn't die physically
on that day, nor did his soul die. He was still a living soul,
but his spirit died. spiritual death. And the Lord's using this language.
The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear his
voice. What's meant by this thing of
being dead? Well, dead in trespasses and sins. What can a dead man do? He can't hear. He can't believe. He can't live. He's dead. Dead in trespasses
and sins. The walking dead. Physically alive, but dead. Let's think of a dead man. Lying here, a dead corpse, no
life. Now a corpse can look alive.
I've seen people in the coffin that maybe look better than they
did when they were living. You have too. They did a good
job on them. But they're still dead, aren't
they? Scream at them, can they hear?
No, they're dead. Play beautiful music, can they
hear it? No, they're dead. Turn it up louder, can they hear?
No, they're dead. No understanding, no ability
to hear. Make the music sound defensive
so it would just grate on your nerves. Can they hear? No, they're
dead. How can a dead man hear? There's only one way to be given
life from the dead. That's when a dead man hears
when he is given life from the dead. Now, this is what the Lord
is referring to when he says the hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, somebody
who's dead and sins. Now let me be real frank as to
what that means. Dead in sins. Dead in sins means
that you lack, that I lack the spiritual ability to believe,
to repent, to love. If I'm dead in sins,
I am Totally depraved. Now, when we think of somebody
totally depraved, we usually think of an ax murderer or some
kind of horrible criminal. Well, you and I could be that.
I'm not taking away from the fact that there's no sin that
we can't be guilty of committing in our depravity. But what that
means is every faculty is under the dominion of sin. Your will,
your affection, your heart, Your mind, your conscience, everything
about you, everything about me. We're born dead in sins, totally
unable, totally unable. Adam and all of his descendants
without exception are spiritually dead. Now that goes against what
false Christianity presents. There's something you must do
before God can save you. That's the message of false religion. There is something you must do
before God can save you. Now tell a dead man, if you can
move just one millimeter, I'll enable you to walk the rest of
the way. What good would that do? I can remember one time. It's when our dog was alive,
Kiwi. And whenever we would eat, it would make this, you know,
this cry that sounded like an aw. You remember it. I don't know. I'm ashamed to
try to make the noise. But we were eating pasta one
day. And the box said, if you can teach your dog to
say pasta, you'll be given $10,000. And you know that whatever that
noise is, it sounded kind of like pasta. And we thought, let's go for
it. Pasta? The dog could not do it. inability. That dog was just as able to
say pasta as you and I are to believe unless God gives us life. Spiritually dead. Turn with me to John chapter
8. You're there, almost. John chapter 8. A spiritually
dead person cannot hear the gospel. They're unable to. John chapter 8, beginning in
verse 43. The Lord says, Do you not understand my speech? Now there wasn't anything tricky
about it. He didn't use big words where you'd have to look them
up in a dictionary. Very simple words. Unmistakable
as to the meaning. And yet he says, why do you not
understand my speech? Even because you cannot. You lack the ability. It's not in you. You cannot hear
my word. Now that's what the Lord is saying
to these people. Why don't you understand my speech?
Because you can't. You're unable to hear my word. Verse 44. You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there's no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar,
and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you Believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that's of God, heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God. Now those are the Lord's words,
not mine. That's the way the Lord spake
to people. Yet our text says, 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, while I can't give
a dead man life, he can. I can't give myself life. He
does. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. Now
back to our text, I want you to read verse 26. Let's read verses 25 and 26 together. 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 for.
Here's why. As the Father hath life in himself,
so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. Now this is speaking of the independence
of God. He has life in himself. He is the self existent one. Absolute self existence. He has no needs. Apart from God, no creature could
exist, whether non-living or living. He created it. Plants, animals, me and you,
we're completely dependent creatures. Apart from God, I cannot exist. Apart from me, he does exist. God does not need me to be. I need God to be. God has blessedness, supreme
blessedness in himself. He needs nothing outside of himself
to make him happy. And nothing can increase or decrease
his blessedness. God has no needs. He has life in himself. Christ Jesus has life in himself. God, the Holy Spirit has life
in himself. If I do not believe, it will
not subtract from him. If I do believe, it will not
add to him. He is complete in himself. If he had needs, he would not
be complete in himself, but he is the self-existent one. I love when Paul said to the
men in Athens, he is not worshiped with men's hands as though he
needed anything. He said, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand hills
is mine. Vain man likes to think of God
needing him. Guess what? He doesn't need you. He doesn't need me. I need him. He has no needs that He needs from us. Since He has no
needs for us, His reason for saving men is found purely in
Himself. Now do you see that? You and
I can't add anything to God. His reason for saving is found
only in Himself. God does not need me, but how
I need him. I need thee, precious Jesus,
for I am full of sin. My soul is dark and guilty. My heart is dead within. I need the cleansing fountain. where I can always flee the blood
of Christ, most precious, the sinner's perfect plea. I appreciated that scripture
reading. One thing is needful. Needful. I hope We're here because we
need to be here. Need. He healed them that had
need of healing. Only one who is utterly independent
and self-existent can give one life. That's what he's saying. The
hour's coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice
of God. God has life in himself. That means he's got the power
to give me and you life. Christ Jesus has life in himself. That means he has the power to
cause dead sinners to hear his voice. Look in verse 21 of this
same chapter. Now this is part of what the
Lord is saying and this needs to be heard. Verse 21, for as
the father raises up the dead and quickeneth them. That word quickeneth means he
gives them life. He gives them life. the dead,
and he quickens, or gives them life. For as the Father raises
up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth, gives
life, just like the Father does, whom He will. Now this is the Lord speaking,
and He makes this very clear He gives life to whom he will. This is the one who raises the
dead and quickens them. He gives life to whom he will. Now here, he describes his own
personal sovereignty as God. He quickens whom he will. This one who has life in himself,
he has the power to give life to whom he will. What's the point? This blows any sense of entitlement
we have out of the water. He gives life. to whom he will. Now what that means exactly is
that it's up to him as to whether or not I will have life. My sinfulness has excluded me
from having anything to do with this. He gives life to whom He
will. Now think about that. Think about
the implications of that. That means whether or not I'm
going to have life is totally up to Him. He says that. He quickens. whom he will. He gives life to whom he will. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. And I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. Now, don't look at that as negative. It's the most positive thing
there is. He does give life. He does give life. Somebody says,
well, what if he doesn't give it to me? What if he does? What if he does? He's rich in
mercy. He delights in mercy. Aren't
you glad that's said of the Lord? He delights in mercy. He delights in saving sinners.
He delights in giving dead sinners life. The only hope you and I
have is in His sovereign, quickening power, He gives life to whom
He will. Now look in verse 27 of this
passage of scripture that I just read in John chapter 5. Verse
25 again, 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. For as the Father hath
life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,
and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man. That was the Lord's favorite
title to himself, the son of man. He calls himself that more
than any other name. And that comes from Daniel chapter
seven, verse 13. I saw in the night visions and
behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven. and came to the ancient of days,
and they brought him near before him. And there was given him
dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations, and
languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which
shall not be destroyed." Now that's the Son of Man we're talking
about. The Son of God is the Son of Man. That's His name. And the Lord tells us that God
has given the Son of Man authority to execute judgment. Now what's that mean? It means
this. If he says, depart from me, ye
that work iniquity, I never knew you, There's no higher court
to appeal if he says that. If he says what he said with
regard to that publican, I say unto you, that man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. If he says that,
you know what? That man's justified. He has
all authority to execute judgment. This is the Supreme Court. Verse 28. Don't be amazed by this. And
he's talking about the being incredulous. Don't be amazed
by what I've said. Marvel not at this for the hour
is coming. in the which all that are in
their graves shall hear his voice." Now, I'm talking about the time
now when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and
they can hear it shall live. The hour is coming when everybody
to ever live. They're going to hear my voice.
It's talking about the resurrection, the resurrection of the dead. The hour is coming in which all
that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come
forth. Now look at this description.
They that have done good. Let me repeat that. They that
have done good unto the resurrection of life.
And they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Now that's a very sobering, sobering
scripture. They that have done good to the
resurrection of life. They that have done evil to the
resurrection of eternal damnation. Now, What's the Lord mean when
he says, they that have done good? Exactly what he said. They that have done good. You
see, if Christ Jesus is my representative, you know, the scripture says
he went about doing good. Don't you love that? He went
about doing good. And if he lived for me, His doing
is my doing. And when I hear, well done, thou
good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. You know what? I've done well. Because what he did, I did. That's
the gospel. What he did, I did. You see,
the power of the cross, I love that phrase of the power of the
cross in that song. I think of the power of the cross
makes it to where I've done good. You want to talk about powerful.
It made all my sin to not be. He put away my sin and washed
it away. It's gone. And all that can be
said of me is I've done good. They that have done good. That represents every believer,
everybody that Christ represented, everybody that Christ lived for,
everybody that Christ died for. You know, the scripture does
say there's none that doeth good, no not one. In and of myself,
that would be me, but if Christ did good, I did good. And my history is not gonna have
any skeletons in the closet. Not going to have to say, well,
what about this? No, it's all good. It's all good. God gives
me, through Christ, a perfect history. Somebody says, you can't change
history. God can and did in the gospel. They that have done good under the resurrection of life.
Oh, what life, the life life. And they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation. He says in verse 30, I can of
my own self do nothing. Now he's not saying I'm dependent.
He's saying my will is the will of the Father. I can of my own
self do nothing. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit always act together. They have one will. Three persons with one will. One God and three persons with
one will. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I wouldn't have any idea how I could do that. It's just
what the word reveals. We believe what God says, don't
we? I can of my own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment
is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me. Now I want to conclude with this
thought. Verse 25, once again. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The hour is coming and now is when, he doesn't say the living
shall hear his voice. The living do, but that's not
what he says. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead, the dead shall hear his voice. He doesn't say the living shall
hear. He says the dead shall hear. Do you know anything about being
dead in sins? totally and completely depraved,
sinful, inside and out, all the way through. Dead in trespasses
and sins. You have no claims on God. You
have no sense of entitlement. Hear Him, ye deaf. His praise ye dumb, your loosened
tongues employ, ye blind behold your Savior come, and leap ye
lame for joy. Now if you know something about
dead in sins, you know that you have no spiritual ability. Listen to his words. Come unto
me. I can't. If he says come, you
can. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. He's got the power to give you
and me rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart. You'll find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Now to that one dead
in sins, he says, come to me, not go and do, not go and get
better, not go and improve your life, not go and learn more.
No waiting, period. Come. The spirit and the bride
say, come, don't wait for something to happen. Don't wait for improvement. Don't wait to be better. That
ain't gonna happen. In and of yourself, come now.
Come now. Like the leper did. Behold, there came a leper to
him and worshipped him. Get that down. He's to be worshipped. You believe that? He's to be worshipped. Behold,
there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. Now listen to the voice of the
Son of God. He said to this man, I will. I will. Be thou cleaned. And immediately, his
leprosy was cleansed. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name, for his sake, Lord, we're so
thankful you don't have to Find a reason in us to bestow your
glorious grace. We ask that by your grace, for
your glory, for the honor of your son, that you would speak in the voice that raises the
dead to each heart here according to your will. In the high and
holy name of Christ we pray, amen.