The Voice of Christ
                       An Exposition of John 5:25
       25  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.
Those that hold to the free and sovereign grace of God in salvation
believe that the words of our Lord in this text are speaking of the
work of regeneration of the sinner dead in tresspasses and sins. But
even among them there is a difference of opinion as to whether or not
the text is referring to the voice of Christ in the gospel or the direct
operation of the Spirit prior to the reception of the gospel.
In this study we will examine this verse in its context. In doing so
we will attempt to show that the voice of Christ is the direct operation
of the Holy Spirit on the dead sinner which enables him to savingly
embrace the gospel. Upon going through this study we will try to see the
practical application of such teaching seeing that all truth must have
its corresponding effect to a life of obedience. If we seek to know the
truth just for the sake of knowing or being known it will be of little
good in the kingdom of God. All truth should cause us to bow humbly
before our God in holy submission that we might more dilgently obey His
Word in all things.
This fifth chapter of John has our Lord healing a man who had an infirmity
for 38 years vss 5-9. Here we have a demonstration of our Lord's equality
with the Father demonstrated. After doing so we have the reaction of the
Jews that were just looking for something to accuse our Lord of as
stated by John in verse 16. Then our Lord makes the statement in verse
17 "My Father worketh hitherto and I work" clearly stating His
equality with the Father.
So we have up to this point in our chapter:
1) Christ Equality with the Father Demonstrated vss 5-9
2) The reaction of the Jews Against Him Revealed vs 16
3) Christ's Equality with the Father Stated vs 17.
Then in verse 18 we have one more reaction of the Jews to which Jesus
will answer them. It is in this answer to the Jews that our Lord will
set out to demonstrate his deity as the one equal with the Father.  All
of what follows in the verse in which we are seeking to examine must be
looked at in this context of our Lord asserting His absolute equality
with the Father in authority and power.
We can look at these verses under a fourth point:
4) Christ's Equality with the Father Evinced.
First we have our Lord showing equality with the Father in intimacy of
relationship in verses 19-20:
       19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
      unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the
      Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the
      Son likewise.
      20  For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things
      that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these,
      that ye may marvel.
What we have here is the example of the Son learning from the Father.
Just as an earthly son must learn what to do from his earthly father we
have here our Lord using this same illustration. He uses the intimacy of
this father-son relationship to show His relationship with the Father.
An earthly son learns from his father that he might go out in the
world with the full ability of a man. Jesus is not here denying that
he was fully God from eternity but he is showing that as He came
forth from the Father the Father has revealed to Him as a man his
duty in His mission on earth.
This work of healing the man crippled for thirty eight years was a small
example of that. Jesus was given far greater power and he will
demostrate it so that they may marvel. This is the beginning of his
explanation of his power and authority.
He then goes to the next evidence of His equality with the Father  in
verse 21:
       21  For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth [them];
      even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Here our Lord evinces His equality by showing that he was given the
same power to raise the dead that the Father has. As the Father raises
the dead the Son has the same power and sovereignty to "quicken whom he
will". So not only is he showing power but also sovereignty that the Son
may quicken whoever He wills to.
The next evidence our Lord gives is going one more step up the ladder of
authority. In verse 22 he speaks of authority to judge:
       22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
      unto the Son:
Jesus goes from equality in relationship- to equality in sovereign power-
to judicial authority to judge the living and the dead.
A parallel passage to this is in Acts 17:31 that God has "appointed a
day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man which
he has ordained; whereof he has given assurance unto all men, in that he
has raised him from the dead". Jesus was declared to be the Son of God
with by power by the resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4).
Although at the time Jesus spoke these words in John he had not
yet been resurrected but he had been ordained by God for that
purpose and His resurrection was a declaration of that fact ready
to be realized.
Now our Lord is going to speak of another aspect of His equality with
the Father that must have been offensive to the Jews as they listened.
       23  That all [men] should honour the Son, even as they honour the
      Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father
      which hath sent him.
The Father gave this judicial authority to the Son in order that he
would so equal with the Father that if one was not to honor the Son they
would be dishonoring the Father. To a Jew that was repulsive. Here our
Lord is saying that one must show the same honor to Him or else they are
rejecting the Father. Many in our day will refuse to accept that fact.
They will say that they believe in God even though they have not bowed
down to King Jesus. They refuse to accept Christ as God but they think
they will fare well on judgement day simply because they claim to believe
in God. Oh the foolishness of the depraved human heart.
Our Lord's next progression in his evincing of His equality with the
Father is as the object of faith in redemption.
       24  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.
Notice our Lord's words. It is to the one who is hearing His word and
believing... Many will look at this verse and say all that is required
to possess everlasting life is to hold to the teachings of Jesus, love to
others etc.. and believe in God. After all is not that what He said?
>>> Continued to next message
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 þ SLMR 2.1a þ "The the Word was God"
--- FLAME v1.1
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