Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2006 : November 19, 2006

Theme: Listen to Jesus' Voice

Church year occasion: Saints Triumphant: 3rd Sunday of End Time

I'd like to tell you an old story about a man named Odysseus. Odysseus had been gone from home for ten years fighting the in the Trojan War, and now he was trying to sail home to his wife and son. But his journey home would not be easy. In fact, it would take him ten more years just to get home, because he had to go through many dangers along the way. One of those dangers was trying to sail past the Sirens, half-woman, half-bird creatures whose beautiful singing lured sailors to jump into the sea or sail their ships onto the rocky shore of the island where the Sirens lived. Either way, the sailors would drown. The crews of hundreds of ships died at the hands of the Sirens. But legend has it that only two ships were able to escape. The ship captained by Odysseus was one of them. How did he do it? He had his crew put beeswax in their ears so they couldn't hear the seductive song, while he ordered them to tie him to the mast and leave him there until they had passed by the Sirens. So Odysseus was able to hear the Sirens' song, but could do nothing about it, so they sailed past the Sirens and escaped their song that would have led to certain death.

We hear many voices calling out to us as we are on our journey to heaven. Many of them sound good also and very inviting, like the call of worldly wealth or the voice of earthly pleasures. Maybe you've heard the voice of an easy life that doesn't require you to carry your cross as a Christian. Perhaps you've listened to the many voices saying that any religion in this world is just as valid as any other. All of these voices have one thing in common -- if you listen to them, they will lead you, like a Siren's song, to certain death -- your death. Actually all voices in this world lead to death -- all except one -- the voice of Jesus. So this morning let's Listen to Jesus' Voice which gives sinners spiritual life and which gives saints eternal life.

Jesus starts by saying, "I tell you the truth." Whenever Jesus said this, he was showing that he was about to say something very important and even something that might sound a little astounding, but nevertheless, since Jesus the Son of God was saying it, it had to be absolutely true. He said, "A time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live." At first glance, when we hear about the Son of God speaking to the dead who come to life, we probably think about Judgment Day when all the dead will be raised to life and will be judged. But that can't be what Jesus is talking about here because he says, "A time is coming and has now come...." In other words, people hearing the voice of the Son of God and rising from the dead will happen in the future, but it is also happening right now. Have you seen Jesus raise anyone from the dead in your lifetime? I bet you have. When is the last time you witnessed a baby being baptized? Just last month we witnessed that miracle here at Living Word. When that baby was baptized we saw a baby who was dead spiritually being brought to life. It makes more sense when we hear the Apostle Paul tell us, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins." (Ephesians 2:1) So here Jesus is talking about spiritually dead people. "A time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live."

Being dead spiritually means that by nature we don't want to listen to the voice of Jesus calling to us. We'd rather listen to other voices. Jesus is calling to us through our parents who tell us to clean our rooms or do the dishes. Did you listen to listen to Jesus' voice this past week and obey everything your parents said without complaining? Jesus is calling to us through his Word. Did you faithfully listen to Jesus in his word this week, or did something else come up that caused you to forget about home devotions or personal Bible study? Jesus is calling to us to follow his will. Did you listen to the voice of your conscience when it told you that you were doing something that didn't follow Jesus will? Did you do it anyway? The fact is, by nature we don't want to listen to Jesus' voice. By nature, we'd rather listen to our own voice that says, "Do what you want, not what anyone else tells you to do." That voice is sin, and that dangerous voice that we have listened to all too often has also thrown us into our own grave.

So this world is really a graveyard, filled with spiritually dead people. But in the midst of all these spiritually dead people, came the Lord of Life -- Jesus. Jesus explains how he can be alive while everyone else is dead by nature. "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself." God is life. He existed before anything else existed. God was the one who gave physical life to everything in this world. And only God can give spiritual life as well. And that's exactly what Jesus did. Jesus decided to walk into that graveyard and pull people out of their graves. Our text tells us how he did it: "The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live." Jesus' voice gives life. Jesus told us that he came to take away the world's sins. But there's one problem. Dead people can't hear. So when we or anyone else hears the voice of Jesus saying, "Believe in me and live," we think it's foolish, ridiculous. But the voice of Jesus helped us out. Because that voice is actually the same voice that gives us spiritual understanding. That voice is the gospel. The Holy Spirit uses the gospel to create faith in our hearts so that we can finally understand what Jesus did to give us life.

With his voice that proclaims the gospel, Jesus tells us that he took away our sin. That gospel tells us that every time we listened to other voices in our life that said, "Do this thing against God's will -- it's no big deal," or, "Believe this thing that isn't found in Scripture -- it's so interesting to think about," all of them are washed away in the flood of Jesus' blood that flows from the cross and flows over you and me and covers our sins. Jesus never listened to or followed any voice other than that of his Heavenly Father. Every time we didn't listen to our parents or our conscience or our God, Jesus' blood covers them all. In order to give us life, Jesus actually had to pull us up out of our own graves and willingly go into our grave in our place. But Jesus didn't remain dead. He rose from that grave which showed the world that Satan and our sins no longer have any control over us. We have walked out of that graveyard with Jesus' own righteousness. We are no longer spiritually dead, but alive in Jesus, we are learning, living and sharing God's living word.

Listen to Jesus' voice. It gives sinners spiritual life. And it also gives saints eternal life. Jesus says, "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice." Notice that Jesus has dropped off the phrase, "and has now come." Now Jesus is only speaking of the future, of Judgment Day. At one word from Jesus, everyone who has died physically in this world will rise from the dead and come out of their graves -- "those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned."

Every Christian has already been declared holy in Jesus' courtroom through faith in Jesus himself. We are "holy ones," or "saints," in God's eyes. Jesus' righteousness covers us. And knowing this, we strive to listen to and obey Jesus' voice in our Christian lives. For those who have faith, Jesus will only judge us according to the fruits of faith that we have done as a result of our faith. However those people, who heard Jesus' voice but refused to listen to what it said, will be judged on the last day according to their sins. Since they rejected that voice of the gospel, all of their sins will be counted against them in the final judgment. They will also rise on the last day, but they will rise to be condemned eternally.

That is the same sentence we deserve to hear as well. The fires of hell should fill us with fear, but they don't because we know who has already suffered the fires of hell for us -- Jesus. In the days of the pioneers, when men saw that a prairie fire was coming, what would they do? Since not even the fastest of horses could outrun it, some fast-thinking pioneers burned the grass in a designated area around them. Then they would take their stand in the burned area and be safe from the threatening prairie fire. As the roar of the flames approached, they would not be afraid because fire had already passed over the place where they stood. When the judgment of God comes to sweep men and women and children into hell for eternity, there is one spot that is safe. Nearly 2000 years ago the wrath of God was poured out on Calvary. There the Son of God took the wrath that should have fallen on us. Jesus lived and died for all people. He picked up every single person and placed them in that scorched area at the foot of the cross so hell's fire would not harm them. Unfortunately, some decided to walk out of that safe area. They rejected Christ as their Savior. But by God's grace, we as saints will continue to listen to Jesus' voice and take our stand by the cross, where we are safe for time and eternity.

Do you remember when I told you earlier that there were only two times that sailors escaped the Sirens and their deadly voices? I told you about Odysseus already. The other time was when Jason and the Argonauts sailed past the Sirens, not with beeswax stuck in their ears, but because they had a great singer with them named Orpheus. The song of Orpheus was even more beautiful than the song of the Sirens; so beautiful, in fact, that that the men in the ship didn't even listen to the Sirens' song because they had something better to listen to. So they sailed past the Sirens and escaped death.

There are many good-sounding voices in this world, voices that tell you to disobey God, his representatives, and his Word and to ignore your conscience. But there is only one voice that has called us from death to life. Don't listen to those other voices. They are only Sirens' songs. Continue to listen to the voice of Jesus. That voice has given you spiritual life even though you are a sinner, and one day it will give you and all the saints eternal life in heaven. Amen.