Jesus had spoken of two periods—one of wondrous grace, the other of judgment. He had also spoken of two resurrections—one of life, the other of judgment. He had also spoken so plainly, that no one need doubt to which of these periods, or of these two resurrections, he belonged. Of the period of grace he had thus spoken: “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.” That hour, or period, has lasted nearly nineteen hundred years, and we are in it. In the beginning of the chapter we see divine grace seeking the blind, halt, withered—the helpless. But here grace is seeking its objects amongst the morally dead—the dead in trespasses and sins. Even there the voice of Jesus, Son of God, in freest grace reaches them; and they that hear shall live.
After this hour of richest grace shall come another. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.” Jesus said it, and the day of grace is now; Jesus said it, and the period of judgment shall surely come. The words of Jesus must be heard in grace, or in judgment. There can be no escape. One of these must be the portion of the reader. We beg, then, your attention as a deeply interested person. Eighteen centuries have run their course, and not one who has heard and received the words of Jesus has been lost; not one who has come to Him has been refused, or cast out. Mark, it is the most absolute grace: “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” There is neither merit nor motion in the dead. And does not the death of Jesus prove the state we were in? “We thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.”
The reader may say, How am I to know whether I am dead, or have life? I have made many efforts, but am not sure yet. Do you make efforts to be dead? Nay; those efforts rather prove that you do not believe in the grace that reaches the dead; nay, the grace that has reached us by dying for us. “How, then, am I to know?” do you say? Hearken to the words of Jesus. He says, “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 judgment, but is passed from death unto life.” (Ver. 24.)
Is it not thus clear, whether you are still in a state of spiritual death in sin, or have passed from that state to life? If you have heard the words of Jesus, or lest you should say, “I may have been mistaken in the past,” then mark, it is, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath.” Hath what? Eternal life. Νot merely life for a day, or a year, but, hath eternal life. Jesus says, “hath eternal life.” Jesus says, “shall not come into judgment.” Jesus says, “is passed from death unto life?
Could Jesus speak more plainly, or make it more clear and certain? To hear Him is to hear God; to believe Him, is to believe God. If you hear His word, and believe God that sent Him, then He just represents these three things exactly as they are: you have eternal life; you shall not come into judgment; you are passed from death unto life. You have now to walk as a new creature in a new creation; yes, passed from death unto life. Now walk as such, alive from the dead, to live unto God.
If, then, you have life, you belong to the resurrection of life. Should you die, or fall asleep, as surely as you have heard the voice of the Son of God, raising you from the death of sin, so surely “all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life.” In 1 Cor. 15 this resurrection is fully described. This resurrection of life will take place at the coming of the Lord. “But every man in his own order; Christ, the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” This resurrection of life is very glorious. Believers, we have seen, as to the soul, have now eternal life. But then the body of corruption will be raised in incorruption and glory. “As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” What tongue can tell, or pen describe, the glory of the resurrection unto life? But, reader, will it be yours? Or, if you are alive and remain, will you be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and be caught up to meet the Lord, with all those who have heard His voice, and come forth from the grave to rise to meet Him in the air?
It is quite certain, as we write these lines, that we are still in that period, or time of grace, which began when Jesus took the book, and proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord. But can you tell when that period will close? May it not be this very year—nay, this very day? And then, if you die, and are not raised at the resurrection of life, you must be raised, or come out of the grave, a thousand years after, at the resurrection of judgment.
Is not this plainly declared in Rev. 20? Remember, all that are in their graves must come forth.... “and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment,” “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works..... They were judged every man according to their works..... And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” At the beginning Jesus said, “ God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This is blessedly true, after eighteen hundred years. It is also as true that the dead who have rejected this love, have not eternal life. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Yes, at the resurrection of judgment, every man will be judged according to his works. Well might the heart of Jesus be grieved when He said, “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.” He knew what would be the eternal consequences of rejecting Him, in the lake of fire.
And now, He gives four distinct witnesses of His Person and work. Jesus says, “Ye sent unto John, and he bore witness unto the truth.” Jesus thus pleads with them that they might be saved. They could not deny that they had regarded John as a prophet of God. They had gone out to be baptized, confessing their sins. And John was a burning and a shining light, and they were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But had not John pointed to Him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God?” And now Jesus had to say, “And ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.”
The reader may have rejoiced for a season to sit under some ministry, it may have been a burning and a shining light; but does Jesus say to you “And ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.” Are you still without life?
But Jesus had greater witness than that of John: “For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me.” Was there ever another man on this earth that did the works that Jesus did? Where did he live, and what was his name? The men who saw Him do these works bare record, even at the cost of all things, and often unto death. He calmed the raging sea, He gave sight to the blind, unstopped the deaf ear, cleansed the lepers, healed the sick, raised the dead, proclaimed the glad tidings to the poor. But, ah, far more, He offered Himself the sacrifice for our sins, according to the will of the Father. Yes, yes, His own works bear unmistakable evidence that the Father had sent Him. “And ye will not” He says, “come unto me, that ye might have life.”
Still further witness: “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.” At His baptism the heavens were opened, “And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Again, on the mount of transfiguration: “Behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son: hear ye him.” And again, in answer to that solemn cry of Jesus, “Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” But, oh, that still more glorious witness: when Jesus had borne our sins in His own body on the cross, the Substitute for us, God the Father raised Him from the dead, thereby bearing witness that He had accepted the atonement by His precious blood. And still Jesus says, “And ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.”
Lastly, Jesus appeals unto a fact. He does not say, “search,” as a command, but, “Ye search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.” Is not this equally so at this day? Men possess and read the scriptures; they think the scriptures have the truth of eternal life in them; they send them abroad, they preach from them. Is there any other Savior in them but Jesus? The scriptures are full of Him. Do not all the sacrifices of the law, the tabernacle, and all its furniture; the high priest, and his dress, his breastplate, with Urim and Thummim; the psalms and the prophets, the gospels and the epistles—all proclaim Jesus Jehovah, the Savior of sinners? Every book, every chapter, bears witness to Jesus. “And ye will not come to me that ye might have life.”
Oh, by the resurrection unto life, by the resurrection unto judgment, by the witness of John, by the witness of the works the Father gave to Jesus to do, by the witness of the Father in raising Him from the dead, by the whole overwhelming witness of the inspired word of God, scriptures which you profess to believe—we beg of you answer the question, Is it true that you will not come unto Jesus that you might have life? Are you vainly seeking to attain to life by works of law? How can this be, since we have seen that the grace of Jesus comes in the voice now that speaks to, and is heard by, the dead in sins? Do you say, Lord Jesus, I come to Thee now; but I am so bad, I am not fit to come? Do you come? Yes, just as you are! Then hear His words—words of Jesus: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in nowise cast out.” Do you hear the voice of Jesus? Do you believe God that sent Him? Then remember— “Will in nowise cast out,” “hath eternal life,” “shall not come into judgment,” “is passed from death unto life.” All precious words of Jesus. C. S.