THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD
T. Austin-Sparks
"The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." (John 5:25)
STUDENTS of John's Gospel will know that chapter 10 marks the end of a series of spiritual truths and principles which are largely individual, and that from then onwards those truths are taken up in a collective way. From chapter 12 the Lord Jesus is found more particularly occupied with the corporate life of His people. Chapter 11, therefore, stands exactly halfway, with ten chapters on either side, and this is the chapter in which Lazarus hears the voice of the Son of God and lives.
After the raising of Lazarus a little group is found with him gathered around the table at a feast made for the Lord Jesus. This company suggests two entities: Israel and the Church. Israel's history will be exactly that of Lazarus. There will be a sickness in which Christ will not intervene. He will deliberately remain away from Israel (as such), even though she is greatly beloved, waiting until there is no further hope except the miracle of resurrection. Israel will "stink" in the nostrils of the world. There will be no ordinary remedy for her. Only by a resurrection as from the dead by the voice of the Son of God will the nation have its glorious future.
Since, however, there is always a double view of the truth in John's Gospel, we may say that Lazarus brings the Church into view typically. The company gathered around Christ after the raising from the dead of Lazarus typifies the Church as the company of those who have their very being by reason of the resurrection miracle. This is quite clearly stated in the most "Church " part of the Bible, the letter to the Ephesians. "You did he quicken when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins ... and made us to sit with him in the heavenlies" (Ephesians 2:1 & 6), which is illustrated by the fact that "Lazarus was one of them that sat at meat with him " (John 12:2). The very heart of this message is found in Christ's words: "The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God".
FIRSTLY, it is obvious that something more than a typical faculty of hearing is in mind. The dead have no such faculty. There must be a hearing which is not natural, which is deeper and more inward than the natural. Nor is it just that by God speaking some actual result occurs. There must be a hearing for there to be a result. Briefly, then, a living relationship with Christ and its corporate expression, the Church, is the [89/90] result of a hearing of His voice, which is something more than merely human words. It is possible to hear the verbal statement of truth, and to do so many times and over many years, but never really to have heard the Lord's voice. It is possible, after having heard those truths so often and so long, suddenly to hear that Voice, with the result so new and wonderful that it is as though we had never before heard at all.
Living relationship with Christ is not an emotional or intellectual reaction to a presentation of gospel truths, it comes not merely by signing a card or making a "decision". This may have an apparent effect and be overruled and used by the sovereignty of God, but it not seldom adds to what is one of the Church's most difficult problems, namely an unworthy regard for the Christian life with a number of people who claim to have tried it and found that it did not work. The fact that there is much indifference to Christianity today is partly due to the message having been cheapened and vitiated. No, the New Testament insists that the basis of all true spiritual life is by the voice of the Son of God being heard deep down in the human spirit. This may or may not be a matter of actual spoken words, but when it happens the one concerned is truly able to say: "The Lord has spoken to me" or "I know that the Lord has made me aware of His will". It is a voice -- a power -- through words, but it is something more than words.
