Pastor Stan Mons
Sermon Transcription:
Amen. So much to be thankful for. Amen, amen, amen. I am so grateful for the word that God has given me for you today, both for you online and here in person. This word may be a word to the very heart of hearts of you today. For some of you, this will be a word that you are to be entrusted with. Let it teach you, shape you, and form you so that you carry the heart of this word with you. When you come around people this word is for, you'll be able to reflect that word, speak that word, and relate that word to others who are exactly in the place where they need to hear from the Holy Spirit.
You know you’ve been given the Holy Spirit, Church. That means any truth from the throne room—any truth from this Word that you learn at home or receive from this pulpit—can be used at any given time by the Spirit of God through you. It can be brought to the place where it will bear much fruit, to be sown into the ground of the hearts of people. The title for this message is Those Who Hear Will Live. This is the last message of this year—the last message of the Year of the Word, as the Lord gave it to us before this year began. He gave us the theme that would be threaded throughout this year: the Year of the Word. It has been a year where we’ve been drawn into the Word and gained understanding of how important and relevant both the Old Testament and the New Testament are. We’ve begun to truly see Jesus in the Old Testament, to see the revelation of Christ in all of those stories.
All along, these were not difficult or complicated stories. All along, God has been seeking to tell us the same story over and over again, from different perspectives, so that we may get the point. He has loved us. He has taken action. He has called us to a purpose in Christ Jesus.
I want to read to you the key verse for this word: Those Who Hear Will Live. John 5:25: Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
Would you pray with me? Lord, we come before You today. Lord, I pray over every person with us online at this time or later, and every person in this building. Lord God, I pray, Holy Spirit, that You touch the heart and the mind. I pray, Holy Spirit, that You bear witness of the Risen Lord, that You bear witness to the urgency of the hour of our time. Lord, I pray that You open the eyes of our hearts in a way that no man can. Lord God, You, Holy Spirit, come to do a work in our hearts that is not easily reversed, not easily forgotten. You do a work by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. I pray, Holy Spirit, that the anointing may rest upon every heart, every set of ears, every person who has counted the cost and desires to know the truth. Lord Jesus, I pray, Lord God, that You shake up those who need to be awakened. Lord God, I pray that You give confirmation today to those who so desire to receive peace. And I pray, Lord God, that You give life, Lord God, to the dead today. In Jesus’ name, amen, amen.
Church, it has been an incredible journey. It’s been an incredible journey this year, and it’s been an extraordinary journey over the last 13 or 14 years for me, being saved. In that journey—a very short journey—I’ve seen a couple of things. I’ve seen so much demonic activity, so many situations. I’ve seen people possessed. I’ve seen people delivered. I’ve seen the sick healed. I’ve seen the spiritually dead come to life. I’ve seen the most unexpected person receive something from heaven, and they fall in love with Jesus—the last person you ever thought would receive undeserved gifts from heaven. But I’ve also seen people pass away. Sometimes, unexpected. Some die of old age. Some die of disease. In my experience—my very limited experience—it has been particularly those who finally realize death is coming that I’ve seen unsettled, unsure, and without godly peace. And maybe more than anything, without excitement.
You may say, “Pastor, what do you mean by excitement?” There’s an excitement—not to die itself—but an excitement to finally know Jesus as He has known us. An excitement that knows, in the heart of hearts, “I am finally going to be with Him. There will be no more pain. There will be a purpose to my eternity—something to do for me eternally, a job, if you will, as the Word describes what it will be like to finally be with Him.” I’ll be reunited with believers I’ve never met, believers written about in this Word—people who fought for the small faith in their heart, ran the race well, and made it as believers to the finish line. I’m going to meet all these people. I’m going to bring glory somehow to the King of Kings. I’m going to sing glory to Him. I’m going to know Him. I’m going to be able to speak with Him.
But I’ve seen many people and spoken to many people on their deathbed, and they seem a little unsettled. They know, sometimes, if you will, the right answers, and they genuinely believe these are the right answers. But you can tell there’s a hesitancy, some unsettlement, some unsure feelings. There’s a sudden need to get people together and pray. There’s a need to apologize to some people and get things straightened out. But there’s no excitement. There’s no readiness. There’s no godly peace. I’ve seen people die in a worldly peace—don’t mistake the two. There’s a peace—a deceptive peace. The Bible speaks of it as a false peace. Just because people are not panicking does not mean they have heavenly peace. I’ve seen people have peace with just being done—“I’ve had enough of this life; I’ve had a good life; I’m done.”
But a peace that says, “I know that this death will just be a step, and I am full of peace because I know where this step is taking me. I know in whose presence I’m going to stand. I know before whom I’m forgiven. I know whom I’m going to meet. I know where I’m going”—that godly peace comes from revelation and the washing of the blood of Jesus Christ, mixed with childlike faith.
That peace always gives birth to a little bit of excitement. But many people, in the face of certain death, seem as if they are not prepared. They feel like they’re not prepared, as if they’re about to do something they don’t feel ready for. It comes off like they’re not ready for this next step. They’re not sure about this next step, as if they’re kind of caught off guard—“Oh, it’s right now?”—even though they’ve known their entire life that death in this body is certain.
It’s as if they had never fully prepared for it, and now they’re scrambling in those last moments, trying somehow to get ready. It reminds me of the five wise and the five foolish virgins who suddenly woke up to the reality of their situation. Now they’re scrambling. They know the bridegroom is coming; they believe He’s real, but they didn’t prepare at the proper time. And now they’re scrambling, trying to make it work, running around in the night, trying to get ready at the last minute.
You can see that in people’s eyes—that awakening, that sudden realization: Time is coming to a close, and I don’t feel prepared. I don’t feel fully ready. I’m not that sure about the next step.
Now, I believe, Church, with all of my heart, that nothing could be more clear in the Word—nothing could be more clear in the Bible—that Jesus Christ desires the opposite for you. The Bible is very clear: The Lord desires for you to be free from the fear of death. In other words, death could never catch you off guard. Death could never intimidate you. Death could never define your last moments. Death could never define how you feel. Death could never define what you do. It’s all been removed.
Now, you are being defined by Christ Jesus. Every day that you are alive, you will be defined by Christ Jesus. In your death, you will be defined by Christ Jesus, and in your eternal life, you will be defined by Christ Jesus. That is what Christ desires for you. That’s why He left His heavenly home. That’s why He wrote this book to you. That’s why He has sent His Spirit upon this world—to testify of what He has done. If Jesus Christ lives inside of you, you will never be intimidated or fearful of death. It is impossible. If the King of Life, the King of Peace, has filled up your heart and lives in you, those things cannot be present anymore.
We talked about it even at the Christmas service: He banishes the fear of death. Here’s Hebrews 2:14-15: "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." This is what Jesus does when He comes into the life of one who has truly believed in Him with all of their heart. He releases those who are under the power of the fear of death. He destroys Satan out of their life, and the fear of death needs to let go. It has no place anymore in those who have received Christ Jesus into their heart.
Now, you may think you don’t struggle with the fear of death. I can almost certainly tell you that every person I’ve seen struggle with the fear of death never knew they had the fear of death until they came face-to-face with their time running out. All their life, they were in bondage to the fear of death; they just never struggled with the manifestation of that fear because they were so tapped out from the reality of death and the expected truth that death will come to every single person created in this earthly body. In order for us to move into our time with the Lord Jesus and receive from Him a new body, I’ve seen it many times: that this fear often only manifests once death becomes more real to people than their next dinner. And that takes something in your life—it takes a miraculous revelation of the Lord in order for you to have death so clear that it is more real to you than tonight’s dinner.
Often, you see it happen to people when they’re at a funeral. All of a sudden, they’re so aware of their frailty. All of a sudden, they are aware that it matters what they do with their days. Wasted days now really feel convicting. The shortness of their life is brought to their heart, and a soberness—a divine soberness—seems to settle on people when they come face-to-face with death. But the fear of death often doesn’t really manifest in people until they are staring—if I can paint that picture—they are staring death now themselves in the face. They’re not looking at someone else’s death. It’s not someone else’s funeral service. Now, they realize theirs is coming up soon. And all of a sudden, there’s an unsettledness: Is everything right between me and the Father? Am I a true born-again believer? Do I have no fear of death? Does the living God dwell inside of me?
Sometimes, that fear does not manifest until you’re confronted with your own death.
Church, it is God’s desire that you are delivered before you ever are confronted with death. That is God’s desire. He desires to deliver you from the fear of death before death ever comes to scream, if you will, in your face. That is His desire. Now, I’d be the last person to suggest that those who struggle with the fear of death on their deathbed cannot go to heaven, cannot be saved and redeemed and set free in those last days. That is absolutely possible. But I know in every single case, it hasn’t been God’s plan. In every single situation, that is not what God desired.
Jesus already died. He already sent His Spirit. He already sent His church on a mission to tell the nations what Christ has done and what is possible for anyone who believes, so that they may have eternal life and not perish. God did this—not last-minute. God did this even before you were born so that you would never last-minute struggle with the fear of perishing. Rather, you’d be a testimony—a witness—to the power of God over death, the power of Jesus that has destroyed Satan. In those last moments, you are the most powerful testimony to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. In the last moments of your life, that is the last moment here on Earth that you bear witness. You are called to be prepared for that moment. You are called to be full of expectancy and excitement and fervency and boldness in that moment.
You’re called to that.
That doesn’t happen without preparation. God does the preparation, but we come to Him, and we position ourselves. I pray that today you can hear what it means to position yourself—that you can see, with the eyes of your heart, what it means that the Bible says, “Those who hear will live.” Because it is my desire that no matter the situation—whether death comes for you soon and unexpectedly, or you do end up sick and sickness leads the way for you into death, or you’re going to die of old age—whatever way you are going to pass, unless the Lord Jesus Christ comes back very soon, you will face death. Let me say that again: You will face death.
And no matter the situation, it is my desire—I believe it’s the Lord’s desire—that you are a glorious testimony in the face of death to men. A godly peace. An anticipation. An excitement.
Because you, spiritually, divinely, can see past death. And because of what you’re seeing, you’re excited.
You see, there are people who look in the face of death, and there’s nothing. They’re not sure what they’re seeing. They can’t really see past it. They can’t really see through it. It’s uncertain. It’s causing insecurity. It’s causing worry: What is going to happen? But the true believer can see right through death and past it. And it causes excitement and joy and peace—and a message. You’ll have something to say to those who surround your deathbed. You’ll have something to say to those you are leaving behind because you can see right past this. I believe it’s God’s desire that no matter the situation of your death, you are a testimony in the transition of death. What does that mean? As you pass from this life into the next, the very last great miracle in your life is taking place. And if you give yourself to Christ Jesus, this miracle is guaranteed in your life. God is going to do a miracle in your life that is going to just shout in the devil’s face loudly. God made it this way—that every single believer in Jesus Christ...
When they are at their weakest moment, when their earthly body gives in, there is now nothing they can do anymore at all—nothing they can do for God. In their very weakest moment, God is going to do the greatest miracle in the face of Satan to remind him that he is destroyed. In their weakness, God is going to give them new life. He’s going to give them a new body. He’s going to give them eternal life while Satan and all of his workers are watching, powerless to do anything about it. He who used to have the power of death is now displayed powerless in death. That’s your final call: to be that glorious jewel in the crown of Jesus Christ, where He gets to display in your weakness, once and for all in the face of the devil, that in your weakness He’s going to do His greatest miracle. He has loved you. You cannot do anything for Him, but you heard Him, you believed Him. Those who hear will live.
What an incredible purpose you and I have—that it is our purpose to live. It is our purpose to come to life even though we die. It is our purpose to eternally be alive as a witness against the destroyed powers of hell, death, and Satan himself. What a purpose you have! Those who hear will live. Let me read to you 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." “Thoroughly equipped for every good work” reminds me of someone like Russ, who goes as an electrician onto the worksite. I’ve seen him wear those tool belts—thoroughly equipped. Some of those tools he won’t use that day, but he comes thoroughly equipped. Kind of no matter what comes up, he’s ready. He’s prepared.
That’s what the Word says: that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. That last bearing witness, that last miracle you are destined for in the face of Satan and bearing witness in the face of men, is a very good work that God has prepared for you. You are thoroughly equipped for it—not scrambling in the last moment, wondering where the tools are to get through this job, or where the resources are to get through this challenge. No, thoroughly equipped. A complete man. That’s what the Word says. It poses a challenge because the Word says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It poses a great challenge in this sense: you cannot come face-to-face with Scripture—you cannot come face-to-face with the Bible—and claim that God has not spoken to you. He wrote to you this letter, this accumulation of letters. He wrote it to you. Every word. Every word profitable for your life, a purpose for your life.
The question is: are you hearing Him? Are you believing Him? Are you actively believing Him? He wrote it that you may live, that you may be equipped and complete in this life, that you may be equipped and complete as you pass over into the next life. Here’s what John 11:40 says—Jesus speaking: "Jesus said to her, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?'" Jesus is speaking to a surprise, something unexpected, something unforeseen, and Jesus poses this question: “Didn’t I tell you this would happen? Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” There’s an urgency to it in God’s heart. Why does He ask that question, “Did I not tell you?” Why does Jesus feel the need to put in that comment? Why does He have no regard for those that He has spoken to, but they have to hear it again?
“Didn’t I tell you already that if you believe me, you will see the glory of God?”
Jesus would have us understand today: what He says happens. If He told you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God, then you will be saved. You’ll live forever. But if you do not believe, you will suffer the wrath of God. John 3:36 says: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." “Did I not tell you?” Jesus says. “Did I not already tell you these things?” So many in the church today feel that it is somewhat harsh, maybe even incorrect in light of a loving God, to say that the wrath of God comes upon every person who does not believe in Jesus Christ with all of their heart and follow Him—actively believing Him.
Jesus said, “Unless you lay down your life, you cannot be my disciple.” You can’t believe Jesus and disobey Him at the same time. If you believe Him, you’d be following. If you believe Him, you’d be laying down your life. If you believe Him, you’d be worshiping and rejoicing. If you believe Him, you wouldn’t have fear. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." “Did I not tell you?” That question struck me so deeply in the heart, Church. “Did I not tell you?” Watch what Jesus says in John 5:47: "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"
Here’s Jesus referring to the Old Testament, and He’s telling them: “Listen, if you don’t believe the Scripture, how will you believe my words?”
A very important question again from Jesus Christ. Here’s something for you to take home:
Hearing right. Those who hear will live. Hearing a believing hearing of the written Word, a believing hearing of the Scriptures, a believing hearing of the Word is a requirement for hearing intimate words from Jesus. Hearing the written Word in your life daily—which can only happen if you’re in it—hearing the written Word is a requirement for hearing intimate words from Jesus. That’s what He says: “If you do not believe the writings, how will you believe my words?” How can you? Are you hearing this Word with all your heart? Are you getting into that Word every single day because you know your Jesus has the words of life? Are you getting into it because you know it's profitable for you to learn how to live, for you to figure out where you're wrong, for you to figure out how to get things right?
Are you in this Word with all of your heart? Do you believe it? Do you believe that every single word is the inspired Word of God—every single verse? Even if I can only read one this day, it's God speaking to me. He's trying to say something to me. I need to know what His Word says before I go to prayer, before I seek to hear from Jesus in my heart. I first need to hear His Word and believe His Word with all of my heart. “If you do not believe His writings, how will you believe My words?” Believing the Bible needs to come before supernatural experiential intimacy. Believing God's Word—which only happens if you are in His Word daily, believing His Word with all of your heart—needs to come before supernatural experiential intimacy. To say, "Well, I didn’t read my Bible, but I prayed today," that’s just cheating yourself. Try that for a week. See how well you are doing. See how much living water you feel you are living with.
Now, I’m not talking about being in prison because you’re persecuted and don’t have a Bible. The Holy Spirit miraculously does a special work in those situations—some of which I’ve experienced in certain points in my life when I had no believers around me whatsoever.
But in all reality, you cannot have a love relationship with Jesus without having a love relationship with the Word. You form a new idolatry—a kind of Jesus shaped by the desires of your mind—when you say, "I can stay out of the Word but go to prayer to my Jesus daily."
That Jesus of the Word Himself said: "But if you do not believe the writings, how will you believe My words?" How will you have intimacy with Me if you’re not intimate with this Word?
Believing the Bible needs to come before supernatural experiential ministry. I’ll tell you why: because you are a part of experiencing supernatural intimacy, but you are not a part of writing the Bible. You can make mistakes and get things wrong while you are having an experience with God and partaking, to the best of your understanding, of the supernatural relationship Christ has purchased for you.
But you can’t get it wrong when you’re in the Word. So the Word always has to come first. My relationship always has to be mirrored by the Word. My relationship always has to be tested by the Word. Everything I believe to the best of my ability, everything I receive from Jesus in prayer, has to be tested by the Word. It has to stand the test of the Word. The Word has to have the higher priority because you were not involved in writing it, but you are involved in the experience—and you are flawed. God is not, but your ability to understand, to discern, and to prophesy is limited and imperfect.
Certain things in life you cannot afford to get right only in part. And so, the Word has to come before the supernatural experience. John 5:25, one more time: "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live." This is a word for the dead. What does it mean to be dead? Who is this written to? Ephesians 2:5: "Even when we were dead in trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." He’s not talking about people already in the grave, in a casket, with earth being shoveled on top of them. He’s not talking about the physically dead. The physically dead do not do any hearing anymore. You were not physically dead when Jesus made you alive in Christ. You were spiritually dead.
Jesus is giving us a prophecy over spiritually dead people. He says, "The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." The man who is dead in trespasses is the man who is not forgiven, who’s not made new, who’s not born again. He’s a man unchanged, untouched by heaven, never experiencing a divine change. You can get convicted, feel guilty in a service, and try to go and change your behavior for a couple of weeks, only to find you return to the same place. However small or great the sin or failure, a man untouched, unchanged, a man who does not believe complete and true change is possible because he’s never experienced God doing it—that’s a dead man. A dead man is a skeptical man. A man alive is full of faith, believing for all things. A dead man does not pray with all of their heart. They may pray for their food or before bed, but they do not seek the Lord. A dead man cannot see past death. That’s their destiny—that’s their journey. For the rest of death, they will be dying the second death. A dead man does not hear God’s voice in prayer. The spiritual does not make sense to a dead man. A dead man does not spend time in the Word of God, nor does he spend his life on the things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:14: "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
Oh, to spiritually be dead! To spiritually be dead. Church, as you hear my voice today, you may be dead to the Holy Ghost. You may be dead to the Kingdom cause in this generation. It’s dead to you—you don’t care, you don’t partake. You may be dead to the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You don’t know supernatural power in your life. Miracles are not frequent or normal in your life. You’re dead to the voice of God. You’re not in relationship. You’ve never heard from Him. Yet the Bible says this about you: "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live."
The dead will hear Him. And whoever will hear Him—whoever will hear—that’s an active listening. Every dead person in the world is going to hear about Christ Jesus, but they’re not all hearing. He says it two times: the dead will hear, but those who hear will live. That’s an active listening. It’s a listening that goes, "Wait, what is that?" It’s a turning. It’s a saying, "I believe what I’m hearing. This is relevant for me. This is urgent." It’s not just noise to me. It’s an active listening. It’s obedience to His voice, obedience to what you’re hearing. Whoever will obey His voice—whoever will believe His voice fully—will be saved, will come alive unto God. You’ll live, is what He says. You’ll know His voice. You’ll know His presence. And you’ll know His personal embrace—supernaturally—of acceptance. Have you been made alive in Christ Jesus? Has He done that miracle? Has He taken you from death to life?
Does the spiritual make sense to you? Do you live to see the lost get saved? That’s why Jesus lived. He comes to live inside of you. You can expect the same. Do you live to see the dead raised to life? Do you live to see the lost saved? You can be spiritually dead and live for church. You can be spiritually dead and live for good works. But you cannot be spiritually dead and live to see the lost saved. Have you been made alive in Christ Jesus? Has the power of the blood of Jesus Christ transformed your life? Is all things changed? "Behold, the old has passed away; all things have become new." Church, when death has left you, you can’t be afraid of it anymore. It’s not around. Death has left you. You must be born again into the Kingdom of God.
2 Corinthians 6:2: "For He says: 'In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." This day of salvation, today in your life, is accessible to you in Christ Jesus. Tomorrow is not promised to any of you, online or here in person. The Lord may come back, as the Word says, in the twinkling of an eye. God knows we have enough signs in our last days. He may come back in the twinkling of an eye. You are called to not be caught off guard, to not feel incomplete, to not feel unprepared, but to have an expectant, rejoicing heart—understanding what’s about to happen. Understanding means seeing past death, even if it comes to knock on your door, or if you receive the news from the doctor tomorrow. An excitement arises—not fear, not concern, not panic. Only God does this in those who have been redeemed and saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
You don’t have to muster up the strength to be full of joy in the face of the greatest trial you’ll ever face. God gives this freely to those who have trusted Him in this life. He will give them divine eyes for death. He will cause them to see past it. Salvation is today accessible for you in Christ Jesus. Don’t expect to enter into it tomorrow if today has been given to you. If you’ve come face to face with this Word today, you cannot say God has not spoken to you. You will either respond to Him or you will turn His voice off. The dead will hear. Those that hear, those that begin to listen, those that begin to obey His voice—those that hear will live. Come to Him. Call on Him. You can be as dead as anyone has ever been today, and yet the dead will hear the voice of Jesus in your heart saying to you: "I love you. I’ve paid for your sins. I’ve died in your place so that you may live. Repent and believe."
That’s His cry towards you: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? Did I not tell you, if you would stand with Me for a moment, give up your sin, believe with all of your heart, lay your life in the hands of Jesus Christ, you will be saved?" Those who hear will live. Those that turn to Him because they heard something—they overheard, if you will, a portion of the gospel—and they give their attention now to Him because they believe He speaks the truth, those who hear will live. Here’s the altar call for today—for you online and everyone here in person: If you say, "Lord, my heart can hear something. Lord, whatever deadness I may be carrying around, I’m hearing something. I can hear in my heart that You want me. Something in my heart is being touched by Your Holy Spirit, and He—the Holy Spirit—is seeking to convince me that You want me."
Can you hear that today online? Can you hear it here in the service? God wants me. He desires me. He wants me to know Him. He wants me to be prepared. He wants me to live. He wants me to be washed. He wants me to be found in Christ. If you can hear that in your heart, and if you want to testify to that—if you want to testify today, "I can hear the Spirit of God drawing my heart"—I want to invite you to raise your hand. I want to invite you online to do the same. It doesn’t matter who’s around. If you can sense the Spirit is drawing your heart, that God wants you, I want to invite you to raise that hand to heaven as we pray. Jesus is calling unto you, and He’s seeking to give you life.
-Pastor Stan Mons