27th March 2026

27th March 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 5:16-30 focus v25-30)


Message (Alan Burke)


How good is your hearing these days? Mine isn’t what it used to be. I can hear fine, but when an ambulance goes past with the siren on, the pain I feel is unreal. I think it is called hyperacusis, and thankfully our ability to detect high-pitched sounds diminishes as we age, so that is one positive for me in getting older. But what’s your hearing like? Have you got the hearing aid in? Or can you manage? Hearing is one thing; listening is another, isn’t it? We can hear what we are being told, but then it goes in one ear and out the other (were you ever told that, or was it just me?). 


Look again at what Jesus says in v25, “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.” Think to what we were working through on Wednesday: how Jesus came to give the dead life, how we are, by our nature, dead in our transgressions and sin (Eph 2:1). We are dead. We might be physically alive, hearts beating, but none of us think that if we die, none of us think that if we died right now, we have the ability to bring ourselves back to life. Scripture teaches us that because of our transgressions and sin, by our nature, we are dead, spiritually dead. Well, Jesus offers life to the dead, not only in what is to come but life now, to raise us from spiritual death to spiritual life.


And Jesus tells the Jews not to be amazed at this, for the life that he offers is not only for the now but also for all eternity. For those who have believed, who have been brought from death to life in this life, they will live. They are the good that will rise to life, life eternal. But for those who have done evil, they will rise to be condemned. All those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. Now we might want to think that the good that Jesus speaks of are all those who have done good works in this life. But we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). The reality for all is that there is only one who is good and that is God, and some might read this and think that they have done enough good things, that God grades on a curve and will take the best of the best, that those who do enough good can tip the scales in their favour, but that isn’t what we are being told here. For there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Ro 3:10–12).


No, instead the good that is here spoken of are not works that earn salvation; the good that is spoken of here is the evidence of salvation. The evidence in the lives of those who have heard has come to life, as they respond to the demand of the gospel. And well, those who do evil, well, that is everyone who has not responded to this call of Christ Jesus; they are those who will rise to be condemned. How do people have life? It is through hearing, hearing the voice of the Son of God; i.e. it is through the word preached; it starts with hearing the word; faith comes through hearing. (Rom 10:17) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ, through hearing. What we need is the word of God, for he speaks when his word is preached, and just as the voice of God worked in the beginning, the voice of God still goes out today in faithful churches where his word is preached. If you want someone to hear, have you invited them to come and hear, or have you told them so that they can hear? Let us pray that many would hear and have life.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q26 How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
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