Can
anyone here go to a graveyard where there are hundreds of graves and pray and
raise the dead?
It
feels impossible. The world out there may not be physically dead but they are
spiritually dead.
Your
job and my job is to raise the dead.
The
first thing we need to do is to:
Change
our mindset – sometimes we think of evangelism as something we do only when we know
the scripture and how to answer questions. We think we’re not good at speaking,
I am not able to answer questions or I don’t know my Bible too well so we feel
hopelessly inadequate. In reality we need God to come in and do something.
Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were
dead in your transgressions and sins.
Ephesians 2:4-5 - But because of his
great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even
when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
We were dead, but we’re now alive.
Colossians 2:13- 13 When you were dead
in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[a] alive
with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
The world says the reason the world is in a
mess is because people are not educated. But the real problem is not a lack of
education but really – DEATH. They may be the most brilliant minds but dead.
John 6:44
No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last
day.
Jesus is saying that to raise some one from
the dead we need God, we cannot do it on our own. No matter how adequate or
knowledgeable or how appealing your personality.
How are people dead?
Romans 8:7
The mind governed by
the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
The mind is hostile to God – the moment we
speak about God, hostility comes out. There is an inability for man to submit
to God.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The person without the
Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but
considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are
discerned only through the Spirit.
There is no proper understanding. They
cannot understand because they are spiritually dead. They may be brilliant in every
other area of life but they cannot understand this.
There was a guy who decoded the DNA. He was
brilliant but when asked ‘where did life begin?’ his answer was “Maybe some
aliens from space did something.” The most brilliant mind who decoded the DNA couldn’t
accept the fact God created the heaven and the Earth but rather aliens. Lack of
understanding is not lack of intellect
2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age
has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the
gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
There is an Enemy blinding people from
seeing the truth. Telling an unbeliever to believe is like telling a blind
person to see something or trying to talk to a deaf person. Unless God comes in
and does something, we cannot do anything.
Matthew 9:23
23 When Jesus entered
the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes,
We struggle to put a thread through a
needle. It is impossible to put a camel through the eye of a needle. The same
way for a natural man to come to God it is impossible. With man it is
impossible but with God all things are possible. We can do nothing – God needs
to do something.
We need to understand what the problem is
before we can understand.
Ex. A man went to a doctor and said doctor,
“I am in pain and I need help.” Doctor said “what’s wrong?”
The man said “I touch my head it hurts, I
touch my chest it hurts, I touch my toes it hurts, Everywhere I touch it
hurts.” Doctor examined him and said – “you know what the problem is? You
fractured your finger!”
We need to know what the problem is before
we can give the right medicine.
What can we do? How can we raise the
dead?
1)
To raise the dead we need to be
connected with Jesus.
John 15:5
“I am the vine; you
are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing
If you want to bear fruit – If you want to
see people whom you love and care for know Jesus, you need to remain him. The
modern version says ‘connected’ – you need to be connected to Jesus.
John 15: 7-8
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in
you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This
is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to
be my disciples.
How can we be connected to Jesus?
Mark 1:35
Very early in the
morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to
a solitary place, where he prayed.
Connection with Jesus is spending time
everyday with Jesus – With the word and in prayer. Jesus says if you do that,
you will bear fruit. I want to encourage you – have a daily quiet time with
Jesus. In that time, read the word and spend time praying.
I recommend one thing – maintain a journal.
When you read the Bible, you are looking for a SPECK
S – Sin to avoid (Ex. Do not commit
adultery)
P – Promise to claim (Ex. Dwell together in
unity, there god commands a blessing)
E – Example to follow (Ex. Jesus went down
to pray for the sick)
C – Command to obey (Ex. Love one another)
K – Knowledge to rejoice in (Ex. God
created the Heavens and the Earth.
2)
Connecting with his people.
One of the ways we connect with one another
is being part of the Sunday service – make it a habbit to be here on a Sunday
and make it a habit to be here before time.
Luke 4:16
He went to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the
synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read,
It was his custom – it was habit to go to
the synagogue.
Acts 17:2
As was his custom,
Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned
with them from the Scriptures,
Meeting and connecting with Gods people was
Jesus and Paul’s custom, will it be yours?
So in order to raise the dead I need to be
connected to Jesus by reading the word and praying and be connected to God’s
people.
3)
We need to love one another
When we share the gospel, we are telling
people that someone died 2000 years ago and his death was significant because
he rose from the dead and all our sins are forgiven.
John 17:20 – 21
20 “My prayer is
not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their
message, 21 that all of them may be one,Father, just as you are in me
and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that
you have sent me.
Jesus is praying for his disciples, for us
and the people we will reach out to and he says may he also be in us so that
the world may believe that he saved me.
Jesus said the way to get people to truly
believe in the gospel is to be rightly linked to God and rightly linked with
one another. If we love one another and are connected, somehow people who are
blind and don’t have the holy spirit, God will touch them and make them
believe.
John 17: 23
I in them and you in
me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that
you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
How will the world know Jesus was sent by
the father? When we are in complete unity.
What does unity mean?
Unity does not mean uniformity
Be devoted to one another
in brotherly love
Romans 1:12
That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each
other’s faith.
Romans 12:16
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but
be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Romans 16:16
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of
Christ send greetings.
Galatians 5:13
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be
free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve
one another humbly in love.
Galatians 6:2
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill
the law of Christ.
As we meet one another, we
need to bare each other’s burdens.
Ephesians
4:2
Be
completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one anotherin love.
There can be people around
who get on your nerves. Somehow they always say and do the wrong thing. But
knowing what the Bible says, it says be patient with one another.
Ephesians
4:32
Be
kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in
Christ God forgave you.
A lady once said to me
“I’m not going to get close to anyone in the church, I’m just going to come,
worship and go.” The Bible says ‘Forgive one another’.
I want to give you a 100%
warrantee and a 100% guarantee, in church you are going to get hurt. We say the
wrong things and do the wrong things. We need to learn to forgive, to submit
and to encourage one another.
Hebrews
3:13
But
encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none
of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
1
Peter 4:9
Offer
hospitality to one another without grumbling.
Have people over for meals
and coffee, open up your homes and your hearts to people who are in need.
Jesus says as we are
united and as we love another, and we go to our friends and neighbours to tell
them about Jesus, somehow they will believe that God sent Jesus.
We have a great
assignment, it is an impossible assignment: it is to raise the dead.
John
3:16
For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
One day we will leave this
earth, and the question is where are we going when we leave this earth?
A few weeks ago, we
attended a funeral for a friend of mine; 68 and just died. We may have a long
life but one day we are going to leave this earth.
Our loving father has made
a provision for us so that our sins are forgiven and we can go and be with him
in heaven.
If we don’t trust in Jesus,
we are responsible to pay for our sins and that payment is the separation from
Jesus forever and ever. Today if you say Jesus I believe you died on the cross
and I’m going to follow you, the dead will be raised to life and this new life
will come forth.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 22nd 2023 by Colin D'Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.
