Eph 2:4-7 (3)

Your Hour of Greatest Need

Introduction: Nov 10, next week there will be a mandatory baptism class for those of you that desire to take part in the sacrament on Thanksgiving.

I would argue that the most quoted verse during the testimony portion would have to be Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” It’s good…but second has to be any combination of verses in Eph 2:1-10, so let’s prepare by reading it now together.

**READ/PRAY**

This morning we will be taking a closer look at vv 4-7, to catch a glimpse into the heart of the gospel. In your hour of greatest need, the good news came to you.

The hour of need is a time when help is most needed.

Back in September of 2019, I had just returned from a week in Southeast Asia. It was my first time being a part of the Gospel mission with unreached peoples in this part of the world, as well as my first time with this prolific, Christ-centered ministry that is rescuing young girls from the vile evils of sex-trafficking. This trip left my head spinning and my emotions reeling. It also filled me with hope. 

There are so many stories on the week-long trip that I could tell, many of which we need to wait to fully share. But one encounter I cannot fold up neatly and set aside has more to do with you and me than the things I saw there. 

We attended a worship service in the Red-Light District of this major global city. As I stood in the back of the room, I listened to dozens of young women trapped in the prostitution industry as they raised their voices in praise to God: 

Every blessing You pour out, I’ll 

Turn back to praise 

When the darkness closes in, Lord 

Still, I will say 

Blessed be the name of the Lord 

Blessed be Your name 

Blessed be the name of the Lord 

Blessed be Your glorious name 

Try singing those lyrics in that place with those people without weeping. Go ahead, I dare you. 

These beautiful image-bearers of God Almighty literally walked out of the brothel into this life-giving gathering, sang and danced and wept and prayed, then returned to their perverted “customers” a few hours later. Physically rescuing these girls is far from simple, regardless of what you may have heard. But one thing I can assure you of, the mission to the unreached peoples involves some dark places, and Jesus is right there too. 

As I worshipped Jesus with these women, a strange realization came over me: I am one of them. Weak, lost, exploited by the darkness of this sinful world, unable to free myself, desperately in need of a Savior. 

And yet, I am also the brothel owner. Vile, rebellious, full of darkness, manipulating the power of this sinful world for personal gain, desperately in need of a Savior. 

As I left that church gathering – head spinning, theology challenged – I knew one thing for sure: A gospel mission to the unreached peoples of a brothel, also happens to be the same Gospel for me. It’s a Gospel for you, too. 

Blessed be the name of the Lord. 

It’s humbling to realize who you are without Jesus. 

So my argument this morning, is that in your hour of greatest need …God rescued you, you didn’t rescue yourself. God is the catalyst of your faith. You see it’s not your obedience that saved you, it’s not even your repentance and your faith that caused God to save you. It was that God made him that knew no sin, to be sin for you, so that in him you might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).

Without Jesus you are dead.

Without God’s loving sacrifice for you, you are dead.

Without the promised Holy Spirit’s work of indwelling in your heart, you are dead.

This morning, your physical heart is beating, do you hear it? But the blood it pumps is temporary. One day it will stop. Have you heard the deafening silence when a heart stops? I have. When the heart stops…so does everything else. When it stops…

Then you will stand before a Holy and Terrifying God, eternal life or eternal death are on his right side and his left side.

Only those of you who are made alive in Christ, that have been born again with a new heart, will receive the gift of eternal life. Where the spiritual heart of the believer beats and never stops.

But those of you who have never turned from your sin to Christ, those of you that are trusting in your own hearts of flesh to beat forever, those of you that are spiritually dead, you will receive the gift of eternal death. Where the hearts of those who have rejected God will remain silent, never to beat again (Matt 25:46)

I believe the danger that you face if you don’t meditate on this miracle of salvation, is you will read this text like, I was dead and God made me alive…that’s it, big deal. And the result of that will be a lack of genuine spiritual growth, a lack of thankful desperation in your worship, a weak prayer life that only asks for temporary blessings from God instead of offering an eternal blessing of grateful praise to God, a new life in Christ that lacks an evangelistic heart because of your lack of joy in your eternal heartbeat.

So Paul in our text this morning, answers a question for you unbeliever, this morning, in this, your hour of greatest need, how do you receive that new heart, how do you receive life? And for you believers, that do have a new heart, how did that heart transplant happen? How did you pass from the way to weeping and gnashing of teeth, to the way to eternal life? And shouldn’t that new heart with new heavenly blood pumping through your veins permanently change you? Shouldn’t it produce an infectious joy in your new life? For the simple fact that your heart now beats at a different pace than the worlds? Or is it easier to play saved by playing dead.

Plural Noun Proposition: In Eph 2:4-7, Paul describes for you in FIVE details about the way that God saved you in your hour of greatest need. WHO saved you, WHEN he saved you, HOW he saved you, WHERE he saved you, and WHY he saved you. And I will end with WHAT your response should be to your salvation by God’s grace. Are you with me? Let’s go…

Now Eph 2:1-7, is one sentence. And the main verb or verbs can be found in v6. Do you see it? Ephesians 2:6 “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

How do we know this? Well the grammar says so…look back to Ephesians 1:20 “that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,”

Paul is making a connection between Jesus and believers…that includes you, if you believe.

That God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…and Paul says that God raised us up with Jesus and seated us with Jesus in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:20–22 “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

1 Corinthians 15:47–49 “The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”

That should take your breath away…do you understand what happened for you believer? You were laying in a tomb and dead as you were, God called to you and you came…so let’s look at the way God raised you and seated you…first, let’s look at…

I. WHO saved you (v 4)

a. Ephesians 2:4 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,”

But God

I’m not sure what translation you have. But does yours say, “But Bart” or “But Randy” or “But Bethany?” No…But God, it was all him…

Altruism (self-sacrificing for another) is a difficult thing for people to accept. We remain suspicious, believing that individuals must have alternative reasons for acting as they do. Such suspicion is unnecessary with God because, being perfect and complete in every way, He needs nothing from us that would cause His mercy and love to be extended for ulterior reasons. The beauty of the gospel is found in the fact that everything God has done on our behalf, and all that He has spared us from, is not because of who we are, but in spite of who we are.

These two words explain the entire reason for the Bible. These two words are as sweet as honey to the lips of my soul. When I hear my kids call me “Daddy” or my wife looks at me and says, “You know… I still love you.” My heart fills with love and joy. But when I read these words… “But God” my heart melts in humility and gratefulness.

From Genesis to Revelation, “But God” has been used by the Holy Spirit to contrast the fallenness of man and God’s intervening Omnipotence.

Adam and Eve were naked with shame and tried to cover themselves with their own works, fig leaves remember

But God, took the skin of an animal and covered them

The world was so full of sin that God sent a flood to rid the earth of man

But God, spared eight lives

Abraham was sent to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice the son he loved Isaac,

But God, provided a substitute, a ram

Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery with evil intentions

But God, meant it for good

That was just Genesis, but throughout the Old Testament, God was heavily involved in the life of Israel and of the world

However, the last verse in the Old Testament ends with the Hebrew word for “curse or ban of destruction”

But God, opens up the heavens 400 years later and provides the last substitute that He will ever provide, the perfect lamb that takes away the sins of the world, Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

You were dead, you walked with the dead and you were lost in the world, following the devil and your passions of the flesh, shadowing the sons of disobedience, carrying out sinful desires with your body and in your mind. And like the rest of mankind, you were of your father the devil, a child of wrath.

But God…rescued you from the clutches of Satan, and adopted you even though you had no pulse, and he breathed life into your hollow lungs. He transformed you so that you are no longer a child of wrath, but a child of the King.

It is God who saves you, the perfect, all powerful, all knowing, all present, all holy, all terrifying, all creating, all directing, all loving, and all forgiving God, that’s who saves you…and who is he exactly?…

He is rich in mercy

God is rich. The Hebrew meaning of the word here is “abounding or abundant”

God’s mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of his light, or make space too narrow, than diminish the great mercy of God.

Charles Spurgeon

Psalm 103:8–11 “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;”

Psalm 51:1 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”

Remember Paul writes this letter with the intention that it would be circulated throughout the churches in Asia, to declare the riches of God’s grace

Why did Paul use this word “rich”

Indebtedness was a familiar burden in the lives of people in the first century. Especially the poor.

In the parable of the Unforgiving Servant, a slave owed his master 10,000 talents, the slaves friend owed him 100 denarii, debt and bankruptcy, IOU’s and payment plans with interest were as familiar then as they are today.

He that dies pays all debts.

William Shakespeare

But what is a dead man’s debt? Oh…the dead still owe…they owe God…and the debt you owed is 10,000 times our national debt…if you’re dead, you pay with your soul

But God is rich in mercy

It’s like he opens a joint bank account with you, with his name at the top of the check and yours right under it

You open the app to check the balance, here’s the contents of the Christian’s bank account:

mercy, adoption, acceptance, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, inheritance, the seal of the Holy Spirit, life, grace, and citizenship in heaven—in short, every spiritual blessing. There’s no zeros in this account!

Drawing upon that huge spiritual endowment, you believer, have all the resources needed to live “to the praise of the glory of His grace”

Because of the great love with which he loved us

And always remember this, it’s because God loved you…

John 15:13–17 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants (slave), for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me (you were dead), but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

God loves you…take a moment and repeat that in your heads…God loves you

God loves us; not because we are lovable but because he is love; not because he needs to receive but because he delights to give.

C. S. Lewis

So In your hour of greatest need who loved you? God loved you…but let’s look at…

II. WHEN He saved you (v 5a)

a. Ephesians 2:5 “even when we were dead in our trespasses,”

Eph 2:5 and Eph 2:1, should be rendered in the same way, but instead of “you” in v1, Paul includes himself in v5 “we”

Even—the way it’s used here is for intensity! The sense is that of throwing the dead emphatically forward, like the way you pick up a bowling ball and toss it down the lane

He saved you when? When you couldn’t save yourself. When you were dead. When you were spiritually helpless and hopeless and without a Savior. We’ve talked about what it means to be dead and last week Pastor James explained what it meant to be in trespasses, but maybe this illustration will help us consider the timing…

When Ashlie and I first got married, I wanted a dog. But she was terrified of dogs and still is a little. So we got a Pitbull!

What happened is I knew that I had to find a dog that had a good temper!

A dog that she would be comfortable with and that would be safe around the kids…a Pitbull.

I went to shelter after shelter and just couldn’t find the right dog. They were all loud and destructive and some had warning labels.

I thought that I should probably give up, there were none worth saving.

And then I went to a Bird and small animal veterinarian hospital. And asked if they had any dogs available for adoption. They said yes and took me to the cages and cages of animals. I passed rabbits, cats, and birds, and then we got to the dog section. Just like before they were all barking and jumping…and then I saw her. Diamond.

Gray with a little bit of white on the paws and on her nose. She was the only dog not barking. She could barely look at me. It was almost as if she was full of shame. The staff told me she had been severely abused and left outside most of her life chained to pole. She needed surgery when they found her, all of her puppies had died inside of her. The staff said she was available but that they would probably have to move her to a kill shelter soon since her breed was considered dangerous.

They next day I came back with a leash and $30 and she was ours, adopted into our family, in the nick of time.

God’s timing in your salvation is breath-taking and it is life-giving.

Just like Diamond, you were in your hour of greatest need. But unlike my old dog, you had no pulse, no life. Abandoned and abused by the world, spiritually dead, which means a life with no meaning, no purpose, no hope. Helpless and blind, with only sin and misery as your friends. And only the grave to look forward to. In Eph 2:12, Paul says that you had no hope and were without God in the world.

But God…even when you were dead in your trespasses, saw you before the foundation of the world, and when, according to his will and purpose, made you alive together in Christ…at just the right time.

Ephesians 1:4 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love”

In your hour of greatest need, that’s when God saved you, but let’s look at how…

III. HOW He saved you (vv 5b-6a)

a. Ephesians 2:5–6 “made us alive together with Christ—by grace you (we) have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

God made us alive together with Christ

This is one word in the Greek, it’s used here and in…

Colossians 2:13 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,”

How does this happen exactly, being made alive? The triune God powerfully breathes life into dead men…

The Spirit gives life..

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

The Father gives life…

John 5:21 “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.”

The Son gives life…

John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”

What does this mean “together with Christ?”

John 14:19 “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”

The focus of being together with Christ, is on the spiritual life now but this includes a coming future physical resurrection, together with Christ as well.

The mystery of the gospel, is that through Christ’s death and resurrection, you die to your flesh and are resurrected with him…How?

By grace you have been saved

Grace…unmerited favor of God

Grace is the instrument that God uses with precision like a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon

This life giving grace unites you to Christ for all eternity, making you partakers with Christ, of divine glory…

Colossians 3:4 “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

by grace…saved from eternal death…

Raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

Psalm 139:2 “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.”

There are some parallels between the two verbs for “being made alive with” and “raised up”

The first verb refers to the moment of giving spiritual life

The second verb refers to a future physical resurrected life

The first verb refers to the eternal life that is currently being experienced in believers now

The second verb refers to the glory of the eternal life to come

The first verb refers to the resurrection

The second verb refers to the future ascension into the heavenly kingdom

Revelation 20:4 “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

How beautiful are the feet that bring the good news, but how much more beautiful are the heads of the martyrs that laid down their lives for their friend Jesus.

Friends, God has made you alive together with Christ, by his grace you have been saved. He has raised you up with Christ and seated you with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.

The heavenly places, where there is no sin, no pain, no suffering, no tears, no wheelchairs, no missing limbs, no cancer, no more death…that’s your future believer, that’s where you citizenship is.

Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

In your hour of greatest need, God raised you and seated you in the heavenly places in Christ. Where your citizenship truly is…that’s there, but he saved you here.

IV. WHERE He saved you (v 6b)

a Ephesians 2:5–6 “made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (v 7, in Christ Jesus)

Notice, with Christ, with him, with him, in Christ Jesus and in v7 in Christ Jesus

This is an indestructible union with Christ that you have and it’s where God has saved, in Christ

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

God’s loving hands raises up your filthy soul that was drowning in trespasses and places you carefully and gently in Christ

These verses are Aorist compounds. Believers have already been made alive together with Christ, you have already been raised up and seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Your spirit is united to Christ as if you were with him now.

Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Believers spiritually participate in the major events of Jesus’ experience: crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and enthronement! Believers share His life and suffering; they will also share His glory

Romans 8:17 “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

You know estimating how many miles Jesus walked on earth is very challenging for historians, as the gospels do not provide exact distances when describing his various journeys. However, scholars often estimate that Jesus walked approximately 3000 to 4000 miles during his time on earth. Paul’s distance was around 10,000 miles.

Much of Jesus’ ministry revolved around the region of Galilee. Including cities like Capernaum, Nazareth, and the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus traveled to Jerusalem numerous times, especially during major feasts and religious festivals.

He journeyed through Samaria, notably when he met the woman at the well.

He traveled many miles on foot, on boats across the Sea of Galilee, and even once on a donkey.

And one journey on foot occured with a cross on his back. Under the weight of it, and with a torn body, he collapsed on a dirt road on his way to Golgotha. A man named Simon helped our crushed Savior reach the top. Where the wrath of God was fully emptied upon the Lamb, purifying you from your sin.

Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

Jesus sat down and God has seated you with Him

In Jesus letter to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:21 “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

Do you understand what this means for you? That if you are now walking in Christ, you will sit down with Christ, because of Christ.

Yet friends examine yourselves, some of you are united with Christ, praise the Lord, but you aren’t walking in Christ. Some of you will get to heaven and have so much gas left in the tank, that you’ll be offered to sit next to your Savior and you’ll say, No I think I’ll stand. I’m good.

Listen to Paul’s words at the end of his life

2 Timothy 4:6–8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

Have you loved his appearing?

Walk in Him

Are you being poured out as a drink offering?

So walk in Him

Why is this important? Because if you are in anything other than Christ you are dead. But he has made you alive…

So walk in Him

Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

God has saved you, in your hour of greatest need he made you alive, and placed you in Christ, raised you up and seated you with Him, that you might walk in Him…but why?

V. WHY He saved you (v 7)

a. Ephesians 2:7 “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

An Exegetical Summary of Ephesians 2:7

The time period is the unending period from the time of the first century throughout all the rest of time and eternity

God’s purpose in your salvation, through the death of his Son, is to demonstrate to every generation, throughout all time and coming ages, the greatness of his grace, the abundant riches of his mercy found in Christ

This is probably Paul’s favorite saying, so it bears repeating

Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

Ephesians 3:8 “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,”

We speak a-lot about doctrine here at GBC. Sovereignty, Soteriology, Harmartiology, Salvation, Regeneration, the hypostatic union…but what of God’s kindness?

Reflect on the story of David and Bathsheba. After his grave sin, David could have expected punishment and condemnation, yet he fell to his knees and confessed. In his brokenness, he encountered God's overwhelming kindness. Instead of judgment, God’s kindness prevailed, reminding us that even in our darkest moments, repentance leads us back to his grace. This powerful example shows us that although the remaining flesh leads us astray at times, God’s merciful kindness is always ready to welcome us home, when we turn back to him in humble repentance and faith in his love for us.

This moves us on to…

Who has God decided to show this to? He might show…

All intelligent creation, angels, and people. All principalities, and powers. Redeemed mankind and the unredeemed. In the coming ages

I used to be quite a show-off. I’d show-off my house, my cars, my wife. Come to think of it, the pride I had in my stuff reminds me of Nebuchadnezzar bragging about the kingdom he had built. In the same way that God humbled him, he humbled me as well. I realized I was a beast without his grace. It’s strange because all I was really showing off was stuff I bought, I didn’t make or create anything.

But God shows off his kindness…

This is not the general kindness or common grace God extends to all men, but a special kindness shown in Christ

The instrument of kindness is his grace which consists of his actions of forgiving sins and displaying love in action in Christ

But I’m thankful that God has humbled me and showed me my weakness:

The Master was searching for a vessel to use;

On the shelf there were many–which one would He choose?

Take me, cried the gold one, I’m shiny and bright,

I’m of great value and I do things just right.

My beauty and luster will outshine the rest

And for someone like You, Master, gold would be the best!

Unheeding, the Master passed on to the brass,

It was wide mouthed and shallow, and polished like glass.

Here! Here! Cried the vessel, I know I will do,

Place me on Your table for all men to view.

Look at me, called the goblet of crystal so clear,

My transparency shows my contents so dear,

Though fragile am I, I will serve You with pride,

And I’m sure I’ll be happy Your house to abide.

The Master came next to a vessel of wood,

Polished and carved, it solidly stood.

You may use me, dear Master, the wooden bowl said,

But I’d rather You used me for fruit, not for bread!

Then the Master looked down and saw a vessel of clay.

Empty and broken it helplessly lay.

No hope had the vessel that the Master might choose,

To cleanse and make whole, to fill and to use.

Ah! This is the vessel I’ve been hoping to find,

I will mend and use it and make it all Mine.

I need not the vessel with pride of itself;

Nor the one who is narrow to sit on the shelf;

Nor the one who is big-mouthed and shallow and loud;

Nor one who displays his contents so proud;

Not the one who thinks he can do all things just right;

But this plain earthy vessel filled with My power and might.

Then gently He lifted the vessel of clay.

Mended and cleansed it and filled it that day.

Spoke to it kindly, “There’s work you must do,

Just pour out to others as I pour into you.”-- Author Unknown

He saves broken vessels so that his grace can be put on display through you. My only boast is in the love of Jesus for me. Demonstrated by his strength in death for my weak life.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

In your hour of greatest need, the power of Jesus Christ was put on full display for the world to see. With your shattered and weak life God chooses to mend you and fill you to proclaim the good news to other broken vessels…

So…

VI. WHAT is your response

For those of you that are wondering what your response should be to his grace and kindness towards you?

Your response should be the same response that those girls in the brothels had when they were worshiping their Savior for his love for them

Every blessing You pour out, I’ll 

Turn back to praise 

When the darkness closes in, Lord 

Still, I will say 

Blessed be the name of the Lord 

Blessed be Your name 

Blessed be the name of the Lord 

Blessed be Your glorious name 

But what about those of you who are still dead, without Christ, and without hope, what is your response to God’s mercy and the free gift of salvation offered to you by the sacrifice of Jesus.

What is your response to the life death and resurrection of the Savior of the World? Who for your sins, took your place on the cross, substituting his life for your yours, satisfying God’s judgment on sin on your behalf, thereby you are declared purified by God. Repent and believe.

Will you respond to God’s call?

Listen, I was dead too, the plug was pulled, everyone in here was dead at one point. Just like Lazarus…

In John 11, it’s the historical account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

Mary and Martha, were heart-broken looking at their dead loved one’s lifeless body.

Jesus says, take away the stone, Martha says he stinks…I’m pretty sure someone has described me like that before

John 11:40 “Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?””

They took away the stone, and it says that Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus come out!

And then in v44, I like the way the KJV reads…And he that was dead came forth

This is your hour of greatest need, God is calling your name, will you come forth? Will you take away the stone and step out of the tomb? Maybe you need help…this church is full of earthy vessels that will help you. First out of the tomb, then to do the good works that God has prepared for you to do? Which you will hear about next week.

I’m praying for you that, if not this Thanksgiving, maybe on Good Friday…

I can hear your testimony now…I was dead…But God…