Awakening to Light: Our Role in Transformation

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Father as we try to understand the logic here and the meaning and the amazing point of how we speak to dead people, sleeping people spiritually unresponsive people, not only show us the meaning of this text and how to do it but make us mighty in our god-given capacity to raise the spiritually dead. [00:01:29]

All things exposed by the light are manifest, for all that is manifested is light. Therefore it says, a waco sleeper and arise from the dead, and christ will shine on you. [00:02:14]

The sleepers and the dead are spiritually dead people and the huge question is okay if you marry to one of those or if you have a son like that or if you have a father like that or you have a friend or a neighbor or a roommate like that what do you say to them, is there any point even talking to dead people, spiritually dead people? [00:07:27]

The answer to the bible is absolutely it is necessary to talk to dead people that's how they come alive this is hugely important for evangelism and for caring about people that are around us who are spiritually impervious to the gospel you don't ignore them you don't cease speaking to them so you say wake up, rise from the dead. [00:07:56]

Now this is not I don't think result, it's not like oh you wake yourself up and you raise yourself from the dead, then christ kicks in with his sovereign activity this and here doesn't imply that this happens and this happens and this happens and there's no statement about one happening after the other. [00:08:22]

Here's my little person who's now been waked up, I just woke up from the spiritual sleep of death and christ like a sun here, this is the sunshine, it says doesn't shine on your path so he's he's getting ready to walk this way. [00:08:51]

It does not say wake up sleeper christ will shine on your path and show you how to walk that's what a lot of religions say god shows you how to walk and you can walk yourself to heaven that's not what shine on you means, it says forget you know forget that arrow bad arrow, this is the arrow, shines on you. [00:09:20]

And what happens when it shines on you, it brightens your face and you become light, that's the connection I see, all that is manifested is light, it says wake up christ shines on people who wake up he turns them into light, you were darkness now you are light because the sun is shining on you making you the light of the world. [00:09:44]

I know that the bible teaches that you are spiritually right now insensitive to and unable to see the beauty of christ and I'm pleading with you, wake up, I'm pleading with you rise from the dead and when you say that you're you preach the gospel to them. [00:11:26]

This is acts 26 17 and 18, paul is being spoken to by jesus as he sends him on his ministry as an apostle I am sending you to the gentiles to open their eyes now that's the miracle of waking from sleep rising from the dead and he's sending you a finite fallible sinful human apostle to do this miracle which only god can do. [00:11:46]

We do not infer from god's sovereign power to raise the dead that we have no hand in it, we are his instruments and when you lean over a person who's asleep and say wake up they wake up and your voice is an instrument in waking them up and that's true spiritually as well as physically. [00:13:13]

When god blesses our words wake and rise, what happens in and through those words is that christ shines on them or to say it another way from ii corinthians 4, god who said let light shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ. [00:13:29]

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