Jesus stands between us and the Father.

He is our Champion. He did not fight for us but as us.

Our freedom, forgiveness and eternal security is because of His victory!

The only thing that can truly harm us is separation from God.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...

-Romans 5:1

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

-Romans 8:1

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

-Romans 8:28

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

-Job 42:5

God does not abandon us but weeps with us and comes to us as Revealer and Comforter.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

-Psalm 23:4

Joy remains central and sorrow peripheral.

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’

-Ezekiel 37:1-3a

Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’

-Ezekiel 37:11

This is the language of abandonment and isolation.

And he said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’

-Ezekiel 37:3-6, ESV

I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.”’ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

-Ezekiel 37:8-10

First: Ezekiel 37:7 bones become skeletons

Second Ezekiel 37:8 skeletons become flesh

But they are still corpses.

Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.”’

-Ezekiel 37:9

Metaphor: You are dead but I am going to bring you back.

And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’

-John 20:22

Through the Holy Spirit things that were dead begin to live!

Question: When Jesus rose from the dead, why not go straight to the Ascension?

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.

-I Corinthians 15:3-5

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

-Matthew 27:51-53

Why? To make sure that the resurrection of Jesus was not merely a spiritual principle for a physical reality.

Only the truth will set you free.

Jesus defeated death in real time and real space!

And because of Christ,

your identity can be rock solid,

your kingdom can be unshakable

and your joy everlasting.

Does the resurrected life only apply to the future?

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

-Ephesians 2:4-7

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

-Romans 6:4

Why Do We Struggle to Expect Miracles?

1. We struggle to expect miracles because: modern conveniences have eroded our faith.

“My most frequent reaction to a headache is Tylenol, not prayer.”

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

-Hebrews 1:3a

Would I be more desperate and expectant for miracles if I had no recourse but prayer?

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

-Matthew 17:20b

The issue isn’t whether we are full of faith but whether we have any faith at all.

2. We struggle to expect miracles because: we over intellectualize our faith.

Too many of us buy into a secular view of our faith.

The concept of an ordered universe created by an intelligent designer laid the very foundations for the scientific method.

Intelligent Design must have an Intelligent Designer!

“Jeff, I know others who have prayed and nothing seems to happen.”

Two responses:

1. In many cases you will never know how God responded.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

-James 5:16

2. In other cases, it may not be the will of God!

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

-James 4:1-2

And he said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord GOD, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.’

-Ezekiel 37:3-5, ESV

Jesus did not come to make bad people good; He came to make dead people live.

I. Don’t give up!!

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

-Hebrews 4:16

The strong and effective prayer of a righteous man availeth much!

-James 5:16b, paraphrased

II. Don’t over intellectualize!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

-Ephesians 3:20-21

III. Don’t Westernize!

Don’t allow modern conveniences to erode your faith so that your real trust is in the medical world.

IV. Soak up the Revival!

No one knows when Revival strikes.

But when it does—God does immeasurably more than we ever thought He would do.

Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.

-Ezekiel 37:5, ESV

Make a Decision