This sermon focuses on the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus, emphasizing the power of resurrection and the need for individuals to believe in God's ability to bring life to dead situations. It challenges listeners to acknowledge their powerlessness and trust in God's miraculous intervention, highlighting the importance of surrendering to God's will and experiencing His resurrection power in their lives.

John chapter 11, John chapter 11, my message title this morning, Lazarus is dead and I am glad. Lazarus is dead and I am glad. That's a red letter actually in your Bible. Lord Jesus Christ, you are the resurrection and the life. You are a miracle-working God. Lord, we need miracles in this generation. We ask you to do the sovereign and the supernatural in our midst. Set us free, Lord, from everything that hinders the testimony of your life in us in our time. Do it supernaturally. Let nobody here be able to boast and say I figured a way out. Let all of this be dead. God Almighty, we above all else ask you to glorify your own name. It's paramount in this time that you do so. We ask you, Lord Jesus Christ, to visit this church, visit New York City, visit every church in the city, every denomination, every name on the door. Let the glory of God be in every building. Lord Jesus Christ, we're asking you to visit our city in a profound and a powerful way. Do it for your namesake. Lord Jesus, we thank you for this. Overshadow my frailty this morning, O God, and I'm asking, Lord, that you quicken my mind and my heart and bring back to remembrance the things that you've taught me. Help me to convey it clearly to the hearers. Help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God, do it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for this, Lord. I ask you, Lord, to cancel death, all death, everything of death. Cancel it today, Father, and let the miracles begin to abound. Lord, let it begin today, absolutely today, in Jesus' name. Amen. John chapter 11, Lazarus is dead and I am glad. How do you like Jesus to say those words over your life? John chapter 11, verse 14, Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto Him. Now the question that needs to be answered in this story is what exactly is Jesus Christ trying to teach us? Now you and I know today that God is good and His mercy endures forever. We know that's the song that they were singing when the glory of God came into Solomon's temple. That's how God defines and describes Himself. He is good, He is just, and His mercy endures forever. We know that Jesus had the power to alter the forces of nature by His Word. Simply standing in a boat, the ability to calm the storm and the waves. And we see, of course, in the Old Testament the power of God to even cause the sun. In Joshua's day when he was fighting to stand still in the heavens, to literally suspend the operation of the universe, to answer the prayer of one man. We know that Jesus had the power to perform miracles with all of the elements. His very first miracle in the wedding feast of Cana, at least the first public one, is turning water into wine. The power to transform anything that He wanted to transform, just simply by the word of His mouth. As a matter of fact, you see in the Scriptures, He didn't even have to go somewhere to heal somebody, which is a strange thing. Why didn't He just say, Lazarus is healed, like He did to some of the others that came to Him. Go your way, your son lives. Go your way, your daughter is whole, or whatever the situation was. We know He had the power and was not bound by elements or circumstances or distance or time. He had the power to give sight, hearing, speech, freedom from demonic power, healing. And we know from Scripture that He was moved with compassion and touched with the feelings of our infirmities. And so the obvious question is, why then, in this text, does He wait until a man who He clearly loves is dead, before setting out to help Him? In John 11 verse 3 and 5 and 6, it says, Lord, He whom you love is sick. I mean, it was obvious to the disciples there had to be a special bond between Lazarus and Jesus, because the disciples described Him as the person that you love. They would have known it. They would have seen that bond of affection. It's like you or I having a best friend in this room today who calls you on the telephone and says, I'm so sick, I think I'm going to die. And you say, well, I'm busy. It's Sunday, I'm in church. I'll try to make it by Friday. You think you can hang on till then? You know, people would be perplexed, and the disciples, in some measure, must have been perplexed. It says in verse 5, Jesus loved Lazarus. In verse 6, and it says, when He heard that He was sick, He abode two days in the same place where He was. And of course, by the time He got to where Lazarus was, it was four days already. Does it seem right to you? If you were God, would you do this to a friend? It's an interesting question. If you and I are honest, most of us would say, no, I wouldn't do that. If I had the power to make a difference, I would have gone. And it's interesting, because that's why we're so quick to accuse God when He doesn't come on our time. And when He doesn't do things the way we would if we were God, then we accuse God. Where were you when I needed you? How come you didn't come at the time? There was a time when I felt that you and I could have done this together. There was a time when I believed, but you didn't come. And why didn't you come? It's a hard thing to even be in church when you have that kind of a misgiving in your heart, or an accusation against God. Now remember in Genesis 3-5, the theological fruit that Adam and Eve bit into from Satan was, you can be as God's, knowing good and evil. You can be the judges of what is right and what is wrong. And in John 11-21, we see this operating in Martha, when she brings a blatant accusation against the Son of God. She said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Now she doesn't want to accuse him directly, but it is an accusation. Where were you? You ate at our table, you fellowshiped in our house, we were kind to you, we were good to you, we loved you. And we knew you loved us, but when we needed you, you didn't come. And our brother, we watched him fail, we watched him lose heart, we watched him lose strength, and as a matter of fact, perhaps the last word on his lips might have been Jesus, before he died. If you'd have been here, my brother would not have died. And this is the human spirit in its finest, dictating to God how things should have turned out. But now, Martha says, we all know and we all agree, obviously, that it's too late. The barriers are up, the stone was placed in front of the grave, finality has been declared, there's been a ceremony of some sort, and decay has set in. He's already been dead for four days. And there are areas in all of our lives, if you're honest today, where you put up barriers to God. You had your chance, Lord, but you didn't come. Back in 1985, I was ready, but you didn't show. And so this area of my life died. And there was a ceremony, even if it's a ceremony in your own heart, in your own mind, where you basically pronounce the last rites on yourself, in this area of your life. It's just always going to be that way, it's not going to change, it's hopeless. And you've been dead in this area of your heart for so long, or this area of your life, you've just sort of made peace with the death. You've rolled up the stone and you basically said, well, it's not my fault, it's God's fault. If he had come when I needed him, if he had come when my heart was open to him, if he had come when I still had a measure of strength left, then possibly this could have been resolved, but he didn't show. So let's just move on. Let's just hide our disappointment in God. Let's declare this part of our lives over. And let's try to salvage some shred of hope for the future. And that's why so many people sit in the house of God so quiet. You know, the scripture says that Martha accused God, but Mary sat still in the house. And that's what causes the stillness in the house of God. I'm not talking about a reverential stillness, I'm talking about a stillness that is steeped in unbelief. I'm not going to get excited about you, Jesus, because when I needed you, you didn't come. When I really felt like I believed, when I was really willing to walk this thing out, you didn't show. I believed that you could open my prison door, but you didn't open it. And now I've just made peace, the barrier's up, so don't bother me in this area of my life. I'm just going to go on, but I'm not really going to believe you for much. I'll believe you for eternity. Remember, Martha said to Jesus, he said, I am the resurrection and the life. And he said, though a man were dead, if he believes in me, yet shall he live. He said, do you believe this? And immediately she answers, her scripture says, yes, I know and I believe on the last day he's going to rise again. In other words, I'm not I'm not willing to believe for now. I'm going to make peace with this now, but I'm willing to believe that someday, in the sweet by and by, maybe at the last trump, that someday I'll be free. Someday this thing. We say that victory is, present victory is lost, hope is dead, and we're holding out for some shred of hope at the end of time. But I want you to go to Isaiah chapter 55 for a moment, if you're well with me. I want to tell you that, is it possible that we have simply failed to understand something? Is it possible that death is a necessary part of life, as a Christian? And I want you to just stay with me on this. Isaiah 55, beginning at verse 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways. That settles it. The Lord says, no, I'm faithful, I am good, I am merciful, and I am right on time, whether you think so or not. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it. Now the Lord's saying, I've already spoken something to you. I've already sent my word to you. It may not have come to you in the moment. Now Jesus was already coming, was already going to do a miracle much more profound than just healing a sick man. He was already on the way, and in your situation, if you can just for a moment begin to hear that God has not abandoned you. He has not left you behind a prison wall. He has not left you a substandard testimony of the glory of God in this generation. His word has been sent to you, and I believe more in this generation perhaps than in any other. The Lord is about to do something profound and glorious for his namesake, and for his namesake alone. Listen to verse 12, for you shall go out with joy. You're not going to go out just simply believing that on the last day I'm going to be free. No, he says you're going to go out with joy. You're going to be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. In other words, there'll be such joy in you, and you'll be so alive that it seems like nature is worshiping God. There'll be such a quickening in your mind and in your spirit. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree. Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree. In other words, instead of barrenness, fruit is going to be born. Instead of nothing, something is going to come. Instead of a hopeless barrenness, there's going to be something that typifies the glory of God in your life. I'm speaking prophetically to you this morning. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. I send a word to you, and it's going to give you such life that everything around you will seem to be alive. And I'm going to do a work in you so profound, it's going to be a sign that nobody can deny. This church age is not going out in prison, is not going out half-dead. We're going out in victory. Jesus said to Martha, I'm the resurrection and the life, and he that believes in me. Though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he's speaking present tense, not future tense. Though he were dead, yet shall he live. The question we ask is, why then, if he is so powerful, why does he wait so long? Why does he wait till I've lost strength, heart, and even hope? Well, the answer is simple. Resurrection life is not for the living, it's for the dead. You don't get resurrected while you're alive, you get resurrected after you're dead. It's that simple. Go with me to the book of Romans, please, chapter 7. We look at this. If you do get a chance, study these chapters, especially chapter 6, 7, and 8, because it really starts to explain this necessity of death in the Christian life. Now in these chapters, let's start at chapter 6, verse 3. Do you not know that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore, we're buried with him by baptism into death. When people are baptized in this church, for example, when you are immersed in the water, it is a sign. I cannot live this life in my own strength that God requires of me. I cannot be holy in my own strength. No matter how many steps I try, I'm going to fall short of the glory of God. Like as Christ, verse 4, was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. If we've been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Verse 7, he that is dead is free from sin. If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Now, dead with Christ means when when he was put on a cross and he said, Father, into the hands I commend my spirit. He knew there was no way he's coming out of the grave unless the word of his Father to him was true. Unless God Almighty raised him, he was not going to be raised. This is what Paul is speaking about as we follow Jesus Christ, as we identify with his death. We say, Lord, all of my attempts to live in my own strength are going to bring me to nothing but sickness and sorrow and futility and hopelessness and failure. So, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. I cannot live in my own strength and the more we try to live in our own strength, the more hopeless the Christian life seems to be. Chapter 7, Paul uses the illustration of marriage. He says the law in verse 1 has dominion over a man as long as he lives. And he uses an illustration of marriage. Now, keep in mind the inherent problem of humankind is that we thought we could be God. When you and I and our forefathers bit into that theology, we were born with the sin nature that thinks it could be as God. And so that's why the scripture says that from Adam to Moses death reigned. This sin nature technically reigned. There was a loss at times, even in those days, of consciousness of sin. And so the law was given. And the law came that sin might abound, the scripture says. The law, God said essentially this, you think you can be God? All right, there's 600 plus things to obey. Now if you break one, that proves you're not God. And you have to go back and get a lamb or a dove or a goat and you have to sacrifice it and start from scratch and try to be God again. And it's only 600 and whatever law, 606, 613. That's all you have to do, just obey this. Now Paul says in Galatians it was a schoolmaster to bring us to the knowledge that we needed a Savior. The law is man trying to be holy, trying to be God in his own strength. And it just simply can't, we simply can't do it. And he uses the illustration of marriage. He said as long as both parties are still alive, you're technically bound together until one is dead, then the one who still lives is free to remarry. And he's just using it as an illustration. It's not really about marriage, Romans chapter 7. It's about the law and it's about you and I and it's about sin. Until we are dead. Once the law has done its work and we are dead, we just are dead. We're saying I'm dead. I can't do this. I can't love my enemies. I can't forgive this person. I can't get out of this habit. I can't change the way I think. I can't. I am born in this way and no matter how many good intentions I form, I can't get out of this way of living. I can't get out of this way of doing. I can't get out of this way of practicing. I can't get out of this way of thinking. I'm dead. And Paul says good. As soon as you're dead, you're now free to be married to another. And the other is Christ. As long as you and the law are still bound together, you're separate from Christ. But the moment the law has done its work and brought you to death. Listen to verse 8 of chapter 7. But sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concomitants for without the law sin was dead. I was alive without the law once. In other words before my conscience. If some of you, you understand what this is like. Before you were saved, you just seemed, you thought you were alive didn't you? You could do almost anything you want. You could lie, cheat, steal. There was no problem with any of that. It was all normal. Everybody else was doing it and because you just, we had a drug dealer here testify one night. He said I was righteous because I gave a good ounce. I sold a good ounce to people. I was an honest drug dealer. I was alive. But when the commandment came, that means the law of God came into my conscience. My conscience was awakened. Sin revived and I died. For the commandment which was ordained to life, verse 10, I found to be unto death. For sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and slew me. I thought I could obey these things. I thought I had the power to change. I thought that once I was saved it was now me and God were going to do this together. But I couldn't do my part of the bargain. Try like I might. I couldn't change and then hopelessness set in and then the stone was rolled away. Certain areas, there are people here today, I'm telling you you're going to experience a miracle this morning. You put a stone, you put a stone in front of some area of your life and you said I'm dead and you had a ceremony in your own heart and you pronounced yourself dead and you don't believe that God can bring you out. It's been a long time. Decay has begun to set in. Then you see Paul says I'm dead. I can't get out of this inner corruption that holds me. Now look at verses chapter 7 verse 18. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. That's what the law is supposed to do. The conscience, the Word of God, that's what it will do to you and me. It will bring us to a place of understanding that I can't be holy. It will actually bring us to a place of giving up trying to be holy in our own strength. It actually brings us to death. In my flesh dwells no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not. I know I know you know like the scripture says that I'm to be like Christ who when he was reviled reviled not again. We can't even do that. Somebody gets in your face and your place of employment and these words come out of your mouth you walk away completely condemned because we're powerless in a sense to obey it in ourselves. The good which I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do. Now if I do that which I would not it's no more I that do it verse 20 but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law that when I would do good evil is present with me. I delight in the law of God after the inward man. I really do want to be a Christian. I really do want to be holy. I really do want to be a good father, a good mother, a good parent, a good friend. I do want to be honest. I do want to be kind. I do want to have the power to reach out. I do want to be free. I do want a testimony of the glory of God but that which is the evil which I would not that I do. Verse 19 now if I do that which I would not it's no more I that do it but sin that's it's still very much or dwells in me. I find then a law that when I would do good evil is present with me. I delight in the law of God after the inward man but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body from this dead body. So Paul is saying the body of this death means this dead body. I'm Paul saying I'm dead. Now this is he's speaking in Romans 6 7 and 8 of the whole totality of the human condition and when all of us get there eventually some have more strength and takes longer but we all get to the place eventually saying I'm dead. This body is dead. I can't be holy. I can't change. I can't do these things. I don't know I don't know there was a time that I thought I could but God didn't come at that time and then I got weaker and then I had less power over it and then I finally laid down and I finally could all I could whisper was the name of Jesus and then I finally died and I rolled a stone over it said some words and just reckoned myself dead and it's been so long that not only I don't believe that God can help but nobody else believes it either. Oh wretched man that I am who will deliver me from the body of this death. Then in verse 25 he says I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I thank God that somebody died and was raised from the dead. I thank God that I have a promise that the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will also quicken my mortal body. Lazarus is dead Jesus said and I'm glad for your sakes I was not there to the intent that you may believe. Lazarus is dead and I'm glad those must have seemed like such strange words. I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent you may believe. You see every one of these disciples would one day come face to face with his own inner powerlessness. James and John were already ruling and reigning with Christ. Peter was of the opinion that he would never deny Jesus. John had his head on his chest and I'm gonna be there for you and I love you and you're hearing my heart and I'm hearing yours and all the rest of the promises. Jesus knew that every one of these disciples was going to have to come face to face with his own powerlessness just like you and I have to do. We have to come face to face with our inability to be holy, our inability to walk with God, our inability to be everything that God has called us to be. But they would remember that divine moment when Jesus called a dead man out of the grave and they would be glad. They would be glad I'm glad for your sakes I was not there to the intent you may believe nevertheless let us go to him. He can't come to me but I can come to him hallelujah. There are places you can't go but God can go there. There are things you can't get the victory over but he's already got the victory for you. There are prison doors you can't open but he has the key. There are healings in your heart that you can do nothing about. There are wounds but he has the oil that will heal them and he has the wine of gladness to pour into your life. It is all in Jesus Christ. The victory was complete. When he died on the cross he said it is finished and he meant it was finished. Hallelujah. As the Church of Jesus Christ you and I have to come to the place of understanding that we don't live by human effort. We live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. We don't live by making promises to God. We live by God's promises to us. We don't live in human strength. We live in the strength of the one who loved us and gave his life for us. We get up in our fallen condition and we simply walk out in the power of God. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. A people who can figure out the Christian life are no testimony of the glory of God in this or any other generation. The true life of Christ cannot be procured by human effort. You cannot take any steps to become more holy in anything. We are all dead. We are all without power until Christ comes and quickens us. Let us go to him and I feel this morning we're living at a divine moment in time. The Lord has come to us. Do you understand? This is a perilous time. I have no doubt about that. But the Lord Jesus has come to anybody who can still hear his voice. This day if you can hear his voice the scripture says don't harden your heart. Don't be steeped in unbelief. Don't shut your ears to the voice of God when he says I want to bring you out and I'm going to do something in you that you will know it's supernatural and everyone around you will know it's supernatural. When they ask you how did you change? What's the reason for the hope that's in you? You're just simply going to say Jesus. It's Jesus. It's all Jesus. It's all about Jesus. Everything is about Jesus. One name and one name alone. One way and one way alone. One theory and one theory alone. There's no other theory. There's no book needs to be written. It's just one name holing up. Jesus. Jesus called me out of the grave. Jesus gave me new life. Jesus opened my prison cell. Jesus healed my marriage. Jesus brought my children home. Jesus healed the wound in my heart. It's all Jesus. All Lazarus could do. I think when he died, this is only my theory, but I think when he died it's the last name because he loved Jesus. It's the last name on his lips is Jesus. And the first thing he hears four days later is Lazarus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come forth. Come forth he says. I am the resurrection and the life. And even if a man were dead yet shall he live. You believe this? Even if he's dead in sin, dead in an area of his mind, his heart, his experience, his life. I have the power over death. He calls his name. All Lazarus had to do is get up. Hallelujah. I believe in miracles. I believe in miracles with all my heart. I know the Lord wants to do the miraculous at this time. Praise be to God. I'm so thankful that as a church age we've come to the end of our, we've just come to the end. I had a publisher tell me recently that suddenly all of the books, all the Christian books on how to have a nicer personality, seven steps to a new you, the sales have just gone right down the tube. Overnight the church is looking for reality. People are looking for Jesus again. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God in this generation. And that's an awesome thing because he's been looking for you. It's taken a while, but he's come and he's calling your name. I don't know what it is, but you see it's not, he doesn't call crowds out of the grave. He calls individual people. We see crowds, but he sees people. He deals on a one-to-one basis. He has the capability of doing that. Yes, he sees everybody here today, but he's completely focused on you. That's one of the attributes of God that you and I are not able to fully grasp or understand, but that's simply the way it is. He's not calling a crowd. He's calling you out of whatever it is that you rolled a stone over, whatever it is in your life that you thought would never change, whatever wound you thought would never heal, whatever prison you thought would never open, whatever in your family looks absolutely hopeless. Suddenly Jesus just calls your name. Now he didn't give Lazarus a great revelation of what was ahead of him. He just simply called his name. The scripture shows us later that Lazarus is sitting at the table with Jesus and people are coming from everywhere, not to see just Jesus, but Lazarus, who was also raised from the dead, of course by the power of God. And so today it's as simple as Jesus just simply calling your name. He doesn't give you the whole plan, but he says to you today, I am the resurrection, but resurrection, keep in mind, is only for a dead person. A living person does not need resurrection. A dead person does. I am the resurrection and the life. If a man believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Do you believe this? Do you believe it? Now we have an option. We can put it away till the final trumpet. We can do like Martha, we can quote scripture in unbelief, or we can do like Lazarus. I always found it so ironic that the whole crowd is weeping. Mary's sitting still and crying at his feet later. Martha doesn't believe. The only person who could actually hear was Lazarus, a dead man. Well, if you're still holding to some plan, some scheme, to some thing of the flesh, you probably can't hear this today. But if you're dead, you can hear it. Because there's no other recourse but to move towards the voice of God. Remember he said in Isaiah, I send my word, it will not return to me void, but where you've had barrenness is going to be life. I'm going to do something in you so profound that it will appear that nature itself is clapping its hands and singing. Actually in Isaiah, not in Isaiah, in Romans, he said that creation itself is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God. Nature itself is yearning and groaning under the weight of sin and is waiting for God's seed, as it is, to be manifested. This is the time. I don't know about you, but I believe in miracles. I'm going for it with everything that God's given me. Whatever He asks of me, I'm going to do. Where He calls, I'm going to go. There's no wound that can't be healed. There's no prison that can't be opened. There's no blindness we can't give sight. There's nothing impossible with God. For goodness sakes, it's time we believe this, don't you think? There's nothing impossible with God. And so that word simply doesn't exist. The only thing that's impossible with God, as far as I see it, is to do nothing when I call out to Him. It'll come to you eventually. Hallelujah. Lord Jesus Christ, today is a day of miracles. Today you're calling the people out of darkness. Today, Lord Jesus Christ, not tomorrow, today. Right now. Right now, Lord, you're going to open prison doors and give sight to the blind. Lord, you're going to heal those that have been wounded in heart. The treasure of the cross is going to be revealed to the poor in spirit. Lord, this day, this day, you're going to do these things. Lord, we ask you as a church body that you get glory to your name by raising us from the dead. Wherever we have died, wherever hope has been lost, wherever powerlessness has taken over, raise us, O God, and give us the courage to speak about these things everywhere we go. Father, we thank you for it in Jesus' mighty name. Now, we're going to, in a moment, we're going to worship for a few minutes, and as we do, if the Lord is calling you, if you hear your name being called, it's that simple. And there's an area that you thought was impossible. I'm going to ask you today, by faith, Lazarus had to get up and walk. It wasn't enough to stay in the tomb. He had to get up and walk out. So, a sign of hearing and believing will be simply to get up and make your way to the front of this auditorium or between the screens in the annex or any other adjacent room you happen to be watching in today. And it's just moving forward, saying, God, I'm just going to believe you. I'm dead. I'm dead in this area. Maybe you're dead to trusting people ever again. I don't know what it is, but the Lord Jesus Christ is able to bring you out and make you a testimony, and me. And so, I'm going to ask as we worship today, and you've felt a very special presence of the Holy Spirit in this service, to just simply, as we stand in a moment, just move your way to the front of the sanctuary and believe God for a miracle. It's that simple. It's going to have to be a miracle. You acknowledge that today, and so do I. But I know that we serve a God who does the miraculous. I'm willing to believe Him today. I hope you are. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Let's stand together, please, and just move out if the Lord has been speaking to you. And meet me, please, at the front of the sanctuary, and we're going to pray after a few moments of worship, and we're going to believe God together. With resurrection power, Jesus, let it overflow. Move the stone out of the way, Jesus. Speak life again, Jesus, we pray. Now, listen carefully. I want to read to you from the prophet Ezekiel. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of a valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about. And behold, there were very many in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said to me, prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones. Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise. And behold, a shaking. And the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, prophesy to the wind. That's the Holy Spirit. Prophesy, Son of man, and say to the wind, thus saith the Lord God. Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, our bones are dried, our hope is lost, and we're cut off from our parts. Therefore prophesy, and say to them, thus saith the Lord God. Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves. O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord. I will bring you up out of your graves, and put my spirit upon you. God Almighty. God Almighty. God Almighty. Breathe on us, O Holy Spirit of the Living God. Breathe on us, O God, and give us life. We stand, Lord. We stand knowing we're dead in this generation without your power. But O God, we're aware of your mercy. We're aware of your glory. We're aware of your power. We're aware, Lord, that you will bring honor to your own name by raising us up out of our graves, and giving us life again in this generation. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. We believe it, Jesus, Son of God. With everything that is within us, we believe it. Hallelujah. Just lift your hands and tell God you believe it today. Tell God you believe it. By the Spirit of Almighty God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Every prison door has to open. Every blinded eye must see. Every weakened knee must be made strong by the grace of our God. I believe. I believe with all my heart today. Hallelujah. Give God a shout of glory in this house.